Guest Blogger!

Hi friends and followers!  I am super excited and humbled to announce that today's blog is going to be written by a guest blogger!  This couldn't have come at a more perfect time, as I was just telling my husband I had no idea what I was going to write about this week.  Lo and behold, I got an email from the lovely Caitlin Hudson (@HealthyHudson on Twitter) saying that she likes the blog and is interested in writing a guest entry!  Caitlin is in the process of starting up her own blog, and I'm very happy to help get her name and writing out there.  So without further ado, here she is!


Hi all, I'm Caitlin Hudson, a full-time mommy, nature lover, writer and health nut! I am in the process of starting my own blog, but in the meantime, Annie is so kindly letting me guest post on her blog. Today, I'd like to share with you some of my tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, even when life is hectic!

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle

While many today are under the impression that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be complicated, it can really be quite simple if you stick to the basics. Below are some of my personal tips to help live a healthy lifestyle even if you have a super busy schedule.

1    1.  Stay hydrated: Keeping your body properly hydrated is the first essential step to living a healthy lifestyle. Staying hydrated helps control appetite as well as prevent headaches, fatigue, and dry skin. To stay properly hydrated, make sure to drink before, during, and after exercise when heavy sweating is expected. Generally speaking, you should have at least 64 ounces of non-caffeinated fluids each day. While initially it may be difficult to drink that much each day as you begin to feel the benefits of staying hydrated, it will become easier. Learn more about how to stay properly hydrated on WebMD.com.

2.     Exercise: While this always seems like the last thing you want to fit into your busy day, it is one of the most important things. You probably don’t have time for an hour+ workout at the gym, but even a 20 minute jog can make a difference. Another idea is a workout program. There are a bunch of options to choose from if you want a shorter workout. The Power 90 workout from Beachbody consists of workouts, all less than 45 minutes! They are also coming out with a new workout, T25, which is only 25 minutes.  No matter your lifestyle, everyone can find 25 minutes, especially when it comes to your health.

3.     Avoid processed foods: It is always better to eat whole foods than processed foods. Eat unprocessed fruits and vegetables for vitamins and minerals. Always choose to eat lean meat, beans, and tofu for their high protein content. Avoid white bread and pasta and instead choose whole grains such as whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole wheat bread. Finally, eat low-fat dairy, skim milk and reduced fat cheeses.

4.     Reduce your stress: Stress can affect all areas of your life. A most likely, if you have a hectic schedule, you are likely to feel stressed often. A quick walk outside with some fresh air is always my go-to. Use deep breathing, yoga, and exercise as ways to reduce your stress level and bring your life back into balance. Sometimes all you need is 10 minutes to feel rejuvenated. If those don’t sound appealing, I came across this article with 23 ways to help. Any way you can reduce your stress level will improve your overall health.

5.     Get enough sleep: While it may sound obvious, sleep is incredibly important. It keeps your memory sharp and your metabolism running at peak levels. Getting enough sleep can improve your cardiovascular health and your mood. Adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night in order to avoid sleep deprivation. If you have trouble sleeping throughout the night, sound machines can work wonders. For others, it may be the pillow or mattress that causes the issue. If you can’t quite figure it out, seeing a specialist can’t hurt either.

I hope these five steps can help you work toward living a healthier lifestyle. If you have any questions about my tips, feel free to email me.

Inspiration

Inspiration is a big part of what I've been writing about lately.  I want to feel inspired by the practice of yoga as I did when I first discovered it, and when I first dove headfirst into my teacher training at Sonic back in the fall of 2009.

This week has been full of it - I started practicing at Laughing Lotus which I've thoroughly enjoyed, although the first class was jarring because I wasn't used to their fast-paced asana style.  I've since relaxed into it and really enjoyed the studio and it's philosophy for its fun-loving and unabashedly devotional, silly, loud self.  I think it's the kind of lighthearted yet intense approach that's perfect for what I'm seeking right now.  I've also rededicated myself to my personal meditation practice, very slowly building myself back up.

