i have issues with giving up. iv no doubt about it. thats part of the reason i am such a determined, motivated and fast distance runner. because distance running is such a difficult sport both physicaly and especial mentaly, only the strong of heart can truely be phenominal. but with such a strong mentality is a very critical weakness. distance runners dont know when to give up. there are few times that it would be smart to give up, but when those situations arise, it can be very dangerous. for example a few weeks ago it was the end of a meet and i was side by side with another guy trying to compete for all the points i could. we both were sprinting the last 200 meters of the 1500 and we were evenly matched. i managed to pull the strength from deep inside, and win. but there was a cost. iv severely injured my back and was not able to optimally preform at the district meet. in fact, i shouldnt have even run. but i did anyway and it was one of the most painful things iv ever experienced. now i have to get an MRI on Friday and hope that i dont need surgury. but thats a physical type of surrender. Mental surrender is a completely different story and trust me when i say i have very major issues with this. Giving up things or people that you know in your heart you never want to let go is the hardest thing iv ever had to do in my life. but there is a point when you realize its for the best. so you try to move on. you try to let go but you never really do. it is true that it is hard to do the right thing sometimes. unfortunately i know this all too well. but i try to move on. i try to be happy. dont work for crap though. especially when you are physically and mentaly breaking down. but the knowledge in my heart that giving things up is the best, would save me.because trust me, its one thing to know what to do with your mind. its a whole other thing to know what to do in your heart. and when those two contradict eachother, it leaves a path of destruction that takes a long time to rebuild.