An hour of yoga is as good as an hour of sleep

Had a couple of really hectic days at work that involved starting before nine on a Monday morning and ending at midnight only to begin again at nine the next morning. I managed to make it to yoga on Monday but (owing to the drunken midnight bedtime) not to run on Tuesday. So when my alarm went off this morning, I was half-inclined to stay in bed. But I’d already packed everything up, so I convinced myself that an hour of yoga would be as restful as an hour of sleeping.

And guess what? I was right. Not only do I not feel like I need to go back to sleep now (as I surely would have felt if I had just rolled over this morning), I’m un-tired and un-guilty feeling!
After my complaint about spinal flexibility the other day, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to my back, and discovering that actually things do seem to be improving. Where I’m kind of used to twisting and trying to get my back to crack when it hurts, now I’m actually finding that the twisting does what it’s supposed to and things are actually sliding into place with that ever-so-satisfying crack. And also, my back is hurting a lot less than it used to. It’s been good to make myself focus on the things that are actually improving, because there are a few folks in my class who are insanely far ahead of me (things like putting one leg behind their head then standing up, then putting their hands on the floor and lifting the standing leg and swinging between their arms before shooting their legs back into plank) and while I shouldn’t be competitive about it, and actually don’t generally find Mysore that competitive, it’s nice to think about the ways that I’ve already improved my body.

Also want to give a shout-out to Runner Insight, a blind runner who is fundraising for Guide Dogs for the blind, and who stopped by here the other day to remind me of the value of a positive attitude. So, um, thanks. And have a great run at the Missoula Marathon.
Monday when I was doing purvattanasana, Philippa came over and helped me lift my hips enough to (almost) get my toes back on the floor. What a difference that made in the stretch across the chest and shoulders! So today I focused on trying to get that same stretch on my own. I also was happy that I was able to jump through to seated twice, and got pretty close two more times. That whole ‘hold the breath, focus on getting your hips up rather than your feet through’ thing actually works, who knew that a teacher could give you advice that would help?

So in summary, yoga can replace sleep and a positive attitude is a good thing. I’m an annoying-cheery person today, aren’t I?

Family fitness

A while back I posted about having had dinner at the School of Life and the conversation it sparked. A couple of you were kind enough to answer the question 'Who have you encountered in your (running) life that has really stood out, and why?' I'm having trouble thinking what to write today, so I thought I'd ask another question from the dinner, reframing it to be related to the subject of this blog:
What was family fitness like in your childhood? How has this influenced your approach to fitness today?
My sister and I were pretty active kids, always had some sport or another going on. Gymnastics, swimming, soccer, whatever. I've already admitted I was not exactly the most athletic kid, but I give my parents credit for encouraging me to keep it up anyway. I know my mom, in particular, had (has?) quite a lot of anxiety around sport - she would never play in local softball teams or anything like that because she never felt good enough - but she tried really hard not to pass that on to me or my sister. But we also didn't do anything as a family. I basically never saw my parents exercise, so I had no adult models for fitting fitness in around a life. I went to college and basically stopped doing anything - was no longer playing a sport (until rugby) and hadn't ever really learned to do, let alone enjoy, exercise for its own sake. So learning to make it a part of my life is something I've had to figure out on my own. Interestingly, though, my parents have been off-and-on exercising more since I left home, and are actually planning to run a half-marathon this fall.

Added paschimottanasana A-C and purvattanasana (the first of the seated postures) this morning, for yoga for a very sweaty 50 minutes.

Exercise and sport for fun, or: What to say to an unathletic kid trying out sport

Or rather, what *not* to say to an unathletic, slightly awkward kid trying out sports.

My parents have an old friend who also happened to be my teacher for a couple of years, and my volleyball coach when I first started to play. One time after I'd been playing for a couple of years, she said to me, "Nobody told you that you weren't an athlete, so you became one."

I can't remember how old I was when this happened, but it was certainly somewhere in the age range where you're at your most awkward and self-conscious. So of course I took this very well-intentioned statement completely wrong.

I focused on the first half of the sentence: 'you aren't an athlete'. I became embarassed by my sad strivings to do something I'm not completely a natural at. I stopped thinking about myself as an athlete. When I wasn't fast, I stopped running. When someone commented on my (not 100% perfect) swimming form, I stopped swimming. When I wasn't a star volleyball player, I stopped doing that.

