I agree with Editor in Chief of Running Times, Jonathan Beverly, that F.X. Toole's boxing quote resonates with anyone who loves running.
"Boxing is the magic of men in combat--the magic of will, and skill, and pain and the risking of everything so you can respect yourself for the rest of your life."
"Ring magic is different from the magic of the theater because the curtain never comes down--because the blood in the ring is real blood, and the broken noses and the broken hearts are real, and sometimes they are broken forever...magic because it's all real, every bit of it, and it's happening now and lasting forever in your mind and heart."
Beverly goes on to say, "Our sport is often mistaken for a feel-good fitness activity. True, we rarely have blood or broken noses, but running is combat, no doubt about it: combat with the distance, with the clock, with ourselves, and with other runners."
Brian Sell on training for the Olympic Trials: "I have to train so that I'm confident. If I don't run 160, 170 [miles a week] in this buildup, but only run 130, my body might be fresher but in my head I won't be as strong. Every time someone pulls up on me in a race, I have to know I worked harder than them to have the confidence to hold them off."
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