Marathon Monday: Training Week #12

Have you entered my Happy Herbivore Cookbook giveaway yet??? You can enter until Wednesday!

Last week was a wonderful week in running but a not-so wonderful week in cross-training.

photo credit: http://www.emotion-potions.com

Let's start by talking about yoga. I've been trying to practice everyday on my lunch break, but my office is less than yoga-friendly. For a while I was practicing in the document room - which is just a room where we keep all our old paperwork, since the room is fireproof. It's the only place that is semi-private and has the room to move a bit. It's apparently not private enough because I got walked in on mid-uttanasana (forward fold) which was WAY AWKWARD! So the next day, I moved into our shower room, which is approximately 6" long by 3" wide. Good thing I'm not very tall (a towering 5"0' thank you very much!). The shower room worked out okay and I can just lock myself in and be alone with the hum of the machines in the prototype shop right outside the door. Finally, I figure no one will be around Friday afternoon, so I can practice in the document room again, without being bothered...

So I bring all of my things into the room, lock the door, then decide I want to go get my water bottle. When I return with aforementioned bottle, I find myself locked out...and my yoga mat, clothes and computer locked IN.

So much for that. 


I have a new hope for yoga this week and lots of new videos to try (I am currently having "yoga block" when I make up my own practice...I need some new ideas). That is going to start today with some yoga cross-training via doyogawithme.com (got that idea from Maria - thanks!!)

Last week, we successfully ran our first 14-miler of the season (and Brandon's longest run EVER). The highly of my running last week was our tempo run. Our "smart coach" called for a 6 mile run, with a mile warm-up, for miles at a 9:21 pace, followed by a mile cool-down.

I was worried about the pace, to be perfectly honest. But, once we got out there I had to keep asking Brandon if he felt like we were running slow. I was actually comfortable running at a 9:21 pace! WHAT?!?! We ended up running the middle four miles faster than that, because it just felt right. I think we both felt really strong at the end of that run!

This week in running...

Hopefully we'll get out for a bike ride one of these days and then FRIDAY IS THE TRIBE HOME OPENER!!! It's only the best day of the year!


Spring, my friends, has finally sprung!

Peace, Love & Bagels,

A Yoga-lution

I spent a lot of time reading a few books about yoga this weekend. Specifically, Myths of the Asanas and the Sivananda Companion to Yoga. They really got me thinking...

I first found yoga when I was injured and couldn't run for months after my last marathon. At first it was a way for me to exercise when I couldn't run (Vinyasa Power Yoga was my go-to class) but it quickly became something much more than that. As I learned more and more about the stories and the history behind the poses I realized how important is had become to employ yogic philosophies in my own life, to keep myself centered and balanced and always striving to reach my true self. The real change in the way I viewed yoga (a workout vs. a lifestyle) came when a new yoga teacher walked into my yoga studio. Deirdre swept in and took us through the story of Shiva and the origins of the warrior poses (Virabhadrasana I, II and III, the poses for Virabhadra, an incarnation of the Hindu deity, Shiva). She opened the class with chants invoking the spirit of Shiva and ended with 3 long "Oms" that filled the room with energy that I had not previous felt in any yoga practice. In one class I learned more about yoga than in all my previous classes combined. She had my interest piqued.

For the last few months I've been longing to get back to that time in my life when I practiced yoga almost everyday, but I always find myself getting consumed in my running and my need to break a sweat. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in my day for both. Then, there is a part of me that wants my yoga practice to always be an exercise, like running is, but I know it's much more than that and I shouldn't always expect to break a sweat...because I will still reap the benefits. The Sivananda book reinforced just that. One of the biggest point that hit home for me was that it is more beneficial to have a short practice every day than one or two long practices a few times a week.

Well, that's easy enough.

So, I'm really glad Brandon made the suggestion to get up half an hour earlier to have a short practice in the mornings. Not necessarily everyday, but on most days. It's only half an hour, and we don't have to spend 20 minutes getting dressed only to go out in the cold, dark air (like we would for a morning run). I'm happy to report we've practiced for the past three days! Even though it has been a little tough to get through the morning "humbugs", our morning practice has been an incredible blessing for me. It has helped center and ground me before my 45 minute commute and 8+ hour workday (which has been increasingly tough to deal with) and it gives me a special time and space every morning that Brandon and I can share.

It doesn't take long, and it isn't hard. It's just yoga.

and it looks something like this (enjoy the pictures, each one is a link to the original source):

Start in savasana

then, spend a few minutes doing a pranayama breathing exercise (we do anuloma viloma, a.k.a. the "yogi ganster sign")

a few sun salutations (surya namaskar)

an inversion

followed by child's pose (balasana)

then a small flow through shoulderstand, plough and bridge

  

cobra, locust and bow (only bow is shown)

a seated forward fold

a twist on each side

one last standing forward fold

triangle pose (trikonasana) on both sides

then, coming full circle and soaking it all in for the final resting pose, savansana

Do you have a go-to home yoga practice? How often do you practice yoga? What is your favorite pose?

Peace, Love & Bagels,