These are just some of my favorite quotations by and for triathletes. I am sure there are many more out there, but these are the ones that move me every time I look at them.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and be sweet to the ones you love. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and truly like the company you keep in the empty moments of your life.
Jon Blais
“If you race merely for the tributes from others, you will be at the mercy of their expectations.”
Scott Tinley
“The only way to be who you want to be is by being what you haven't yet been.”
Sally Edwards
“If it’s hurting me, it’s killing them.”
Sebastian Kienle
“Fear is an exciting time. It's our soul telling us that we need to change. Change is powerful.”
Jim MacLaren
“You can quit if you want, and no one will care. But you will know the rest of your life.”
John Collins
“The key is to trust in your preparation. You have done all you can, so focus on that fact. You will remain the same person before, during and after the race, so the result, however important, will not define you. The journey is what matters.”
Chrissie Wellington
“I always get asked how fast I can run and the answer is 'faster.'“
Mirinda Carfrae
“Start slowly, then taper off.”
Walt Stack
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Greaat Quotes! Two others I've always liked:
"Pain is the feeling you get when weakness is draining out of your body." -author unknown, but haven't we all said it as an affirmation at one time or another?
On the Ironman: “Its like being in a bad car wreck. They put you in the hospital and glue you back together. You spend a whole year recovering. Your bones mend, the stitches heal and then some guy comes up and tells you you’re going to have the same accident tomorrow.”
-Scott Tinley, his “Race Day minus One.” lecture at Ironman Kona 92’ (I was there. This line got both groans and laughs).
Lastly, loved the post finish with a quote from Walt, a self-proclaimed 'plodder' and a real 'how to age up' icon.
In my own amateur experience, I often carried on by telling myself:
“When something hurts while racing just wait a minute….and something else will hurt more!”
Silly, but it did remind me none of it, the ecstatic or the tough, would last forever.