That perfect mile

... all three runners endured thousands of hours of training to shape their bodies and minds. They ran more miles in a year than many of us walk in a lifetime. They spent a large part of their youth struggling for breath. They trained week after week to the point of collapse, all to shave off a second, maybe two, during a mile race -- the time it takes to snap one's fingers and register the sound. There were sleepless nights and training sessions in rain, sleet, snow, and scorching heat.

There were times when they wanted to go out for a beer or a date yet knew they couldn't. They understood that life was somehow different for them, that idle happiness eluded them. If they weren't training or racing or gathering the will required for these efforts, they were trying not to think about training and racing at all.

The men said a lot of "no's" in order to reach one huge "yes": that perfect mile.

... the top 5 percent of people in the arts and sciences, athletics, business, and scholarship are disciplined people with [similar] intensities ... So also the biblical heroes for the most part. Joseph, Daniel, and Paul come to mind as remarkably disciplined people.

~ Gordon Macdonald in The discipline of success