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.
You can never give up-athletics taught me that. You must work hard, prepare, learn from your losses and continue to fight until the very end.
Humans are built for endurance, not speed. We're awful sprinters compared to every other animal. We try to run our races as if they were speed races, but they are not. They're endurance races. Even a marathon, the way it's run now, it's not an endurance contest.
Be bold, brave and not afraid to fall on your face and ultimately you will succeed
If you're constantly pushing yourself higher, higher, the law of averages - not to mention the myth of Icarus - predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to know this, remember this: There is no such thing as failure.
If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracle you and I can achieve by giving people honest appreciation this side of insanity.
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
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