It seems that in nearly everything we do that has a process or takes time to accomplish there is a need to build a foundation in order to succeed.  Your foundation for learning began very, very early on.  In kindergarten (or maybe before), you learned the ABC’s.  You learned how to read and write paving the way for your education and future.  In music performance, students build a strong foundation by learning scales and practicing technical studies.  In sports, athletes learn how to throw, kick, field, hit, block, hold equipment, etc. giving them a strong foundation to advance their skills.  In sales, the account executive learns the steps to the sale, they learn the products and how their company can provide the service more effectively than other companies.  Runners need to learn proper running form and what socks/shoes work best for them in order to prevent injury and run efficiently. So, let’s talk about running for a few minutes.

Many people think marathon runners are crazy.  Yes, we are, but that’s not the point.  The thought of running even a mile to many people is tiresome and frightening.  So, the idea of them running a marathon seems incredibly outrageous.  This is because they have no base, no foundation.  Some of these people don’t even walk for exercise on a regular basis. So, the thought of running is ridiculous.  The question runners are always asked if “Why?”.

Runners have different personal reasons why they run, which I will not go into.  More to the point, we runners run because we can.  We have built the foundation to be able to do it.  We reached the goals of 5K, 10K and half marathon races.  The next logical step to us is the full marathon, and, yes, that is 26.2 miles.  We follow training schedules that include weekday shorter runs that incorporate hill and speed training (not at the same time, of course), one long run day on the weekend, cross training, and rest days.  We are very careful not to increase our mileage per week too much too soon.  Many runners take yoga classes to help maintain flexibility and prevent injury.  Have I mentioned building a strong foundation?

‘Tis the season for half and full marathons!  Roughly fifty thousand people will run the NY City Marathon in November. In 2013 more than 1,100 marathons were run across the country with 541,000 finishers.  The division between men and women is 57% and 43% respectively. Of all of these runners 47% were runners 40 years of age and older, respectfully referred to as the masters age group. All of these runners followed a training program building their foundation step by step, brick by brick.

I recently shared a quote with my running friends that speaks to the point of building a strong foundation.  Emperor Hadrian said about the building of Rome, “Brick by brick, my citizens. Brick by brick.”. There is a lot of power, truth and motivation in this quote.  So, to those who are getting ready for a race, no matter the distance or your pace (walking or running), I say to you, build your foundation.  Start with the tiny steps and climb to the highest peaks.  With every step your foundation will get stronger.  This will ensure you are at the start line on race day and cross the finish line with your arms raised high above your head and a face beaming with pride.  “Brick by brick, my citizens.  Brick by brick” (Hadrian).