Most importantly, though, I've been inspired by my oldest friend, who lives across the pond in London.  We're very different people - different from each other and also very different from the people we were when we first met over 10 years ago.  He has decidedly and intentionally never been a yogi - claiming everything from being too inflexible (that's like saying you're too dirty to take a shower in my opinion!) to not being into anything with an ounce of, as he'd put it, "mysticism."  (We'd be more likely to call it spirituality, I think.)  Funnily enough, though, he's been a vegetarian since he's been a teenager - something lots of yogis would consider a prerequisite to the practice, but something I've never been.

Well, after taking a class with me with one of my very favorite teachers when he was visiting me this spring for the wedding, my beloved, skeptical, inflexible friend...may have enjoyed himself.  Never one to make a big and obvious fuss about things, he very quietly, discreetly, and adorably told me that he liked it, despite feeling like a fish out of water.

After going back to London, he and his best friend back home found a yoga studio close by where they each live and started going!  In all of our years I never would have imagined it, but you just never know how people will change.  He still can't believe that I voluntarily eat vegetables and go for long runs - it goes to show you can always surprise people, even the ones that know you best, and even yourself.

Corresponding with him lately about the different yoga classes he tried (we recently confirmed that I was right about him needing to avoid Ashtanga...oh, how I feel his pain!) has been so special and inspirational to me.  I don't think it's an accident that he's discovering yoga for himself right at the time I'm feeling a desperate need for the most basic reconnection with it.  Through his own unique experience, I'm recalling my days as a beginner and what the practice meant to me.  Even though he's coming at it from a totally different time of his life and even though he's different from me in so many ways, yoga is still giving him something important enough to keep him coming back to class.

That's what it really all comes down to - if you keep coming back to the mat, you'll keep finding reasons to stay.  And the rewards just keep coming.

Back to basics

Happy almost-June!  As May comes to a close and June with its promise of gloriously long and sunny (and stormy) summer days quickly approaches, it feels like a lot of things in my life are coming to a close and a lot of space is opening up.

From the wedding, I dove headfirst into a very fast and furious half marathon training.  From there, taking care of more newlywed business (this whole name change thing is a chore and a half in New York State!!), and then culminating this weekend, Marc and I tackled a massive spring cleaning of our apartment that was easily 3 years in the making.  It's been on the agenda probably since the winter - knowing that we needed a big spring clean/purge/reorganization - and we always put it off until that generic time, "after the wedding."

We spent all day Sunday and all day Monday under the bed, way back in closets, vacuuming places that hadn't seen the light of day in lord knows how long, dropping off trash bags of clothing and more at Goodwill, overwhelming our apartment building's garbage and recycle cans, and putting everything all back together again better than we found it.  It's an exhausting, frustrating, and ultimately massively rewarding thing to do and I'm so profoundly grateful we had the time to put into it.  (Now hopefully the next time we have a day off together we can make plans to just enjoy ourselves instead!)  It had me thinking a lot about some basic yogic principles - saucha (purity, cleanliness) and aparigraha (non-hoarding) chief among them - and I noticed that although we were putting them fully into practice in our apartment, I was still struggling a bit in applying it to my day to day life.

With those three big tasks behind me now - wedding, race, massive spring cleaning - my mind keeps finding its way back to yoga - specifically, my own practice.  During training both of my half marathons, my meditation practice got pushed to the back burner, and I feel like I've been so busy and so attached to the idea that I'm busy for so long, it's hard for me to just relax and to have an empty spot on my calendar and not fill it with something. It's an attachment to being "productive," or a habit, or some kind of anxiety, but whatever it is, I need to learn how to have the opposite as well!

I've had a hard time connecting with a genuine, personal yoga practice and with tapping into that which made yoga so important to me in the first place that I wanted to make it my life.  It used to be something I went to to help me deal with life and work and stress, but now that it's become my work, I don't know how to allow it to be both.  It's hard to be in a class and not have my analytical teacher mind and compare myself to the teacher - favorably or unfavorably.  It's hard not to turn off my "note taking" brain and think about her sequencing or whether I agree or disagree with her style.  I also keep thinking that I don't necessarily want to have my own personal asana practice if I"m going to be doign asana (especially with kids when it's harder to be careful of my body) becasue then I'm just asking for over-use injuries.

