Q: You've inspired allot of people to start running, what advice would you give the NEW runner on how to embrace the discomfort and not to dread it?
A: Dean Karnazes "It's a paradigm shift, first of all. We, I think, in Western society have kind-of got things backwards. We thought that in the total absence of pain, if we had every comfort and convenience available to us, we'd be happy. And I think that we found that in allot of ways we're so comfortable, we're miserable. There's no struggle. There's no pain left in our lives. We get in our air-conditioning cars. We drive to our air-conditioned office buildings. We get in a comfortable elevator. There's no suffering. And I tell people, 'embrace the suffering'. There's magic in misery - and I think that any runner can relate to that. Some of our fondest moments, our most lively moments, if you will, are when we're in great pain and we're struggling for high achievement. So I would say first and foremost, don't try to avoid the pain. Embrace the pain.
(During a recent interview with the awesome Marathon Training Academy podcast)
