Sunday 25 March 2012

How to answer FAQs from a non-runner

No, I will NOT win a marathon.
No, that was a (5km, 10km, 10miler, 1/2 marathon, 30km race), not a marathon.
All marathons are 42.2kms.

And yes, we're all crazy ("Running is a mental sport... and we're all insane". - as seen at AtB mile markers!)

Sunday night song

Around the Bay - 2012 edition

Today was the race opener of the season - Around the Bay (AtB) in Hamilton. I actually really like this race, despite the tone that this post may end up taking :). It is well organized and has a few nice special touches: the organizers communicate well, allow bib transfers, have great race shirts, race day goes off without a hitch every time (the 118 years of experience really shows!), the km markers have inspiring/interesting quotes all along the way, the route is challenging but still goes by pretty quickly, and it's a 30km distance race, of which there aren't very many (two in Toronto) and make for a great distance for those training for fulls but also to push yourself beyond the half without having to do that many fulls. And hands-down the best part of the race (no, it's not Valley Inn Road (VIR), a steep hill at km 26), is turning the corner and down the ramp to, in full Olympic style, sprint to the finish line, IN Copps Coliseum.

So. On to my debrief on the race.

I did not anticipate racing this and sort of got taken in by the initial pace and followed along. The first 10km was really congested so I just sort of made my way across and then thought I could up the ante so increased my speed for the next 6-7 kms. I was keeping consistent pacing so I wanted to see if I could keep that up, which became my real goal, as that is the biggest race challenge I have. Not that I was trying to get a negative split on the AtB route with the hills in the 2nd half, but to try to stay consistent. Around 21km though, my breathing changed and I was really nauseous. I figured I was pushing it too hard and it was lactic acid build-up so I threw in a slightly longer walk break. It seemed to work but by 23km, I was already slowing down my pace and could not dig deep to push through. I kept CRAVING water by now and stopped at 3 water stations (2 real ones and 1 makeshift one) between km 23 and the finish to refill both my bottles. I wanted nothing to do with Gatorade. And I think this is what did me in (as it did at Midsummer Night's)*. Km 25 to the end was a wash. I gave VIR a half assed effort. I walked every 3 minutes during km 27 and 28 as I didn't know if I was going to throw up. I managed to finish strong though by just gritting my teeth and getting her done and actually SPRINTED to the finish line to get under 2:55 (2:54:58 on my Garmin!), a PERSONAL BEST!

So why did I feel so defeated post race? I mean, a beautiful day, a PB, that should make me happy, right?... But it's because my physical body actually felt strong and should have gotten me in in much better shape for the last 5km. It's because something happened physiologically that made it so unenjoyable - and not enjoying running or racing is not something I ever want. It's because it really shook up my confidence for Ottawa - wondering if I've got it in me to do the full in late May with the weather we're having - and I don't want to be dealing with self-doubt when really what I'm doing is a major accomplishment no matter what. It's because my chip time was a minute off my Garmin time (so my official result is 2:55:46) which made no sense to me since it was turned on only when I crossed the start and recorded accurate distance without any disruptions in satelite or time along the way).

Anyway, all difficult things to admit feeling upset about because it feels ungrateful and not authentic to why I do this. It is also all self-driven and unnecessary! But I'm living my yoga by practicing satya (truth) and trying to resolve these feelings for myself. And by doing so honestly, I am able to bring the perspective of gratitude back into the picture. My body got me through 30km. I achieved a PB (and shaved 5 minutes off my course time for AtB). It was a beautiful day and allowed me a taste of what to prepare for for Ottawa. It is showing me that progress is slow and while I miss my speed of days past, with proper training, patience, and compassion towards myself, I'll achieve it.



*What I think happened to me and definitely something I need to play with STAT to find the right electrolyte balance is hyponatremia. I wasn't overhydrated BEFORE but I think on course, I dillute my sodium levels to dangerously low levels by drinking too much water. Aside from the on course issues today, post-run cramping, nausea, and headache lasted 45 minutes. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302--8785-0,00.html

Sunday 18 March 2012

Project 8 - Live to Learn

One of the most amazing things in life is the endless information that exists... this never-ending knowledge to learn, infinite wisdom to grow and develop from.  This can fuel the curious, overwhelm the perfectionist, and humble the genius. I have to admit that I have been busy/distracted/focused on other priorities for the last few years and haven't read enough, changed perspectives often, or studied and discovered much. I've missed reading. I've missed watching documentaries and inspiring videos. I've missed being the student. And I didn't realize this until my teacher training last summer. Just like someone who realizes they're overly thirsty way past the point of dehydration, I got a really intense - an unquenchable - thirst for knowledge.