All of this is to say - I'm hoping this summer I can start to re-learn how to relax, connect, and enjoy my yoga again.  To be productive in my life without being obsessed with productivity and work - to come out of high gear sometimes.  This city has a way of sweeping you up to a fever pitch and it's unsustainable.  Back to basics for me - meditation, yoga classes with no expectations and a beginner's mind, and truly tuning in to what I need.

Two down, infinity to go!

Half Marathon number two = completed!

This experience has been both more and less stressful than training for October's Myrtle Beach half.  Although this time around I've had the experience of doing one before and knowing that my body is capable of doing it, I was doing it alone this time around with no big sister to talk to throughout (though having a dedicated husband cheering me on from the sidelines as much as he could was phenomenal!) and I had a much shorter training schedule which led to more aches, pains, and worst of all, doubts!

The race went better than I could have ever imagined, though, and I bettered my first time by a lot - I'm now a 2.17.39 half marathon-er.  I'm still riding high from the experience and all I want to do is sign up for the next one, but it's probably a good idea to rest my poor knees and calves a bit...plus having a September honeymoon takes away any possibility of all training, which I think is for the best!

Next up running-wise - lots of short distance races in the park!  I'm officially a member of the wonderful New York Road Runner's and plan on fully taking advantage of the discounted rates on race registration fees.  And then in the spring, I definitely want to do Brooklyn again...I think there'll be a New York (aka Manhattan) half in March as well, but I don't know if it would be insane to run a half in March and then another one in May.  We shall see!  After this race, I even had the thought for the very first time that maybe I would actually want to run a full marathon, and maybe I actually could...we'll see, though.  I just have the running bug something fierce!

This summer, however, is looking like it's going to take a shift back more toward yoga, which I think is a wonderful thing and much needed in every aspect of my life.  Physically, emotionally, spiritually, and for my continual improvement as a teacher.  I'm planning on finally trying out Laughing Lotus, a popular NYC/San Francisco based yoga studio that a lot of my Karma Kids peeps love, and then I'm taking advantage of another special deal from Bikram Yoga NYC (remember my month of Bikram in 2011??) for the month.  Bikram is always an interesting experience - I'm of many minds about it, but I can't deny that I always feel good after a class!

I'm so excited about the summer.  Different classes, more yoga for me, and most exciting of all - my husband will be playing Macbeth at The Secret Theatre in Long Island City, Queens this July!  Being his real life Lady M (with less murder, more running lines) is something I couldn't possibly be more excited about, and I'm excited to make that a big focus for the summer.  Add in my mom and Jim coming in to see the show and the big flourish at the end of the summer - our honeymoon! - and I'm the little hole in my heart where half marathon training used to be will fill right up!

Take a seat

A quick entry tonight.  Only 34 1/2 more hours until the big race!

This week I've been tapering off my mileage - only 7 for Sunday's long run, 2 for Tuesday's speedwork, and 4 for today's easy run.  I've also been going to bed earlier and getting up earlier in increments of 15 minutes, culminating with tonight's early bedtime of 10:00 and wakeup call at 6 tomorrow.  (Saturday's will likely be in the neighborhood of 5 or 5:30)

Along with this, I've worked on adding more yoga for myself (now that I have all this extra time in the morning!) and on chilling my practice out.  Simpler poses, shorter sequences - more floor-based poses rather than pushing myself too hard.

I took a beautifully simple but fantastic open level class this week, and we held dandasana, staff pose, for several breaths without ever taking it to the usual forward fold.  We just recognized it as a worthy pose in and of itself.  It's overlooked, much like tadasana (mountain pose) so often is, and I thought I'd highlight it this evening.

