'Everyone is an athlete,' wrote the late George Sheehan, running's physician-philosopher. 'The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.' Lifelong runners are in lifelong training. For us, the cliche has become the rule: Running isn't a sport, it's a lifestyle. At a certain point, running stops being about PRs, victories, or new highs in training volume. It becomes a part of who we are. It becomes something our bodies can do, rather than something we do to our bodies.

Never underestimate the value of a good training partner, even if it's your dog. Training allies will get you out the door on those days when exercise might otherwise be reduced to a finger on the remote control button.

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.

Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.

Negative energy is still energy. Burn it for fuel.

If you never have a 'bad' day, you're probably doing something wrong; if you never have a 'good' day, you're definitely doing something wrong.

Don't overlook the obvious - remember to properly lace your running shoes. Loose laces allow your foot to move freely in the shoe and cause blisters. It also reduces stability, making you more prone to injury. Laces tied too tight may squeeze your foot causing pain during a run and aggravate neuromas.

Winning is not about headlines and hardware [medals]. It's only about attitude. A winner is a person who goes out today and every day and attempts to be the best runner and best person he can be. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.

To know you are one with what you are doing, to know that you are a complete athlete, begins with believing you are a runner.

Something is almost always better than nothing. There will be days when some aspect of reality intrudes and you have to scrap your ideal-world training plan. That doesn't make scrapping the whole affair the logical conclusion. A 4-miler is much closer to a 10-miler than it is to 0 miles for the day.

Don't be surprised if you feel a little extra sluggish when temperatures soar. When it's hot outside, the brain tells the muscles to relax in order to keep the body's core temperature low, and the process of sweating to stay cool diverts blood away from the muscles. Add allergies, dehydration, and longer daylight hours to the equation, and it's tempting to take a vacation from training until cooler temperatures prevail. But your performance doesn't have to suffer just because the mercury's on the rise. Here are Runner's World's best tips for beating the heat.

It fascinates me that nonrunners so often seem to think that running long distances must be intolerably boring. 'What do you think about when you're running?' they ask. That question has occasionally been explained as a fundamental difference between what experienced runners do when racing or engaging in training runs expressly intended to practice racing conditions, and the more easygoing runs people do just for fitness or fun, or to build a base to prepare their bodies for more ambitious workouts weeks later. When racing, the runner is like an airplane pilot who is fully engaged in monitoring and adjusting the controls. In this so-called associative mode, the runner is monitoring and adjusting his breathing, heart rate, core temperature, hydration, perspiration, tempo, gait, available energy, electrolyte level, nutrient intake, flirtation with anaerobic or lactate threshold, and of course the conditions of his ambient environment: air temperature and humidity, precipitation, wind velocity and direction, and terrain, all while anticipating the road ahead. Some of it is done subconsciously and some with deep attentiveness. On a more easygoing (or dissociative) run, he might think about his work or family, or replay a recent conversation in his head, or imagine what he'd like to have said in that conversation --or he might notice the wildlife around him with the same appreciation he would when going for a walk in Rock Creek Park or a hike in Yellowstone, or he might chat with a running partner about whether the Cubs will ever win the World Series. That's what runners think about on a long run: sometimes a continuous stream of data about the running itself, and other times a stream of anything from profundity to trivia about whatever.

Dedicated distance runners leave no stone unturned in their eternal quest for improvement, showing discipline far beyond what one would expect from most recreational athletes. They slog long miles on sore legs in nasty weather, sprint around the track doing interval workouts, buy the best high tech running shoes, and drink protein laced sports drinks after training. They pump weights diligently, pay good money for coaching schedules, and avidly consume running books and magazines. Despite this extraordinary dedication, most runners grossly neglect an aspect of training and recovery that would seem to be commonsense- sleep. Getting adequate sleep is one component of the training and recovery cycle that is readily correctible. In fact, it's indispensable. Sleep is not just something that's 'good to do,' but something that will help our bodies recover faster from running workouts.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

Have you ever run a race and then looked down at your Garmin or GPS device and realized it says that you have run longer than the expected race distance? If you were not running the tangents of the course, then here is the bad news...you actually were running too far. The easiest way to explain 'running the tangents' is this: running the tangents allows a racer to run the shortest legal distance in a race. This is the fastest and most efficient way to get from the start line to the finish line, and the easiest way to set a PR. Overall, by making fewer large curves and running the tangents, you essentially make the race course a straight as possible. There is no perfect way to run the tangents. The goal is to find out what works best for you in getting through the race course's fastest route, as quickly as possible.

It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where we'd like to be. That's not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what you've accomplished, rather than thinking of what's left to be done.

If you've never raced a 5K -- I mean really truly raced one -- here's an experiment you can do right now to get an idea of what it's like: Hold your breath for as long as you possibly can... and then when you can't hold it any longer, hold it for another 30 seconds.

Running is about getting to the heart of the matter. The body, no matter what shape or size, is remarkable. I feel most alive when my blood is flowing through my veins, my arms are pumping, and my legs are propelling me forward. The little aches and pains I experience are mere reminders of what I accomplish step by step.

And step by step I keep pace with myself. Running is my time. No phone, no Internet, no television. No to-do list, no meetings, no interruptions. It's my personal sanity check. When everything is hectic and noisy, I collapse into my running self, and the only sounds I hear are my rhythmic breathing and my footfalls. I challenge myself by pushing hard, or I take control by running at a nice steady tempo, or I empower myself by running any way I feel.

Sometimes my impulse is to run and get away from my problems. When I put distance between myself and whatever is amiss in my world, my troubles evaporate for a brief time. Sometimes I even manage to solve dilemmas that seem overwhelming. Running clears my mind; my thoughts are peaceful. And when I think I can't do something, then figure out it's not impossible, my attitude changes. It's the same feeling as when I crest that daunting hill and think I'm on top of the world, absolutely invincible.

Kids have the best running style. It's not smooth. Not graceful. But there is a classification for their kind of gait. It's called, 'Happy!'