Every runner has dual personalities. (Some have more, but those are the exceptions). I'll call the two personalities Mr. Lazy and Mr. Athlete. Mr. Lazy is (naturally) lazy. He hates pain. When things get hard, he gives up. Mr. Lazy is what makes you think sometimes, at the end of a marathon, when you've crashed and people are passing you, "I don't care, I just want to get this over with." Mr. Athlete is the polar opposite of Mr. Lazy. He loves to win. He loves to run fast. He looks on pain as the price of running fast. When you see people passing you, Mr. Athlete sees red. He screams at your legs to move faster. Mr. Lazy and Mr. Athlete are constantly at war. When Mr. Athlete loses, he is invigorated. He is determined to win next time. When Mr. Lazy loses, he gives up. Last week, Mr Lazy won. I quit. This time, Mr. Athlete was determined to win. I ran 16:01. The last 1200 was misery. Mr. Lazy wanted to quit. But Mr. Athlete was stronger. I ended up out kicking my Dad by a second or so. Dave was out kicked by 4 or so seconds.
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