In which I attempt Yoga, and like it!

Since December cross training has started to become more of a way of life for me. 

That being said, until I ran Hyannis and discovered that my form really started to slip badly when I got tired I was more or less half assing it. And as we all know, I was much more sore both during and after the race then I expected to be. In part because of the horrid weather but also a good reminder that i can get much stronger!

When the weather permits I have been going to Kelsey's spin class in Falmouth on Wednesdays- it is a hell of a drive to get there and any kind of bad weather makes it virtually impossible. Sure, in Falmouth the roads might be glorious but it's 40 plus miles to get to those roads... Blah!

My basement is a short flight of stairs away (and, upsettingly, can be found on Facebook as "Sufferfest Torture Chamber") and that is where I have been doing my coach approved core workouts 2-3 times oer week. 

The most shocking turn of events is that my sister talked both Eric and me into taking Yoga classes at her favorite place,  Maine Yoga House. You should have heard her sales pitch "I LOVE IT" she would shout, while prancing around in tiny yoga pants "There is NOTHING BETTER and they are AMAAAHHHHHHZING THERE!" She was quite convincing. Then she would bust out some Yoga poses and stand on her head, which was really quite impressive.

Kate is good at Yoga.

And she is very well balanced!

To say that I have been resistant to partake in Yoga is the understatement of the century.

Here is what I thought:

-It will be boring and a waste of time-

-It will be lots of lying down and a waste of time

-My ADD will be off the chain, and it will be a waste of time

-It's not running so it's a waste of time

-If I pay coin for a workout I want an ass beating. Not a waste of time!

This is how I felt about Yoga.
Before I tried it, that is!

I was quite sure that this was the deal.
This still might be my favorite part though.. Kidding, kidding...

After listening for months to Kate's amazingly enthusiastic sales pitch I agreed to give it a serious open minded try after Hyannis. The good news is that post Hyannis I was an easy sell. I knew I wanted to get stronger and more flexible (since I'm basically as flexible as a 2x4) and wished to do so without having to run 20 extra miles per week. (not that that would help the flexibility...)

Eric and I went for our first class a couple of weeks ago and everything that I had been concerned about was blasted out of my head in the first 30 seconds....

IT. WAS. BRUTAL.

I mean this in the nicest possible way because everything was very positive and yoga-like but holy crapola. I was a sweating shaking mess by the end of the class. And had totally drank the kool-aid, haha! Bring it on, yoga!

I felt even more positive about my big Yoga life choice this past Saturday AM when I attended a class (or practice, I believe they are called- duh...) on a particularly stiff and creaky morning due to my previous days long run. I felt like shitttttttt when we started and by the end I felt great- total transformation- like I had been subjected to an ass kicking but in a good way! I went out shortly after for a recovery run and was thunderstruck, my legs felt like they hadn't had a long run in weeks. My whole damn body cooperated and was coordinated and downright organized. This is not a normal way for me to feel! 

The moral of the story is that I've added Yoga to the list of weekly activities that I am happy to do to make myself stronger and less likely to suffer a grievous injury. It's still quite a bit out of my comfort zone as I simply can not balance on one foot, nor am I able to twist my body parts around one another in the graceful way that the rest of the class does. Slowly but surely I'm figuring little parts of it out, despite my slight shock that muscling my way thru things doesn't seem to help (egads!)

And dudes, it is a serious, serious workout. Totally legit. No bullshit in that Yoga studio for sure!

Everybody kinda moves at their own pace though and I like that. The really good people do complex stuff, the less coordinated like myself just do our best and it's all good. No shame!

It will be interesting in a few more weeks to see where I'm at, hopefully one step more coordinated and one stop stronger. And pleased to have taken on a new challenge and to be enjoying it!