I Thought I Knew What

It Was Great To Fight In Training, Great To Fight In The Race, But You Don't Need To Fight In A Press Conference, Or An Interview, Or A Personal Interaction.

What Makes A Great Endurance Athlete Is The Ability To Absorb Potenial Embarrassment, And To Suffer Without Complaint. I Was Discovering That If It Was A Matter Of Gritting My Teeth, Not Caring How It Looked, And Outlasting Everybody Else, I Won. It Didn't Seem To Matter What Sport It Was-in A Straight-ahead, Long-distant Race, I Could Beat Anybody. If It Was A Suffer-fest, I Was Good At It.

I Raced Because I Was Paid To Do A Job And I Felt Like I Had To Do The Job. Number Two: I Raced Because I Loved The Process, I Loved Training, Getting Ready For The Race, I Loved All Of That. And Number Three I Raced For My Memories. Regardless Of What Somebody Wants To Give Or Take Away, You Can't Take My Memories.

My Mom Was Such A Strong Character. I Don't Want To Say She Was Like A Man, But She Was Tough.

I Joined The Swim Team When I Was 12, And I Was The Worst Kid In The Pool - I Was Put With A Group Of 7-year-olds.