Never, ever give up. And smile

When the pain comes, you know what I do? I smile.

Pick your battles, and accept yourself for who you are.

When I am at my limit and hurting, I focus on the moment.

I always get asked how fast I can run and the answer is 'faster.'

Success in the sport is, above all else, about enduring suffering.

You can't give up until the finish line, that's something I've learned.

Above all, train hard, eat light, and avoid TV and people with negative attitudes.

It's not records I chase, it's self-improvement. And that cannot be done by taking it easy.

To me, every person who smoked was voluntarily killing themselves, and doing it quite openly.

If you race merely for the tributes from others, you will be at the mercy of their expectations.

It's when the discomfort strikes that they realize a strong mind is the most powerful weapon of all.

Hard work and an open mind - it's the only way to realize the potential that is inside every one of us.

My favorite piece of tech gear is my SRM power meter. It's the most accurate power meter on the market.

Just seize every opportunity you have, embrace every experience. Make a mark, for all the right reasons.

Many dedicated endurance athletes don’t need to be told what to do – they need to be told what not to do.

No one should ever be afraid of failing; it's being afraid to give it your all in trying that I urge against.

If we let our head drop, our heart drops with it. Keep your head up, and your body is capable of amazing feats.

Some sessions are stars and some sessions are stones, but in the end they are all rocks and we build upon them.

When it hurts, you can't think of the entire picture. If you break it down to the moment, it becomes manageable.

To some extent, we are all labeled by what we're able to achieve. But more importantly, we are defined by what we attempt.

There is a special mystique about the marathon, for example, because of its length-but that's just the bit you do at the end of an Ironman

I get a lot of satisfaction from crafting and shaping mixes. I love finding the right balance, the right dynamic. It's an emotional interaction with the music.

The Ironman World Championship is the hardest race I've competed in. Not only do the elements (heat, wind, humidity) make it grueling, but the quality of the field makes it a true test.

You put me in a race where there's a lot on the line, especially when people tell me 'you can't win', or 'you're too small', you tell me those things and I'll find a way to prove you wrong.

We all have talents that, sometimes, we never quite fulfill. We're all scared, deep down, but maybe we just need to lay it on the line and explore our abilities and just not be afraid of failing.

I run to feel complete, to feel alive, to feel happy, and to feel free. I run to visit beautiful places, to overcome my fears, and to remind myself - and others - that our limits may not be where we think they are.

There's an importance of keeping an open mind. The brain is programmed to protect us, and that can mean imposing limits on what it thinks we can or should do. Constantly push at those limits, because the brain can be way too cautious.

The key is to trust in your preparation. You have done all you can, so focus on that fact. You will remain the same person before, during and after the race, so the result, however important, will not define you. The journey is what matters.

Most days, I'm out there, I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I love my job, I love my life, some days I get up, I'm sore, I'm on the edge of getting sick, I'm like, just beat up, and I don't want to go out. I just kind of make myself go out there and do it.

Ironman distance triathlons are a true test of oneself as a whole. Each race is a test of physical, mental and spiritual toughness that I haven't found in any other type of racing. At the end of the day, challenging myself on all levels is what it's about for me.

Technology has also had a big impact, especially on the bike. Now everything is tested aerodynamically, wind tunnels are used to optimize performance, and frames, wheels, water bottles are all tested. Even clothing, like my Castelli Stealth Top, is faster than skin.

Everyone said, 'Yeah, you can do it, you can qualify.' But it wasn't something that I actually believed I could do. Even now, I definitely understand and know I'm going to the Olympics, but I don't think it will fully sink in until I'm actually there and experiencing it.

I like to compete in a suit that will help me save me time and energy by reducing drag, so I race in Aqua Sphere's Energize Compression Speedsuit. The speedsuit also compresses the core muscles to damp vibration, which lessens muscle fatigue, leaving me fresher for the bike and run.

The sport is definitely growing, and has become much more competitive. When I started, you were either a former swimmer or runner who took up triathlons. Now, you have a generation of triathletes coming up that started competing at a young age - these are the people that will change the game.

You don't play triathlon. You play soccer; it's fun. You play baseball. Triathlon is work that you can leave you crumpled in a heap, puking on the roadside. It's the physical brutality of climbing Mount Everest without the great view from the top of the world. What kind of person keeps coming back for more of that?

It's definitely not the typical path. But at the same time, I've been working at this since I was young. I've been swimming and running my entire life, and I've been given so much support the last few years in cycling, that I've been able to improve. And I'm still improving and still absorbing that support to help me get to be the best that I can be.

I have an addictive personality. Sport is my drug of choice these days. It's one of the best drugs there is. It keeps you fit and healthy, even if, in the case of ironman, it pushes your body to the limit. The word "addiction" comes with negative connotations, but it doesn't have to be a damaging impulse. It's all about channeling your craving into something positive.

No one should ever be afraid of failing; it’s being afraid to give it your all in trying that I urge against. If there is one thing I have learned, particularly in my life as an athlete, it is that our limits may not be where we think they are. And, even when we think we’ve finally reached them, the next time we go there exploring we often find that they’ve moved again.

The television reports gave me my first inkling of a world beyond my own, a world that wasn't fair or equal, a world of poverty, war, disease and famine. But I also realized that this state of affairs wasn't necessarily a given, and that we have it in our power to make a difference, to make the world a better place for all. We have that choice. One thing's for sure, though - if we do nothing, it will be a given.

For the nerd in me, I prefer full quality digital files as they give a truer representation of the source mix, the studio in fact. From these files I can quite often tell what kind of set up made the tracks. For the music lover in me, vinyl is more woosey, richer, more alive, more real, more imperfect and somehow becoming more like life itself. But I don't prefer it per se. The mastering engineer in me always loves to hear it as it was made.

What's important is a great set of objective ears, years of experience and a great room with a true sound. Look at this way: If the equipment in a studio is a high performance car, and the mastering engineer is the driver, putting the car on ice and trying to achieve a good lap time is like trying to master music in a bad room, all the equipment in the world wont help you connect with the music and let you hear what's really happening. The room is the environment in which the mix performs to its potential, as the road is to the car. It's hugely important.

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