Running — The Ultimate Reset
The pavement is uneven, the sun is high. The body moves rhythmically, but the mind is still, it’s all quiet up there. You’re in a familiar place, but it feels different, peaceful. Time stops for a split second, and you’re beaming, a brief out-of-body experience before your foot touches the ground. These are the good days.
On bad days the mind is racing while the body is trying to keep up. Thoughts come and go, you think about work, house chores you’ve been procrastinating on, and why you forgot to call your mom again. Disjointed thoughts, anxieties, musings, all thrown into a blender at high-speed.
While running has had a sort of renaissance lately, for me, it’s been part of my life since I was about ten years old. It was a family activity back then, that went dormant during most of my young adult years.
For a decade or two, my dad was into running, he had his running buddies and raced recreationally, I guess in equals part for the physical and the social aspect. I’m glad I got dragged into that world at such a young age, because it became kind of imprinted in me. I was never the fittest or the fastest, and it doesn’t really matter. Through his experience, I got to appreciate the practice and develop a profound connection with running, develop my own ritual. The thing I like to do regardless of any social pressure, the one thing that constitutes my alone time, even when someone is around.
The process was long, and for most of my adolescence, running was never a thing, it never really clicked. I’d go for a run every now and then, on my own, defying the small town weird looks.
A few years ago I moved to a place that is fairly close to a regional park, with different trails, so picked it up again, as way to clear my head and force myself to workout. Although not on the first try, it shook me to the core. In one of those lightbulb moments, it finally clicked. I could feel it in my body, it became something I need, enjoy and look forward to. The kind of thing you make time for in your life.
Today running is a pillar for my health, physical and mental.
On the days my mind is especially loud and busy, those are the best days to go out for a run. The biggest hurdle is always getting ready, I can find a million reasons why I’m tired or need to do something later and running would delay everything.
Once the running gear is on, there’s no turning back. There’s a habit forming component to it too, and I use every trick I get to keep it going.
On the first few strides, my body gets acclimated and then goes into autopilot, the body knows it’s time to reset and quiet the mind.
Despite never being completely easy, the mental practice is worth the physical discomfort. Many days start off easy, thinking it’s going to be just a stroll, only to realize I’m more tired than I realized. From that moment on, the mind takes over and it’s all about listening to my body, so I don’t get injured, and pushing through, enforcing the discipline, practicing resilience. Just another half mile, just one more.
Some days it’s easier to embrace the challenge and push through, but it's never a sure thing. On those days you throw in the towel and stop, walk back home, and it's fine too.
Even on the days that laziness almost wins, or maybe especially on those days, that’s when running is more rewarding, more restorative. It forces the natural purge of stress and anxiety, you come out on the other side tired and maybe sore, but there’s a glow, a feeling of stillness and accomplishment.
It only takes me a good day, when my body feels good and responsive, mind and body in sync, to forget about the days when each mile felt like a marathon.
Running is a very personal experience, a moment of deep focus introspection. A natural cleanser, a time to organize the mind by being completely silent with myself while still surround by people or nature.
Nature runs are specially peaceful and relaxing. Running on a trail it's almost like asking Nature for permission to be there. It’s a place where nature comes first and if there are animals, it’s their environment, you’re just a passerby, so you have to respect them.
A mix of habit and necessity, it’s something that took me years to appreciate and develop. Looking back, there were times when I completely forgot that it was there for me as a tool and as a practice, a way of keeping me fit and serene.
Today, it’s my ultimate reset.
