You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.
Interpretation
Staying active is key to maintaining youthfulness and vitality.
This quote emphasizes that the act of staying active and engaged in life is what keeps us feeling youthful, rather than age itself. It suggests that physical activity, like running, is essential for preserving one's energy and spirit as we grow older.
In practice
In a motivational speech about staying active as we age.
Humans are built for endurance, not speed. We're awful sprinters compared to every other animal. We try to run our races as if they were speed races, but they are not. They're endurance races. Even a marathon, the way it's run now, it's not an endurance contest.
I have the idea that running shoes are based on a kind of cult idea - that our feet are flawed and we need shoes to correct those flaws. The shoe companies are in the business of selling shoes. But there's no evidence from running shoe manufacturers that they're right. There's no scientific data that running shoes reduce injury.
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
Know why people run marathons? β¦Because running is rooted in our collective imagination, and our imagination is rooted in running. Language, art, science; space shuttles, Starry Night, intravascular surgery; they all had their roots in our ability to run. Running was the superpower that made us human β which means its a superpower all humans posses.
Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain.
Anyone can do running. Running should be easy. It should be fun. It should include everyone. It shouldn't be a punishment for eating cheesecake, which is what we've turned it into.
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
You've got to be able to think on your own; you've got to be creative. You can't be willing to take a backseat.
That aim in life is highest which requires the highest and finest discipline.
It's Never Over 'till it's over! Never Give Up! Never.
Be wary of those who seek to steal your dream. Be even more wary of those who seek to tell you what your dream should be.
Running back-to-back races requires a certain tactical prudence. Going too hard in any one race might jeopardize your performance in another. Maintaining proper hydration and caloric equilibrium also becomes increasingly critical.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.