Marathon Preparation Quotes

I am a fitness freak, and I do not celebrate any festivity in a grand way during the months of December and January because I am busy preparing for my marathon.

I try to avoid the temptation with time as a total indicator for what my possibilities are for the marathon. It's the not the best indicator, but it's more how you feel, how you cover the distance and how you are able to do the training afterward.

The key to running a good marathon is to not listen to anyone's advice the last week before the race. That's when people tend to do stupid things that disrupt all the input and training of the previous months.

I was thinking back to all the time in the gym, working hard, and that spurred me on [winning New York marathon just ten months after giving birth

A doable goal for me is to finish a marathon under four hours. I'm doing all the training, but the hardest part is eating right.

Being a lifelong runner, knowing what running gives me, a variety of factors - that is what motivates me.

People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.

I love to run. I was challenged to run the New York marathon four months after having my youngest son, and since running isn't a big part of softball, the thought of a marathon was a stretch for me.

I also feel it usually takes four or five races to hit your best marathon for your body to be accustomed to the training AND the race itself.

Life is a marathon and you have to pace yourself. I believe that slow and steady wins the race, so in that way, I've been training for a marathon my whole life.

I've been running a full marathon every year for more than 20 years, and my record is getting worse. Getting older, getting worse. It's natural.

When I was training for the Chicago Marathon, I would eat a cup of cereal after an 18-mile long run, and then I'd have to get out the door with nothing but a granola bar in my hand. I can't change my busy schedule with my kids, but I can work harder to improve in this area. I think it's a part of training that most of us find difficult.

I set myself some specific goals, but the key one is just getting myself into as good a shape as possible for one day this year: the Olympic marathon.

I don't have great running technique, but I like to run. I've heard from countless people that the last six miles of the marathon is all mental. But what better city to have this in than New York City where there are millions of people there supporting you?

In a marathon, if you run too fast, you get exhausted. If you run too slow, you never make it.

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.

I trained for the marathon. I run along the East River, and I used to run all the way down Manhattan, up the West Side and back home.

I think I got to the point where a lot of runners end up: You plan another race so you have something to focus on and that's what I do - I focus.

My goal is to break three hours in a marathon.

I used to carbo load. But then I ran my first marathon, actually on a whim. All I could think of was that I needed protein. I remember going to the grocery store and buying one of those roasted chickens. I remember downing a bunch of that and, yes, I had some carbs, but that's what I felt I needed.

Not only is [a half marathon] a good test for the marathon, it is also good for those who feel they were just getting going in a 10K and are physically and mentally primed to go further. A half marathon is a good test of your endurance, without the physical punishment of going the full 26.2 miles. More so even than the 10K, it will teach you about patience, pacing, and how to negotiate a wider range of physical and emotional cycles.

When you get close to race day, there's that anticipation and excitement - it's the same whatever level you're running at because the marathon is like a festival.

I run year-round and then ramp up my training for a race a few months before.