return to yoga, bike excitement & more!
All right, sit down, we've got a lot to cover. All my IT band yammering took up lots of time.
On Friday, I finally returned to yoga. I've been worried about shoulder crankiness and have been putting it off, but I decided to get my chubby unstretchy'd butt there and just make modifications as needed. The kind of yoga I've done for years and love is called either "power yoga" or "hot vinyasa." Essentially it's yoga in a studio heated to 90-95° F, but it's not Bikram - it's all flow. Those that practice this delicious flavor of yoga believe that the heat is healing and allows for deeper postures because of the warmth of the muscles. I practice it because it puts me in a half-nelson and then wipes the floor with my face. I discovered it in 2006 when I lived in Boston, and I'm completely in love with how stretchy but wrung dry I feel after a session. I usually drink 20-400oz of water in a 90-minute session and am sure I lose every drop of it. This is another facet of me as an athlete - I love anything and everything that will take me completely beyond what I think my limits are.
I used to go to a studio in Bethesda, but since I don't work up there anymore, it's a pretty good hike and I've been looking for somewhere closer. I found a studio in Falls Church called Dancing Mind Yoga that seemed like it would be a good match, based on their website description. They have a community class on Friday nights that is taught by teachers-in-training, at a reduced rate. Overall, the class was exactly what I expected - sun salutations, leg postures, balancing postures, arm postures, backbends, inversions, done. However, the teacher was clearly in the beginning stages of her training - she referred to all of the postures by their "animal" name instead of their actual names, and some of her adjustments to the postures I felt were for the sake of adjusting rather than assisting with the posture. She also didn't practice along with the class, and during Shavasana, went around and swung people's legs around, or moved their arms, which was the only thing that really irritated me during the class. The point of Shavasana to me is having a place to go and conclude your practice, and I can't go there when someone is picking my legs off the floor or touching my collarbone. It was a good class, though, and I'm anxious to go back and try some of the other teachers. I was also pretty pleased with how little I needed to modify - chaturanga dandasana is definitely not happening, neither are arm balances or urdhva dhanurasana (my favorite posture!), but otherwise I was able to handle most everything else.
I also ran on Friday: Mystery WTF Run #1 - alternated 2 mins walk/4 mins run for a total of 50 minutes.
Total: 4.6/50:00/avg. pace 10:52
Saturday morning I did some lifting and cycling at the gym, and then headed out bike shopping. After a few more test rides, I picked out the Specialized Dolce Sport, but they had to put it together, so they told me to come back on Monday....
Sunday we went on a bus trip/wine tasting trip with my girl and her hubs up into the country (Mt Airy, MD). After walking around in the sun at Union Station for 5 minutes, I could not BELIEVE that so many of my blogger friends were out racing in that weather! Uber drip-sweat-tacular! More power to all you ladies who were out there. Winery #1 was the power-hour of wine tasting. We tried something like 15-20 wines in that many minutes. I didn't find anything I really loved, but the tour was interesting - they clean wine tanks with ozone! Weird. The second winery was much nicer, but only 4 wines to try.
We're dog-sitting for some friends of ours this weekend, and it basically looks like puppy threw up all over the house. The dogs get along fine, but are a little too excited to play together, so we've been keeping them separated while we're not home to referee. Dog toys and things knocked over. EVERYWHERE. I don't think we're ready for dog #2 just yet.
We tried to get them to pose. I have Graham in a death grip.
Yesterday morning I got up early and went to the gym for Super Mystery WTF Run #2. I walked for 2 mins, ran for 20. We've been through this.
Total: 2.25/22:00/avg. pace 9:46
And finally........(sheesh, this is LONG), yesterday afternoon I finally got to go pick up my bike!!!
She's so beautiful!
The awesome guy that was there 2 weeks ago AND the awesome guy that sold me on my bike were both there to laugh at me. Awesome guy #1: "Aren't you the girl that doing the MS150 next weekend?" Me: "No, I'm the girl that you had to show how to use the brakes." I got all tricked out with water bottles and pockets and tubes, and I got to sit on a trainer and let them fuss around with all kinds of stuff, and then brought it home!
What kind of dog is this?
Right away I pulled on my puffy butt pants and my oh-that's-why-there's-a-pocket-in-the-back shirt and my shiny helmet and headed out for a ride with the poet! We scooted over to the GW, up past the airport and were almost at the Key Bridge when we turned around. I'm.in.love. Although my biscuit was baked by the time we got back. I also used my new iPhone app to track the distance/time, but forgot to turn it off twice - once when we stopped for about 6 minutes, once when we stopped for about 2. Oops.
I look like a real bicycle person!!
Total: 11.05/60:00/avg. 11.1mph
I am so thrilled to pieces to be out in the air again, feeling the sun and wind and even the bugs getting stuck in my teeth. This makes up a big piece of my heart that's been missing as I've been trapped in the gym the past 3 months, running for 4 minutes at a time and longing to get back on the streets. Who wants to ride with me?