#oncearunner

He wanted to impart some of the truths Bruce Denton had taught him, that you don't become a runner by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many days, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials. How could he make them understand?

When they reached the post Cornwall clicked the expensive timer and studied with admiration the easy power of the runners flowing into their long strides. The head track coach, oddly enough, didn’t know a great deal about distance running (Cassidy and Mizner were constantly—though very unobtrusively—amending his workouts), having been a javelin man in college. But Cornwall understood that the half milers, milers, and true distance men were the heart of a track team. They could run everything from the mile relay on up. It was imperative that he pay attention to their training. He had learned very early, though, that the milers and distance men were like seeds: the good ones, given minimum care, just grew on their own. He had only a casual jogger’s appreciation for their training—he knew from his own days of conditioning that what they were doing before his eyes was far beyond his ken—and he knew the daily grind took its toll. The attrition rate was startling. Even the most promising runners, disheartened by injuries or poor performances, would sometimes leave their scholarships on his desk. He never tried to talk them out of it; he knew that once they lost it, it was gone for good.