the walk, the run, the todder ride, and the yoga that was a bust

I can't go on my ride with my friend today, so even though it was later in the morning and I had just pounded my two bowls of honey nut cheerios I decided I'd hit the roads.

I had really only planned on walking since the boy wanted to ride his balance bike.  he didn't last the whole time, though, so as soon as the bike and the boy went in the stroller (I love my chariot cougar 2--have I ever mentioned that before?  love.) I started to run.  it was only a little hot.  and my hamstring felt pretty good!

all in all that was only about 2 miles.

so I decided I'd go home and put on that yoga for inflexible people dvd.  I only got through about three poses before I had to turn it off.  for one thing I think I was too distracted by a toddler who was trying to "play" with his baby sister.  and for another thing I kinda get bored with yoga easily.  but I think I'm going to try again later today if nap time works out.  I also found out that we have a pilates dvd.  win!

bikram

for my birthday this year peter gave me a gift certificate to bikram yoga. unfortunately at the time I was cooking a little guy in my belly and even though they had a "pregnancy corner" I didn't feel comfortable exposing him to 100+ degree heat for 90 minutes at a time. maybe if I had already been a regular it would have been one thing, but that room is intense enough for me sans baby, I can only imagine how it would feel with baby.

anyway.

so recently I busted out the gift certificate and have rededicated my life to bikram yoga. I'm hoping that by loosening and opening up my body it will take some pressure off my nerves and lower back, thus speeding up the healing process. we shall see.

the up side to bikram is that the latter part of the series of postures are all supposed to work on the spine. the down side is that those postures involve sitting on your knees or laying on your stomach which places the top of my foot, the most hyper sensitive part, directly on the floor. so I'm not even getting the full effect of the spine series. today I wore a shoe during those poses and it helped--I was able to do more of them than last time--but it was still a little painful. hopefully one day that won't be the case.

I have three more sessions left on the gift card. maybe after that I should buy a pass. this will be my rehab. too bad it's uber expensive.

these days

monday: I did the three mile liberty park route. it was the first time the new shoes have been on a dirt trail. they were lovin' it. I actually felt pretty good. my legs--mostly my quads and calves--had been tight since the long run. it was really good to get them out there again. it definitely loosened them up. I had to keep pulling myself back because I felt I was running too fast. monday's run didn't need to be fast. that's what the next day's tempo run was for. oh, and I did a twenty minute leg yoga routine on the dvd. (read below for more specifics on said dvd)

tuesday: tempo run. it was five miles total. on the treadmill. (the treadmill seems the easiest way to do temp runs right now. I set the pace and just keep it for x amount of miles. maybe when the weather starts getting really nice I'll have to get the old garmin out and take it the streets and/or track.) I did a one mile warm up. one mile goal pace. two miles tempo pace. half mile goal pace with the last half mile easing back into a cool down pace. it felt pretty good. definitely worked me. but I was able to keep the pace. and my hamstring didn't really bother me. it's been pretty under control lately. I feel it minimally.

wednesday: since yesterday's workout was pretty hard, I just took today as an easy cross-training day. I did yoga. I stole my mom's yoga for inflexible people dvd and did a 45 minute session. it was pretty good. nothing like hot yoga. normal yoga just seems to move so slowly. but I did it because I need it. and this dvd is not too bad because it has like sixty different workouts. I likes me some variety in my life.

the week in review

monday: ran 3 miles. outside. around the park. it was one of those perfect days for running outside. the air was just so clean and crisp.

tuesday: hot yoga.

wednesday: hot yoga.

thursday: ran 2 miles. treadmill. and hot yoga. I made a breakthrough. I was able to do a full back-bend from a kneeling position. I've never been able to to do that before. ever. and I was doing the pose the teacher said, "anna, you're so close. just reach back and try to touch your heels. good. now the other. you're there! now just push out your hips!" it was amazing. I felt like a yoga superstar.

friday: hot yoga. it was the last class of the yoga blitz. I am so, so sad about that. it turns out I really like hot yoga a lot. and it's the only yoga I've found that I don' t get totally bored with ten minutes into it. {maybe I need to give other types of yoga another chance. . .} but it also turns out that hot yoga is extremely expensive. so unless someone wants to sponsor my hot yoga, it looks like if I'm doing any yoga at all it will be free yoga (at my gym or through my yogi friend, athena or something). ahh, such is life. I do feel it has helped rehabilitate my legs a little bit. which was the purpose. so that's good.

friday's hot yoga

I went to hot yoga after work on friday. this time around it was a little harder--I don't know if I was fully present. sometimes that heat is overwhelming. it's good though. all that sweat really does feel cleansing in a way. I didn't do any of the poses where I had to bend down on my knees. I think I might have a little residual problem from that kayaking accident a year ago. so I don't want to further the problem by squatting down all the time. but hot yoga was good. I'm taking a break from it yesterday and today, but plan to go full force again through next week. I have until friday.

yoga blitz

okay, okay. I haven't ran since monday. tuesday was an easy ride on the stationary bike. wednesday + thursday--the yoga blitz!

I've signed up for a ten day bikram yoga deal at a local studio. man oh man, I loves me the hot yoga.