Steph, my wise Peer Support Guide during this distance learning portion of my teacher training, wrote "With so much knowledge out there, it's kind of a comfort, isn't it, in knowing that we can't know it all? In knowing that we can't take it all in, we have the freedom to choose something here that truly inspires us, and use this as a chance to add to our passion for our practice."


With so much possibility, I decided to focus my topic for the Live to Learn project to my teaching and practice. I also wanted to make it a creative project, one that would fuel the right side of my brain. And with so much out there to learn, I wanted to make it thematic in order to focus my efforts and learnings into a more comprehensible package. I decided to do research on the history, meaning and story behind the sanskrit name for postures in the Moksha series and to highlight the meanings and interpretations through poetry, imagery, or through exploration of less traditional definitions. I was left with lots of questions still, sometimes unsure of what to think due to contradicting texts. I want to highlight that there is so much richness to what there is to learn in the stories of asanas, and that I've only captured a single layer of that.










PRANAYAMA
ebbing and flowing
through the passageway of lungs
extend the life force
 
 
UTKATASANA
While most people call it "chair pose", I found adjectives, as opposed to this noun that gave me a new love-on for this posture. Powerful. Fierce. Wild. Frightening. Intense. Furious. Uneven.


Power from the ankles as the heels root powerfully into the mat, calves that ground and thighs that hug. Fierceness in openness of the chest, in the reaching of the arms, made uneven with a calm of the face. Building heat. Fortifying will. Yet staying soft and steady. Seated in strength and in grace. There is so much opposition to explore in this posture (looking forward to my next practice)!






GARUDASANA
Garuda, king of birds; he transported the God Vishnu.
Ally of the gods, Garuda was eager to help humanity fight against demons. Devourer in Sanskrit, Garuda is also known as the all-consuming fire of the sun's rays.


When in Garudasana, we can claw (albeit without gripping!) and root through our feet as if on a branch but can find levity in our torso at the same time.


Stoic. Mighty. Focused. Poised.
When releasing the compression in Garudasana, we almost appear to be flapping wings, allowing fresh, oxigenated blood to flow through our joints, and releasing heat from the body, glowing, full of power.

PARIVRTTA UTKATASANA
Sweet thoughts,
pray and release.
Have a seat, stay, visit,
and let go of what's not serving you.

BANARASANA
Lunge equestrian posture - when I found this "translation", I was struck by what a beautiful image this makes of this posture.
Runner's lunge is often accompanied by running visualization - a runner up against a runner's block at the start of a sprint, a runner springing forward to reach the finish line at the end of a race.
With this new equine imagery, I bring to this posture: composure, pride, calmness, athleticism, and a sense of being lithe and majestic. 


VIRABHADRASANA
Virabhadra
Hindu deity
Incarnation of Shiva
Hero + friend
Warrior


The warrior poses recount a story of love, attachment, pride, shame, vengeance, violence, sadness, compassion and renunciation.  That complexity, in and of itself, encompasses such a textured, layered and beautiful depth to what the posture can be.

Background: Shiva, higher self, is heartbroken by the death of his love Sati, caused by humiliation and sadness from her father Daksha. Heartbreak transforms to rage and in a dark place, Shiva pulls out his hair and creates, from this, an army of fierce warriors. He names one, Virabhadra (Hero friend), and asks him to destroy Daksha. When Shiva sees the damage Virabhadra has caused, he brings Daksha back to life. With dead Sati in his arms, Shiva walks away from the scene with his beloved wife's lifeless body, headed for isolation.

From research on why we practice Virabhadrasana, I found this, which really resonates with me:  It is not to honour the practice of violence, but to fight our own ignorance and ego. "What's really being commemorated in this pose's name and held up as an ideal for all practitioners, is the spiritual warrior, who bravely does battle with the universal enemy, self-ignorance (avidya), the ultimate source of all our suffering."

If one is hurt by the arrows of an enemy, one is not as aggrieved as when cut by the unkind words of a relative, for such grief continues to rend one's heart day and night.
— Lord Shiva, Bhagavat Purana

PATANVRIKSASANA
 The willow tree allowed the wind to carry and lift its branches, dancing, tumbling, sometimes being dropped but always remaining graceful and calm.  







NATARAJASANA
Symbol of the Lord of the dance
What fascinated me about the research I did was the visual representation of the Nataraj form. An intricate, beautiful bronze statue that is now iconographic was developed in Southern India in the 9th / 10th centuries by artists of the Chola period (read more about Chola art here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chola_art - I was fascinated by this). Today, the Chola Nataraj is a recognized statement of Hindu Art.




