| Patience and Long Term Development |
| Before beginning any training plan you, the athlete, must always keep in mind that instant success Patience, devotion, persurverance, ...all of these are necessary characteristics needed when training for a distance race... I am not here to tell you that it will take an x amount of years in order to reach your true potential. Much of that depends upon your athletic background, physical makeup, but I will promise you that you will not come close to approaching your potential in less than four to five years (and that is being very opptimistic). This is a process that requires years of proper preperation to develop ... Too many people are looking for the quick fix or the "secret" that will allow them to reach the promised land in a matter of weeks or months. Know this now, there is no LEGAL secret or quick fix when it comes to becoming a successful distance runner. There is a price you must pay in order to be admitted into The Uniqueness of Distance Running - Individual Achievement Distance running is like no other athletic ...in that the ulimate goal is personal improvement. You don't have to be an olympic athlete in order to test your limits, train effectively, race in highly competitive events, it is all relative... a 6:00 miler can get as much out of this sport as a 4:00 miler can. Sure, the 6:00 miler may not recieve the accolades ...but he/she can still set goals, do everything within their powers to reach those goals, and ... in the glory of achievement. |