A biography for Frank Shorterhasn’t been written yet.
“Again, racing for me was about energy management.”
“I was actually going to law school in 1972.”
“A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time.”
“I think he had a wake-up call. It's a different kind of race, and I think maybe he didn't take it quite as seriously as he might have, but you can bet he learned a lot of lessons.”
“Yes, winning the gold medal was undoubtedly the biggest day of my career - mostly because I won the way I had prepared to run it. It was a totally satisfying experience.”
“What you did was live on very little. I think all of us that were competing - Bill is the same way - you don't need much to live.”
“Really, I think that going out and playing with your friends is kind of becoming a lost art, with the kids in the neighborhood.”
“I admire runners older than I - they are now my heroes. I want to be like them as I grow older.”
“So, in a way I was hedging and saying that if the Olympic stuff doesn't work out at least I can be a lawyer.”
“Because running fast is more fun than running slow.”
“It is not the time spent with the child at their activity that is going to produce the highest level athlete. It is in supporting the child in an organized activity - and Bill alluded to this - so the child can find what they truly like to do and let them go.”
“Intervals and other types of speed work are essential to improve running speed.”
“To put it another way, Michael Jordan was a gym rat.”
“My goal is to break three hours in a marathon.”
“I also held several masters running titles.”
“There's obviously some validity to it. But I think it also points out that you obviously can do it on your own because people have been doing it long before they had the stuff.”
“I think it is that parents just don't kick their kids out the door as much as they used to. I think the demise of sandlot sports has had a lot to do with it.”
“In other words we have marketed our way into this health crisis.”
“Running with others can help get you out when you might otherwise blow it off.”
“The marathon is all about energy management. I had planned to run it like a track race with strategic surges to blow up my competitors by putting them into oxygen debt, so that is the way I prepared.”