“Personally, I always felt times aren’t so excellent as are performances.”

I believe in keeping running simple and, in regard to shoes, that would mean no gimmicks, unnecessary cushioning, etc

Don’t feel guilty about driving somewhere nice to run. If people can drive to a park to eat hot dogs, you can drive there to run.

Running is a very natural activity. If you get too caught up, you find yourself constantly seeking to make running something that it isn’t.

The advice I have for beginners is the same philosophy that I have for runners of all levels of experience and ability — consistency, a sane approach, moderation and making your running an enjoyable, rather than dreaded, part of your life.

However, I’ve also trained as much as 130 miles per week during periods when I worked a full-time job. It ultimately becomes second nature. It becomes a habit, a routine part of your daily life

Hills are terrific for running

I believe in gradual experimentation with running shoes.

I ran my fastest marathon in the rain.

My biggest weakness as a endurance athlete has been in not drinking enough water after training, thereby racing sometimes while dehydrated.

My guess is many top athletes, distance runners included, use performance-enhancing drugs, enough so that the problem must be tackled.

Always take the long term view and train and race smart, with a bit of caution.

The starting line of the New York Marathon is kind of like a giant time bomb behind you about to go off. It is the most spectacular start in sport.

Every time I bomb out, I have to come back. I have a feeling after a bad race that my next one will be good.

Aiming for the marathon is a task of sorts which can include terrific highs and lows.

Good health, peace of mind, being outdoors, camaraderie – those are all wonderful things that come to you when running. But for me, the real pull of running – the proverbial icing on the cake – has always been racing.

Having your goal to focus on is key, but don’t let it become more important than your excellence next year and the year after.

Striving is exhausting. Sometimes I do say things like, ‘I wish I were not quite this driven to be excellent.’ It’s not a comfortable life. It’s not relaxed. I’m not relaxed as a person. I mean, I’m not unhappy. But… it’s the opposite of being comfortable.

Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together.

It is saying less than the truth to affirm that an excellent book (and the remark holds almost equally good of a Raphael as of a Milton) is like a well-chosen and well-tended fruit tree. Its fruits are not of one season only. With the due and natural intervals.

By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself.

Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly one’s own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.

This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless.

Then he said in his most excellent Mick impression, “Your powers are useless against Ninja Lords, O great zombie hunter! Surrender or feel the sting of the shuriken!

Just how do I design if not with prototyping? An excellent question. The short answer is ‘on paper.’