Running is just you, the work you put in, and the clock. You can't cheat yourself. If you don't put in the miles, you can't go to the starting line thinking you're going to pull a miracle out of nowhere. You get out exactly as much as you put in.

Stepping outside the comfort zone is the price I pay to find out how good I can be. If I planned on backing off every time running got difficult I would hang up my shoes and take up knitting.

Rarely are we ever satisfied with our performances. Even after our best races we might be content for a moment, but it is in our nature to constantly over-analyze and re-evaluate, finding seconds on the course, flaws in our race plans, what ifs… should haves… and could haves. Are we ever satisfied? There is a competitive mentality that keeps us coming back for more, day after day, race after race, and year after year - but at the end of the day only a small select few might actually walk away content. If we will all eventually walk away disappointed, then what is the point? Why do we step out the door each day? If only one person can be the best, are the rest of us essentially failing? I certainly don't have the answers, but today I'll walk out the door with my Burns tied tight and hopes of setting the world on fire firmly engrained in my mind. Odds are I'll never wear an Olympic medal around my neck, but maybe…just maybe, I will. With that in mind I'll take off down the road and put in the days work. If we don't try we'll never know. At least I can find out how good I can be. I can have an answer at the end of the days, and have a hell of a good time with the process.