running quotes

on speed

When I was young, I was too slow…I thought, why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow…I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast. So I ran 100m very fast…people said, “Emil, you are crazy. You are training to be a sprinter. You have no chance.” I said, “yes, but if I run 100m 20 times, that is 2km and that is no longer a sprint.”–Emil Zatopek

…running is easily understandable. You must be fast enough–you must have endurance. So, you run fast for speed and repeat it many times for endurance.–Emil Zatopek

I rarely ran more than 16 miles a day in training. But I did good, fast, quality miles. You see, speed and stamina are yoked together.–Jim Peters

on motivation

Though physiology may indicate respiratory and cardiovascular limits to muscular effort, psychological and other factors beyond the ken of physiology set the razor’s edge of defeat or victory and determine how closely the athlete approaches the absolute limits of performance.–Sir Roger Bannister

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