I remember Roy Castle singing those words at the end of every episode of The Record Breakers. I loved that program. Some jaw dropping, some defying the realms of possibilities and some just plain bonkers.

This last week, Basketball fans have highlighted comments from Australian Jack McVeigh. Famous for posting motivational quotes, this time he was the focus of criticism after he appeared to take a public swipe via Twitter against his wife. While she posted that he was so talented, he strongly objected and said "It's not talent, it's dedication." While possibly not tactful, I do get his point.

As I (like many of you) continue to watch every second I can of the Olympics, we only see the final performance. We don't get to see the 7 days a week early alarms, the training no matter what the weather, the missing out on family and friends' celebrations, the blood, sweat and tears. We sort of know about that but we don't really think about the boring, every single day, repetitive training that leads to the world stage. The many sacrifices and relentless work. As Usain Bolt said, "I trained for 4 years to run 9 seconds".

The training is so time consuming and that is what causes most lesser mortals to give up. In my own humble experiences of running and walking marathons and a few other bits and bobs, it was the training that took up so much time. Factoring in the actual physical training but also recovery and rest and then being tired and not feeling up to going out to see friends.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to live like that, month after month. Be it sport, music, ballet.... the commitment to train and practise, no matter what.

I have read many, many sporting autobiographies and I am always fascinated by the behind the scenes stories. How they train, the fuelling and nutrition, the kit,  managing injury and physical and  emotional exhaustion and so on. So many are also holding down full time jobs or are students.

Helen Glover talked about how for her first Olympics training she would go to bed every afternoon for 2 hours sleep between training sessions but with small children that was just not an option for subsequent training. I have read Paula Radcliffe and Roger Federer also talk about the need for 10 hours sleep a night on top of afternoon naps- how do you do that if you are still holding down a job, doing a degree or so on? 

These athletes are training 2 and maybe 3 times A DAY.  Is it any wonder that so many fall by the wayside because they cannot sustain that pace and why we are now hearing more from world class athletes about the impact on their mental well being. 

I read Matthew Pincent's autobiography years ago, about training for the Olympics while doing a degree. Getting up for rowing training often in the dark before going to lectures and then again rowing or in the gym in the evenings, missing weddings of best friends and family and nights in the pub with mates, in order to get that cherished Gold medal. He spoke about being pushed in training so that when they finished the time trial or whatever, falling off the indoor rowing machines and being physically sick. Frequently. Can you imagine pushing yourself to that state? I saw a post on social media about a prima ballerina who looked so absolutely perfect, immaculate and beautiful on stage. Then she shows you her bruised legs when she takes her tights off, her battered, taped and misshapen feet, the surgical tape across her shoulders under her leotard. That is the reality.

Andy Murray talked about the reality of being on the tour and away from home for over 40 weeks a year. Every year of his career. That is quite an extreme way of life.

I do find it fascinating however, to learn  the different ways athletes, in particular, fine tune their performance.  Michael Phelps trained 800m Butterfly once a week without goggles for the preparation of a goggles failure and in the 2008 Olympics, when his goggles did indeed fill with water, thanks to his training, he continued on his way to a new medal and a new world record despite no vision.  Watchign the marathon open water swimming, the commentator was explaining how most of the competitors will train with blacked out goggles so that they learn to swim in dead straight lines for when vision is so limited.

During lockdown and with limited resources, Scott Lincoln, the nine times shot put  British champion was seen pushing a truck up and down his street, over and over to keep up his strength and moving sideways into music,  I read that in order to fully prepare her fitness for her global Era's tour, Taylor Swift sang through her entire set of songs while running on a treadmill daily.

Simone Biles trains for 32 hours a week with one day off. Dedication - that extra 1% that only a few possess. How many things in our life do we fob ourselves off by saying "Oh I could never do that" and yet, if we practised over and over daily... what on earth could we achieve! I'm not saying we give 32 hours a week or twice a day, but imagine if you committed to "that thing" and practised several times a week - but then you would need to really love "that thing" and really want the result too.

I copy a post here that I saw this week that I feel really sums it up- "Nothing derails people's fitness goals like their need for instant gratification. Our lifestyles and technology have us so conditioned that we want everything NOW - and our bodies do not work that way. Our phones do. Amazon Prime does. But our bodies? not so much. Our physiology does not care how quickly we want things. It works on it's own schedule but if we stay consistent (and patient) there is almost nothing our bodies cannot do" - Danny Matranga.

