Would you pursue excellence at the exclusion of all else?

This morning was for a recovery run. My long run on Saturday tired me out, despite the rest I had yesterday. So today was slow but it is more about just doing it on days like this. I had my new sneakers which felt great.

I was watching the Olympic trials this weekend in track and field and swimming last night. Watching Michael Phelps made me think about excellence and the pursuit of it. Certainly as he turns 23 today, he has given up so much for his love of the sport. Watching his mom in the stands made me wonder all that she has sacrificed as well. But the love of the sport is what drives him and her love of him is what drives her. Bob Costas compared him to Tiger and Jordan in the post-race interview and again, there are names that have sacrificed so much for their pursuit of excellence.

In today's world, it's hard to make a sacrifice or committment to that degree. We all have jobs, families and other responsibilities that make it hard, if not impossible, to fully commit to one thing. But even if we have a taste of it, to whatever degree we can, we start to shift, start to move, start to understand not only how hard it is, but how rewarding it can be.

Before last night, I wasn't really looking forward to the Olympics. As Charlie Brown once said about Christmas, "It's gone commercial." But when you boil it all down, when you remove all the media personalities and the commercials and the hype, it's really about giving those who have committed, despite all else, a chance to shine. And that is truely an inspiration.

Namaste.

Sunday- the day of rest

Today is a forced rest day. I call it that because I always start to get antsy when I have to rest. But it's so important to marathon training to work in total rest days. This is what I have read and when I follow the plan religiously, it truely feels great when you go out for a run the next day.

So, today I will teach a yoga class and relax. Do you spend time relaxing? For many of us, life is filled with things to do. We feel guilty ( I know I do) when we "hang out and do nothing." Even when I go to my favorite local coffee house, I bring lots of books. The owners there, who see me running around the neighborhood, teaching yoga, running errands, always look at me in disbelief when they see me just relaxing and reading. The first time it happened, one of them walked over and said, " I can't believe it! You've been here for over an hour and you're still sitting still!" Yes, indeed, I love "getting it done" but sometimes "getting it done" means resting.

There's a lot of evidence to explain what happens to the body when you increase your exercise intensity. Whether it's training for a marathon or practicing yoga, starting a new fitness routine or lifting weights, your body literally breaks down on a cellular level in order to grow new muscle fibers. So it's only natural that one or two rest days each week gives your body time to build that new muscle and renew itself.

Yoga is a wonderful way to do this and there are many yoga poses that are more focused on this restorative quality then building fitness. Just lying on your back can feel great and even better if you scoot your butt up to a wall and slide your legs up the wall. Yes, for the disbelievers, this is a yoga pose! It's called "Legs up the wall Pose" or "viparita karani" and it's especially good for runners because it encourages the legs to rest and moves metabolic waste out of the legs. So, today, maybe lie for a few minutes on your back, or try this pose and see how it makes you feel.

Be well.

Time heals all wounds- the Long Run

Today I did my second long run. I'd say it was about 3 miles longer than last Saturday- probably about 9 overall- and I feel good. Slow and steady but it's just about building my endurance. I finished reading " Four Months to a Four Hour marathon" ( I recommended it in an earlier post) and it provides you with a week-by-week schedule. I was psyched to realize that tomorrow is exactly 4 months until the Marathon I'm running so I can start the formal training schedule in the book on Monday.

I have developed a blister. Like the heading of this post, "Time Heals all Wounds," I know it will eventually go away but I'm wondering why I developed it. Today I'll be going to Marathon Sports to buy new sneakers. I deserve them. I've put hundreds of miles on my current pair and it's sure to cost me an injury if I keep running on them.

I was talking to someone last night who went through a relationship break-up a month ago. We were talking about how he was feeling and he's not doing so well. I said, "Well you know what they say, "Time heals all wounds," and he shook his head and said " Well, I don't believe that." I was thinking about that on my run today. How time does indeed heal all wounds. The path I take around the river is the same path I've been running for over 20 years. I went to college in Boston and have stayed since then. While I run different routes, that's my regular route and if that pavement could speak, it'd tell quite a story of all the ups and downs of my life. Running around the river has been a meditation for me and I 've grown in countless ways as I've run around that river. I was thinking this morning that only when you're in the midst of pain do you doubt that time will heal, but when you have the perspective of looking foward clearly, as well as looking back, you can see that it really is a true statement.

