Make me wanna run faster and further in 58 characters.

October 8, 2008 7:04 AM

I am going the Nike+ route and am about to order an iPod Nano. I want an inspiring but not cheesy quotation engraved on the back. Ideas?

I'd like something inspiring without being hokey (if that's possible) that will remind me to have a kickass run. I have 58 characters total, including spaces, punctuation, etc.

It doesn't have to be about running per se as long as it gets me in the mood to be a two-legged cheetah badass. I'm thinking the written-in-words equivalent of the song that plays during the Rocky training montage.

Anything spring to mind?

posted by Rudy Gerner to sports, hobbies, & recreation (30 comments total)

"Pain don't hurt" - Patrick Swayze
"Men, today we die a little" - Emil Zatopek
"Tramps like us, baby we were born to run" - Bruce Springsteen
posted by fire&wings at 7:20 AM on October 8, 2008

There is no hill that never ends. –Masai proverb
posted by katie at 7:22 AM on October 8, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn. -Better Off Dead
posted by piedmont at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Push. Then push harder.
posted by agentwills at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2008

'You Must Do The Things You Think You Cannot Do' - Eleanor Roosevelt
'My Shoes Hurt!' - Bob Lamonta's Father
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:26 AM on October 8, 2008

iJustDoIt
posted by WinnipegDragon at 7:28 AM on October 8, 2008

"Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'"
posted by dforemsky at 7:29 AM on October 8, 2008

Easy

"To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"

~ Steve Prefontaine
posted by tarvuz at 7:29 AM on October 8, 2008

The race is long, but in the end, it's only with yourself.

Pick a short playlist - not much time in the four minute mile!

(ok, they're both weak.)
posted by mhz at 7:32 AM on October 8, 2008

(FYI, if you're in the US, Amazon is selling them for $10 less than Apple and doesn't charge sales tax. No engraving, but is it worth $20 to you?)
posted by smackfu at 7:34 AM on October 8, 2008

smackfu, you just totally upped the ante! If I get a quote I fall in love with, I'll do the engraving but if not, Amazon it is! Thanks for the tip.

So far the contenders are "Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn" and "Tramps like us, baby we were born to run."
posted by Rudy Gerner at 7:36 AM on October 8, 2008

As you may have guessed, I don't have an engraved iPod, but I do have "exitus acta probat" ("the result justifies the deed") engraved on my Road ID shoe tag.
posted by smackfu at 7:37 AM on October 8, 2008

Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves (Joseph P. Thompson)

Live forever or die in the attempt (Heller, Catch-22)

Pain is inevitable; suffering optional (Anon)

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
posted by mooders at 7:43 AM on October 8, 2008

My high school cross country team spray-painted "YES I CAN" at regular intervals on our course.
posted by Scoo at 7:43 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Do or not do - there is no try
Yoda

I can't remember who said these, but I have them scribbled in my diary:

Push beyond your limits, all the time.
They conquer who believe they can.


or how about

Sweat now or suffer later

(just made that one up)
posted by dowcrag at 7:49 AM on October 8, 2008

"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

The Olympic motto, 'faster, higher, stronger'. I guess you could leave off 'altius' and just do 'citius et fortius'.
posted by jquinby at 8:03 AM on October 8, 2008

One of the (unofficial?) themes on a lot of the t-shirts at the Army 10-miler the other day was a simple "I will not quit."
posted by inigo2 at 8:08 AM on October 8, 2008

"You are Lisa Simpson."
posted by erikgrande at 8:27 AM on October 8, 2008

Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me, who believes in you!

-Kamina, Gurren Lagann
posted by Oktober at 8:37 AM on October 8, 2008

"Pain is fear leaving the body".
posted by mmascolino at 8:39 AM on October 8, 2008

"Think Different"
posted by No New Diamonds Please at 9:36 AM on October 8, 2008

"Trample the slow, hurdle the dead" from our High School girls cross country team. Also, "We do for fun what you do for punishment"
posted by Northwest at 9:39 AM on October 8, 2008

"Bears are chasing you!"
posted by history is a weapon at 10:10 AM on October 8, 2008

To paraphrase Marco Pantani, "Going faster makes the suffering end sooner."
posted by rhizome at 10:45 AM on October 8, 2008

"A little pain never hurt anyone."

This one is too long for your purposes, but I love it:

Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity;
but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.
T.E. Lawrence
posted by trinity8-director at 12:48 PM on October 8, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Burn.
posted by cashman at 1:04 PM on October 8, 2008

How about your first name, funny middle name, and last name?

Such as Joe EnergyLegs Johnson

Maybe not EnergyLegs, but something humorous yet kick-ass like that. I'm too tired to thing of something right now.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 5:51 PM on October 8, 2008

"action should always precede motivation" - no idea.
posted by 913 at 6:57 PM on October 8, 2008

"This space intentionally left blank."
posted by seiryuu at 1:58 AM on October 9, 2008

"Pain is temporary. Losing is forever"
posted by mcroy at 5:18 AM on October 9, 2008