12 Inspirational Running Quotes

OK, so here's the deal. I think my body needs a break from running. Don't get any crazy thoughts in your head: I'm not going to stop running. That would just be crazy. But I am going to scale back the intensity a bit. Meaning, I'm not going to train for anything right now. I'm going to run for fun, with heart and without pressure. And maybe in some mud (more on that to come).

The screaming knees at the end of my last half marathon sort of convinced me that I need to lower my mileage a bit (for a bit). I had hoped to run the Chicago Women's Half Marathon (my favorite) this coming weekend, but...no. I'm not going to.

I don't want to train.
I just want to have fun.

This morning, I was definitely not even feeling that whole "fun" part of it.
But I got it done.

A little 5K at the gym.

Honestly, I think I need new shoes.
I keep thinking about my Wave Sayonaras.
Maybe it's time for a new pair of those.

ANYWAY.

After the whole knee thing at the Michigan Wine Trail Half Marathon, my trainer friend (that texted me all those inspirational quotes) left me his whole library of inspirational running quotes (mostly because I let him print them off for his own use in my office at the gym).

I thought I'd share a few of my favorites today.
Do you need some running inspiration? Don't we all, though?

Here...12 running quotes:

"If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion." — Robert Pirsig

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get in. You just run." — John Bingham

"I run because it's so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can't, but then you find your inner strength and realize you're capable of so much more than you thought." — Arthur Blank

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." — Dr. George Sheehan

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Mind is everything. Muscle...pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind." — Paavo Nurmi

"Aspire to be great instead of good. Aspire to be remembered instead of forgotten. Aspire to accomplish what others have and have not done. Aspire to be yourself and nothing else for when you strive to be yourself, everything is limitless because you are not holding yourself to the limits of others." — Troy Streacker

"Ability may take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." — John Wooden

"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding." — Steve Prefontaine

Now, go...lace up and run, you runner!

Question: What is your favorite running quote?