200+ #Running #Mantras for #Marathon training, and for life !

To run my first Marathon, I needed to train my body as well as my mind.

Here are some of the running mantras that helped me most during this wonderful experience. I found them all over the web : books, blogs, websites, instagram, and I am happy to share them again.

If I had one piece of advice : it is to find the mantras that you most relate to, the ones that moove something inside of you, and learn to repeat them during your training, every time. Over and over again.

When the big day comes, you will be 100% ready, and they will all come to you naturally.

Please feel free to share or complete the list :)

• I don’t have to run, I get to run
• Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
• Yesterday you said tomorrow. Just Do It.
• Clear you mind of can’t.
• It’s never too late to become what you might have been.
• If you don’t go after what you want, You’ll never have it.
• The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself.
• Your only limit is you. Just do it.
• Stop wishing, start doing
• The miracle isn’t that I finished, the miracle is that I had the courage to start. John Bingham.
• 3.1, 6.2, 13.1, 26.2 to some these are just numbers. To me it’s hours of training, dedication, sweat, pain, renewal, sacrifice, perseverance and determination.
• Finish strong.
• If you give up now, what was the point of everything ?
• Every Damn Day. Just Do It.
• Getting stronger each day.
• Motivate the mind, the body will follow.
• All runners know the voice in their heads that tells them to back off when the going gets tough. Part of training is to help you get better at ignoring this voice and continuing to push even though the voice gets louder and louder as you get more fatigued. Don’t hope that the race feels easy. Expect it to be hard and know that you’re going to repeatedly challenge yourself to ignore the voice in your head that wants you to slow down. Greg McMillan
• The difference between your body this week and your body next week is what you do the next seven days to achieve your goals.
• The only bad work out is the one that didn’t happen.
• I eat hills for breakfast
• Remember the feeling you get from running is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. Sarah Condor.
• Quit slacking and make shit happen.
• My feet hurt from kicking so much ass.
• The real work out starts when you want to stop.
• Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you “are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?”
• It’s not about having time, it’s about making time.
• If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.
• #noexcuse
• A 30mn workout is 2% of your day. No Excuse.
• That little voice in your head that says you can’t do is a liar.
• When you feel like dying, do ten more.
• When you legs can’t run anymore, run with you heart.
• Hardship ? Suffering ? Bring it ! I’ve said it before : There is magic in misery, just ask any runner. Dan Karnazes.
• Run if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up. Dean Karnazes.
• Unless you puke, faint or die, keep going. Jillian Michaels.
• On the last mile, when your legs are getting tired and your lungs are burning, get angry, get angry for being tired. Then run faster.
• To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. Steve Prefontaine.
• You have a choice, you can throw in the towel, or use it to wipe the sweat off your face.
• Running teaches us to keep moving forward, one step at a time, especialy in the most painful moments.
• Push yourself because noone else is going to do it for you
• When someone tells you “you can’t” turn around and say “watch me”.
• Will is a skill. Jillian Michaels.
• The task ahead of you is never greater that the strength within you.
• The thirst you feel in your throat and lungs will be gone minutes after the race is over. The pain in your legs within days, but the glory of your finish wil last forever.
• Nothing, not even pain, lasts forever. If I can just keep putting one foot in front of the other, I will eventually get to the end. Kim Cowart.
• I’m doing this for me.
• Once you’ve achieved a goal, it’s time to start with a new one.
• I didn’t feel like running today, which is exactly why I went.
• It’s not about what you are capable of, it’s about what you are willing to endure.
• I am stronger than this challenge, and this challenge is making me even stronger.
• Toughness is in the soul and the spirit, not in the muscles.
• All walls have doors.
• Today, define yourself. Deana Kastor
• Every mile is the Marathon
• Smile, trust, believe, conquer
• Pain is temporary, pride is forever
• One chance is all you need
• Stay thankful, stay focused
• The body achieves what the mind believes
• This hill is mine
• Trust your training
• And let us run with endurance the race that was marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
• It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop. Confucius.
• The longest trip start with the first step
• Noone ever drowned in sweat
• You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have
• Frustration is the first step towards improvement. John Bingham
• If you want to win a race, you have to go a litle beserk. Steve Prefontaine
• The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C Clarke
• Never never never never give up. Sir Winston Churchill
• In the first half of the race, don’t be an idiot. In the second half, don’t be a wimp. Scott Douglass
• This is exactly where I want to be
• Learn to run when feeling the pain, then push harder
• Running is a mental sport … and we’re all insane
• The way to get started is to stop talking and start doing. Walt Disney
• The difference in wining and loosing is most often not quitting. Walt Disney
• First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. Epictetus
• Divide the race into thirds. Run the forst part with your head, the middle part with your personnality, and the last part with your heart. Mike Fanelli
• Someone busier than you is running right now
• Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re probably right. Henry Ford
• The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. It is not age, it is not diet, it is the will to succeed. Jacqueline Gareau
• What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything ? Vincent Van Gogh