More than just a preparation for paschimottanasana, dandasana is a deeply beneficial pose, relating to that utmost important element of our body - our posture.  It's very challenging - sitting down with legs outstretched and engaged, feet flexed with the toes reaching toward your face, and the back straight, honoring the natural curvature in the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spines to make that slight S shape.  Long in the side waist, no hunching forward or rounding in the lumbar.  Bringing the hands to either side of the hips and pressing the fingertips down assists in creating that tall spine.

Photo from http://www.yogr.com/

Most folks (myself included) need or at least greatly benefit from having a folded blanket or a bolster underneath their sit bones to assist in having a tall spine.  It can also be helpful to place a block in between the thighs to properly engage the legs, creating a slight inward rotation of the thighs.

This pose strengthens the muscles that give us our posture.  So often we sit slouched at desks all day, stand hunched over, crane our heads forward to play with our iPhones - I'm guilty of all three.  Releasing the ever-present tension from our foreheads, brows, jaws, and necks, this pose allows us to hold ourselves up straight with strength and integrity.

With the half marathon so close to being finished, I can feel in myself a desire to get back to the yoga basics on my own personal practice.  I look forward to rediscovering the intricacies, benefits, and challenges in seemingly simple poses as I start to heal my asphalt-battered body post race!

Running in Circles

This past Sunday was another long run day in anticipation of the fast-approaching Brooklyn Half Marathon (click here to donate to the Boston One Fund, the cause for which I'm running this sure to be awesome race!).  It was only 8 miles as opposed to last week's 10, which felt positively luxurious by comparison!

My plan for this long run, as it is for all of them, was to run the Central Park loop, which is about 6.2 miles, from the east side to the west side.  I love running a loop because it completely takes away any need for me to calculate the distance (that's also what my Nike Plus is for) or to wonder how I need to change my route to make my goal distance.  I just get on Park Drive and go - that part of my brain can check out.  Plus as a non-native New Yorker, I still don't know my way around the actual park - the inside of it - to save my life.  I have an irrational fear of getting lost in the park!

I also had a plan to run completely sans headphones.  I don't wear headphones for races (anymore, at least) because I prefer to be as present as possible to soak up the crowds, the course, and the fantastic energy that any race day brings, especially one as big as a half marathon.

Springtime gorgeousness.

To my utter dismay, I arrived on Park Drive to discover that the Bike Tour scheduled for the day was authorized to take up all four lanes of the loop.  My first reaction was total outrage and anger.  It's the loop!  New York runners run that as religiously as others attend church!  My outraged was shared and magnified by a lot of the other Type A runners who were making the discovery as I was, and being told by the endlessly patient, cheerful, and really nice course marshalls of the bike race that - sorry!  We were out of luck, and on a day when I didn't even have the silliness of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! or my Jillian Michaels podcast to distract me from the inconvenience.

After starting to see some of the other runner reactions - "This is RIDICULOUS!" or defiantly running in the loop anyway, risking their safety and that of the bikers - I forced myself to take a pause.  For one thing, I really feel like the behavior of runners is under more scrutiny than ever.  We took some backlash around the cancellation drama of the NYC Marathon, and after the Boston Marathon the sport has gotten even more attention.  Reacting with grace and not entitled defiance was really what this situation called for - I mean, really, let's get some perspective!

Realizing this, realizing that my practice calls for me to be flexible in life much more so than in body, and realizing that making myself upset would only raise my heart rate and adrenaline levels and not help me on the 7.5 journey I still had ahead of myself, I just started following other runners who seemed like they knew where they were going into the park.

Lots of rules on the reservoir...

Happily, one particular runner led me to someplace in the park I've always wanted to run but have never "had time" to explore and find - the reservoir.  It's a much smaller loop, only 1.59 miles, but it's absolutely beautiful and has a softer surface on which to run than the asphalt of the loop.  It was really good for me mentally, I think, as well as physically to switch it up, and in hindsight I couldn't have picked a better day to go without headphones.  Not only for safety reasons to be wary of all those bikers, but also to talk myself down from getting annoyed and to truly appreciate the peace and stillness of the reservoir compared to the more heavily trafficked loop.  The reservoir felt more secluded, more surrounded by the nature of the park, and it reminded me a little bit of a mini-version of when Marc and I would run in Hyde Park in London.

