The five S’s of training are: strength, skill, stamina, speed and spirit. But the key trait is speed.

How fast can you run? There’s more to sprinting than you might think.

For a start, it helps to be blessed with abundant fast-twitch muscles, but  experts agree  technique matters too. As you gather speed, you should breathe in from your nose right down to your belly then back out through your mouth — rhythmically. For instance, exhale every three steps – whatever rate feels right.

Above all, run often. For instance, if your roommate goes running, join him. The more you run, the faster you get – practice makes perfect, or exceptional.

As you blaze down the track or turf, send yourself positive messages because research shows that upbeat thinking results in more grunt.

Controlling your mind is hard, however.

So, in case you struggle with the mental motivational side, here are some inspiring quotes from nine high-speed sporting legends:  

 1.  ”Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle — when the sun comes up, you better be moving.”

-Track and field sprinter, Maurice Greene — attributed to Roger Bannister just after running the first sub-4-minute mile.

2.  “I was once timed at 99.97mph, but that’s rubbish. I was miles faster than that.”

-The world’s fastest ever bowler: Australian, Jeff Thomson.

3.  ”Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”

-Italian-born American racing driver, Mario Andretti.

4.  ”My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: ‘Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win… channel your energy. Focus.’”

-Electrifying sprinter, long-jumper and high-jumper, Carl Lewis.

 5.  “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”

-Twinkle-toed former world heavyweight champion boxer, Muhammad Ali.

 6.  ”First you learn to drive fast. Next, you learn to drive fast in traffic. Then, you learn how to do it for 500 miles.”

-Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Alan Kulwicki.

 7.  “I feel like I got a pile of cattle chasing my ass, and I’m pedaling as hard as I can to stay in front of ‘em. I’m looking behind me driving like hell.”

-Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Rusty Wallace.

8.  “Something inside of me just said ‘Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,’ and I just took off. You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

-Live-fast die-young runner, Steve Prefontaine.

 9.  ”Only think of two things — the gun and the tape. When you hear the first one, just run like hell until you break the other.”

-Former professional sprinter turned coach, Sam Mussabini.

 10.  “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”

-Italian-born American racing driver, Mario Andretti.