An earnest self-help guide, positive-thinking manual, est training seminar and how to be your own best friend. It is also a woman's success story of the 1980's. Ridge is a Broadway actress who swam the English Channel in 1982, and in 1983, became the first person ever to swim around Manhattan twice. She trained mind and body to cooperate with her desire to achieve her goals. Here, she is literally bursting forth with good intention, eager to share her spiritual good fortune and wealth of motivation derived from her sincere belief that there are no limits.""There's a marathon in each of us,"" says this book; the concept of endlessly stretching one's physical and mental muscles can be translated into every walk of life. A stockbroker, a writer and a marathon swimmer all share one common goal: the desire to achieve personal success. Ridge and Zimmer focus on looking good in your own eyes by clearly defining your vision of success, and setting about to accomplish it systematically. Endurance is not an accidental process, but rather a detailed and methodical one. Hence, the process is more important than the outcome. The knowledge that one has done one's best is as good as winning, they say. The afterglow of accomplishment spills over into everything else one tries; it creates a chain reaction. Readers who enjoy ""anyone can do it"" stories will devour this book. But it' all of this self-celebrating, self-actualizing and self-discovery weighs heavy, there's also some pragmatic endurance information and advice for real athletic events, and how to deal with post-event depression. The authors give information on diet, physical preparation, and how to combat stress. Inspiring for anyone who has ever had a bad day, low energy and dimness of spirit.