There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.
If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.
When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn’t matter. Am I tired? That doesn’t matter either. Then willpower will be no problem.
By a persistent effort of will it is possible to change the whole body. The athlete must always keep in mind this concept of change and progression. He must never accept his limitations as being permanent, because they are not.
If you come to think of it, you never see deer, dogs and rabbits worrying about their menus and yet they run much faster than humans.
An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.
I was not talented enough to run and smile at the same time.
You can’t climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don’t fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that’s reasonable, and then gradually raise it.
To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.
It is not necessary to smile and make a wonderful impression on the judges.
Men, today we die a little.
I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known.
Try for a goal that’s reasonable, then gradually raise it.
Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.
The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He’s the center of a team – doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.
It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.
Sri Chinmoy brings Heaven to me. He inspires everyone to be happy. He deserves the biggest gold medal.
Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.
If I can get better, why not?
Is it raining? That doesn’t matter. Am I tired? That doesn’t matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.
My running was very simple; it was out of myself.