Losing Flexibility

Last week I only made it to one yoga class, on Tuesday. Thursday I got caught up at work on a phone call so I missed class. But I did go for a run, so it wasn't a total fail.

The problem is that left me with only one class for a full week. My grandmother, who practices yoga regularly, told me that you can lose flexibility quicker than you would think. Well she wasn't kidding! I went to yoga last night and I could definitely tell a decrease in flexibility...in just one week! Makes me realize I really can't flake out if I want to remain flexible. Maybe I need to purchase that Tara Stiles DVD series I've been eying?

Other than that, it was a pretty successful class. Wasn't the best by any means this time due to missing class last Thursday and the super good girl was back showing off. Don't get me wrong, she's awesome and I want to be like her one day. But until then, she's a showoff. :)

New pose this week: Eagle Legs. We do Eagle Arms all the time, but this week we combined them with Eagle Legs. I was surprisingly stable through this pose.

5k Training

So not much to report on the yoga front. I've been training for a 5k in between classes so I ran a mile on Saturday and today. This has produced a little back pain but nothing a little Tara Stiles yoga can't fix! Also I'm back to yoga class tomorrow so that should help relieve some pain and soreness from running.

Motivation in Yoga

So I kind of felt like a rock star in my yoga class yesterday. There were two girls who had never done yoga before and one girl that had only been to one class. So when my teacher said "Okay you can go into child's pose OR you can go into a half series." We had just done a pretty tough string of poses so everyone went into child's pose. I was feeling great though so I went ahead and did a half series. Great feeling.

I also did something I've never been able to do (that I feel most human beings can do). When you lie on your back and put your feet in the air, can you straighten your legs? I feel like 99.9% of you can, but until very recently, I could not. I know this is a small thing, but it felt very big for me. So yay!

Running in between Yoga

Well I didn't make it to Saturday yoga, but I did go for a run both yesterday and today. Yesterday was intervals: run for a few minutes, walk for a few minutes. Today I walked for five minutes, jogged for 13 minutes and walked for 15 minutes.

This was per a 5K training guide I've been reading. I know it's not a lot, but I'm trying not to burn myself out. The 13 minute jog was actually really nice and I didn't get out of breath so I know I'm ready to move on. Wednesday I'm to kick it up to 15 minutes.

Progression of Poses: Week 3

I made some major breakthroughs this week with my one legged dog and I'm really working on getting the shoulder stand. Here's how far I've come!

Downward Dog Week 1

Downward Dog Week 3

One Legged Dog Week 1

One Legged Dog Week 3

One Legged Dog with a Hip Opener

Forward Fold Week One

Forward Fold Week 3

Warrior One Week One

Warrior 1 Week 3

Warrior 2 Week 1

Warrior 2 Week 3

Warrior 3 Week 1

Warrior 3 Week 3

Plow Week 1

Plow Week 3

Shoulder Stand...this was my first attempt at this

Foot Cramp During Yoga

So I haven't had a chance to write in the last few days so here's a quick recap of the last few days:

Monday: Went for another run and it went much, much better. I started off slower and ran for less time at first. It ended up being quite enjoyable and helped relieve my sore muscles.

Tuesday: Back to yoga finally. I thought it would be an especially difficult class since it had been a week since I'd been to yoga, but my muscles actually felt stronger, I'm guessing from running the past two days. I was able to move from a low lunge to a forward fold in one step.

Wednesday: No exercising. Ate pizza instead. A lot of pizza...

Today: Went to yoga and felt pretty successful. I did the best one legged dog I've ever done. Granted it was short lived, but for a few seconds both legs were straight and the leg that was up in the air was as high as the girl's next to me was (who seemed like an expert. Not sure what she was doing in the beginner yoga class).

One bad thing did happen. I got a terrible cramp in my foot while trying to go from pidgin to dancer. I guess I need more potassium? Not sure, but it was pretty unpleasant.

Tomorrow is a free day unless you count dancing to a funk/jazz band exercise (which I totally do). Then Saturday it's finally back to Power Yoga.

Yoga and Running

So as mentioned before, I have decided I need to add some cardio to my workout routine. I love yoga and it has in fact been the encouraging factor of why I want to start doing more cardio. So I decided that today I'm going to start running. I figure I need a goal, and this may be a bit out of my reach, but I want to try to finish the Color Blast 5k on March 23. Noticed I said finish. I don't know if I'll be able to run the whole thing because of how running went today.

 So the way I like to run is with music. I know a lot of people disagree with this because you can't hear your breath and keep your pace, but I love music. It encourages me to keep going and keeps me from getting bored. So here was my playlist:

1. Lose Yourself by Eminem
2. Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (Walk)
3. Raise Your Glass by Pink (Run)
4. Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (Walk)
5. Panic Station by Muse (Run)
6. Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons (Walk)
7. Lonely Boy by the Black Keys
8. Ho Hey by the Lumineers  (Walk)
9. (I cannot remember what I listened to but I ran to it) (Run)
10. On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons (Walk)

Overall about a 30 minute run/walk routine. A really good workout, possibly too good. But here was the problem. I started off with Eminem and my pace was pretty fast (too fast for someone who hasn't ran for nearly 2 years and wants to keep going after this song). But I thought, its only a 3 to 4 minute song and I can run this fast for that long. Well 'Lose Yourself' is actually a 5 to 6 minute song. I finished the song, and the entire run for that matter, but I never caught my breath. I kept thinking "And there are people who actually like to run???" I couldn't imagine in that moment ever wanting to run again.

Now I'm home and I can barely move. If I get up its a shuffle around my house (thank goodness I have hardwoods floors and socks). But I'm in a better state of mind about continuing running and I realize that that was the first step. I hadn't run in a long time, started out too fast and need to built up slower. So I am planning on running again tomorrow. Just a bit slower.

But I will not be doing my Progression of Poses today for two reasons:

1. I only went to one yoga class this past week so I don't know how much good it will do. 
2. I can't move.

So there you have it. First day of running a success because I finished what I set out to do, but now I am more tired than ever. I really hope this gets better.