Over the years, though, I've come to focus on the second half of that statement: 'you've become an athlete'. I remembered that I *like* to run, and it doesn't matter that I'll never keep up with Paula Radcliffe. I enjoy yoga, so who cares if I can't put my right leg over my left shoulder. My bike can get me around and moving, even if I'll never get an MBE for my cycling prowess.

The thing that really changed all this for me was rugby. There's a place in the sport for people of all sizes and shapes. My teammates encouraged me to get fitter, not to lose some arbitrary amount of weight or conform to some arbitrary shape. In fact, getting too small was sometimes a problem!

Meg was a competitive athlete until just after we met. And now she can't do sport just for fun. She used to be so good that it frustrates her to not be that good any more, and she doesn't enjoy it. She can't be average. And while I'm happy she had the success that she did in her earlier life, it makes me sad that that success has ruined her ability to take pleasure in the doing, rather than in the being great.

Today, I'd consider myself an amateur athlete. I'm not a superstar, but I do what I enjoy, for myself. It took me a really long time to come to this place, though. In my interactions with kids, I hope to ask them not, 'how good are you?' but rather 'are you having fun?'. I want to tell them I enjoy watching them become *better* athletes - with emphasis on the fact that they already are.

Yoga, really struggling with utthita hasta padangutanasana - my legs are really tired from the cycling, I think!
Juneathons: 12/12 + 2 extra credit

Couch to 5k, week 3 begins

It's 6:30 pm. First day of Couch to 5k Week 3 (I skipped the last day of week 2 in order to keep semi-on-track with respect to the calender, I'm annoyingly anal that way) was 12 hours ago. I'm finally finding time to blog.

Anyway. Today was meant to be 2x[90s jog/90s walk/3min jog/3 min walk] but that only adds up to 18 minutes. So I made it 3x that plus one extra 90s jog/90s walk at the end for 30 minutes. Somehow I wound up being kind of slow. Actually, a lot of slow (2.39 miles, 12:34 pace, ugh). Which had been striking me as weird until I realised that I am back to even times of walking and running as opposed to less time walking than running as I was last week. Maybe I'll mix it up even further later this week.

I enjoy running first thing in the morning. For one thing, it's the way to ensure I get it done (see: 6:30 pm and still at work, taking a quick break to blog). For another, I generally feel happier all day and am much less likely to eat a tuna melt for lunch. BUT. I'm not really that awake at that time of the morning, and neither is anyone else, so people waiting at bus stops tend to wander all over the pavement (sidewalk) annoyingly in front of me. PEOPLE, the pavement is not yours to control, even at 6:30 in the morning. Please look behind you before stepping backwards, lest you push a runner into the street in front of a bus.

3 more days till Juneathon. Can I get credit for a few extra days if I exercise every day this week?

I signed up for the Silver Strand half marathon with my dad (DAD, DID YOU SIGN UP YET? I'M GOING TO BE MAD IF I FLY TO CALIFORNIA AND YOU DIDN'T ENTER THIS THING!) and am 90% sure I'm going to do the Aviemore half in the Scottish highlands in October beforehand so I can do Silver Strand at whatever pace makes my dad happy. Am I insane to think about a highlands half marathon in October? The route purports to be downhill (though I should probably plan on a fair amount of hill training this summer). Am I going to freeze? Anyone ever done this one? Or want to join me?

Creating calmness at work through exercise

Today has been one of those days. Where every other minute seems to pull you in a different direction. And I won't lie, it's been incredibly stressful. But I also feel calmer than usual and I'm blaming it on running C25k v2, day 2 this morning.
Good things to remember:

• exercise creates endorphins, which make everything seem better
• when you've used up your nervous energy with a (however short) run, there's less left to obsess over all the minutiae of your day
• you generally get to work on time instead of lazing about in bed until it's time to already be gone before you get in the shower
• you eat more healthfully all day so that
• you don't feel guilty about going to a cheese-and-wine tasting (thanks Mom!) at night

I will say that I was sadly more sore than I should have been when I got going this morning and it took me a bit to get moving, and then overall I was slower than on Monday but whatever I don't care.

