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

The last time I ran a full marathon it was awful. I've run a lot of races, but never one that ended up so badly. There are three reasons I failed. Not enough training. Not enough training. And not enough training. That's it in a word. Without knowing it, I'd developed a sort of arrogant attitude, convinced that just a fair-to-middling amount of training was enough for me to do a good job. It's pretty thin, the wall separating healthy confidence and unhealthy pride. As I ran this race I felt I never, ever wanted to go through that again. Right then and there I decided that before my next marathon I was going to go back to the basics, start from scratch, and do the very best I could. Train meticulously and rediscover what I was physically capable of. Nobody's going to win all the time. On the highway of life you can't always be in the fast lane. Still, I certainly don't want to keep making the same mistakes over and over. Best to learn from my mistakes and put that lesson into practice the next time around.

Too many people have refused to begin running or have quickly dropped out of running programs because they 'have no talent for it.' Ridiculous. Talent has nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is mental discipline.

I've never been more motivated to reach my goals in training and other aspects of my life than I am right now. Running has taught me to be patient, to trust the process, that anything worth doing is worth training for and doing well. It has made me a better wife, co-worker, friend, nurse, sister, daughter, and person in general. I have more self-confidence, drive, and compassion for others than I've ever known. My life is infinitely better since I started on this journey, and I don't see it coming to an end anytime soon. I'm proof that the hardest decision to make is the decision to try and to believe in yourself and your own unique abilities.

Train like the athlete you want to be, not the athlete you are or used to be.

To keep from decaying, to be a winner, the athlete must accept pain - not only accept it, but look for it, live with it, learn not to fear it.

In reality, a world-record winner receives exactly the same reward as every finisher - the satisfying sense of having succeeded against the odds, the knowledge of having proved inner strength, and the closure of having completed a quest. The individual nature of running makes the fulfillment it gives profoundly personal. The great thing about gaining self-esteem from finishing a marathon is that every runner knows it's not just vanity or self-importance - they really did it, the hard way, and they have the medal to prove it.

What is it like when a day of running ends and I come down out of the mountains? Though my thighs are not always able to lift the foot high enough, I am strong. With my limbs caked with mud and my clothes soaked with sweat, I am clean. Though fatigue pulses through every nerve, I am well rested. With my skin torn from brambles and poking Balsam fir, I am whole. I've been around for 46 years, but the mountains and I are eternal. We will visit together as often as I can manage. And one peaceful day, I will return home forever.

Nobody can tell you how to set a personal best. But here's how NOT to: run with the idea of setting one. You cannot order up a personal best as if it were a turkey on rye. It's not a conscious act. A personal best is a kind of gift bestowed upon you. You're not sure where it came from or how. It's very hard to achieve a personal best after you've run for a while and brought your times down. It takes training and hard work. But remarkably, those who achieve personal bests all say the same thing: how easy it felt. They weren't straining, they weren't pushing; it just seemed to come to them. If you run with the idea that you're just going to enjoy yourself, that you're going to relax and have a good time, that whatever happens, happens - well, those are the days when personal bests occur.

Runners are different. We put our bodies through the wringer every day. Snow storms and lightning don't send us hiding inside. There's nothing unusual about coming home covered in mud or drenched in sweat from head to toe. We come home, exhausted and hungry. The cycle never ends, but for some reason we love it. People tell us we're crazy. Well, you know what? I think I am crazy. And I love it.

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.

I think most people will agree that 'fall' is all but officially here now, which means, THIS IS THE TIME TO START RUNNING! Remember all summer how you said that you hated running because it was too hot or humid? Remember how often you would tell yourself that you would run more once it cooled down? Well, I'm sorry to break this to you, but that time is NOW. And for those of you who already run but don't do it as much because of the heat, now is the season to really kick into high gear and start doing those long or intense runs. I know for many of you that fall means you are back to school or work and so you are very busy this time of year. But there is always time if you want there to be. Maybe not every day, but most days you can find 30 minutes to devote to your health. Running will clear your head and make you more capable of tackling the stresses of your busy schedule... and the miraculous thing about running is that is actually gives you MORE energy!

I've never known a runner who had as much patience as he needed, but any and all amounts of this precious quality are invaluable. We runners simply don't get better fast enough to satisfy ourselves. Like the hare, we blast away from the starting line with visions of glory. We should be more tourtise-like. For that is the path to success… Give yourself time. Don't make hasty and unnecessary mistakes. Remember: You're in it for the long run. Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly.

This is not about instant gratification. You have to work hard for it, sweat for it, give up sleeping in on Sunday mornings.

Even in the marathon, saving just a little for the final stretch will make for a satisfying finish. The race is going to get tough at the end and you need to expect it. Not fear it, but know it is a reality so you can be ready to stay mentally tough for the final push.

Why do I run? I run because running is empowering. Running is my therapy: a chance to clear my mind, to challenge my fears, to find inspiration and powerful ideas.

Relish the bad training runs. Without them it's difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones.

If you race hard, it's going to hurt. It's going to be tough.

Runners relish the toughness. Often when we race, more than hitting a time or achieving a place, we most want to prove that we can overcome difficulty and pain. We want to demonstrate that we're made of the right stuff, we have true grit, we die hard - we are, indeed, tough.

In the marathon, there are two ways to win. There's the easy way if all you care about is winning. You hang back and risk nothing. Then kick and try to nip the leaders at the end. Or you can push, challenge the others, make it an exciting race, risking everything. Maybe you lose, but as for me, I'd rather run a gutsy race, pushing all the way and lose, then run a conservative, easy race only for a win.

You're running on guts. On fumes. Your muscles twitch. You throw up. You're delirious. But you keep running because there's no way out of this hell you're in, because there's no way you're not crossing the finish line. It's a misery that non-runners don't understand.