Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead
Roger BannisterRead
I trained for less than three-quarters of an hour, maybe five days a week - I didn't have time to do more. But it was all about quality, not quantity - so I didn't waste time jogging, ever.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of quality training over the quantity of time spent exercising.
Roger Bannister highlights that even with limited training time, focusing on the quality of that training can lead to significant achievements. He suggests that efficient and purposeful practice is more beneficial than merely putting in long hours without intent.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire athletes looking to improve their performance.
Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead
I couldn't disappoint people. I did not want to fail and exhaust myself, because I was the kind of runner who trained so little that I couldn't race again within another 10 days.
The mile has all the elements of a drama.
No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.
Whether we athletes liked it or not, the 4-minute mile had become rather like an Everest: a challenge to the human spirit, it was a barrier that seemed to defy all attempts to break it, an irksome reminder that men's striving might be in vain.
I was playing rugby and the other games English school children do, and there was an event in which races were run, and I won these by a considerable margin.
Tough times never last, but tough people do. You might add, "You're tougher than you give yourself credit for."
Be wary of those who seek to steal your dream. Be even more wary of those who seek to tell you what your dream should be.
Humanity does not ask to be happy.It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf. Survival first, and then happiness as we can manage it... Take what pleasure you can in the interstices of your work, , but your work is first, learning first, winning is everything because without it there is nothing.
Affirmations don't make something happen; they make something welcome.
Most of us commit to action only if we feel a certain level of motivation. And we feel motivation only when we feel enough emotional inspiration.
The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens.
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