Top 18 Ironman Quotes & Sayings

There are many things I'm looking forward to in 2013, both personally and professionally. Plans for new restaurants in the U.S., including Eataly Chicago, are underway, and I'm gearing up for the 2013 Ironman world championships in Hawaii - if I'm lucky enough to get a spot!

I have an addictive personality. Sport is my drug of choice these days. It's one of the best drugs there is. It keeps you fit and healthy, even if, in the case of ironman, it pushes your body to the limit. The word "addiction" comes with negative connotations, but it doesn't have to be a damaging impulse. It's all about channeling your craving into something positive.

I want to do marathons; I want to do an Ironman.

Everybody is calling me crazy because I want to do the Ironman. I'm not doing it to win it. I'm doing it to finish it. I'm racing myself, not a particular field or group of people.

Kids clearly help center you because you can't impress your kids. People are like, "Oh, are they so excited because you're Ironman?" My kids couldn't care less. They like it when I hang out and play dad. I impress them by playing video games with them and doing well. Your kids humble you.

I was going into a slump during 'Ironman.' I found out I was a diabetic around that time, and I was just stressed out. My mind wasn't all the way there.

The Ironman World Championship is the hardest race I've competed in. Not only do the elements (heat, wind, humidity) make it grueling, but the quality of the field makes it a true test.

It's an individual sport, but collectively everybody shares the same motto that Ironman stands for: anything is possible.

I do a lot of biking. I need that mileage and the long-distance stuff because tennis demands it. My fitness trainer is always trying to convince me to do an Ironman. I can probably run the marathon, I can make the 112 miles on the bike, but I will never swim for 2.4 miles. I will die after 100 meters.

There is a special mystique about the marathon, for example, because of its length-but that's just the bit you do at the end of an Ironman

Before I became a fighter pilot, everyone said that women didn't have the physical strength. Well, I had just completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.

I got into hand-cycling to prove to myself that I could do it and get back into some form of competition, and now it's led to this. If someone had suggested a few years ago that I would be taking it to the Ironman, I would have asked them what they were smoking.

To me, 'Ironman' was kind of dark for me. I wasn't looking for it to be that dark like that.

Front squats have really helped my quad development, especially when I was preparing for the Ironman.

Ironman distance triathlons are a true test of oneself as a whole. Each race is a test of physical, mental and spiritual toughness that I haven't found in any other type of racing. At the end of the day, challenging myself on all levels is what it's about for me.

As you approach the finish line, you go through a tunnel of people, all of them cheering and encouraging you. Then I heard the speaker say, 'Alessandro Zanardi, you are an Ironman!' It was something phenomenal, something amazing... I got very emotional at that point.

You can tell someone you love them first. You can try to speak only the truth for a whole week. You can jump out of an airplane or spend Christmas Day all by your lonesome. You can help people who need help and fight real bad guys. You can dance fast or take an improv class or do one of those Ironman things… Adventure and danger can be good for your heart and soul.

I was an 'Ironman' fan. It was in the '70s. I definitely liked comics and drew a lot of panels on my notebook when I should have been studying - probably why I ended up in the arts.