Running Experience Quotes

I was about 14, and my friend's stepdad asked me to do a 10K with him because his son - who was more into basketball - didn't want to. It was amazing, and I still remember the time I got: 48:23.

A perfect run has nothing to do with distance. It's when your stride feels comfortable.

One of my first races came over 10km in 2002. I won that race and it felt great. I would say that is when I first fell in love with running.

I've had some experience in track and field in school, but I did have to train to be able to play Jesse Owens - to be a runner, to be an Olympian.

Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be. In running the mind flies with the body; the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.

That is when the crowd really lifted me. That last 600 meters I was not running with my own legs. It was incredible.

I've run the Boston Marathon 6 times before. I think the best aspects of the marathon are the beautiful changes of the scenery along the route and the warmth of the people's support. I feel happier every time I enter this marathon.

I ran over 10 years without missing a day, averaging close to 15 miles. I loved being able to run a long distance and get that feeling of strength and exhilaration from being in good shape. There was a meditative quality about it. Almost effortlessness. That's a special feeling.

Some people feel 'transformed' from the first day they begin running; others feel that it's just plain hard work. Most of us realize it is both. I know how great running can feel, but I also know it can feel not so great, even downright awful! It can be fun, but it takes work to have that fun.

I know that I wasn't bred to be an Olympian. I didn't start running until high school, and I just stumbled upon to.

I find significance in all kinds of small details when I run; I'm hyper aware of my surroundings, the sensations in my body, and the thoughts running through my mind. Everything is clearer, heightened. I might be more addicted to this clarity than I am to running itself.

Beginning runners come in all shapes, sizes and pre-existing conditions, so there's no magic formula for determining exactly how much basic running is needed before you start speedwork. Most experts, though, recommend three or four months of preparation.

I found them uncomfortable and after that I decided to continue running barefoot because I found it more comfortable. I felt more in touch with what was happening - I could actually feel the track.

I enjoy running in Doha. The stadium is close and intimate, which makes you feel connected with the fans.

But yeah, Ann [Trason] insisted, running was romantic; and no, of course her friends didn't get it because they'd never broken through. For them, running was a miserable two miles motivated solely by size 6 jeans: get on the scale, get depressed, get your headphones on, and get it over with. But you can't muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it, like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.

Running opened up something beautiful in my life. I try to send the energy all over my body. I love the feeling of it.

I used to love the feeling of running, of running too far. It made my skin tingle.

It probably won't sink in until I've retired from running but I'm a much better athlete than two years ago.

Running is so natural to me. When I was running track, people used to ask me, 'When are you gonna start running hard?' The wind hits me in the face, and I feel so smooth... Man, I love to run!

By then running had entered the realm of the metaphysical. First there came the action of running, and accompanying it there was this entity known as me. I run; therefore I am.

My big running discovery was around Stanley Park in Vancouver. Miss it. That's a six-mile loop. Now I smile when I get four miles done. Age is a beast.

Even for runners who never make the transition to more sophisticated workouts, easing into speedwork will lead to more enjoyable running.

I ran my first marathon in Florida in 1985. I had never run more than nine miles.

I've been barefoot most of my life: either flip flops or barefoot on the pool deck. Although you'd think that would make me a good candidate for barefoot running, that doesn't work with me.

I was saying earlier that it's really strange - you can almost step outside yourself and observe yourself running, and that's what I was doing.