Thursday, September 17, 2009

YOGA

Now. As a trainer I know how important flexibility is for the body, but I rarely do more that 5ish minutes of stretching at the end of my workouts. I know this is not ok and I know I need to do more. A lot of time, my body tells me to stretch more and I ignore it and move on.

The thing is, I have always felt intimidated by the things I am not good at. I know, call me crazy....or human, but the things I am not good at don't happen to be fun either. Going to a yoga class was nothing I wanted to do because I had gone to yoga before and I was not good at it. That frustrates me.
Well, this Saturday during an 8 mile training run I mentioned the desire/need to start doing yoga and was swearing to myself that Sunday was going to be the day. My body felt tight and heavy during the run....I knew I needed a good stretch.

I knew Scott Fitness offered a class on Sunday and I was in...committed....practically there.

I didn't go.

These are the real reasons for my absense:
1. I don't like the idea of a 90 minute class just starting out
2. 2 in the afternoon is so inconvenient for me.

So this week I made a plan to do yoga...for real this time.

I tried my first class on Tuesday and then went back again on Thursday. The class was amazing and didn't make me feel like a complete failure for 50 minutes. We did some great stretching and especially focused on the back of the body....the back, hamstrings, neck....all the places I feel the most tight.

The exciting thing that happened is that I saw improvement right away. The forward bend was uncomfortable in the beginning of class, but by the end of class I had my hands on the floor much more comfortably....and then by Thursday I had improved just a little bit more.

Now....let me go back to Wednesday where I had a scheduled training run of 5 miles. I entered the run thinking I would go at least 4 miles, but I felt so great and was running faster than I had in awhile. 5 miles was done in no time.

Now, was this because of the yoga? I don't know. maybe.

What I do know is yoga will only benefit me and I am so glad I incorporated it into my routine.

I hope you make more of an effort to try the things outside of your comfort zone. The variety will only improve who you are.


Sunday, September 6, 2009

Vacation agenda

Vacations are such a hard time to continue your exercise routine for several reasons. First, packing workout clothes takes up space. Also, being with other people means the agenda is not centered around what one person wants to do, but about what EVERYONE wants to do...which is not usually exercise.

I'm in Denver this weekend with about 8 other people so it's a challenge to fit exercise into the day. What I find works best in situations like this are long walks. I woke up this morning and walked to a coffee shop about 20 minutes away and walked home....Later in the day I think we are going shopping which means more time moving and less time sitting.

Now, in situations like this, where the activity is moderate and heart rate is low, watching calorie intake is key. Vegetables are a must, but the challenge for me is the drinking that we are doing this weekend. I am almost a 'non drinker' but will participate in social drinking once in awhile and that is where the calories really add up.

In this case, I need to think about consuming more clear alcohols and lite beers over the sugary drinks and dark beers.

It's a challenge but it's possible to stay on course when the course veers off track.