Lessons from Emil Zatopek quotes

(Team update: even though we are so young, we still placed 3rd out of 10 teams. These guys are giving me a lot. I'm going to keep requesting more though.  The following is their motivational reading for meet number 2 next week.)

The Start

In the 1952 Olympics, Emil Zatopek won the 5K… then he won the 10K….

He then went on to also win the Marathon, (his first time to ever run a marathon).  All 3 races occurred within 8 days of each other and he set new Olympic records in all 3 events. It was at the starting line of this Olympic Marathon that Emil famously said:

“Men, today we die a little.”

Emil knew what he was about to do to his body, and he embraced it.  What are you thinking when you stand at the starting line?  Are you dreading what you’re about to have to do? Are you anxious? Nervous?.... Or… Have you accepted the sacrifices you have to make for a good race?  Do you approach the line with determination and resolve like a warrior entering battle?

The Race

“It's at the borders of pain and suffering

 that the men are separated from the boys.”

The race is run on a border, a precipice. Over that cliff is pure pain and suffering. The Boys run safely away from the edge, never risking their comfort, never approaching the danger zone.  The Men run right along the line, they risk everything, they flirt with death.  They laugh at the pain and suffering.  How do you want to run your race? As a boy? Or as a MAN?
The Finish

            In describing his Olympic experience, Emil said:

"I was unable to walk for a whole week after that,

so much did the race take out of me.

But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known."

          Only a runner would describe the experience of not being able to walk for a week as ‘pleasant.’  How are you going to feel when you finish today? Will you regret not going hard enough?  Will you question what could have been? …Or… Will you know it was everything you had in you?  Will you lay down tonight in post-race soreness bliss?  Will you experience the pleasure and pride that come from a race well ran?

Prepare as Warriors

Race like Men

Finish in Ecstatic Exhaustion