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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

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Grete Waitz
Age: 57 †
Born: 1953
Born: October 1
Died: 2011
Died: April 19
Athletics Competitor
Long-Distance Runner
Marathon Runner
Olympic Athlete
Oslo
Norway
Grete Andersen
School
City
Decade
Time
Teacher
Retiring
Cities
Competitive
Full
Decades
Came
Kept
Runner
Winning
Determined
Retire
Running
Track
Runners
Another
York
Marathon

More quotes by Grete Waitz

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I'll never do that again!
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Sustained motivation is essential to achieving your potential.
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In terms of fitness and battling through cancer, exercise helps you stay strong physically and mentally.
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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.
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My goal has always been to introduce other people to running. They might accomplish something they never thought they could.
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Running gives me a clearer perspective on the world, and it makes me feel special. I've never been a traditional tourist. 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.
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I don't think I would have been such a good runner if I hadn't enjoyed it.
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The worst injury I ever had was a stress fracture from running.
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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.
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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.
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You've got to look for tough competition. You've got to want to beat the best.
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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.
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My basic philosophy can be summed up by an expression we use in Norwegian: hurry slowly. Get there, but be patient.
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Every day I spend time on the treadmill. I am walking faster, stronger and harder than I was two months ago.
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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.
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Even today, in retirement, I find it very distracting if there is conversation during a run. I work out as much for my head 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.
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I am a private person and that has always been my personality.
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There is something about the ritual of the race - putting on the number, lining up, being timed - that brings out the best in us.
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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.
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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.
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