inspire.

Favorite Running Quotes:

Each of these quotes I have selected individually for connecting with them on some level through running.  There is truth in each one, and I hope you get to experience these words as I have!

Process

"Every day gives you an opportunity to improve.  With every run, you can try to be better.  Not just a better runner, but a better person."

"Change isn't an event, it's a process."

"Nobody's a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better."

"It's very hard to understand in the beginning that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners.  Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit."

"One minute, one mile at a time.  It's so easy to get caught up in the big picture and miss the significance of each minute, each mile that you are running."

"Watching the pack run, I am reminded once again how important it is to play when we run.  We can get so serious about our pace, our plan, our blah blah blah that we lose the joy." (Kristin Armstrong)

"You need to enjoy the running experience if you want to continue and succeed at it.  But this can take time.  You need to be patient.  Running doesn't always jump out at you as the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Eventually though, you realize it is." (Jack Daniels)

"Trust the process.  It doesn't happen overnight but it does happen."

"Give yourself permission to go slow.  You don't have to go fast, you just have to go."

"Strive for progress, not perfection."

"If you are a runner, it doesn't matter how far or how fast.  It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years.  There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get.  You just run." (John Bingham)

"The tendency is to see what you haven't yet done.  You've got to remember to take stock of all the positive things you have done!"

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Perspective

‎"It never gets easier, you just get better."

"It's easy to get caught up in going faster, when the real goal is to keep going and do it without injury while having some fun along the way."

"If you never have a 'bad' day, you're probably doing something wrong; if you never have a 'good' day, you're definitely doing something wrong." (Mark Remy)

"Running moves you forward in more ways than one."

"Running is meant to be enjoyed, not endured." (former Olympian Catherina McKiernan)

"Running gives freedom.  When you run you can determine your own tempo.  You can choose your own course and think whatever you want.  Nobody tells you what to do." (Nina Kuscik, marathoner)

"A perfect run has nothing to do with distance.  It's when your stride feels comfortable.  You're on your toes trying to push it.  Suddenly you realize you can open it up a bit more.  You know you're at one with yourself and the environment.  You're a little more alive than before you started." (Sean Astin)

"None of the steps to reaching our goals are easy.  If they were, we wouldn't be interested in doing them.  Every single day, we are all given the choice: in training, in nutrition, in racing, even in life decisions—we can cower, or we can conquer.  So, what will it be for you?  When it is your time to choose: will you cower, or will you conquer?" (Ashley Ringo Walsh)

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What it takes

"I don't have a runner's body, but I have a runner's heart—and that is all you need." (Jennifer Morris)

"Winning is not about headlines and hardware [medals]. It's only about attitude.  A winner is a person who goes out today and every day, and attempts to be the best runner and best person he can be.  Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up." (Amby Burfoot)

"The true measure of a runner isn't in time, but rather in the effort it took along the way." (Jenny Hadfield)

"It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through." (Zig Ziglar)

"Some think guts is sprinting at the end of a race.  But guts is what got you there to begin with.  Guts start back in the hills with 6 miles to go and you're thinking of how you can get out of this race without anyone noticing.  Guts begin when you still have forty minutes of torture left and you're already hurting more than you ever remember." (George Sheehan)

"'I don't have time' is the grown-up version of 'The dog ate my homework.'"  No excuses!!

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Wisdom

"Running is just you, the work you put in, and the clock.  You can't cheat yourself.  If you don't put in the miles, you can't go to the starting line thinking you're going to pull a miracle out of nowhere.  You get out exactly as much as you put in." (Desiree Davila)

"Your goals don't have a price.  You don't need to pay a price to reach them."

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And one you just have to experience to understand...

"If you lose faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."  (Katherine Switzer)