Words to lift us all

best of luck mm!!!

possibly no help at all but my faves are

"pain is temporary" (usually said 500 times in a row in the last minutes of a hard run)

"those who wouldnt take no for an answer and could fight back from the setbacks would eventually get the answer they sought." (paula radcliffe talking about kelly holmes being a fighter)

and a personal fave 

"move your lazy fat arse wilko." 

One for you!

This one normally gets bandied about on a lot of freds in the last week before flm.

She stayed with me until she moved to Notting Hill
She said it was the place she needs to be
Where the cocaine is Fairtrade and frequently displayed
Is the Buena Vista Social Club CD

I thought she’d be back in three weeks and we’d go wandering the Peaks
Sojourn in my Uncle Joe’s ashram
For when you’re in Matlock Bath you don’t need Sylvia Plath
Not while they’ve got Mrs. Gibson’s Jam

Alas I’m brooding alone by the runnel
While she’s in Capri with her swain
And the light at the end of the tunnel
Is the light of an oncoming train

Odeon1085 - Always worth watching Any Given Sunday the night before a race.

Inches!!!!

Gavin Strachan said on BBC blog that this clip is shown by a lot of football managers to motivate.

Two sayings used by my old football coach.......

"The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in battle."

Will help if you have done lots of training.  Won't help if you've skimped in training.

And "Pain is temporary....failure is permanent" 

Good luck everyone.

The bit in Laurence of Arabia where he extinguishes a match between his fingers and another officer says, "Ooh! It damn well 'urts!'...
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000564/" target="_popup2254">T.E. Lawrence</a>: Certainly it hurts.
Officer: What's the trick then?
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000564/" target="_popup2254">T.E. Lawrence</a>: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.

 I also think the song "High Hopes" helps especially verse 2 about the ram and the dam... Not one for the elite athletes but the rhythm's perfect for around 9.5-10 minute miles

http://www.last.fm/music/Doris+Day/_/High+Hopes

Good luck all - I'll be the one humming this on Sunday with blue helium balloons attached!

As a variation on the above - "Pain is temporary, Pride is Forever" - was draped on a banner hung over the entry to the underpass at about mile 23. Got me through on my first attempt nien years ago when I got severe cramp at mile 16 in spite of doing several 20+ mile runs.

My other thought was "if I don't push through and finish this year, I'm goign to have to go through all thta trainign next year too"

That was when I planned to just do it once!!

It was worth it when I crossed the line

"Run, Fat Boy, Run" "Run, Fat Boy, Run" "Run, Fat Boy, Run" "Run, Fat Boy, Run" "Run, Fat Boy, Run"

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTrfuX1Pb-k

As for Laurence of Arabia. If the weather forecast is true I think the alternative version may be closer to the truth...

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iavPLq3CidI

Mick Curry of Mick N Phil said on friday,

"We don't quit. We drop before we quit".

two words lift me

HEAVE

HO

I like that Mick Curry line... not the first time he's inspired me...

The two I've used as a mantra in the past, when the legs go stiff, the willpower saps and the heart weakens... the support is thin on the ground and the mind starts getting that first flicker of negativity - I try and replace those thoughts with these:

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." Thomas Jefferson

and/or

"When you are going through hell - keep going" Winston Churchill

A quote a found on here at some point when I was that close to quitting in Feb went along the lines of

A marathon runner needs to realise that the competition is not the other runners but the little voice inside your head telling you you want to quit.

Best of luck

Oh go on then, twist my arm. Couldn't resist it, haven't seen it yet so far this year:

 "When you stand on the Start Line, you join the club. When you stand at the Starting Line you earn your membership. Millions dream of being where you are. You are no longer a dreamer. You are a doer.

Thousands more started a training programme but never finished. They started with the same enthusiasm as (or more than) you. They started with more or less the same physical gifts or disadvantages as you did. They had no more and no less reason to be successful than you.

But somewhere along the way, they lost that enthusiasm. Somewhere on the road or on the track or treadmill, they decided that the rewards just weren't worth the effort. They decided that they could live without finding their limits, without challenging their expectations of themselves and without taking a hard look at their image of themselves.

You didn't. If you’re standing at the Start Line, you've not only accepted the challenge, but you've also beaten back the demons. You've conquered your imagination and self-imposed limitations. You've gone further, got stronger and become tougher than you ever imagined."

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew,

to serve your turn long after they are gone,

and so hold on when there is nothing in you,

except the will which says to them: 'hold on!'

IF, by Rudyard Kipling. The whole poem is awesome!