In yogic theory, we speak of the impermanence of all things. The Buddha teaches us that no things stay the same and the human condition is to suffer if we fight the reality that all things change. Just ask Andy Roddick or Maria Sharapova ( who used to date, ironically enough) who both lost in early rounds of Wimbledon this week( as did James Blake) . Both formerly at the top of their game and now, struggling with their performance. Impermance in action.

Thank god things change. If I thought that things were going to stay the same, I'd never have faith that I could run this thing. But I know with regular training, a good diet, healthy rest and positive people supporting me, I will do it. I'm not sure how fast I'll be, but I will run this thing.

If you're running today, have a good run. Stay off the pavement. Rest well tonight. Enjoy the weekend.

Peace.

What's your inner coach saying?

When I was running the other day, I ran over the Memorial Bridge which goes over the Charles River ( I offer this direction only for our out of state readers!). As I ran over the bridge, underneath were members of a local rowing ( crew ) team in their boat. Their coach was beside them in his boat and I could hear him yelling direction to the team. " Lift more, smooth!" or whatever specific suggestion he was providing.

As I continued my run, I began to think of my own running in that moment and what suggestions might be helpful. " Relax your shoulders, breathe" or " be in the legs, breathe." It became a great way to stay in my body ( and out of my head) and keep the meditative flow of running driving me.

When you run, what is your inner coach saying? Or is it your ego that drives you when you run? How's that working for you?

On another note, I read recently that running on pavement is "poison to your legs." It's got me thinking about the fact that right now, 90% of the running I do is on pavement. I'll be shifting more to the paths around my running routes instead.

I also bought a great book: Four months to a four hour marathon, by Dave Kuehls. I'm only mid-way through but it seems excellent. Check it out on www.amazon.com.

Oh, and for those of you who wondered where yesterday's post was: I was in yoga class!

be well1

Who inspires you?

Today was the day for a tempo run. I love them when I feel good and fast. You just feel like your limbs are liquid and you can move like the wind ( even if you're not going super fast). You get that familiar feeling of a little tweak or strain in your side and you just know you're in that working zone.

This morning on my run I was fortunate to run behind ( I can't keep up with her but can keep pretty close behind her) this woman that I have seen before. She keeps up a great pace and has great body mechanics. As a yoga teacher, I see all kinds of bodies and try to teach people how to bring their bodies into alignment. When you run, keeping your shoulders relaxed, your shoulders over your hips, your legs moving on one plane, your arms moving forward and back, bent at the elbows and hip height or a little higher- these are all the hallmarks of good running mechanics. This woman has all of that. So, she makes for a great inspiration when running.

But I also saw others that inspired me as well. The two older women, who must be in their 70's, whom I see walking together and speaking what must be Russian every morning. The guy that I saw get out of his truck to unload a recumbant bike and I noticed he was a below-the-knee amputee. The woman I see every morning, who must be struggling with her weight as she runs, but yet she's out there every day.

A friend sent me a link the other day to the story of Will Power, the two legged dog. It's an amazing story about a dog born only with his hind legs and he walks on them, upright, like a human. That's inspiring. The story of Tiger Woods, playing this past week on stress fractures and a knee a few weeks post-surgery. Smarty Jones, Barbaro, Big Brown.. race horses that inspire. Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Lance Armstrong ( the bike racer, not the serial dater!), rescue dogs.. these are all inspirations to me.

One of my yoga teachers used to say, "when you die, will you be an example, or a warning?" Today, think....are you an inspiration? Who inspires you?

Protect your goal

When you set a goal, whether it's running a marathon, losing weight, changing a behavior or pattern you don't like or doing well at your job, sometimes you need to protect your goals from people or situations that will sabotoge it. Sometimes all it takes is to surround yourself with positive things and people when you're going for a particular goal. The positive energy will support you and keep you in a positive space.

