Triathlon quotes
OK, folks. You've never let the Iron Kahuna down. And he needs your help. In his weakened state, he's been surfing the Internet for inspirational triathlon quotes. He thought they would be plentiful. They were not. The best one he found was on a youtube.com video, where the narrator said, "Ironman is every person, trying to find out what he can do: swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles ... brag the rest of your life."
There seems to be a dearth of great triathlon quotes, collected in a single place. Well, how about it? Do you have a great triathlon quote you can share?
There seems to be a dearth of great triathlon quotes, collected in a single place. Well, how about it? Do you have a great triathlon quote you can share?
posted by Iron Kahuna at 9:04 PM
22 Comments:
A couple of days before Oceanside, my building manager told me, "Don't worry about the pain until you experience the pain." He learned that with a couple of back surgeries. Easier said than done, but I'll remember that one for my pre-race jitters.
Here are a few I have hanging around my room, not completely tri specific but fairly applicable...
If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, The triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise.
-P.Z. Pearce
Your biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs. The burning in your legs. And that voice in your head that yells “CAN’T,” but you don’t listen. You just push harder. And then you hear that voice whisper, “can” and you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the person you really are.
The woods are lovely dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."
-Robert Frost
Here's a long winded, but worthwhile, quote by Teddy Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Here are some that I have put together... not all of the are technically triathlon realated.
"THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY" US Navy SEALs
"Pain is weakness leaving the body." - US Marine Corps
"If you're going to be a horse, be a horse." John Mclindon, quoting his father. 1998
"Some people consider the marathon the ultimate endurance event. We consider it a cool down." - SBR MultiSports Werbung
"Fidus Ultra Finem" ("Faithful Beyond the End") 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment
"If triathlon was easy, they would have called it football"
“It doesn’t get any easier; you just get faster.”- Greg Lemond
"Life is Simple. Triathlon. Swim. Bike. Run. Eat. Sleep." - Unbekannt
"Ironman is a swim, a bike and a run. That’s what I do almost every day of my life."- Peter Reid
"Pain is about seeing how strong you are mentally."- Unbekannt
"If God invented marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise." P. Z. Pearce
"The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st - are you riding your bike?"- Lance Armstrong
"Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of."- Charles Richards
“A winner is a loser who was willing to fail and get up, fail and get up, fail and get up, fail and get up and win.”- Peter Zafra
“You can quit and no one will really care….but you will always know.” - John Colins
"It becomes almost addictive. Once you’ve done it once, you wanna do it again."
- Peter Reid
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift.”- Steve Prefontaine
"Triathlon doesn't build character. It reveals it."- Unbekannt
"There is no can't in Ironman."- Unbekannt
"If you challenge yourself to finish an Ironman, you can do anything."- Unbekannt
"Triathletes have the capacity to propel their body at high speeds, through wind and weather over long distances. I call that flying." - Unbekannt
"There’s no better sense of accomplishment in life than finishing an Ironman."
- Unbekannt
"Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete."- Willie Shoemaker
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."- Thomas Edison
"A champion is someone who gets up, even when they can't"- Natalie Rogers
"STABILIS VICTORIA"(Support the Victory)103D CHEMICAL BATTALION
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”- Michael Jordan
"This is about limits. Reaching them, exploring them, exceeding them what you thought yours were. Coming to the conclusion that there aren't any limits."- Unbekannt
"...you'll do it the way you do anything - start at the beginning and continue to the end by way of the middle (to quote Alice)", Alison
As I say:
Ironman....a good way to justify a bad eating habit.
I was listening to this podcast last weekend and apparently "Oh My God" is a popular triathlon quote with somebody, somewhere!
Carpe Diem...
Here's a set of lyrics from the song Thrill of It, by Robert Randolph. They're lyrics I train by and always they always tend to throw things into persepective (even now for me after a bad IM race):
Some people are looking for the fountain of youth
And others are looking for some kind of truth
Some people like to sit in darkness
And others like to light up the brightest room
We've got to get out to believe
Tomorrow is never guaranteed
It might hurt just a little bit
While I'm trying to figure it out
I'm on this ride for the thrill of it
Living the dream, that's what life's all about.
Always give 100% no matter what it looks like
You already have everything you need to be a long-distance athlete. It's mind-set, not miles, that separates those who do from those who dream.
Your feet hurt because you're kicking so much ass.
Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve. - J K Rowling
Then there's the quote from the Kona broadcast last year (or 2 years ago?) that went something along these lines: "They're here to do the impossible...and to make it possible, you just have to take out the IM." (Granted it's more simply and eloquently stated by them)
"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you're probably right." - Henry Ford
The person who starts the Ironman is not the same person who finishes it.
"If you're going through hell, keep going." -- Sir Winston Churchill
Remember, you signed up for this pain.
A teddy quote that I have on my website
FAR BETTER IT IS TO DARE MIGHTY THINGS, TO WIN GLORIOUS TRIUMPHS EVEN THOUGH CHECKERED BY FAILURE, THAN TO RANK WITH THOSE POOR SPIRITS WHO NEITHER ENJOY NOR SUFFER MUCH BECAUSE THEY LIVE IN THE GRAY TWILIGHT THAT KNOWS NEITHER VICTORY NOR DEFEAT. -- THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 26TH U.S. PRESIDENT
There is another quote I heard recently that I have no idea of the author. It basically states that "If you don't have time for exercise now, then you'll have time for disease later"
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/
random-quotes/view-random-quotes.asp
I hope that link works. Otherwise there is a link on the Beginner Triathlete website with quotes.
here...3 ways to live....Swim Bike Run.
OK on to more important items.
1. How do we get to wildflower gramps
2. Are we supposed to wheel you up to ladies transition and just leave you watching there for the day?
3. Should we get you a cooler full of cheap beer and huge old person umbrella?
4. Who's pushing you back up the hill to the parking lot after the race. Greyhouuuund!
5. With all this time you have sitting around its good to see you posting at other people blo.....oh wait.
Not exactly a triathlon quote - but David Horton, and ultrarunner, once said "Every person can do so much more than they think they can."
This is not a triathlon quote, but it struck me as very applicable to what we do. From the movie/book "Into The Wild":
The sea's only gifts are harsh blows
And occasionally the chance to feel strong
Now, I don't know much about the sea
But I do know that's the way it is here
And I also know how it important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong
To measure yourself at least once
To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions
Facing the blind deaf stone alone
With nothing to help you
But your hands and your own head
Hey Kahuna, I know I already left a quote, but in thinking of how my race went down last weekend and what I'd like to do moving forward, I can't help but come back to this quote from Into The Wild -
"I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions."
I can't think of anything more suitable.
Best list of reasons EVER:
http://www.xtri.com/reports.aspx?riIDReport=2434&CAT=0&xref=xx
always works for me..whether its a sprint or an ironman distance
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".
"If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you all the time."
– Chogyam Trungpa
"So this is what triathlon is all about..."
Usually uttered climbing steep hills, on wicked descents, glorious mornings in the sun sparkled lake, at the start line, at the finish line, during 5am swims and 12 miles in to an 18 mile run, drinking the victory beer, high fiving crowds, thanking volunteers ....
I sent you an email with new training info for your 4 week rehab :-)
How 'bout "Ironman is for sissies".
-(thought, if not spoken, by anyone climbing Nasty Grade at Wildflower!)
Here's a classic from Lawrence of Arabia:
[Lawrence has just extinguished a match between his thumb and forefinger. William Potter surreptitiously attempts the same]
William Potter: Ooh! It damn well 'urts!
T.E. Lawrence: Certainly it hurts.
Officer: What's the trick then?
T.E. Lawrence: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.
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