For me, running is a lifestyle and an art. I'm more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics.

At that time in my life I implicitly understood something that adults seem to have forgotton: that we do have control over our own bodies. I forgot that many times as an adult, too; but sometimes when I was in the flow and running with complete confidence, I would remember that feeling and know that I could will my body to do my bidding. On those days I was unbeatable.

For me, running is a lifestyle and an art. I'm more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics.

Thanks to the race-day adrenaline rush, any pace will feel easier than normal. So make a conscious effort to hold back in the early miles.

Throw away your 10-function chronometer, heart-rate monitor with the computer printout, training log, high-tech underwear, pace charts, and laboratory-rat-tested-air-injected-gel-lined-mo-tion-control-top-of-the-line footwear. Run with your own imagination.

Running is my meditation, mind flush, cosmic telephone, mood elevator and spiritual communion.

What the mind can believe, you can achieve.