Vietnam, part 0.1

Even though Meg and I keep a pretty good travel journal when we travel, we haven't put any of it online from our Vietnam trip yet. And I always get shit from people about the low number of photographs I put out there - but honestly it's intentional as I fully subscribe to the belief that "the difference between professional photographers and amateurs is that the former show fewer photgraphs." (OK, I can't remember the exact quote or who said it, but you get the idea.)

Anyway, we'll put some stories up soon but we had an amazing active vacation, and a few photos, with more to come, are here.

This is why I run

I'm back from an amazing holiday in Vietnam, with pictures to come as soon as I finish editing them. But it was an amazing reminder of why I run, because it was an awesomely active vacation. We rode 200k on our bikes in 4 days through the Mekong Delta (it was hotter than anything, and humidity to match, and though I was very careful with the sun my arms are still peeling a little 2 weeks later, but seriously beautiful and fascinating) then went to Nha Trang and got certified to SCUBA. I am completely in love with this new activity, and want to go all the time now! Who wants to go diving? UK divers? But it was also a good reminder that I enjoy the active life.

In other news, my dad completed his first 5k this weekend on his way to a half-marathon this fall. I'm so proud of him!

Resolved

It's well past time to make NY Resolutions, and I don't really believe in them anyway as they usually last about 2 minutes before I give up on them and/or forget about them. But, here are some goals that I have for myself:
1. Wake up at 6 at least 5, and preferably 7, days per week. Not unrelated to:
2. Exercise in some form every day.
3. Write every day, whether it's blog (check for today!) or work on my fiction writing.

These goals are in place to help me maintain sanity. Joe's Goals (see badge in sidebar) keeps me honest. Each item is worth 1 point. When I get to 50, I get something good. New running gear, maybe? Something spiffy for my bike? Book? Your suggestions?

So, let's check in on today: woke up at 6, but went right back to sleep. No points.
Exercise: see above, though I brought my running gear so I can go after work; just have to decide if I want to do a patented Jog Blog Running Commute or just a quick jaunt near my office and come back for my things. But I have to get going if I'm going to run (and not shuffle) the Reading Half with everyone...
Writing: see blog post. 1 point. 45 left to go...

Foodie goodness

Today I have been thinking about food.

First off, about how I like it. And I like real food (and Diet Coke). I had a taste of a Powerbar Gel thingy this weekend and it was so nasty and chemically that I don't know how any of you choke them down and I'm definitely going to have to work on the DIY-realfood-energy sources. And about how I am glad that I don't feeel one bit guilty for eating an entire bag of baby carrots and a whole bag of grapes (and a sandwich) for lunch today. Someone somewhere who was doing weight watchers said that she counts all fruit/veg as 1 point because she didn't get fat eating carrots. Too true, so I'm munching away like a rabbit to my heart's content.

But it's so much easier to eat this way when I'm running and except for one week a month and it all goes hand-in-hand, which is both nice (for staying on track) and annoying (for getting back on track). But even so, I had a nice, relatively healthy dinner for New Restaurant Tuesday yesterday.

Nextly, I'm thinking about what my goals are for cooking. I like to have a healthy meal with as little time and fuss as possible. So when it's my turn to cook we have things like chicken breasts flash marinated in citrus on salad leaves with citrus vinagarette. Meg, on the other hand, likes her food to have FLAVOUR that screams at you, and she doesn't care if she uses every pan in the kitchen to do it. Cooking for her is an event, something to be savoured. So we get pork loin with spicy apple jelly and curried couscous. Neither is bad, except that I have to clean up after her while she gets to clean up after me. It's just something I've been thinking about. What are your goals for cooking?

Finally, I had a little time to kill so I've been reading my friend Tracy's awesome food blog. You should check it out.

On solitude

I thought I ran for fitness, to lose weight, to get those sexy runner's legs. But on my vacation this week, with enough time to actually think - I've discovered I was wrong. I run for solitude. This week I've got free days and friends and companions each night. You'd think I'd be on the road every day - no "too much work" or other people's plans to get in my way. But I haven't, and I think I know why. When I'm busy, I spend all day at work dealing with problems and people. I love my job. But it's not relaxing, especially for an introvert like me. I don't have time to reflect, or just be alone with my thoughts. So I run. When things aren't busy, I do actually take time all day to give my actions a little consciousness. And when, like this week, I have nothing pulling me to be with someone else and I have all the time in the world to think, I don't need the mental space running provides. So I'm doing other things - which is awesome and fun, but isn't going to help me across the finish line! Luckily the second half of my vacation next week (I do love the European vacation) will be with tons of people so I'll probably need the solitude.

