Built to Move: What Training for Athens Is Teaching Me About Showing Up

By Dr. Cary Yurkiw, Super Healthy with Dr. Cary Yurkiw

On November 8, I'll be standing in the town of Marathon, Greece, waiting to run 42.2 kilometres to Athens. It's the Athens Marathon, the original course, the route that gave the whole distance its name. It finishes inside the historic marble Panathenaic Stadium.

I want to be clear about something right up front. I am not an elite runner. I'm not chasing a podium or a fancy finish time. I'm a chiropractor in Kelowna who has spent more than 33 years helping people with their spines, joints and posture, and who decided a while back that I wanted to do this. Not elite. Just showing up, day after day.

That phrase has become the theme of my training, and honestly, it's the theme of a lot of what I've learned about the human body over three decades of practice.

Your body was designed for motion

Here's something I think about often. For most of human history, people moved all day. They walked to find food, carried water, crouched, climbed, bent and lifted. Movement wasn't a workout you scheduled. It was simply life.

Our bodies reflect that history. Think about how you're put together:

• Your spine is a stack of 24 movable vertebrae with discs in between. It's built to bend, twist and absorb load, not to stay frozen in one shape for eight hours.
• Your joints rely on movement to circulate the fluid that keeps them nourished. Cartilage doesn't have its own blood supply the way muscle does, so motion plays a big part in how it's fed.
• Your muscles respond to the demands you place on them. Use them, and they adapt. Leave them idle, and they adapt to that too.
• Your feet have 26 bones each and a set of arches that act like springs. They were made for walking on varied ground.

Now compare that design with a typical modern day. We sit to eat breakfast, sit in the car, sit at a desk, sit on the couch in the evening. Many of us can go a whole day without walking more than a few thousand steps.

I don't say that to make anyone feel guilty. I say it because it helps to understand that when your body feels stiff after a long stretch of sitting, it isn't broken. It's a body built for motion, telling you it's been still for a while.

What marathon training actually looks like for me

People picture marathon training as heroic. Mine is a lot more ordinary.

Most of my runs are easy. Slow enough that I could hold a conversation. I run a few days a week, with one longer run on the weekend that has grown gradually over the months. On the other days, I walk, do some strength work, and pay attention to mobility.

A few things I've learned along the way:

1. Consistency beats intensity. One heroic run followed by a week on the couch doesn't build much. Showing up regularly, at a pace you can repeat, is what lets your body adapt over time.

2. Build slowly. Your heart and lungs tend to adapt faster than your tendons, ligaments and bones. That's why a gradual increase in distance makes sense. I'd rather be a little undertrained and healthy at the start line than overcooked and sidelined.

3. Strength matters for runners. Running is thousands of repeated single-leg landings. Simple strength work for the hips, legs and core gives those structures more capacity for the job. Squats, lunges, step-ups, bridges, planks.

4. Rest is part of training. The adaptation happens when you recover. Sleep, easy days and days off are not a sign of weakness. They're part of the plan.

5. Listen to your body. After 33 years of practice, I can tell you that the body gives signals. Normal training soreness is one thing. Sharp, persistent or worsening pain is something else, and it deserves attention from a qualified health professional rather than being pushed through.

You don't need a marathon to get in shape

I want to say this loudly: you do not need to run a marathon to honour the way your body is built.

The marathon is my goal. Running the original course has a meaning for me that's hard to put into words. But the principles behind it apply to anyone who wants to move more:

• Start where you are. If that's a ten-minute walk around the block, that's a great start.
• Break up your sitting. Stand up every 30 to 60 minutes. Walk to refill your water. Take phone calls on your feet.
• Pick something you enjoy. Walking, cycling, swimming, hiking the trails around the Okanagan, dancing in your kitchen. The best movement is the kind you'll keep doing.
• Add a little strength. Two short sessions a week of basic bodyweight exercises is a reasonable place to begin for many people.
• Be patient. Fitness is built in small deposits over weeks and months, not in a single weekend.

If you're new to exercise, managing a health condition, or returning after an injury, check in with your doctor or another qualified health professional before you ramp things up. A good starting point is a conversation, not a guess.

Why I'm doing this at all

People ask me why I'd take this on after more than three decades of a busy career. The simplest answer is that I want to practise what I talk about every day.

I spend my working life encouraging people to move, to stay active, and to treat their bodies like the remarkable, adaptable things they are. Training for Athens is my way of living that out. It's also a reminder that you don't have to be young, fast or gifted to do something meaningful with your body. You just have to keep showing up.

Some mornings the run feels great. Some mornings it doesn't. Either way, I lace up and head out. That's really all training is: one ordinary day stacked on top of another.

Join me for "Run the Original"

I'd love to share more about this journey with you. I'm hosting a live webinar called Run the Original on Thursday, October 29 at 6 PM PT.

We'll talk about:

• The history of the original marathon route from Marathon to Athens
• How I've structured my training as a regular, non-elite runner
• Simple ways to bring more movement into a busy, mostly seated day
• How to think about your spine, joints and posture as you get more active

Whether you're training for your own race or just want to get off the couch a little more often, you're welcome to join.

Save your spot here: https://tr.ee/9NfSP_Sud4

Your body was built to move. Let's keep showing up, day after day.

Dr. Cary Yurkiw

Disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified health professional before starting or changing any exercise program.