And too there were questions: What did he eat? Did he believe in isometrics? Isotonics? Ice and heat? How about aerobics, est, ESP, STP? What did he have to say about yoga, yogurt, Yogi Berra? What was his pulse rate, his blood pressure, his time for 100-yard dash? What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?

”

—

Once A Runner

I’ve heard of “the Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials” before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the passage in its entirety. I’m not even close to Quentin Cassidy’s level, but I’ll have to pick up this book soon…

(via runslikeapenguin)

(via runslikeapenguin)