This past weekend, my family and I tried something new — we went to an escape room. If you’ve never done one, it’s basically a giant puzzle where you’re “locked” in a themed room and have to solve clues to unlock doors and eventually escape. Our mission? Break into an art thief’s office and steal back a famous painting. We teamed up with some family friends who had done a bunch of these before, and they gave us a great piece of advice right at the start: Find the locks first, figure out how many digits or letters are needed, and then work backwards to find the clues to solve and open the locks.

That advice stuck with me. Here's a corollary: Have you heard that solving a maze is often easier when you start at the end rather than the beginning? Most mazes are designed to be confusing at the start, with multiple paths and dead ends. But if you work from the finish line, things tend to be more straightforward — fewer choices, clearer paths, and a better sense of direction. 

And of course, this got me thinking about running. Whether it’s training for a race, chasing a personal best, or just staying consistent with your workouts, having the end goal in mind first makes everything else easier. If you know where you’re going, it’s a lot simpler to figure out how to get there.

Whatever your running goals are — whether it’s finishing your first 10K, qualifying for Boston, or just getting out the door more often — think about where you want to end up. Then work backward to figure out the training, nutrition, and recovery you’ll need to make it happen. You might be surprised at how much clearer the path becomes.

Happy running!