TRAINING

Let me be refraining
That it all depends on training.
If you would shine on race day,
In training you'll have to pay.
This hardly needs explaining.

In the race you'll be straining
While fatigue on you is gaining
And, though you start pell-mell,
You won't do so well
If you've been lax in training.

It all depends on training
And you shouldn't be complaining
When you fail to do your best
If you always take a rest
On days when it is raining.

Conversely, I'm maintaining,
You'll be beyond restraining
And running at least as good
As you think you should
After the best of training.

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses -- behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." Muhammad Ali