Random Thoughts

No real concrete ideas for posting today, but a few random thoughts from the day:

• Inspiration

A friend of mine, also in her early/mid-30s, just completed the Chicago Marathon. She trained hard for the event and was so excited to participate. She brought her whole family from Columbus to Chicago to support her and they made a mini-vacation out of it. It is wonderful to create new challenges in our life all the time, to keep us fresh, active and innovative. She is an inspiration to me, and a great role model for fitness and joy for her children as well.

• Three Dimensions

The instructor in my ballet body class today took the group in a contemporary/modern direction today, rocking out with new music and introducing new moves. He emphasized the importance of remembering that our spines and bodies move in three dimensions. This helped me to bring awareness to my body and improve my alignment. By moving in all three planes, we strengthened our muscles and joints and created more functional movement.

• Finding Balance

In that same class, we spent several minutes doing back leg raises, which the instructor suggested were reminiscent of a modern dance style inspired by Horton (whose work I am unfamiliar with). These were variations of what, in yoga, we would call Warrior III pose. We stood on one leg, raised the other behind us to be parallel with the floor, and lowered our body so that it was level with the leg, forming a "T" shape with our entire body. We did several repetitions, with arms at our sides, out like an airplane, reaching out in front, and alternating sides. Not only was this an exercise in balance and form, it also strengthened our supporting leg and lower back muscles. The class inspired me to focus on balance in my home yoga practice this evening.

Today's workout:
45 min. run + strides (5.52 mi)
60 min. ballet body class
60 min. yoga

Looking Forward

I am very excited ... I got to schedule a yoga retreat for myself in February. It's just a weekend and it's a while away, but it's definitely something to look forward to. It has put the extra "oomph" in my practice that I have been needing! The details are not finalized, but I will definitely post when things are for sure.

Today's workout:
65 min. hill interval run (6.87 mi)
20 min. resistance training
75 min. primary series yoga

Looking at the World Upside Down

I recently started a headstand practice ... which I had avoided for a long time just because of laziness and fear, and the kind of woozy, bloodrush to the head feeling that it gave me. After encouragement from my yoga teacher, though, I have decided to add it to my practice a few days a week, and it is getting better.

I have been having kind of a rough patch lately in general, feeling kind of out of it, and in a funk. While I was upside down tonight, I had a few thoughts about how being in a headstand is like life.

New perspective

The most obvious insight that headstand provides is, literally, a new perspective. Your view is completely upside down, and everything looks different. It reminds me that sometimes I need to view other situations in my life in a new or different way, to look at the same things I see everyday "upside down" for a fresh point of view.

Looks can be deceiving

From the look and name of this pose, you appear to be standing on your head. In actuality, however, the vast majority of your weight should be supported through your shoulders and arms. In life, I should remember not to take everything at face value, but to probe deeper and find out what is really going on. Sometimes I jump to conclusions without finding out the truth ... here, I realize that my initial impressions might be completely off base.

Finding balance

In the photo accompanying this post, the model appears to be upright, strong and stable. In headstand, your strength and stability comes from hundreds of tiny adjustments that your body is constantly making to keep yourself in balance. For a someone relatively new to headstand, like myself, these adjustments make me look wobbly - but even though I am a bit wobbly, I am able to remain upright in the headstand for at least a minute. A more advanced practitioner has refined these adjustments so that they may not be visible to an outsider, but they are happening continually within the core. Similarly, I need to learn to constantly adjust myself to my life situations to maintain balance and peace.

Today's workout:

30 min. hill run (3.66 mi)

20 min. resistance training

30 min. hill elliptical (4.15 mi)

50 min. yoga

Yoga Discussion Continued

Check out Rainbeau Mars' response to the continuing discussion regarding yoga and the corporate world. I find this quote interesting:

"What I choose to support is a reflection of who I am."

I think I'll post more later when I have a little more time.

Today's workout:

45 min. run w/ hill sprints (5.57)

25 min. resistance training & plyometrics

50 min. yoga

Physical Benefits of Yoga

I started doing yoga for fitness, and am now exploring many of the other aspects of the practice. However, the health and fitness aspect remains important, and continues to be a strong draw for many people.

Check out Sadie Nardini's tongue in cheek Huffington Post article, Top 10 Reasons Not To Do Yoga
- which, as you might expect, actually gives us ten very compelling reasons to do yoga to support our physical health and well-being.

Today's workout:
60 min. power yoga class

Inspiration

Lots of inspiring stories in this month's Running Times ... thought I would share a quote from Joe Burgasser, a 71-year-old master runner:

Uncommon desire, dedication and sacrifice are necessary to produce the high levels of training necessary to be successful at excelling in any sport. There are no shortcuts and no miracles. Racing is about having the training fitness to push to the limit of your physical and mental abilities. Creating effort pain is mandatory as the race progresses. Try to run even pace or negative splits, not slowing near the end because of a too fast start.

Today's workout:

35 min. progression run (4.08 mi)

60 min. private yoga training

60 min. yoga practice at home

Push-Ups

I've been focusing so much on my running training schedule and immersing myself in learning more about yoga that I realized that I have been neglecting (somewhat) the toning part of my general workout regimen. As a result, I've decided to purposefully spend more time focusing on push-ups, pull-ups and core work. To avoid getting bored, I am using this post to brainstorm different variations and modifications on push-ups.

Of course, you can start with the traditional military push-up (pictured here), which can be modified by putting your knees on the ground if necessary - make sure that your body remains straight (don't push the butt in the air).

Arm Placement
You can modify hand/arm placement - shoulder width, wider than shoulders, hands together. You can bring your elbows in closer to your body for more tricep work. Place your hands on a step or other elevated surface and then push-up. Of course, you can always try one-handed push-ups for a real challenge! Depending on the placement of your arms, the push up will zero in on different muscles in your shoulders and back.

Leg Placement
You can also modify the legs. Generally, the feet are close together. You can widen the stance, raise alternate legs, or put the legs on a step.

Balance Challenges
Work the core more by adding a balance challenge.
Put on hand on a medicine ball while doing the push up, complete all the reps and then switch sides. To increase the difficulty, move the ball back and forth between your hands and alternate single push-ups with the medicine ball.
Put one hand on a BOSU ball and the other hand on the floor, push-up, then move over so the other hand is on the BOSU and the alternate is on the floor, push-up and repeat, continuing to change sides each time.
Do push-ups with your feet on the BOSU.
Do push-ups with your feet on a towel. Do one push-up, then slide your feet forward into a downward dog position, and back out to a push-up position. Do another push-up and repeat.

Leg Movement
Another variation on the push-up is the "spiderman" push-up. Get into a traditional push-up position. Bring the right leg forward, near the back of the right hand and then push-up. Take the leg back, and do the same on the left.

Additional Exercises
You can also make the push-ups more challenging by working in other exercises.
Alternate single push-ups with side planks.
Add a weighted bar, and do five push-ups, five lat raises (from a push-up position), five push-ups, and then another five lat raises on the other side.
Add a little cardio in by doing mountain climbers. Begin in a push-up positions. Bring the right knee in towards the chest, resting the foot on the floor. Jump up and switch feet in the air, bringing the left foot in and the right foot back. Continue alternating the feet as fast as you safely can for 30-60 seconds.
Another cardio push-up based exercise is called burpee. Start in a push-up position. Jump your feet to a squat position, then leap up as high as possible from the squat position and return quickly to the push-up position. Continue as fast as you safely can for 30-60 seconds.

Hopefully, these push-up ideas will help you keep your workout fresh too!

Today's workout:
60 min. progression run (7.0 mi)
25 min. strength training
50 min. yoga