Restart?
/Last month it was all about Relax and Reset…. Naturally, what comes after a “reset” is a true “restart”. Therefore I started the month of February with the mindset of “restart”. After all, I used January (and all its surprises) to ground myself.
My initial thought of February wasn’t very promising for a “restart”. The month ended up delivering many more surprises. From dog emergency care visit to unending family sicknesses… Therefore it made me think about the timing of the restart. When would be the right time to restart? Would there even be A RIGHT time? I felt like a sprinter at the start line, waiting for the “GO”. I was so concerned about the false-start that I was listening to every single sound very carefully, almost too carefully. The moment I would hear that “GO”, I would be ready but until then I was tense, waiting. As I thought about my posture at the start line, I realized that my “restart” was, by no means, a race. It was supposed to be a “crawl, or a “walk” or, even, a “jog” but not a “sprint”.
The moment that sprinter at the start line, stood up and relaxed her shoulders and legs, I got to take a deep breath to re-evaluate the month of February. I did have my moments of “restart”. They weren’t as grand as I visualized but they were still successful restarts. The most notable one was, yet again, with Alpine. As I came out of January with a more relaxed mind about how I should interact with my puppy, I was ready to restart with him in February. And it worked! Basically the “restart” had happened on its own, without me waiting for that right time.
he listens and stays in peace with kaya for a minute! :) (that is success)
Going back to my sprinter, I have a challenge for those of you who are runners. How about restarting your running, with a focus on your form? Have a friend or a partner (or your kid) film you while you are running. It will help if you are not aware of the filming. Then watch your movie in slow motion. Here are the main things I would like you to check:
Your arm position: How are you using your arms? Are you bouncing at the elbow or doing a full roll at the shoulder?
Your feet: How does your stride hit the floor? Do you let your leg do a full rotation? Do you allow your foot touch the ground from toe to heel or do you just hit it at the toes?
Your upper body: How is your stance? Are your shoulders rolled forward to cover your chest or is your chest completely open to the direction you are going?
From the questions above, you can already guess what the most important things to consider while running - Your Shoulders, Your Legs and Your Chest… The reason why your shoulders are #1 is because most of us tend to forget the importance of upper body while running. Given how powerful shoulder muscles are, they should be used fully during running so that the legs can get a break. The importance of the legs is clear. The focus should be on efficiency of the usage more so than the importance. And lastly, the chest… We all know that our heart is hidden right in there. When shoulders are rolled forward and the runner is hunched over, guess what happens to the chest! It is hidden, which means the heart is squeezed in. Therefore the pumping of the heart is even harder. Given that your heart beat is an important factor of your endurance, you would want to allow room for your heart to beat. Therefore the chest needs to be open.
Now here are two exercises that can help you with the restart. :)
Give yourself a high five for all the mini restarts that you had in February!
After a week long sickness, she was the second fastest in her team! (and always in style)