• Mental is a muscle that needs exercice, just like the muscles in the body. Lynn Jennings
• Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. William James
• I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. President Thomas Jefferson
• Just suck it the hell up and press on with pride. Jaymee Marty
• Embrace the pain and burn it as fuel. Kenji Miyazawa
• Your body will argue that there is no justifable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic. Tim Noakes
• Mind is everything. Muscles, pieces of rubber. What I am, I am because of my mind. Paavo Nurmi
• Today is my day
• I don’t stop when I’m tired, I stop when I’m done.
• Enjoy the mile I’m in
• If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you
• I kill hills
• I’m a runner, this is what I do
• Noone goes this far and leaves without a medal
• I am stronger than running
• I was strong enough to get this far, I am strong enough to keep going
• Every mile is a good mile
• You are capable of much more than you think you are
• The body achieves what the mind believes
• Retreat ? Hell no we just got here. 2nd battalion, 5th Marines WW1
• Do it for the kids
• Focus and finish
• Shut up legs, we got this. Sincerely, the brain
• Courage to start, strength to endure, resolve to finish
• Everything you need is already inside of you
• Don’t limit your challenges, challenge your limits
• Run like you stole something
• A mile is a mile
• Finish on empty
• Be that person who never gives up
• Don’t dream of Marathons, train for it !
• Don’t dream of winning, train for it !
• If you still look cute at the end of your work out, you didn’t train hard enough
• Nobody is too busy, it’s just a matter of priorities
• Set goals, reach goals, make new goals, repeat.
• Running teaches me that I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined
• The hardest step is the one out the front door
• Great runners aren’t born, they’re made
• Running is a gift
• You are crazy. A runner’s favorite compliment
• Success trains, failure complains
• Running takes balls, other sports just play with them
• Your body can stand almost anything, it’s your mind you have to convince
• If you wait for the perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done
• Be a fucking wolf, be a fucking lion, take no shit, set goals, smash them.
• Willpower knows no obstacles
• You don’t find willpower, you create it
• Rid your mind of can’t
• It always seems impossible, until it’s done
• They didn’t know it was impossible, so they did it
• Another day, another chance
• Do it now. Sometimes later becomes never
• The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph
• Believe me, the triumph is not so great without the struggle
• It never gets easier, you just get stronger
• I really regret that run. Said noone. Ever
• Run a marathon, you will thank yourself for the rest of your life
• The only way to become a marathon runner is to run a marathon
• Any idiot can run, but it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon
• At the end of the day, it’s not the medals you remember. What you remember is the process, what you learn about yourself by challenging yourself. Silken Laumann
• I have cried once or twice when I crossed the finish line, out of a fullness of feeling that can’t be expressed in words. Larry Smith
• Just keep going. Eventually pain passes and the flow returns. It’s part of racing.
• That’s the beauty of starting lines. Until you begin a new venture, you never know what awaits you.
• Runners just do it. They run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.
• It’s the journey, not the destination
• Workouts are like brushing my teeth. I don’t think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made.
• No such thing as an average runner. We’re all above average. Hal Higdon
• We will finish the race. President Barack Obama
• Be stronger than your strongest excuse
• I found my inner bitch and ran with her
• The hard part isn’t getting your body in shape, the hard part is getting your mind in shape
• There are two ways you can go with pain. You can let it destroy you, or you can use it as fuel to drive you, to dream bigger, work harder. Taylor Swift
• The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons tellong us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet the steady dignity that simply refuses to give in. Courage. We all suffer, keep going. Graeme Fife
• Luck won’t save you. Neither will pasta dinners, tripple knotted shoes or pre-race huddles. The only thing that will save you in a race is the unbreakable determination to run harder for longer than everyone else.
• Your biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells “can’t”. But you don’t have to listen. Just push harder, and then you hear the voice that says “can”. And you discover that the person you tought you were is no match for the one you really are.
• Nothing is over until you stop trying
• Let your faith be bigger than your fears
• Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now
• Train your mind to become calloused to effort. Jeff Edmonds
• Impossible is not a declaration, it’s a dare. Mohammed Ali
• The ability to run the extra mile lies not in your legs, it lies between your ears.
• Cause in the end, it’s about the one with willpower. Not speed or strength.
• I can. I will. End of story
• Physical strength will get you to the start line. Mental strength will get you to the finish line
• You will want to stop. Don’t.
• Endurance is one of the most difficult discipline. But it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes. Buddha
• It hurts up to a certain point, and then it doesn’t get any worse. Ann Trason
• The race always hurts. Expect it to hurt. You don’t train so it doesn’t hurt, you train so you can tolerate it. Endure.
• In the end, it’s your run, and yours alone. Embrace it. Be strong.
• Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. Hard is what makes it great.
• 26.2 miles : to hell and back.
• If people were posessed by reason, running marathons would not work. But we are not creatures of reason, we are creatures of passion. Noel Carroll
• When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever
• Even when I run I smile because I know I don’t have to. John Bingham
• Most people can’t handle adversity. Simply by not quitting you will succeed. Stephanie Bruce
• Runners are made when noone else is watching
