Is There Such a Thing as a Natural Runner ?

Have you ever had the experience of running with a group. slogging your guts out for every second of improvement, then someone new comes along and chews thru his/her own time like the clappers each week, smashing his/her pb by 20seconds/km every run ?

Gee whiz, this week I marked one year since joining the Westleigh Warriors and ran a loop I ran a year ago.....Im about 50 secs per km faster which Im extremely pleased about but watched a newer runner enter into a whole new dimension with a run of 45mins over 10kms.........a time that Im pretty confident is completely out of my league.........Im not writing this because Im worried about it, in fact Im really enjoying running at my pace at the moment, running comfortably and not stressing about times..Im just wondering what accounts for this kind of tremendous improvement....? Ever had this experience?

If You Need Inspiration Try David Goggins

Running Mantras

Ive been reading in a few places (including Runners World) about how runners use mantras when they get knackered or need an extra boost when they feel like they are running out of steam.........Ive tried lots, "stay strong"..."keep pushing"....."feel the pain"

RunnerDude even held a contest last year, some examples below from his site

• Can't Stop! Won't Stop!

• No regrets!

• If you don't, you rust!

• I'm a running machine, not going down without a fight!

• "Gotta Get Thru This"

Heres some quotes I think do the trick

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
--Theodore Roosevelt

All it takes is all you got.
--Marc Davis

Once you're beat mentally, you might as well not even go to the starting line.
--Todd Williams

Run like hell and get the agony over with.
--Clarence DeMar

Got any of your own ?