Courage

And just like that, it’s July. I think we can all agree that the first half of the year felt like the longest and worst experience of our lives. While 2020 seemed to start out fine, that boat sunk faster than the Titanic and the iceberg we hit was a worldwide pandemic. I remember when they said this would be gone by Easter. They said it’d be gone when summer came because viruses die in warmer weather. As a medical professional, I can tell you that is so far from the truth. Here in Arizona, we’ve started to shut down things for a second time. Our governor released an executive order to close bars, gyms, water parks, pools, and tubing (you know, floating on a river) for the next 30 days, right before a big holiday weekend. No gatherings of more than 50 people can go on. The first day of school has been pushed back two weeks. If you want my honest opinion, with looking at our recent data and the very upward trajectory we are on, we should be in another stay-at-home order. Why close bars but not restaurants? Whatever. I don’t run the show. I’ll just sit here, safe in my home, and continue to pray.

Maybe you’re like me and you’ve dealt with a rise of anxiety or some sort of unrest due to everything that has been happening. I talked about this in a previous post but we’ll touch base on it again for today’s entry. Along with using the Headspace app for daily meditation, I’ve dove more into my yoga practice. Let’s talk about my history with yoga.

I used to hate yoga, like really hate it. How could you hate yoga? Well, I thought it was boring. I used to be in the mindset that if I wasn’t drenched in sweat after a workout, it was useless. I couldn’t ever focus long enough to complete a full practice. I tried to do it at least once a week because I saw a lot of runners doing it but I wrote it off for a long time. Fast forward to last year, I suppose when we moved here and I decided to open my mind more about my thoughts of the practice and tried to see the real benefits of it, for my mental health. I found myself meeting up with Adriene more and more. I challenged myself in poses I never thought I could do. I even attended a few classes in a studio, mostly gentle yoga. Fast forward to this year and I can’t live without it. I’ve found it hard to juggle strength training with running. I took a step back and asked myself, “Do I really need to be doing all of this?” Spending time in the gym was becoming more of a chore and not an enjoyment. My friend, who is a yoga instructor, suggested I check out power yoga. She said I’d be surprised how much strength I could build from those types of classes. Boy, was she right. I’ve been wanting to do one of Adriene’s month long challenges. I would tend to start one and then only get like four days in and quit. I was determined this time.

‘Courage’ was the theme. She gives each month its own word. When I read the post about this, she (Adriene) told us to prepare to sweat and work but learn to move with our breath. I’ve spent the entire last 30 days doing just this. I haven’t lifted one weight. I’ve used my body and moved in ways I haven’t. My arms have developed definition, my core feels stronger, and more importantly, my mind is becoming clearer. I actually feel stronger now than I ever have even with my past in Olympic lifting. To have that mind body connection in flow together feels so great. I took a picture of myself every day with a specific pose from that day’s practice. Here are some of my favorites:

Starting out, I had trouble keeping my foot pointing down and keeping my hips squared.

Chaturanga to up-dog practice became almost a daily goal of mine. 

The mighty flamingo! 

Peaceful warrior. I love going into this post from warrior 2.

The lovely triangle pose. After a few weeks, I was able to not hold any momentum against my leg.

Down dog split! This is about when I finally saw progress in melting my heart in and keeping my foot flexed. 

This was literally one of the best stretches I had ever felt.

Balance practice becomes that much harder when on carpet. This move was actually a series of three, all balancing on one foot. I felt so strong!

Today, I start July’s theme of “Shift”. I don’t know how long I’ll keep up daily practice but it’s been such a blessing in disguise both for my mind and my running. If you’ve been on the fence about trying yoga, I encourage you to dive in and give it a try. My favorite thing about practicing yoga is that there is literally no right or wrong way to do it. You try your best and if you feel like challenging yourself one day over the previous, go for it! There are people who are amazing at yoga and can do some crazy, complicated moves and that’s awesome! Don’t compare yourself to anyone but who you look at in the mirror. Check out Adriene on YouTube. She has tons of free resources and a great beginner series. If your one who needs to be in an actual classroom setting, find a class that’s some type of foundation setting or a slow flow. Yin yoga is great for relaxing while a power or energize yoga will test your body and make you work a bit! 

Namaste, friends.

