"Right now, after having had back surgery, I am finally back to running again"
About this Quote
The cultural subtext is a quiet rebuke to the myth that elite athletes are permanently elite. Back surgery isn’t a narrative beat in a highlight reel; it’s vulnerability, uncertainty, the possibility that the defining activity of your identity might be gone. “Finally” does a lot of work: it suggests weeks or months of frustration, rehab monotony, and the psychic toll of being sidelined. It also signals restraint. No heroic metaphors, no proclamations of conquering pain, just the earned relief of motion returning.
Context matters with Shorter because his legacy helped mainstream American distance running in the 1970s, when jogging shifted from oddball hobby to national habit. Hearing him talk about simply getting back out there reframes endurance as lifelong, not legendary: the real victory is continuing to inhabit your body, even when it stops cooperating.
Quote Details
| Topic | Fitness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Shorter, Frank. (2026, January 15). Right now, after having had back surgery, I am finally back to running again. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/right-now-after-having-had-back-surgery-i-am-146285/
Chicago Style
Shorter, Frank. "Right now, after having had back surgery, I am finally back to running again." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/right-now-after-having-had-back-surgery-i-am-146285/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Right now, after having had back surgery, I am finally back to running again." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/right-now-after-having-had-back-surgery-i-am-146285/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.








