The single most common training error I see in competitive runners is running too hard on supposed easy days. A longer, slower recovery run is better than a shorter, faster one, because a longer recovery run adds more volume to your training, and again, volume is the number-one determinant of running fitness.

Finding the time to run can oftentimes be the biggest challenge... Research studies indicate that those who exercise early in the morning are more consistent and stick with their programs as compared to people who work out later in the day. Morning is the time when you probably are most rested both physically and mentally. The later in the day you wait to run, the likelihood that unexpected personal or professional obligations will arise, sabotaging your best-laid plans. You may also find that your motivation drops to its lowest level after a stressful or physically demanding workday.

You know that emptiness inside of you? Burn it as fuel.

It could all end tomorrow, so enjoy what you have and never take it for granted. And never forget to take an easy run for yourself once in a while and just remember why you love to run.

Count your blessings. Remember the last time you were waiting out some minor (or not so minor) injury? You would have given anything to be able to lace on those shoes and hit the road. Sometimes this recall rekindles that desire to run.

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you'll start believing in it. Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need. The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that's where it's at.

It's helpful to remember that good runners are made, not born. After all, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. If you want to become a better runner, the opportunity is there if you take the right steps.

It's better to go into a race 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained.

When you reach a goal, the degree of elation you feel corresponds to the toil that led to its attainment.

If you want to be a runner, you need to feel free to fail. Consider for a moment the fact that even the best baseball players fail one out of every three times they step to the plate. But they come back swinging again. If you train intelligently, if you race intelligently, you should be able to do better than a .333 batting average. But if not, keep swinging.

Running is the ultimate faith healer, restoring belief not only in oneself but life's possibilities.

Success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day, while failure is simply a few errors in judgement repeated every day.

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.