Yoga – We Wander And Ponder

Life is good.

I am super happy about some things happening in my life and the lives of friends & family. It’s easy (especially in the city) to feel compartmentalized and sectioned off from the rest of the world. But everyone is working towards something awesome, it seems. I’m happy to be around people that are driven, know where they want to go, and are figuring out a way to get there. (Again, this goes back to the video I posted last week—I still can’t get over it.)

Short and sweet…I’m thankful for:

my sister, Lindsey. My day wouldn’t be the same without our Gchat convos. PLUS she just got hired by a landscape architect in D.C. and she’ll finally have a job doing exactly what she wants to be doing! I’m so excited for her–for real.

a workplace with a lax dress code. Because dress pants on a rainy day just don’t work out as well as jeans and boots do.

my sweater drawer. I will be thankful for this drawer for approximately the next 5 months.

the fact that I survived Bikram yoga last week!!! I’m obsessing over this new workout and love the way I feel after sweating for 90 minutes in a room with a ton of other sweaty people trying to contort their bodies into odd shapes. There really is nothing like it.

my puppy. She may be a rascal sometimes (admittedly, she’s not really a puppy anymore), but she always goes crazy when I come home after work.

an active family. I’m running the Drumstick Dash in Indy this weekend with my mom and brother. How awesome is that?

hot apple cider. ’nuff said (even better when it transforms into a hot toddy)

the ability to feed myself good food. I look forward to cooking good dinners every weekday. Good food, good beer, and good company is all I need.

The little things have become the big things.

-J

I’ve been feeling sorry for myself lately. And it’s just silly. Out of all the problems I could be having with my running, a little bit of tendinitis is nothing to complain about. Since I my PT appointment two weeks ago, I’ve been bummed. Coming out of my first marathon with a great experience, I was riding high. I ran an awesome 4-person relay for Back on My Feet, ran the Hot Chocolate 15k with my sister (with silly photos to prove it), and reveled in a bit of laziness. I wanted to keep going, run the same paces I was running leading up to the marathon, and dominate every workout.

I guess that all had to come to an end at some point. My body started to tell me that I was trying to do too much. But, in my stubborn ways, I just didn’t want to listen to it. Other people may be able to jump back out there after a marathon and conquer the world with consistently amazing runs but I guess my body is not built that way. I’m allowing myself some down time now and trying to enjoy the rest while it lasts because there are some good things in store for the spring (hint hint).

These past two weeks, I’ve put in the lowest running mileage of my entire year of training. It almost makes me cringe to write that or even say it out loud to friends. It’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but when you’re used to putting in 25-55 miles a week, it pains you to see a measly ‘9 miles’ on your Dailymile totals. In my own head: “NINE miles?! That’s it? That’s a normal weekly training run during marathon training! I ran 13 miles before work one day in August!”. I’m working on forgetting all about those numbers and staying active in other ways. This past week, I’ve gone to the gym a few times to double up on the treadmill and bike. While I dread running on a treadmill after running outside all year, it’s refreshing to “be able to” run just a few miles at a quick pace and hop immediately onto the bike to continue the Sweat Fest. Even though I’m limiting myself to 3 mile runs, I’m finding ways to stay active and get that healthy exercise ‘high’. A few weeks ago, I experienced pain even while walking because of the tendinitis. And slowly but surely, the pain is becoming less frequent and only seems to be a problem when I get up in the morning.

I’m going to Bikram yoga tonight. It will be my 2nd time at this studio. The first time I went?….Not so much fun. I spent approximately 25 minutes out of the 90 minute class just laying on my mat trying to work up the motivation to continue with the series of poses. My heart was beating out of my chest and I wondered why people would put themselves through this sick self-torture for 90 minutes. But alas, I hope to redeem myself tonight by only rolling around on my mat for 15 out of those 90 grueling minutes. It’s really time I stopped making excuses and got my butt to the Bikram studio at least once a week (if not more). I’ve certainly got the time to do so now that I’m not officially training for a marathon. Besides…these poses are so simple…right?

It’s harder than it looks ina room over 110 degrees, I promise. Instead of enjoy a peaceful hour and half of relaxing yoga, this is more along the lines of what I think in studio:

I’ll let you know if I survive tonight’s class! 🙂

Oh ya, and about those spring races? I’ve got three half marathons on a tentative schedule and I have a feeling I’m going to be able to pick up on some speed I didn’t know I had.

When was the last time you tried a new workout? Did you stick with it? How have you worked through an injury or a set-back lately?

-J