Grete Waitz Quotes & Sayings

I tried to keep it secret, but the story got into the newspapers. It was more difficult for my family, who couldn't understand why the media wouldn't leave me in peace. — Grete Waitz

You've got to look for tough competition. You've got to want to beat the best. — Grete Waitz

In terms of fitness and battling through cancer, exercise helps you stay strong physically and mentally. — Grete Waitz

I love running. It's as simple as that ... it has given me endless rewards: physical, emotional, and professional. The benefits of running are lifelong. I ran as a child, and I intend to run into my old age. — Grete Waitz

I'll never do that again! — Grete Waitz

Running gives me a clearer perspective on the world ... I've always seen the world by running, and that has allowed me to view things in a different way. Places look different in the early-morning hours, when the streets are deserted. I've smelled crabs boiling on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco on my way to the Golden Gate Bridge, watched the sun rise over Diamond Head in Hawaii, and seen deer grazing on the Alps in St. Moritz, Switzerland. I clearly remember turning to my husband, Jack, in one of these places and saying, 'People don't know what they're missing.' — Grete Waitz

Every day I spend time on the treadmill. I am walking faster, stronger and harder than I was two months ago. — Grete Waitz

You go into the disease as one person and come out of it as a different person. It has changed my perspective on everything. Things that used to upset me no longer do. — Grete Waitz

I am about to get involved with the biggest cancer hospital in Norway. They are building a fitness center to work with patients. I will be a consultant. — Grete Waitz

When I came to New York in 1978, I was a full-time school teacher and track runner, and determined to retire from competitive running. But winning the New York City Marathon kept me running for another decade. — Grete Waitz

What spurs a person to get more serious is highly individual, but I have found that no matter what a person's level of ability, motivation must come from within, or it will not last. — Grete Waitz

In addition to the well-known benefits of health and well-being derived from exercise, there are other unique advantages to being a runner. You are more attuned to not only your body but also the world around you. The outdoor life you lead as a runner gives you a special relationship with your surroundings: nature, the climate, the seasons. As you depend on these things to accommodate your activity, you grow to understand and appreciate them. — Grete Waitz

The worst injury I ever had was a stress fracture from running. — Grete Waitz

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. — Grete Waitz

I work out for my head as much as I do for my body. I'm a thinker. A lot of my ideas come to me more easily when I am running. That is why I like to run in the morning, when there are no distractions ... Now some of my best ideas are born on the run. — Grete Waitz

My basic philosophy can be summed up by an expression we use in Norwegian: hurry slowly. Get there, but be patient. — Grete Waitz

If you are training properly, you should progress steadily. This doesn't necessarily mean a personal best every time you race ... Each training session should be like putting money in the bank. If your training works, you continue to deposit into your 'strength' account ... Too much training has the opposite effect. Rather than build, it tears down. Your body will tell when you have begun to tip the balance. Just be sure to listen to it. — Grete Waitz

I don't think I would have been such a good runner if I hadn't enjoyed it. — Grete Waitz

Too many people I meet believe that you can sit in a chair and be given motivation. With exercise and fitness, you get it by doing. The mental qualities you need are all linked like a chain. If you give exercise a try and see results, even if it's as simple as feeling good that you get out the door, you'll become motivated to repeat the exercise. Seeing results is inspiring. — Grete Waitz

To suddenly be a hero on a world basis was hard for me to understand. God gave me a gift. I got the chance to use it. I didn't think I deserved what people were saying. My talent is just more visible than theirs. — Grete Waitz

For every finish-line tape a runner breaks
complete with the cheers of the crowd and the clicking of hundreds of cameras
there are the hours of hard and often lonely work that rarely gets talked about. — Grete Waitz

One day you are happy and laughing and the next you are crying. — Grete Waitz

I am living in Norway, where I am under the care of the best cancer doctor in Norway and I can be closer to my family. — Grete Waitz

My goal has always been to introduce other people to running. They might accomplish something they never thought they could. — Grete Waitz

Spend at least some of your training time, and other parts of your day, concentrating on what you are doing in training and visualizing your success. — Grete Waitz

Sustained motivation is essential to achieving your potential. — Grete Waitz

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. — Grete Waitz

I'm never going to run this again. — Grete Waitz

I am a private person and that has always been my personality. — Grete Waitz

Everyone wins the marathon. We all have the same feeling at the start-nervous, anxious, excited. It is a broader, richer, and even with twenty-seven thousand people-more intimate experience than I found when racing in track. New York is the marathon that all the biggest stars want to win, but has also been the stage for an array of human stories more vast than any other sporting event. — Grete Waitz

For a couple of days after chemotherapy, food tastes really bland, even the best foods. I haven't been sick, but have been a little tired. I haven't lost any weight. — Grete Waitz

There is something about the ritual of the race - putting on the number, lining up, being timed - that brings out the best in us. — Grete Waitz

Another inspiration that has helped me get through has been Lance Armstrong's story. My cancer is not nearly as bad as his, but I believe in staying motivated and keeping as fit as you can. — Grete Waitz

Exercise and sports are greatly affected by what goes into the mind, and the mind is greatly affected by sports and exercise as well. This is true among exercisers at all levels, despite their different goals. A major element in mental training is visualization ... Visualizing a positive outcome can create a pattern of success, as long as you set realistic and specific goals. — Grete Waitz

What Fred Lebow went through was an inspiration for me. You have to set goals for yourself. — Grete Waitz

Contrary to a common myth, while there are general guidelines, there is no exact 'right' way to run ... I am amazed by the many ways people move forward. — Grete Waitz