Don Kardong Quotes

In football, I need full concentration even though I really enjoy it.

I do like athletes as they have amazing self-discipline.

I don't like to run, train, in groups. But racing, it's the groups that are most inspiring to me. I love racing with 52,000 people. I don't like training with any more than one person. Ever.

I read Christopher McDougall's book 'Born to Run.' If running were a religion, this would be its bible. I actually scribbled my favorite passages on my arm to read during the race.

Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical fitness and mental prowess.

For me, triathlons were something that was down to me and my fitness. Now, I really enjoy the pain in the triathlon of chasing someone down. It's a bit like chasing down Nico Rosberg in the last few laps at Silverstone - it makes you feel alive.

The potential elite runner must realize that hard means hard, easy means easy and they must patiently seek out what combinations work for them. They have to learn to be persistent and patient with their training and racing.

The big picture is the Trials and Olympics. I just have to keep focused for that, keep moving forward.

A coach once told me there are four factors that determine a players' performance: his tactical awareness, his physical condition, his technical ability and his mental strength.

Football is so barbaric. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking by playing it. I feel almost like I escaped from boot camp.

I have so much to learn when it comes to running. I just don't ever want it to feel like a chore. When I choose to sign up for a race or go out for a run, it's to make myself feel good, and I almost always do.

German sport has only one task: to strengthen the character of the German people, imbuing it with the fighting spirit and steadfast camaraderie necessary in the struggle for its existence

For me, fielding and running between the wickets are two things that are very important. For that, you need to motivate the guys about how much of an effect it will have on the game.

You just have your teammates and yourself out there to pick you up, so just kind of shows you how strong you really can be.

Where the marathon starts is after 30 kilometers. That's where you feel pain everywhere in your body. The muscles are really aching, and only the most prepared and well-organized athlete is going to do well after that.

I think I have the ability to be athletic on both ends of the floor, so I just need to go out there and play with a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm.

When you surround yourself with like-minded athletes who are all going through the same thing as you, it gives you more drive and strength to get through those moments when you don't want to do it any more, when you think it's hard.

I like a little pressure. That's how football goes.

In Formula 1, you need a great level of endurance because the races are long, so you need a pretty good base endurance.

The thing about kicking is, it's not as competitive as other positions, but I feel like I am a competitor.

I try to push myself a little every day. For me, it's doing 10 more seconds of whatever I'm working on. So if I'm on the treadmill sprinting my butt off or doing a grueling core workout, I think to myself, 'You can do 10 more seconds, and you'll be that much mentally stronger.' After a while, those 10 seconds add up!

When I'm fit, I'm so confident because you know you can do all the runs and be aggressive like the manager wants.

Rugby has surprisingly helped me a lot as an astronaut and when I'm training in the space suit.

I want to be quicker, I want to be stronger, and I want to be a leader.

I can train harder and put myself through more punishing efforts now than I used to do, having done the Tour de France, and come off the road now.