Keep On Keeping On

Today is the beginning of week 4 of basically not leaving the house. No going to the grocery store. No going out to eat. Hell, I even just drive the car out of the garage only to put it back in after going around the block to make sure it still runs. How are we getting food if I'm not going to the store? Delivery, when it's available, which seems to be never nowadays. I pretty much order multiples of whatever I can get of the essentials: almond milk, bananas, apples, eggs for my husband. I have a plethora of chickpea cans, which has come in handy to make hummus and "egg" salad sandwich spread. We even started making our own almond butter!

 

Why I never did this to begin with blows my mind. If you have a high-powered food processor, you can do this too. Bake 3 cups of almonds at 350 for 10 minutes. Let them cool for a little, at least until they aren't hot. Throw them in and spin it around. It takes a little while to really get it to the creamy consistency so be prepared to have some patience. It's much more rich than the stuff we buy in the store, mainly because there's no oil or any other added ingredients. I probably just saved myself $20. Holla!

 

My husband is a pro Redditor and found a link to a local service who supplies food from local farms. It's like "farm to table" but to your house. Your Farm Foods has been a life saver. I revolve all of my meals around whatever vegetable I plan on cooking. Plus, to have access to different types of potatoes, onions, and even beans is awesome. I also scored two loaves of fresh baked sourdough. Makes me feel good to support the farm families and I plan to keep ordering from them even after this whole pandemic is over with. 

Okay, but what about running? It's still happening! I started week 7 of training today. The (now virtual) race is still on. The only time I leave the house is to go for a run or a walk with my lovely other half. I've pretty much stuck to the surrounding neighborhoods as much as possible with the occasional route through our little town area to say hi to the shelter cats. I haven't been on the trails in a few months now. While this would typically make me sad, I'm surprisingly okay with it. I'm okay with it because I think people are being morons and overcrowding outdoor spaces like our trails and parks. The last time I checked, being outside doesn't make you immune. You can't social distance yourself when you're on one of the most popular hikes in the Phoenix area. It's like watching the news in the summer and wondering how many people they had to airlift that day from Camelback because they didn't take any water. I saw someone post the other day basically pleading with the Phoenix government to keep the trails open because "we need them". But we really don't. They'll be there when this is all done, which won't be for a while because of non-compliance. If you ask me, you are part of the problem if you find yourself driving into a park or trailhead and decide to carry on even if other people are there. You can easily go outside of your own home and run on the road by yourself way away from other people. Some will say "well that's not what I do!". Guess what? It's time to make a new normal for the time being. Phew! As you can see, I've been a little red in the head lately about this. Social media has made me literally scream from the stories I see of people still running in groups. "Look at us social distance running together!" as they stand apart. No. Just stop. Your group can wait. Your health cannot. Flatten the freakin' curve already. /rant

Virtual racing is huge right now and it actually makes me super stoked. Some will say it's a joke and always has been. I beg to differ. It's funny because the other day I reminded myself that the first race I ever did was a virtual race and then I did another one right after that. 

If I remember correctly, this was in 2014. It was a 5K and a 10K. I remember being so proud of myself for running a 10K. Back then, I think it took me well over an hour. Little did I know I'd crush my next go round in 2017. You know what's awesome about virtual racing? Lots of things. You can wake up whenever you want to. You have your own private bathroom (depending on where you run), no getting on a bus, no drop bag issues, no crowds, no getting annoyed at that one person you knew lied about their pace to start earlier. I actually would love to do more virtual races in the future. I think it still gives those something to work towards. I know many need the atmosphere of cheering crowds, crossing the timing block, going through the finisher chute, but I guess I've come to be grateful for whatever, at this point. I'm about to run for 12 hours around my block. Is this what I wanted for my first ultra? No. Am I not going to take it seriously because I think it's "not really a race"? NO. It is a real race and we're really doing the damn thing. All I want to say is, keep on keeping on. Run as if virtual races were now all that we had offered to us until forever. Create your own atmosphere of encouragement. I told my coach today that I'm falling back in love with road running. Back in February, I told myself I was so over this. That would be my last road marathon. Never again. Yet, here we are, in a situation none of us could have predicted. I've become grateful that I have two feet that can carry me for miles. I appreciate the open road. I have new goals that are getting fired up in my brain that don't involve trails or ultras. Guess I'm going back on my word. A new pair of Hoka One One Clifton 6's showed up today. Guess that means more road miles. Guess that means I'm still making myself feel like a champion no matter what the future brings.

"Never give up something you can't go a day without thinking about." - Winston Churchill