No pun intended on the title of this post--this was the second weekend I've had recently where I crammed in a lot of exercise, and it just so happens that I'll spend the most time talking about the yoga class I tried. On Saturday, I went to a class at All People Yoga Center in Indy. My personal training client/work friend Audrey told me that the second Saturday of the month they always offer a free 90-minute yoga class. Great deal!! A pretty common class would cost at least $15 (I make $25/hour on the nights I teach yoga, and it's not even my "specialty" per se). So, it's a great opportunity to try out different styles of yoga, if nothing else. The class on Saturday was called "Warm breathing, flexibility, and meditation." The temperature was set around 85 degrees, and while the style of the class wasn't hot yoga, aka Bikram, it was definitely warm!! We started with several breathing exercises, including the Ujjayi (which sounds like Darth Vader) and the alternate nostril breathing (which made me feel like I was going to pass out--lots of breathing, but not a lot of oxygen coming in, combined with the heat of the room!). Next we did some flexibility poses, which were fantastic. Maybe it was because I was extremely tight and sore from boot camp on Thursday (we had an odd number of participants that day, so I had to be someone's partner for ladder sprints and walking lunges/squats down the basketball court), but all the moves focused on the hips were awesome. We used straps to really enhance the stretches, and I picked up few really good ideas to use in my next yoga classes.
Here's where it got funny and a little weird for me....meditation. First we did guided relaxation where you focus on one small body part at a time starting with the fingertips, working your way up the arm then down the torso and leg. By the time that part was over, I was so relaxed I felt like my body was glued to the floor...in a good way. Then the instructor led a breathing exercise where we silently counted down from 27-0 with each of our breaths. I'm pretty sure the number 27 was just arbitrary and meant to give you something to think about to avoid falling asleep, which is a BIG no-no of meditation. Well...I would have to give everyone in our class an F on meditation. Those people that were actually awake still, including me, were so focused on trying not to giggle at the other half of the class that was snoring. And you know how pointless it is to try not to laugh in these situations. Blame it on the heat, or the fact that we were about 78 minutes in at this point, or the lavender-scented eye pillows that blocked out all light...but one by one people were falling asleep, no matter how many times the instructor told us not to lose track of what number breath we were on.
Next, the instructor tried some visual meditation. She said phrases 3 times each and we were supposed to picture that image, for example "endless desert" or "waves breaking on a beach." Even though meditation isn't really my thing, I was shocked that when she said "snow-capped mountains" my whole body instantly felt cool. I had to laugh to myself when she said "sunrise over a Greek temple." How do you even picture something that specific?? As she repeated the phrase 2 more times, I just kept thinking what does that even look like? What kind of architecture would be on a Greek temple?? Again, I give myself an F on meditation abilities. A+ on how great my muscles felt afterwards!
Next, after a very necessary Starbucks run, Audrey and I went to Relay for Life to put in our designated hour of walking around the track. Not very eventful, but the hour flew by! I decided that new friends are great workout buddies because you have more to talk about and learn than the people you see 24/7.
Lastly over the weekend, I officially kicked off my marathon training! I had carved out time on Sunday for a 6-mile run, according to Galloway's training program (Week 4, which is my Week 1). Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy that day, so I ended up using a treadmill. Something about the first 2 miles of a run never feel quite right or easy to me, especially on treadmills. It's borderline torture. Not the cardio, not the leg muscles, just the mechanics of running. My shins, ankles, knees...nothing feels right, and I have to keep jumping off to the sides of the treadmill to stretch out. But once I hit the magic mile 2, something just clicks. After a few months of not much running, I was a little nervous going into a 6 mile. I remember doing a 4 mile in April and an 8 mile back in January, but my long runs these days are so few and far between. It couldn't have gone better though. If I'm on a treadmill, I always cover up the screen, so I can't see the time or mileage. I told myself after 9 songs on my ipod, which should be about 3 miles, I would peek and see how far I had gone. When I did that, I was shocked to see the display at 4 miles! The next 2 zoomed by and I was done and feeling great. Just under 1 hour, including my 3 minute walking warm-up, which is a little slower than my normal pace outdoors, but that's how it always goes with treadmills.
So....good thing I had a lunch meeting today and got to eat instead of teaching spin class right?!
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