Persistence

These are tough times. People are losing their jobs and dealing with serious personal financial problems. It's not fun. It's also not going away overnight. I don't mean that in a pessimistic way. An important lesson running teaches is realism. You can't wish away the hard stuff. The way to deal with the inevitable pain of training hard and running long distances is to accept it as real, yet at the same time recognize it won't kill you and can be overcome. It is, in short, about persistence. This is a theme Obama keeps returning too, smartly I think. He had this to say today:

I'm under no illusions that a better day will come about quickly or easily. It's going to be hard. But as I said the other night at my press conference, I'm a big believer in the idea of persistence -- the idea that when the American people put their mind to something and keep at it, without giving up, without turning back, no obstacle can stand in our way, and no dream is beyond our reach.

That's it. Lots of people want to know the secret to running well, or accomplishing a certain goal, whether it's a 10k race, a marathon or even a triathlon. I think it's quite simple: persistence. Keep at it, day in and day out, be consistent and realistic but always hopeful.