In the typical Chola Nataraj sculpture, the dancing form of Lord Shiva is shown with four hands - each representing one of the directions. He is in dance, one foot raised, the other on a demon/dwarf (said to represent ignorance). The upper left hand holds fire, the lower left hand points down to the demon/dwarf. The upper right hand holds an hourglass drum with a hand mudra representing creation and the lower right hand is in the gesture of assertion: "Be without fear." He is surrounded by snakes (ego) and an arch of flames (birth and death or the larger universe). Shiva's stoic expression is said to be neutral, balanced. Look at all of these polarities, and the complexity in the opposition of the posture. Then stop thinking about it  - get out of your ego - and just feel the the posture evolve through your cycle of breath and dance with it.
 
 PAVANAMUKTASANA
"What I did would have been considered polite, especially in Fartland" - Jack Handy, Deep Thoughts.
(wind + relieving + pose = permission for Alice to regress to maturity of 12 year old)
SETU BANDHASANA
I've always known that "Setu" means'' Bridge.'' And that a bridge is a connection between two things. In one of the books I read, I resonated with this meaning of why we practice this posture - to allow for the connection between mind and body, inner word and outer world, the individual and the divine.


VIRASANA
Heroic, hero, chief. The posture is said to resemble a brave person taking position while attacking his enemy. While I can see this, similar to tradition with Japanese emperors, I don't see it in supta virasana  as we make ourselves vulnerable as we expand and expose our front bodies. There is opposition in my idea of a heroic, proud chief and this vulnerability, as the opening of the hips and shoulders can release emotions and sensations that have been ignored or pushed away by the rounding of the upper back and protective tension in the shoulders. Any insights on what seems to me to be an interesting contrast is invited!

FLOW:
Observe me, says the Breath, and learn to live effortlessly in the Present Moment. Feel me, says the Breath, and feel the Ebb and Flow of Life. Allow me, says the Breath, and I’ll sustain and nourish you, filling you with energy and cleansing you of tension and fatigue.
Move with me, says the Breath, and I’ll invite your soul to dance.
Make sounds with me and I shall teach your soul to sing.
Follow me, says the Breath, and I’ll lead you out to the farthest reaches of the Universe… and inward  to the deepest parts of your inner world.

Notice, says the Breath, that I am as valuable to you coming or going that every part of my cycle is as necessary as another that after I’m released, I return again and again… that even after a long pause – moments when nothing seems to happen -eventually I am there.

Each time I come, says the Breath, I am a gift from Life. And yet I am released without regret, without suffering, without fear. Notice how you take me in, says the Breath, … is it with joy with gratitude… do you take me in fully… invite me into all the inner spaces of your home… or carefully into just the “front foyer”? What places in you am I not allowed to nourish?

And notice, says the Breath, how you release me. Do you hold me prisoner in closed up places in the body? Is my release resisted or do you let me go reluctantly, not easily.

And are my waves of Breath, of Life, as gentle as a quiet sea, softly smoothing sandy stretches of yourself; or anxious, urgent, choppy waves; or the crashing tumult of a stormy sea?

And can you feel me as the link between your inner and outer worlds, suggests the Breath, feel me as Life’s exchange between the universe and you? The universe breathes me into you – you send me back to the universe… I am the flow of Life between every single part and the whole.

Your attitude to me, says the Breath, is your attitude to Life. Welcome me… embrace me fully. Let me nourish you completely, then set me free. Move with me, dance with me, sing with me, sigh with me… love me, trust me, don’t try to control me.
I am the Breath. Life is the Musician. You are the Flute. And Music – Creativity – depends on all of us. You are not the Creator… nor the Creation. We are all a part of the process of Creativity… you, Life, and me: the Breath.
Let us play together and rejoice, for creativity is magic. And magic is change – appearance … disappearance – it is all a wonderful illusion.
Donna Martin


ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA
HALF LORD OF THE FISHES
Matsyendranatha, a yogi who is considered to be the founder of Hatha Yoga as author of one of the earliest texts on Hatha Yoga in Sanskrit, was said to be a fish. In contradictary texts, he was actually created by Lord Shiva from absolute purity - fire, water, earth, sky and air. The posture is supposed to be named after him. The connection I was able to make is that if the creation of Matsyendranatha was to use the purity of the elements, doing a detoxifying twist that allows us to eliminate waste and toxins, aids us in achieving this purity within ourselves. Any other thoughts welcome!

KAPALABHATI
Skull Shining, illuminative
I wanted to know more about awakening the Kundalini Power in skull shining breath... and I wanted to know why it is called skull shining. Here is what I discovered distilled into 2 sentences per thought ... 


Kundalini Power is a dormant power residing near the Muladhar Chakra (lower abdomen), coiled at the base of the spine. The pushes in the Kapalbhati breath awaken this power. Awaking the nerves in the lower abdomen allows for the divine power (often refered to as a serpent) to start climbing up the Sushumna Nadi -- the subtle body passageway from the root to the crown, awakening each chakra in succession. (I have so much more reading I need to do on this to understand safe passages vs uncontrollable ones... fascinating!). 