Why do you run?

My next run

Bill raises a good point - the way to get over the post marathon dithering is to have the next one lined up. So I picked one. It's about 3 weeks from now, so my training certainly won't make me peak, but the price is right (free!), the location is right (in London), and it's a distance I can feel confident in (anywhere between 1.25 and 10k, completely up to you on the day).

I'm planning for 10k, on the first 3 weeks of the FIRST 10k program. Any London bloggers want to meet up for this event?

After that, I may do the Heathside 10k or the Great Capital 10k. I've applied for a charity place for Run to the Beat half marathon in October.

Here's to getting back on the roads.

Morning Brain vs Afternoon Brain

Why haven't I been running lately? It's all to do with the conflict between Morning Brain and Afternoon Brain.

Afternoon Brain says, "Let's work out."
Morning Brain says, "I'm sleepy. I'll go with Afternoon Brain (AB)."
AB: Remember, we don't generally get home before 7:30 or 8. The job that gets going about 11 (even though we've been there since 9) plus the hour commute and a need to eat at a normal hour and go to sleep at a normal hour mean that a post-work workout just doesn't work for us.
MB: I'm sleepy.
AB: You feel great when you work out. Just get up. Start tomorrow.
MB: I'm sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

What I would like to do:
M: Yoga in the morning. Hash in the evening.
T: FIRST key run #1.
W: Swim (or yoga until I get my pool pass in order)
Th: FIRST key run #2. Play volleyball with the wife in the evening.
F: Yoga.
Sa: FIRST key run #3.
Su: Swim if at home. Rest if busy.
Add a random tennis match with the wife in there once in a while.

What I have done since the marathon:
M: sleep
T: sleep
W: sleep
Th: sleep
F: sleep
Sa: yoga
Su: sleep

Does anyone else see the problem here? I've been wanting to go to bed at like 10pm and barely dragging myself out of bed at 7:30. I suspect that I need to just get up and that will help me not feel so sleepy. But I haven't been able to overrule MB yet.

Take it and Run Thursday: Motivation is Cyclic

Eating my afternoon snack and trying to think about what to say about motivation that hasn't already been said, and that isn't trite. And what I've come to is that motivation is cyclic.

I ran this morning, and I've been eating well and drinking loads of water all day. I have (almost) no desire for the microwave popcorn that's floating around the office - and that's one of my worst weaknesses. Cookies and cakes and ice cream don't interest me. And I can't wait to run again tomorrow - I'm working from home to ensure that I can, even though I have to begin my workday at 7am.

Unfortunately, it works the other way too. A week away from the trails will find me with one hand on the chocolate cake and the other wrapped around icy beer number 4. A half bottle of wine leads to an evening on the couch in my fat pants.

So how can I use this to my advantage? Everyone always talks about how saying "I'll just go out for 10 minutes and if I really hate it then I can quit" will often get you out the door. I think I've got to start even before that. "Just one workout. You don't have to eat well later if you don't want to." "Just one water before you move to beer tonight."

I'm off for more healthy beverage...

Week 4, Day 3: Turning the corner

Isn't it funny how all of a sudden you can start making progress really fast? After yesterday's great run, I sort of expected to crash today. Instead, I beat my best time! And felt great doing it, running the whole thing. I really worked hard at going out slow, which left me able to go a little faster each mile. I suddenly feel like a runner. 3.17 miles, 36:29.

Sleepy Tuesday

My resolve is weak when I am asleep. If I can just get out of bed before I wake up, I'm golden. But 6am is still very early for me, and I turned off my alarm without even really thinking about it. Guess Thursday will have to be the next day for me (since tomorrow I am working from 3:30am to 10pm). The annoying thing is that at 8, when I naturally wake up, I'm totally ready to run - and late for work!

And then I see this, and am completely shamed by my lack of motivation this morning.