Goggins’s use of profanity is consistent with his no-nonsense approach and his intent to deliver hard truths to the reader. However, there is also a clean version of the book. Select excerpts from the original text and explain how the use of profanity functions in Goggins’s persuasive rhetoric. How might removing profanity change the text?

Goggins says what he seeks through racing is internal: mental strength rather than a prize. Moreover, before Leadville he says he only races himself. However, passing other runners and even challenging his own pacers fuels him. What role do you think competitiveness with others plays in Goggins’s ideology? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

The words “savage” and “warrior” represent the mindset Goggins constructs in his Mental Lab. What do these terms mean to him? Do their definitions evolve over the course of the work?