• Run the mile you’re in
• If you train your mind for running, everything else will be easy. Amby Burfoot
• Training to run a 100 miles is like training to get hit by a truck. Luis Escobar, seven time finisher of the Western 100
• Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction
• Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it
• Noone looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep. Go train
• Noone looks back on their life and remembers all the nights they spent at the office or mowing the lawn. Go train
• No matter the situation, never let your emotions overpower your intelligence.
• Your life is your message to the world. Be sure it’s inspiring.
• If you change nothing, nothing will change.
• If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.
• Getting old is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
• Mind over Miles
• If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.
• Sometimes I feel like giving up, then I remember i have a lot of motherfuckers to proove wrong
• The moment when you want to quit, is the moment when you need to keep pushing
• I’m goig to suceed because I am crazy enough to think I can
• You’ve got what it takes, and it will take everything you’ve got
• It’s not about having time, it’s about making time
• It’s actually pretty simple, either you do it, or you don’t.
• You’re only one work out away from a good mood
• Dead last is greater than did not finish which trumps did not start
• Your race is simply a victory lap, celebrating the completion of your training.
• A marathon is hundreds of miles, the race is only the last 26.2 miles
• It doesn’t matter what happens between the starting line and the finish line. What matters is that you cross both.
• Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about. Pattisue Plumer.
• Part of a runner’s training consists of pushing back the limits of his mind. Kenny Moore
• Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optionnal. Haruki Murakami
• You know you’re a runer when you’re asked how you week end was, you can only reply in miles
• You know you’re a runner when you take the words such as badass, insane, freak, beast, crazy, obsessed as compliments.
  You know you’re a runner when you can say things like “I only ran an easy 6 miles today”, and you really mean it.
• There is no such thing as “the right time to get started”. Just do it
• Giving up is always an option, but so is going forward.
• Nobody cares about your excuses. Nobody pities you for procrastinating.
• Nobody is going to coddle you because you are lazy. It’s your ass. You move it.
• Don’t think, just put your shoes on and run.
• Run early in the morning, before your brain figures out what you are doing
• Many things aren’t equal, but everyone gets the same 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We make time for what we truly want.
• Be stronger than your excuses
• Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try
• Athletes eat and train, they don’t diet and exercise.
• It will hurt, it will take time, it will require dedication, it will require willpower, you will need to make healthy decisions, it will require sacrifice, you will need to push your body and your mind to their max. There will be temptation. But I promise you, when you reach your goal, it’s WORTH IT.
• It’s hard to explain to someone that doesn’t run why one of my goals is to suffer a little. Reist Mamman
• Your fitness is 100% mental. Your body won’t go where your mind doesn’t push it.
• I never regret it when I do it. I always regret it when I don’t.
• There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps.
• Success in running means leaving your comfort zone. Learn to love your discomfort zone.
• Running. The human body’s most raw form of freedom.
• Obsessed is the word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.
• Don’t dream of winning. Train for it. Mo Farah
• Once you make the decision that you will not fail, your heart and body will follow. Kara Goucher
• First you feel like dying, the you feel reborn.
• I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can’t run, what they would give to have this simple gift I take for granted. And I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me.
• It’s fine. I ran today.
• I may not be the strongest, I may not be the fastest, but I’ll be darned if I am not trying my hardest.
• I am a runner. I have good runs and tough runs, on days and off days, weeks of incredible progress, and weeks of falling behind schedule. But I will never have a bad run, because there is no such thing. Every run is a blessing. Let me say that again. Every run is a blessing, and I am proud of every run I do, simply because I did it.
• Your legs are not giving out. Your head is giving up. Keep going.
• The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is what you do.
• I’m not training to be skinny, I’m training to be a badass.
• Your feet are hurting because you are kicking so much ass
• You can feel sore tomorrow, or you can feel sorry tomorrow. You choose.
• I’m not telling you it will be easy. I’m telling you it ill be worth it.
• Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can.
• Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going
• I run marathons. Yes, for fun.
• The struggle is part of the story
• Only 1% of the population has finished a full marathon.
• When you think you can’t, you better fucking convince yourself you can, and push harder.
• Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up
• While you were sleeping, I was running.
• A good goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot. Joe Vitale
• Right, left, right, left
• If you don’t want to do it when you can, you will not be able to do it when you want. Signed, Time and Opportunity
• One of the greatest feeling is accomplishing something you once thought would have been impossible.
• At mile 20 I tought I was dead, at mile 22 I wished I was dead, at mile 24 I knew I was dead, and at mile 26 I realized I had become too tough to kill.
• The most beautiful moment in a marathon training is the transition from wondering if you can to knowing you will
• Love the process, and the results will come.
• When you give up, someone else is still going. Never give up.
• If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. If you want to talk to God, run an Ultra. Dean Karnazes