OWL-DRAGON

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."



Attributed to Confucius

Everyday I get a quote delivered in my email from http://en.thinkexist.com.

I am always suspicious of Confucius quotes - I have a feeling that many are made up and couldn't be traced back to a documented source, but I thought this quote, whoever penned it, was interesting grist for runner debate.

Runners generally fall somewhere along the divide of those who run hard for specific goals and those who run for running. At anytime during our running we may drift in or out of one camp or more rarely straddle nicely the middle line.

I think we all are aware of the debates concerning the increasingly longer average time for marathons and whether this is good or bad for the sport.

In my marathon runs I have followed the dictum of the quote. I would go slower but I would never stop, but I know professional runners and many amateurs feel that if it's not happening that day then there is no purpose in continuing the run. (This is absent an injury wherein you must stop but rather the strategy of conserving effort for another day.)

As I get older I feel I will need to embrace this quote even if I will always have at least a foot in the run hard camp.

So are you a stopper or a go slowly - or is this another artificial divide without application in the real world?