It Feels Good!

FINALLY!  I am back to running and yoga.  That was a tough three weeks but my first two runs out of my injury were surprisingly strong and pain free.

This week Sage has off from school and Rich took off from work.  It has been a great week so far!  We  celebrated my sister's babies on Saturday (they are due in early May), celebrated Easter and my birthday on Sunday, spent a few nights at Rich's mom's house and a night at my folk's.  Rich and I went for a beautiful 4-mile run near his mother's house on Tuesday.  We took it nice and easy because it was my first run after a few weeks off.  His mother lives out on a beautiful country road where everyone we passed waved, sometimes twice (on the way out and on the way back), and the cars gave us enough room where we did not think we needed to bail in the ditch.  Rich and I got to spend some nice quiet time together and we were able to talk freely, which does not happen that often.  Then on Thursday we took a very scenic 10k run alongside The Sacandaga with my dad.  Great run and great conversation.  Both runs are leaving me feeling optimistic about our races this season, which starts with a 5k tomorrow in Broadalbin, NY.

I would like to mention one run here in Saratoga Springs, NY that I think is going to be very nice.  This run is to benefit the Emma Foundation.  The race is on Saturday, May 12th at 9am and there will be a free kids 1/2 mile race just before at 8:30am in front of the Waldorf School on York Avenue in Saratoga.  If you are around this area and would like to support a wonderful school while meeting some fantastic people and seeing a beautiful town, please run on over and show your support.

Just Breath

These past two weeks have been hard.  I have not been able to unwind how I normally do, running and yoga, and I am feeling like a piano string wound too tightly.  I am irritable and cranky, my poor family.

I am trying very hard to be a good girl and let this injury heal completely BEFORE getting back into my routine, but lately I have been feeling a bit like a wimp.  There is this nagging little voice in my head saying that I need to be out there running.  I should be out there now.  I should not be sitting around collecting dust and going stir-crazy.  I am weak!

This judgement of myself is a weird form of punishment.  Why in the world am I doing this to myself?  I need to honor my body and give it the time it needs to heal.   If I do not give it the time it needs, I will inevitably hurt myself more and maybe ruin this year's race schedule.

I am trying to be mindful of all of these judging thoughts that are coursing through my brain.  As the thoughts come into my field of mindfulness, I am aware of them and I try very hard to let them go.  I am trying also to accept my injured self for who I am, a runner who cannot run and a yogi who cannot practice yoga at this moment.  However, the one thing that yoga has given me is my breath.  When I start feeling like nothing is going quite right, I bring mindfulness into my breathing and most of the time I do start relaxing and my mind becomes more focused. There are still some crazy moments where bringing awareness to my breath does diddly squat for me, but for the times that it does work I start feeling a little less like a monster.  Breath has become my saving grace.  

Injured

Well folks, I got my first injury.  Of all things to hurt, I strained one of my gluteal muscles.  I started noticing it at the end of last week and, not really paying much attention to it, I ran on it all weekend.  Son of a gun, now I am forced to rest, lest I hurt my tush some more.  I am going to give it one whole week without running.  I did go to yoga last evening and I was being mindful of my right buttocks, but don't you know, I strained it a little more and today I am having a hard time even sitting on it.  Hmm, maybe Rich will be kind enough to bring me home a donut (not the kind you eat ;)).

As delicious as this looks, it will not help me!

I would have to figure out how to get my right cheek in the hole....Conundrum? Yes!

Hopefully I can start my training to go farther, harder, faster next week.  I will let you know how my tush is doing soon.  Now to go rub some arnica gel on it and sit on some peas.

What do you do for your injuries?

Sunday in the Sun

Sage, waiting on Daddy and Mommy

Today has been an active one.  With a forecast of over 70 degrees, there was no way we weren't going to spend a lot of it outdoors.  So, we began with a walk down to One Yoga Saratoga where I went for the 1 hour of Hot Inversion Yoga.  Sage led the way on his balance bike and while I did yoga, he and Becca went down to Congress Park.

Yoga was challenging, but it was different than expected.  For one, I didn't think it would be on the hot side, so class started at a nice and balmy 104 degrees!  If you think doing handstands and headstands is tough, you should give them a try when it's so hot that it's challenging to breathe and you're covered head to toe in buckets of sweat.  Still, I felt like the class was well worth my while.

Foreman Elliot, would you take orders from this guy?!?

Once Sage went down for his nap, Becca suggested I for a bike ride, so I grudgingly went while Becca got do yard work with Elliot acting as foreman.  It was a short 30 minutes out, but it was really my first time riding my bike since getting it from Pat.  It needs to be more properly fitted to me, but it rides great and feels fast.  On this ride I tried to keep my heart rate in check and found that it was a little more challenging to keep a steady heart rate than with running.  If I was on a trainer I'm sure it'd be more consistent, but on the open road with all the hills it definitely was up and down.

Finally, we took a family run down to Saratoga State Park just before dinner so the boys could enjoy the weather and a nice ride in the Bob.  We took it easy, but it was a great run.  We even experimented with taking pictures while running!  What do you think?  ===============>>

Cross-Training

Thursday night Becca and I had our weekly date night at One Yoga Saratoga.  Our instructor, Justin, gave us a class that mixed up hip openers with inversions.  It was a challenging and amazing class and I actually held handstand pose longer than I ever have before.

The following morning I woke at 3:15 to make sure I got to my friend's house in Niskayuna by 4:00am.  He and I are training for the Timberman Half-Ironman.  During the week we each train on our own and once a week we get together workout and swim.  The first few weeks we hadn't really been pushing ourselves all that much.  This week that started to change.  I don't know if it was because of doing yoga the night before, or because of how early it was, but Friday morning's workout kicked my butt!  To add insult to injury we went to the Niskayuna high school pool where my friend's swim coach put us through some pretty tough drills.

The rest of the day I was really achy and unsure of my ability to stand back up once I sat down.  But, every time I sat down, I was able to get back up, so all's good :-)

~The Mr.