"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering you own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew."

St. Francis de Sales

"Made still a blund’ring kind of melody;
Spurred boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in.
Free from all meaning, whether good or bad,
And in one word, heroically mad."

John Dryden

"Success is maintaining your enthusiasm between failures."

Winston Churchill

Not that I’m failing exactly… Flirting with injury -> low mileage though. Tonight I’ll go for a swim, and tomorrow I’ll RUN again. Excited!

"We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change."

Henry Cloud

I do agree with this — to a certain degree. I’m also motivated to change by positive goals, not only by things I find too painful to bear. Why else would I relish the pain in the ass that is my right piriformis muscle after hill training…

"In things pertaining to enthusiasm, no man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions."

"Endurance is patience concentrated."

Thomas Carlyle

I like that one. Training day in and out, small, imperceptible chances of your body. Focus. Then your A-race comes around, and you get to test the mental and physical power you’ve built.

"We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough."

Helen Keller

This rings true, particularly while that special post-marathon glow still lingers.

"Racing is pain, and that’s why you do it, to challenge yourself and the limits of your physical and mental barriers. You don’t experience that in an armchair watching television."

Mark Allen

"Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run."

Jumbo Elliott

My motto for Sunday ;-)

"Feel the fear and do it anyway."

Susan Jeffers

A good motto for my 1000th post!