Clearly, these men didn’t train to this level each day at the gym. The extra reserve was there if needed however. Unfortunately, not all athletes have this reserve. Some athletes have heart, others will break when the going gets tough. It is often heart that separates the great from the ordinary. The physical qualities may be identical, but if one athlete has the drive to push through pain and fatigue, he will come out on top.

Ross, just an observation. I remember going through a combined army basic training and infantry course.

On the first night, we had a tall man, an athlete, removed in the middle of the night because he threatened suicide. He was broken by our first day where, because we started the course one day early for no other reason than we were all day, we had an NCO teach us how to make beds.

I kid you not. The first day was making beds. Granted, with a lot of shouting and aggression and throwing of beds and push-ups and chin-ups. But really, in the end it was learning how to make a bad.

And this tall strong man at least a foot taller than me could not stand the stress. I was not a great soldier; alas, I wasn’t even a good soldier. And I entered basic training overweight and out of shape.

But I refused to quit and passed my course. I saw this same type of thing repeated over and over with different soldiers. Some mentally broke in dramatic fashion like the boy beside me in the mess hall line-up talking about shooting himself with his rifle. Others, no stronger physically, simply didn’t give up and learned to enjoy the stress, challenge, and hard work.

It was just that simple.