After a few laps around the reservoir and then awkwardly navigating my way back to 5th Ave and 59th St, I found myself not only happy about the day's funny turn, but also thinking back to the second blog post I ever wrote.  Titled Best Laid Plans and written three years ago (wow!), it's a much more eloquent and yoga-fied version of how I (and hopefully a bit of the greater "we") tend to react and can choose to act when things don't go our way.  Try as I might, as a Type A New York Planner, things will always go wrong.  I hope more often than not I choose to accept and surrender, rather than resist and suffer.

Reservoir view of the skyline.

Tough Week, Tough Love

Happy May!  Gorgeous, glorious May.  I always associate this month with the color green (for very obvious reasons) and it was so wonderful to go out this morning, on the first run of the month, and to see so many trees that were bare when I started training for the half at the beginning of March turn completely green.  The blooms of April are gorgeous and I'm always sad to see them go, but May brings the promise of summer.  And this year, of my very first solo half marathon!

This week started out tough.  The weekend was amazing, but filled with so much fun (theatre, drinking, late nights - all with a full teaching and work schedule!) that I woke up on Sunday feeling really under the weather.  I've been calling it allergies all week because that makes it sound much better than a cold, but I really do think I've been fighting a cold.  You can feel the difference, you know?  Stuffy head, sore throat, and just plain physical exhaustion.  Too bad for that cold, Sunday was chock full of activity, including a gigantic Karma Kids birthday party and my longest training run until the race - a whopping 10 miles in Central Park.

I got up and did it, and I kept getting up and doing all of my classes and desk shifts.  The only thing I was able to really skip to give myself a break was Tuesday morning's run, which I had no problem doing at all!

Yesterday, however, Marc and I had planned a date night (it turned into a sushi date with my father-in-law, which is always a great time, followed by Mad Men reruns at home because we're obsessed).    We planned to take an hour long class with personal trainer, spin teacher, yoga teacher, and Karma Kids Yoga's Director of Business Development, Manager of Teachers & Desk staff, and Resident Tinkerbell Jen Fink Oppenheimer.  It's a free class for couples (or bff's!) offered through New York Sports Club for the month of May called Tough Love:  Bars, Bands, & Blindfolds Bootcamp.  Always a sucker for Jen, a great workout, and alliteration, I immediately scheduled a day for Marc and I to take the class.  Always a good and willing sport, Marc signed on board.

The odds were slightly in favor of us bailing.  I was exhausted from a busy day of lots of running around and was just feeling burned out from the week and Marc was tired, cranky, and overwhelmed with how much material he has to hammer into his head for upcoming auditions.  Luckily, I had already told Jen multiple times that we were coming, and dammit I wanted that free couples workout!

Though I was nervous because I was feeling tired, I was also pretty confident after going to Refine regularly since December and training for the half - I'm in good shape.  I can tell you very honestly, though, that Jen kicked our butts!  It was broken up into "Chapters," as the original workout was inspired by the Fifty Shades of Grey craze of last year.  After a warm-up, we went into absolutely brutal intervals to be done twice (the second time while blindfolded) of mostly plyometric based exercises like jump squats, jump lunges, and some others like single leg lifts (which my hamstrings are still crying over).  There was also some fun blindfolded wheelbarrowing - where I feel the deck was stacked WAY against me!

Lounge chair...highly recommended for all ages!

The second chapter was one of my favorites - one person does a cardio exercise for 1 minute while their partner does a core exercise for 1 minute, and at time they switch.  We did this for a total of 12 exercises each.  It was fun to see where I struggled - and where I performed better that Marc!  The third chapter closed off with some intense strength based exercises with no rest...and then the glorious end included some yummy partner poses.  A lot of them were super familiar to me as a Karma Kids Teacher, but it had been ages since I'd done them with a grown-up!  Lounge chair feels a lot better with my 6'2", 180 pound husband than with a tiny 4-year-old...as much as I love the tiny 4-year-olds.