I'm going to do as much yoga as I can over the next ten days in hopes of loosening up a bit. getting rid of some of the kinks. then afterward I am exploring some free yoga options, which unfortunately aren't as fun as hot yoga. but dang, yoga is pricey. I'll just do it at my gym or from my friend who teaches. because I should continue in the practice on a regular bases through my training. I can only imagine it doing good things for me.

so if you're in the slc area, you should join the hot yoga craze. at least for the ten days. you can't beat it for twenty bucks.

yogi

athena|tree pose, modified via waterbottle on head

thankfully I was able to go to my yoga class tonight. it was fantastic. I know my body needs this. I noticed how tight my IT bands were. and how inflexible I am. but it actually felt better than the last yoga class I took. so maybe I'm making improvements on my strength + flexibility.

resolutions

last week peter and I discussed our health and nutrition goals over a basket of fries and some shakes. we made a resolve to exercise at least one day the following week. (it's so easy to slack off in the summer when you're held hostage by sunlight and heat) here was my week:

monday: joint swimteam with peter. hurrah! it felt good to be back in the pool, as it always does. we only lasted a half an hour, though. I was too hungry. and you can practically taste that crappy air out there. no good.

tuesday: yoga.

wednesday: I rode my bike to work.

thursday: yoga. I was the only person who showed up for the class, so I had my own private lesson.

friday: hiked up to timpanogas cave. with kids. exhausting!

peter went swimming on monday, rode his bike to work on most days, and had a two hour ride on saturday.

good job both of us!

another lazy week. . . sort of.

I haven't gotten back into a full blown regimen yet. though it's not like I've been completely sitting on my butt or anything.

early saturday morning pete and I went on a hike with katie and bj. we did grandeur peak up millcreek canyon. it was a lot of fun. bj couldn't get over the fact that I was out hiking a week after my marathon. I couldn't get over the fact that his very pregnant wife was out hiking with only six weeks to go! she is very hardcore like that, though. it was a fun hike.

tuesday I had yoga. I never realized just how inflexible every muscle in my body was until this class. it makes me really sore. I'm hoping eventually I'll release and my muscles will begin to lengthen. I look forward to that day.

wednesday I rode my bike all the way to work for the first time ever. I was so proud of myself. it takes a little less than 25 minutes. I think it's actually quicker than riding over to trax and waiting for the train. it is uphill the whole way, but I can power through it. maybe by the end of the summer it won't even be that bad!

thursday I biked to work again. hurrah! I also had yoga. again, I am very tight and inflexible. I realize I have to be very patient with the yoga, though. it took me my whole life to get me to the state I'm in now, it will take a while to remedy that. I'm just amazed at how strong you have to be to do yoga. it seems like you think of yoga as being this totally easy (if you're flexible), relaxing thing. you have to be so strong to hold some of those poses! I admire the yogi's.

friday I rode my bike to work, walked up and down three flights of stairs several times (it was moving day for club u--camp starts next week! whoot!!) carrying heavy boxes (okay, so I didn't have to do this as much as everyone else because I had to go back up to the office to sort out counselor groups), and tonight we're going to hike to the living room (aka the furniture, aka the couches) up behind red butte. it should be good times!

and tomorrow maybe I could get a run in before going to the ropes course for staff training? we'll see.

the post-marathon week

the week after the no-post-race-soreness miracle run has been good. pretty much I've just been taking it easy.

monday: pete and I did a very short run to stretch out the legs. it was probably only one mile. it felt kinda good to get back out there. and it was perfect running weather. cool, grey and overcast with the threat of more rain in the air. perfect.

tuesday: yoga.

wednesday: just took it easy.

thursday: yoga.

friday: ran my errands on my bike. I rode up to steiner(which isn't that bad if you go up 17th south to 15th east and then over to guardsmen) to drop off some flyers, and then over to fairmont to drop off some more flyers. it was kinda fun!

I'm thinking riding my bike to work in the summer won't be too terribly bad. it took about twenty minutes to get up to steiner, and it's not far to campus after that. now I just need to get a bike lock...

Sometimes it's a rough road to physical fitness and marathon readiness.

Every now and again I think I have a stress fracture on my left ankle. So what do I do? Crosstrain!

I recently bought a pass to Steiner Aquatics, aka the Salt Lake City Sports Complex. Sure, Steiner's doesn't have tons of equipment like a trendy gym might have. But what it lacks in equipment it gains in quality swim workouts!

I've been swimming Masters for a couple weeks now. It's like the old days -- swimming in the slow lane (we used to affectionately call it the "slacker" lane) with a guy on deck telling us what to do. Except for now it's not Jack Seninger, thank goodness! I was only going to go on Wednesdays, but now I'm swimming on Mondays as well. I think I'm going to get those quality, kick-your-butt-into-shape workouts that I need.

I'm also going to take some spin classes. And hopefully yoga and pilates if I can fit it all in. Because back in the day when I could run a marathon without training at all (and feel the best I've ever felt at the finish) I was swimming and biking more than running. I figure I can do that again here. Plus, maybe I could be ready for a few spring sprint triathlons! I'm going to be physically FIT!!

Famous Idaho Potato Marathon, here I come!

What do you think I am, made of money?!

We didn't go swimming last night. The HPER has new summer hours. We went over to Steiner Aquatics, but it costs $5 just to go lap swimming, $6 for Masters. We're too poor, instead we went to Smith's and bought healthy food.

I was looking online yesterday at a running club I might join and the Masters swim team at Steiner's. My co-worker, Kelley, just dropped off a flyer for Sonic Yoga, the studio she practices at. Everything just costs so much money!! But if I'm truly committed to my goal of Boston, I feel that these would be really helpful things in my life.

I guess I can live without the running club. But that's the cheapest one: only fifteen bucks a year! What would be most beneficial is getting a pass at Steiner's. If I swim Masters I'll be getting that quality, kick-you-in-the-butt kind of swim workout that I need. Sure I can go swim laps on my own, but it's not the same intensity and I'm a little lazy. The yoga studio would just be all around good for me to increase flexibility and hopefully reshape my body into a leaner version of myself. But maybe I can find a studio that will let me work there 1-2 hours a week in exchange for some sessions.

Nat and I didn't wake up early and do anything this morning. I didn't want to go running because my ankle hurts and I don't want to overdo it. I'm playing frisbee tonight anyway. I love league night!