Mind you, it can also go very wrong. A hundred years ago, back in my very early days of show jumping, the international rider Caroline Bradley was local to our yard and was well known for her unbelievable drive. I saw myself as she regularly arrived at events in one lorry  followed by a groom in a second. She competed all day on 10 horses or so and  it was not unusual for her to drive back home, arriving  late in the evening, to step out of one lorry, climb straight into another already prepped and ready and drive off across country for the next day's event. She tragically died of a heart attack at 37 years old while at the top of her game, paying the ultimate price. So determined to succeed and giving 100% every day and that is just not possible. A massive and tragic loss for someone so determined to be the best. 

If you want to talk determination and what the body can acheive and never giving up and dedication then PLEASE do yourself a favour and watch NYAD (available on Netflix). One of the most inspiring true stories I have seen in a very long time not least because this isn't some twenty something athlete. Also note that to take part in this role, a 64 year old Annette Benning trained for a whole YEAR with an Olympic swimmer and her body certainly shows it. By the time of filming, she was conditioned sufficiently to swim up to 6 hours at a time! Again... if you want something enough..... 

Slightly more light hearted but rather staggering - Did you read the post this week about GB athlete Jacob Fincham - Dukes who had to ask his boss for time off work - he says his boss asked why and he said "err - I need to take part in the long jump at the Olympics"  and having made the final, says he needs to be back at work on Friday (today!)

HOW ON EARTH do you live like that? How do you come back down after that?!

I think us mere mortals tend to want the easy and quick option. Taking a pill rather than doing the rehab? I love the stories in the papers that scream out "I PROVED MY DOCTORS AND THE EXPERTS WRONG".... and while a recovery is of course absolutely wonderful, how many times can it be linked to a life overhaul such as changing diet, cutting out the toxic processed food and alcohol, losing weight, committing to the rehabilitation and so on. If we all actually DID what we were advised for all the many aches, pains and complaints how much better would we be! Yet sometimes a health scare pushes us to drastic action and guess what? We get better!

I always find it fascinating that as a generalisation, we prefer to pay someone else to knead and pull and push us better than to do our own rehab daily to prevent the need for that visit in the first place.

I shared on social media, a post from Novak Djokovic who in answer to a question about how athletes manage stress, talked about the importance of proper breath and being present. Simone Biles talks about her daily meditation and after well publicised mental health problems, Adam Peaty has become deeply religious. Dear Andrea Spendolini Sirieix became so emotional in her interview after her finals but she is just 19 years old. I could not believe that one of the "women" skateboarders is 11. ELEVEN! That just doesn't feel right to me.

Listen, if someone had stuck a microphone under my nose when I crawled over the finish line at last year's Moonwalk, I would have just sobbed probably. I most certainly would not have been able to give an interview! I was too busy looking for a cup of tea and some chocolate.

What about all the thousands of other athletes who are training and competing but just didn't make the team. You have to be so mentally strong to accept that and get up in the morning and keep pushing for the next challenge.

I wonder. I am not for a single moment taking away from these athletes incredible abilities but I do honestly think that it is the endless daily grind that sets them apart. Let's face it - I have been trying my best to keep us motivated and ticking over for a 6 week holiday season!! I have even offered exercise snacks of 10 mins  and we all know that sense of "Ill start on Monday/after Christmas/next week/when the kids are back at school"... maybe that is why we are here and not in Paris!!

For me, that is what is so fascinating. The phycology and the mental stamina that sets them apart and enables them to just keep going.

Got to be honest though - just watching that race walking makes my hips hurt and I still don't get the BMX or the skateboarding! Bring in netball I say!

I find it so interesting, the different shapes and sizes of the athletes. Doesn't it go to show that with training, how we can change and fine tune our bodies? I mean, all the divers are a similar shape, the cyclists are so alike and so on. You can almost guess at some of the disciplines by the physiques of the participants. Give or take, it shows that if you train enough, you can really adapt your physical shape. (Not so sure about the teeeeeny, weeeeeeny little pants though... I think no matter what my shape was, I would be Bridget Jones pants all the way - got to say it's quite brave to run the 400m final in little more than dental floss)

I am a lifelong sports addict so this summer has been an absolute joy for me with the Euros, Wimbledon and now the Olympics but I always want to learn more. I have so enjoyed the commentary - how fabulous were the combo of Becky, Mark and Clare on the swimming? I really enjoy learning about the different sports and disciplines. I have also learned a few other things though, such as apparently a 51 year old man can be taken seriously while competing against children on a skateboard, and having a large penis can spoil your pole vault success. Who knew?

Of course it isn't just sport though. I remember the story about legendary violinist Isaac Stern. A keen fan accosted him after a concert and gushed "Oh my goodness, I would give my whole LIFE to be able to play like that".. "Madam" he spat out "That is exactly what I did"....