But other times you need to be more specific. You need to take action. You need to remove yourself from being around people that distract you from the task at hand, or tempt you with things that are counterproductive. One of the hardest things when you're trying to change a behavior is to realize that sometimes those around you need to change as well, or unfortunately, maybe for a short time, maybe forever, you need to gently ( or not ) sever those ties.

Sometimes it's even something as simple as changing where you are. If you are trying to lose weight and you love a particular place for lunch, it might be a real bummer to have to avoid that place. If you are trying to save money and you love going out on Friday night for dinner, maybe you can only meet your friends afterwards and you make spaghetti at home. If you're trying to get in better running shape and you know you're too tired at night to get your runs in, maybe you need to get up early and run. Again, only you will know what is lacking and through creative thinking, you can find ways to protect your goal.

In most cases, it's not everyone around us that's the problem. It's us. We are the only ones that can control our own behavior. We need to be honest with ourselves when we're off course and be patient but truthful about when we fall off the wagon.

How are you selling yourself short? How are you sabotoging your goals? What is your goal? Do you have one? Something that you're passionate about? Maybe that's the best place to start. Find it. Then protect it. Go for it.

I am a morning runner!

Yes, I am a morning runner. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me, it's a big achievement. I never used to think I had time to run in the morning. I have to get ready for work, have to walk the dog, don't like morning running, my back hurts, the list goes on and on. And finally, one morning a few weeks ago, I just set my alarm clock one half hour early, walked the dog a bit earlier, went for a run, and came home. Took a shower, got ready for work and found that I was only 15 or so minutes behind my normal schedule. What the heck was I doing with all that time before??

When you make something a priority in your life, you have the makings of creating a new habit. Unfortunately, this work in the reverse as well-- you make eating a priority, you gain weight. You make going out a priority, you may end up drinking to excess regularly. But we're talking about making healthy habits. The universe just seems to support positive energy and if you can just take that first step, you literally start to change things and create new habits.

What habits do you have that you'd like to change? What habits would you like to develop? Pick one and write it on a post it. Stick it on your bathroom mirror so you see it each day. Let the idea start to sink in. And then one day soon, maybe you will find yourself taking that first, crucial step.

Good luck!

My first long run

Today was my first long run. It's amazing when you're motivated to do something, you really can tackle things that your thinking might tell you are not possible ( just ask Tiger Woods about his achievement in winning the US Open this past week). I was actually very excited to see what was possible this morning, and I was pleasantly surprised. My run of 9 or so miles ( I'll track the mileage in the car tomorrow) was slow/steady but I only stopped a few times (had to fix my hair- I sometimes wish I could run in a bathing cap!). I was on my feet for about 90 minutes ( like I said, slow/steady!) but right now, I'm working on just being on my feet for longer periods of time than my daily five mile runs. I did my first Half marathon in just two hours last May and I'm looking forward to working up my endurance again.

As I ran around the river, I was so moved by the scenery. I am so lucky to live in a wonderful city. The sun was out, there were crew boats on the river and the weather was perfect. I was just about moved to tears (I know, sounds a bit sappy). But being in nature and inspired by nature is, for many people, the closest they get to meditation or at least connecting to the feeling of gratitude. We need to add more gratitude to our individual days.

I met a good friend after my morning run at my favorite local coffeehouse, Zumes. He's someone whose opinion I respect on many levels and he's an amazing athlete, having completed triathalons and many other pretty hard core events. I shared with him my new blog and my new endeavor of running the Baystate Marathon in October. I told him of my current running schedule with excitment along with my completion today of my first long run. " You're going to take the day off tomorrow, right?" he said. "Well... no.... should I?" I said. "Yes! My god, you just ran your first long run, you ran 20 miles already this week before today- yes, take the day off tomorrow!"

I need to remember that moderation is the key to preventing injury. Mixing up running with yoga and even some other low impact activities will not only prevent overuse injuries but will keep my interest level up for the hard training that is sure to come in the future. Sometimes you need to reach out to others and listen to their perspective.