We left the gym exhausted, sweaty, and with major mood boosts!  Gone was the crankiness, and my energy skyrocketed for the rest of the night.  And I'm not saying the workout cured me, but I woke up this morning feeling better than I had all week.  So...take that as you will!

Sweaty and happy!

You have this whole beautiful month to grab someone you love and head to New York Sports Club to take this free, fun, butt-kicker of a class!


 Post workout sushi optional, but recommended.

Pure Athleta

I got up bright and early this morning to start my day off with another new class and new fashion preview courtesy of Athleta!  To tell the truth, this is one of those weeks where if anything, I need way more sleep than I need another hour of a workout - between teaching more classes than usual this week, training for the half marathon, and hardly ever seeing my husband due to his rehearsal and work schedule, I feel dangerously close to burnout.

Luckily for me, the class that was offered was low on impact (though still high on challenge!).  Pure Barre, founded in Birmingham, MI, is a Pilates-esque exercise class focusing on spot-training arms, abs, thighs, and glutes.  It doesn't include cardio, though your heart rate naturally escalates during more challenging sequences.  After each concentrated spot-training session, they stretch the muscles they've just worked, citing as their reason that their goal is to create long, lean muscles without bulk.

From my perspective, it seems like a great toning workout for someone who is already physically fit, although it would probably need to be coupled with some cardio for effective weight loss/fat burning.  The instructor was fast but thorough and attentive, and the class moves quickly, which is nice when you're stuck doing a tough move for a minute - you know it'll switch up soon.

I have to admit, though, I'm still a complete devotee of Refine Method when it comes to a complete full-body workout aimed at both weight loss and building muscle.  The bursts of cardiovascular challenge coupled with challenging weight and the fact that each and every class is different and things change on a dime to confuse the body - it's a hell of a workout.  I was introduced to Refine by Athleta back in October and I can't recommend it enough!

What I liked the most about Pure Barre was probably how it reminded me of some Pilates classes I used to take and absolutely adore.  Literally within 5 minutes of the start of class, my abs were shaking!  As a former ballerina, it's also really fun to be back at a barre, even if we're doing completely different exercises than in ballet!

After class, we had some amazing refreshments provided by one of my all time favorite NYC restaurants, Gustorganics, including their fresh pressed juices.  Delicious and heavenly after an early morning workout.  From there it was all about checking out the clothes.  Athleta has some great stuff lined up for fall, and I found myself eyeing their cozy sweaters, cool rain jackets (I don't think I've ever owned one!), and fabulous running gear.

For the class, they generously provided us with outfits - the Tie Dye Tank (mine was in Fiji Green) and the Revelation Pant (in black).  Although they offer petite sizes online and occasionally in store, mine was sadly not petite - but luckily, they offer free hemming in store!

It was an absolute treat to spend the morning celebrating one of my favorite companies and switching up my routine on my tired legs.  It set me up for a great day with the kids and parents at iVillage, where we all played yoga a

t their annual Take Your Child to Work Day.  The kids all left with a Karma Kids Yoga temporary tattoo and great big smiles!

The last little note I wanted to include - I've had some trouble culling things together for a specific charity for my half marathon, and it's likely I'll just continue to promote the One Fund, which is the official charity for the victims of the half marathon.  If you check out GoFundMe.com, you'll also come upon dozens of fundraising pages for specific victims where you can learn more about their stories - it's heartbreaking and inspiring all at once.

Hope everyone has a great weekend - mine will be full of training, theatre (my husband and friends are in Titan's Romeo & Juliet opening tomorrow, my best friend is going on for Kate Monster in Avenue Q on Saturday night!), and of course - LOTS of yoga!

Karma Running

One of the many branches of yoga is Karma Yoga.  Essentially, it is the yoga of selfless service to others.  Volunteering, donating, helping someone else with no reward for yourself - all of these are examples of karma yoga.

