Yoga + Running

So, while I haven't been doing much running as of late, I have been putting what I've been reading in "The Athlete's Guide to Yoga" into practice. Yesterday, I set about to create my own 40 minute "flow" which included chair and its variations (it's kinda hard to imagine that merely squatting can be vigorous, but this pose always gets my HR up), sun salutations, the warrior series, triangle, bridge, plank, and the very challenging crow (or crane pose, as it is sometimes called), which is featured below:

Crow is hard for a lot of reasons: it requires a lot of upper body strength, but it also requires a lot of balance. I could hold it for approximately 1.5 seconds before toppling over. But with each try, I could hold it for just slightly longer, and the last time, I held it long enough to shout to my husband: "Come-here-quick-and-see-what-I-can-do!"

Anyway, the workout yesterday was intese enough to leave me a little sore today -- but in a good way -- and as I've been reading this book, I've been thinking more and more about how I'd like to incorporate more yoga into my regular schedule. It just makes sense. Yoga is good exercise (good enough that in the years before I made running my primary form of exercise, I exclusively relied on yoga to keep me in shape); plus, it benefits a runner in many ways -- it helps improve flexibility, balance, breathing, focus, and strength. And in the book I'm reading, she includes a sample week's schedule that includes yoga work with a running schedule, so I think I'm gonna test it out this week.

Therefore, I started with the regimen today. I did 30 minutes of yoga, but this time I focused on poses that weren't as demanding -- a lot of forward folds, legs stretches and some core poses (I know that plank is supposed to be hard, but I could stay in that pose forever); additionally, I reserved the last few minutes for some breathing exercises and quiet meditation. Now, I'm not one to "OM," but it is relaxing and helpful to sit, clear your mind, and let yourself just be for few moments -- I think it's immensely helpful for focus and de-stressing.

After that yoga session, I got into my running clothes and headed out for a short 2 miler. This was only an hour ago (around 4 pm) so it was hot as hades out there (the "feels like" temp was 94 according to weather.com), so I didn't want to do anything long or anything fast; however, if I learned anything from Chicago, it's that I need to spend a little more time actually running when the sun is up because I can train all I want in the heat and humidity, but if I'm always doing it in the dark, I'm not building up any kind of tolerance to the heat the sun's glare can create.

So, I did my 2 miles and it went well, but I was glad the run was short because -- well, jesus, you saw that temp there! Yet, this short run reminded me of one thing I learned today: if I continue to do some of my running in the sun, I need to get a visor; squinting really does use up extra energy (an idea that I always thought was absurd).

Anyhoo, I'll keep you posted this week on the yoga + running experiment, and maybe by the end of the week I'll be able to hold the crow pose long enough to get my hubby to snap a pic. Perhaps that should be my goal.