Try for a goal that's reasonable, then gradually raise it.

My running was very simple it was out of myself.

If I can get better, why not?

If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem. It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I just have to.

What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.

When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow,slow,slow. People said, 'Emil, you are crazy. You are training like a sprinter.'

Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.

When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter either. Then willpower will be no problem.

An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.

Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.

You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.