Learning From the Legends,pt.2.

A big quality you see in successful people is persistence. When they encounter obstacles or don't meet their goals, they re-evaluate what they've been doing, then regroup and continue on. Sadly, for most, too many people allow a type of thinking that will inevitably lead them to abandon their hopes and dreams. That type of thinking is negativity or being negative. The two people I quote below are not simply offering statements regarding negativity,they faced and overcame it personally and from others. Jack LaLane for instance preached a message of fitness well before it became fashionable. More specifically, early in his career he taught the necessity of all athletes to train with weights.The prevailing opinion at that time was that weight training would cause athletes to become muscle bound,ultimately leading to diminished performance. We all know who was proven right in this area.Derek Clayton, from Australia,set the world record for the marathon in 1969.That record stood for an incredible 12 years.Prior to setting the record Clayton reached a point in his running where the kind of improvement he desired wasn't happening.He examined how he had been training and then made some changes,the most notable of which was increasing his mileage.By the way,Clayton was also the first marathoner to go under 2:10 when he set a W.R. in '67 at the Fukuoka marathon.
Derek Clayton is quoted here from a story about him in Guide to Distance Running by Dave Prokop(1971),"Negative thinking never achieves anything in life;therefore,I refuse to have it in my make-up."
Jack LaLane,from a Spring 1999 interview published in the magazine,"What is Enlightenment?"
"I try to keep all the negative stuff out of my brain because negativity is like a poison."

I particularly like LaLane's quote because negativity will pervade your whole being if you allow it to. Many times you have to fight against such thoughts and feelings. Ever have thoughts come into your head in regards to running that say things like,"what are you doing this for,you're not getting anything for it," or, "you just don't have the ability to do it." I think we all have.Personally,when I do,I think about Ron Daws and how I have accomplished some things that at one time I didn't believe I could.