Category Archives: Running

i have the yoga police on speed dial.

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We’re cruising into the fourth of July weekend and I am looking forward to a three day weekend of BBQs, beaches, and relaxation. I have gotten my wedding dress back where it belongs (in a shop, rather than my closet where it will almost certainly become ruined) and things are moving along swimmingly on the wedding front, so I am feeling ready for a summer filled with fun, preparation, cooking (always), and seeing some friends along the way.

Last night I went to yoga and worked, for an hour and a half, on my thigh muscles and psoas muscle. I love a vinyasa class, but I can’t help coming back time and again to Iyengar, which focuses on postures in yoga, really bringing your awareness to what your body is doing at the actual moment it’s doing it.

Iyengar is a great choice for me for when I’m being taught by a physical teacher instead of doing a video at home. My teachers keep me honest, make me work for a pose, make me understand where my body should be, and why, and how. I love learning alignment and I can pull that through to my home practice because I know how something should feel and that helps me get myself into poses I thought were unobtainable.

Last night, as I hung out in shoulder stand with my thighs activated and working to keep my legs straight, my yoga teacher Jay proclaimed, “Firm those thighs…I have the yoga police on speed dial.” I love that he keeps us laughing, working, committed, and aware that our bodies are on as good as we make them be. I love finding strength in myself I didn’t see, but that he did, all along.

This summer, I hope to make more advances in my yoga practice as I train for a 10k in the winter. I’ve always found that balancing between yoga and running makes me feel the best, because too much running is hard on my feet (too much yoga, I find, is never a problem.)

What are y’all’s favorite yoga types and classes? I am always looking to deepen my practice and I am open to suggestions!

I hope this weekend is full of getting outside, maybe some yoga at the beach, and definitely sunshine, sea, and delicious foods. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

be each other’s light in the dark

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Happy Thursday, you guys!

Tonight it’s raining in Los Angeles (thank the Rain Gods) so when I went for a run, I left my music and headphones at home, gave Jeff my intended course, and headed off to run a mile and a half, part of week two of my 5k training.

Turns out when I run without music Radio Lab, I run much faster. I shaved 1:40 off of my pace, and although I definitely could tell I was running faster, I didn’t realize it was THAT much faster. Like, PR for my mile faster. Which is exciting because this time around, doing yoga EVERY time I run, I am not fatigued every other day when I head out, and my legs aren’t getting tired like they were before, because they are stronger, and looser, and better.

So, dear rain, thank you for falling over me as I ran, keeping me cool, forcing my personal best out of me, focusing me on my pace and my breath and the air around me.

And thank you, yoga, for keeping my legs prepared to move my body.

rain

Namaste // Happy Friday // Happy Rain // Happy Life.

run right into you

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Hello everyone! I just got back from running my first mile of the year.

Confession: I hadn’t run since April of last year. Since I got hired at my new (now not-so-new) job, I hadn’t set foot to the pavement. I have recommitted to tons and tons of yoga, stretching and bending and breathing and relaxing, but for several reasons (read: excuses) I hadn’t been running, I realized in almost nine months.

This morning, I woke up early on the dot (is this how not being able to sleep in on the weekends starts!?) and figured that I should exercise somehow before diving in to my day – I am trying to learn how to slow down and take time for me before moving on to the household, the blog, etc. But I went to yoga on Friday and stupidly hurt my shoulders, so I didn’t want to push myself through too much yoga.

Jeff got me a new arm band when I got my new iPhone, and it was sitting in my side table still in the box. So I took it out, grabbed my headphones, sneakers, and changed and headed outside. It was the perfect temperature – about 65 – so I knew I had no excuses but to run.

I only ran a mile, because I wasn’t sure if I could even do that without stopping. In my stride, I had run a 10k, but that was more than a year ago. Normally, I could run about two miles without stopping, and my route was three miles, which meant one or two walking breaks.

But I ran my whole mile, you guys. One thing I have learned in running is that I am pretty good at setting my pace, knowing from the get-go how fast I should run in order to keep pace my whole run. So I ran the mile block around my house. And I ran the whole thing (even the leg of it that is uphill.) I didn’t die, I was out of breath but not wheezing, and my legs and feet and body really doesn’t feel any worse for the wear.

Here’s to many, many more miles this year. It always starts with one, right?