It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.

On the days when it's tough to get out the door, I remember what it felt like to stamp out my last cigarette. I think about how good it feels when I have a rhythm going and have 'disappeared' inside the run. Or how good it feels to slow to a walk after finishing the goal run for the day and having that sense of accomplishment. I think of the last 800 meters of the marathon – it's a holy time, in my opinion – and knowing that all those runs I said yes to, and didn't avoid, got me there.

My outlook is that I never want to look back and wonder how fast I could have been.

One of the first lessons running teaches us about success in athletics and in life is that there is no one else. No one else can do your workouts for you. You alone must do the drills, repeat the core exercises, stretch, and lift the weights. You cannot hire someone else to do your cross-training when you are battling injury, or pay someone to run a race and get you a new PR. You are truly your own hero in running. It is up to you to have the responsibility and self-discipline to get the job done.

Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves. It has nothing to do with how many times you win or lose. It has no relation to where you finish in a race or whether you break world records. But it does have everything to do with having the vision to dream, the courage to recover from adversity and the determination never to be shifted from your goals.

What's beautiful? Anticipating that burn–the breaking point–and pushing right through it.

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; its when you had everything to do, and you've done it.

There is no fuel more combustible than the words "you can't."

Like the marathon, life can sometimes be difficult, challenging and present obstacles, however if you believe in your dreams and never ever give up, things will turn out for the best.

Don't underestimate the importance of easy days. Easy days help you beat fatigue, to keep fatigue from beating you.

The benefits and opportunities of running are available to anyone. You don't have to be born a natural athlete, and you don't have to be uniquely gifted. A life-shaping experience is there for the taking, waiting right outside your door.

Even if you haven't actually run, even if you're overweight, even if you were always the kid picked last in gym class, even if you're clumsy, even if you don't own a single piece of fitness equipment, you ARE a runner. You don't have to run fast to be a runner. You don't have to be skinny to be a runner. You don't have to run marathons to be a runner. You only have to want to run. Take your first step along your path to joyful running right now by writing down all the reasons you can't run, can't be fit, and can't possibly become an athlete. Then crumple up that list with all the force you can muster and toss it in the trash. Not the trash in your kitchen, where you can get it back out and try on those 'can'ts' again for size, but in the trash by the curb. Trash those can'ts. You can run. You are a runner.

Running was in my blood from the beginning. If God has given you a talent, you have to show it. People told me, 'You won't have children if you run long distances.' It was lies. I wanted to be like the men. If no one gives you encouragement, you have to encourage yourself.

The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet steady dignity that simply refuses to give in.

I would tell anyone who is thinking about a marathon to go for it and not fall into the 'I can't' syndrome. For that matter, I would tell anyone to follow their dream. Life is too short. Every day we should reach out as far we can to bring that dream into focus and grab it for all it's worth. I am a true believer in carpe diem — seize the day, squeeze every ounce out of it.

The line that separates possible from impossible; that line is my benchmark.

The challenge in running is not to aim at doing the things no one else has done, but to keep doing things everyone could do - but most never will.

The pain I experienced in the marathon wasn't the type where I felt a sense of helplessness, like being in a car accident. I had control over the pain, could have stopped it if I chose to.

I've had only one utterly dependable training partner: a golden retriever named Rockee. We were joined at the hip for fourteen years and 7,000 miles of running together. Rockee was a sixty-five-pound bundle of crazy canine love, with a white clown face that turned even whiter as he got older. He never once complained if we ran too far, or if I were going to slow. I never heard him go on and on about an injury, like so many runners do. He never bellyached if the weather was too hot or too cold. He just loved to run, especially on the trails. His limitless energy and unflagging enthusiasm were inspiring to behold. He got me running on those days when I was tempted to find an excuse not to put on my Asics, Nikes, slip on the sweat bandana, grab his red leash, and head outside. Memories are a man's best friend.

The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.