A lot of complicated analysis has gone into the study of running — but I've come to believe that there are only three really important factors, each of which accounts for about a third of one's ultimate performance:

• talent (the hand you've been dealt): some are born with more, and others with less, of the right kinds of muscles, the right bone structures, the right metabolism, etc.
• training (the investment you've made): how much time and effort you've put into building upon whatever you've got to work with
• toughness (the real-time mental contribution): will and drive and focus you summon at a moment of trial — aka "guts"

Think of them as numbers between 0 and 1. Multiply them all together to get the result.

And in slightly modified versions, these three factors apply to ultimate performance in every aspect of life!

(see also AgesOfWork (23 May 2001), StagesOfWork (28 Jul 2001), SlowerRunnersGuide (30 Oct 2002), RunningAdvice (2 Oct 2003), ... )

TopicRunning - TopicScience - TopicLife - 2004-01-11

(correlates: QiRunning, ThreePhoneCalls, SeeingAndForgetting, ...)