The most difficult part, when you decide to make running a part of your life style, is the basic initial commitment. Everybody says, 'I don't have the time.' It's up to you to say, 'I do have the time.' It ultimately becomes second nature. It becomes a habit, a routine part of your daily life.

Yet we all hold out hope that on this Patriots' Day the stars will align for us—my body will respond to all the hard training I've done, Mother Nature will hear my heartfelt pleas, I'll put together the race of my dreams. In this way, preparing for a marathon is a bit like planning for a miracle.

The marathon is the essence of the unknown transforming into the known; there's always as much potential for destruction as there is creativity, as much chance of misery as there is elation, as much room for heartbreak as there is for triumph. That's the fun of racing a marathon. It's about seeing if you can go to the very edge without going over the cliff.

Being a runner means you are now free to win and lose and live life to its fullest.

Never sit back on your laurels. If you persist and keep plugging away, you're going to do all right in life. And that's a marathoner's message, too. There's no way to excel as a distance runner without putting in the nitty-gritty, day-in, day-out effort.

I used to always say, if the marathon is a part-time interest, you will only get part-time results. That's true of anything in life.