After the horrifying attack at the Boston Marathon on Monday, I immediately ceased my previous worries and negative thoughts about my upcoming Brooklyn Half Marathon.  I was very worried about my various aches and pains, disoriented and off my game after coming back from (and down from!) the wedding, worried I had made a mistake by registering for a race with about half the time to train I'd ideally like to have - all kinds of minor things that seem beyond unimportant after the tragic events in Boston.

As a runner, as someone with family in Boston, as someone who works with children, as an American, just as a human, I've been really upset over what happened.  The images, seen and unseen, of so much carnage, of lost lives and limbs instantly put things back into perspective.

This race was supposed to be about me keeping active after the wedding - having another source of motivation to get out there when I'm feeling tired.  And aside from the 10K we ran back in September, almost all of my races are for selfish reasons.  Not that I think that's a bad thing or that I feel terribly guilty about it, because I still think running for my health or my enjoyment are perfectly worthy, but between what happened in NYC around the New York Marathon and now this in Boston, I can't help but feel like I ought to be doing more.  I think runners could use all the support the country can give them as well as give back as much as our able bodies, minds, and hearts can.

I now want to dedicate my upcoming race to raise money for the victims of the bombing who lost their limbs so they can be outfitted with the best prosthetics possible - especially the children.  When I think of the beautiful children I work with every single day through Karma Kids Yoga, The Giving Tree, and the children in my family, I can't imagine any child being robbed of the ability to live as active and free a life as they possible can.  Please consider donating - I'll be working to get in touch with anyone I can in the Boston area who can help me get the funds into the proper hands, and I'll figure out as soon as possible how to set up a forum for online donations.

"If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."

-Kathrine Switzer-

Walking to Run

Two things have happened this week to confirm that spring is, in fact, finally here - I had my first iced green tea of the year and wore my Be Present pants to class for the first time this year!  I love little rituals or things that only come up at a certain time of year...going to the beach in the summer, busting out the crock pot in the fall.

On Easter Sunday I was able to take my first run without a long sleeved shirt on in 2013, which was also a delicious milestone.  I always love running in the springtime, but sadly for me, my body has been very cranky with me ever since getting back from the mini-moon.  I don't know if I dove right back into my crazy physical routine and did too much too soon, but my left knee and right ankle in particular, along with both of my poor feet, have been giving me all kinds of grief and making running very challenging.

Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, but with that pesky half marathon coming up really soon, I'm very nervous that my body won't do what I'd like for it to.  I'm in that place where I'm struggling to find the balance between resting enough or resting so much that I lose fitness - running enough to keep up with my training, but not so much that I injure myself.

A compromise presented itself the other day so seemingly obvious that I can't believe it didn't occur to me sooner - integrating walk breaks into my run.  When I first started running, it was very much a given that I wasn't actually going to run the entire time during the 20 or so minutes I'd make it out the door.  The days I ran one mile, two, three without stopping were enormous milestones, and it's really only been in the last two or three years that I've consistently gone on runs without walk breaks.  It's gotten to be a bit of a pride (aka ego) thing with me and I've just taken for granted that not only can I insert walk breaks into my run, but I really should given my absurdly tight calves, history of plantar fasciitis, and these new and exciting aches and pains.  The athletic mindeset that tends to pervade the sport of running is to push through the pain, but that's the opposite of what yoga teaches us.  I have no problem dropping into child's pose whenever I need to or taking the simpler modification of a pose in class - what gives with the ego when I'm running?

So that's my practice - not just for these weeks preceding the half marathon (and by the way, ack!  have I mentioned I'm nervous about it?) but hopefully for the rest of my life.  I want to be albe to run for as long as I can walk!


On a personal note, I absolutely have to post the link to our wedding photographer's blog post containing our wedding slideshow.  The song she chose was perfect and her photographs were absolutely phenomenal.  If you need a photographer for your upcoming wedding, engagement photos, newborn portraits, or family photos, she is your woman!  Absolutely stellar.  Thank you so much, Stacey!!!  We owe you so much!

Annie + Marc ~ Married!