My son is amazing. I know every mother says that about their kids. But my son really is! He ran the 1500 in the AAU Junior Olympics today. Unfortunately things did not go so well for him. He got a rough start and as much as he tried to make up for it he just couldn't. I spoke with him and he told me that he just didn't have any more to give. Now of course I had to give my constructive criticism (forgeting that moments after a disappointing race it probably would not feel so constructive) and I told him that he most certainly had more to give... physically. I went on to say that the second he started thinking that maybe he wasn't going to catch up his body proved him right.
This brings up a very important point about how important our mental resolve is in any goal. One of my favorite quotes is, "Whether you think you can or can't, you are right." To tweak the quote slightly... Whether you think you can or can't your body will prove you right. As soon as you send you body any message of doubt you body responds with, "You are right... see, your leg is hurting, and now your side... and is the air thin today?" But once you send your body the message that we WILL reach that goal, your body will also respond with a smaller more quiet, "Yes we will." The more assertive your mind is, the more assertive that response will be.
And yes, I did apologize to my son for not making it more clear how proud I was of him.