Is there something you're pushing yourself towards? A goal or a vision? What's driving you? A healthy desire or a unbalanced passion?

A morning yoga class

I remember when I started taking yoga classes, I totally submerged myself in them. I went to class early, to be sure I got a good spot in line. I took a book, read while waiting and when they opened the door, was sure to get my favorite spot in the studio. I took class a lot ( read: 5-6 times a week) and my body responded with great changes as did my mind and just my overall sense of well being.

But then slowly, over many months, I realized that I was started to resent yoga. I started to feel like it was too much, too often and started to mix in some other things as well. This was when I began running more again ( which, oddly enough, I had dropped entirely when my committment to yoga began).

So, what's the point? Well, there's a school of thought that says that whatever you point your attention towards can become your whole focus. And just like cake, there's only so much you can eat before you start to feel sick ( or insert whatever food stuff you feel suits you for this metaphor to work). So, one might not think running or yoga or exercise in general can be like that, but if you put all your eggs in one basket, it's likely that you'll burn out.

Why write about this today? Because today was my first yoga practice in five days, the past five days being focused on daily runs. During this marathon training, it's going to be impossible to deny that running will take the prime spot in terms of my time, but I have to remember to keep a balance and mix in yoga as well. Outside of the wonderful benefits that yoga has for runners (stretching, breathing, balancing, relaxing) it's so important when you set a goal like running a marathon ( or any goal) to give your body and mind a rest from the goal and a chance to process all that has been done to date.

So, as I practiced this morning with my early morning yoga colleagues in the 6:45 am class, in the same spot on which I placed my mat those nine years ago when I first arrived at the studio, I smiled to myself and realized that I knew about balance all along. I just needed to remind myself. And I can't wait now to go out for a run tomorrow!

The perfect run......

Today was one of the perfect run days. The days you go out and expect to drag yourself around and instead are pleasantly surprised by a fluid body, light legs and smooth breathing. Running and yoga both share the same concept of impermanence; things never stay the same. You can get on your mat one day and move like liquid and other days, your legs feel like lead. But as the prophet Nike says, " Just do it." Find the energy to move inertia and once you get moving, things start to shift.

I never thought I'd be a morning runner. I'm actually not a morning person. My father used to call me "Lucy " ( from the Charlie Brown comic strip) at breakfast because I was so grumpy in the morning. But through a regular yoga practice that sometimes takes place in the morning, I've learned to shift my perspective and recently I started running at 6 am just to be sure I can get in my daily runs. I've found the time to be invaluable for setting a wonderful tone to my day. It's peaceful, meditative, brings me in touch with nature ( I run around the river and regularly see ducks, dogs and birds). It's amazing how I used to think I never had the time to run in the morning and really, all I needed to do was get up one 1/2 hour earlier, and it works. And the benefits to my overall health and wellness are enormous.

What's a health habit that you have developed or that you'd like to develop? What's stopping you? Time? Money? Lack of knowledge? Maybe today's the day to make a change.

I get the running part, but the Yoga?

My first blog post was to give you a sense of the purpose of this blog- to keep me motivated and on track to run my first marathon. So, why the yoga in the blog title?

Well, I'm a yoga student and a teacher and although running is one of my passions, so is yoga. I honestly can't say which I enjoy more; they both provide me with a source of love, strength, passion and inspiration that I can't imagine life without either of them.

So, although our time together will be filled with thoughts of running, there will be plenty of yoga themes as well!

Namaste!

For the Love of Yoga and Running- The Road to Baystate 08

I decided to run a marathon last week. My first marathon in my life. Sure, I've run a lot of shorter distance road races and my first half marathon last year, but I've never run a marathon. I decided it was on my "bucket list" and if so, I'd better get on the stick. So, on my morning run today, I thought: what better way to seal my committment to my training plan than to start blogging about my goal? That way, I'm publicizing my goal- to run this thing- and maybe that'll be a bit of gentle ( if not more) pressure to stay on track!

So, a wonderful friend of mine recently started a blog ( see omgal.blogspot.com) and she inspired me to do the same.

Consider this my first post of hopefully many to come!