As for the skull shining bit, in the process of eliminating toxins in the breath released from the body, the organs under the skull (mainly the brain) is influenced. You can think of it as a cleaning of the cranial sinuses.


SAVASANA
Come to the edge, the border between one world and another so you can remember what it means to be alive.
Let your breath slow down. Be thankful for one more day. 
Another day.
It is enough.





Saturday 17 March 2012

You want inspiration? I'll give you inspiration

And get a kleenex. Or eight.

April teaching and running

April! And with the weather we've been having, that's DEFINITELY springtime :) I'll be in Victoria from April 4-14 so practicing at Moksha Yoga Victoria and getting my mileage done along the water and by Elk/Beaver lake. If you're around and want to train, let me know!

YOGA!


Moksha Yoga Danforth (Danforth and Chester)
Monday April 2, 16, 23 and 30: 6:30 am - 75 minute Moksha class
Sunday April 22: 1:30pm - 60 minute Community class

Moksha Yoga Downtown (Bathurst and Wellington)
Tuesday April 3, 17, and 24: 9:45pm - 60 minute Moksha class

Moksha Yoga St Clair (at St Clair and Oakwood)
Saturday April 21 and 28: 2:00pm (90 Moksha) and 4:00pm (60 Moksha)

RUNNING!

Run Club - Lululemon Eaton Centre every Thursday nights at 6:30pm (approx 5-6km) and Saturday mornings at 8:45am (or meet at the North West corner of Queen and University at 9am). Various paces, various distances! Nicole, my co-ambassador and I, are going to have discussions shortly about bringing in a training schedule to help those who want to run their first half. So if you're interested, let me know your thoughts and what would support your goals.

Running with Commerce Court Running Room with the marathon clinic Sunday mornings at 8:30am! Distances gradually increase! If you're not up to long loooong distances, there are other distances that run out of CCRR on Sundays! Come check it out!

Races: none in April but several in May that I'm gearing up to: possibly the Goodlife 1/2 (undecided), the Sporting Life 10km, as well as the Ottawa Marathon (eep!)! I'm also signed up (hopefully I get in) to do my Flow training in May! Busy month :)

Fit Factory - review

So it's been a while since I've wanted to post this but here is, finally, my review on Fit Factory. Fit Factory, as of February 1, has its own new studio space on Yonge, just north of Wellesley, after offering classes out of several east, midtown and west locations for the last year plus.
Fit Factory Fitness offers you a one-hour bootcamp workout with different cardio sets and kettlebell, medicine ball, bar, dumbell and own body weight circuits and supersets. As they state on their website, it is a one-stop shop for fitness.

The pros:
-Majority of classes led by Tony A, a former U.S. Marines Corps Drill Sergeant. Serious business training with this man, and there's no room for being soft. Dig deep, plug your ears (he'll yell non stop) and don't you dare stop before he instructs you to cease fire. The real deal and as "tough" as he is, he's fair, only picks on you if you're not trying, and makes an effort to know everyone's name, which is a nice touch to personalize your workout (unless he's calling you out over and over again for slacking).
-This is not bootcamp like the other bootcamps around town. It is like that x 10 - more intense and different everytime. The training and regimens are apparently those of the U.S. Armed Forces and it is offered in an authentic environment.
-It's hard! And I'm saying this. I love having to really go deep to work through the grime. It pushes you physically and mentally and you surprise yourself with your strength and abilities.

Cons:
-Not a real con but a heads-up. Tony A does not go by the same clock as everyone else. So when he says 30 seconds left, DO NOT BE FOOLED. It is 30 Tony A seconds, which means like another 2 minutes after enduring hell for 5.
-No showers... well there is one but it's also a bathroom and accessed via the studio so if there's another class on, not the most convenient.
-It's hard! Ha. While I find this to be a PRO more than anything else, I don't want to send you there and you tell me you weren't warned. Be prepared to have fun but work really hard. And listen to your body before you listen to anyone yelling at you. There's discomfort, then there's pain, so brace your core, maintain good form, and be smart about it so you don't get injured.

The verdict:
-Try it out. Tony A and co-founder Ivan Ho are good people and care about their space and the quality of their product.
-When you do, try the intro special if it's still on. $30 for 30 days. Amazing. If that's not on anymore, they have 10 consecutive days for $30 which pays for itself if you go more than once.
-Try the boxing classes as well (awesome). If you want they also have hip hop and yoga.
-Bring indoor shoes or go barefoot but don't try wearing your outdoor shoes in on the new floor!

http://fitfactoryfitness.com/

Friday 2 March 2012

Repost: March schedule - yoga, running, races

In case you can't find it in Feb, here it is again:
http://hogtownbunny.blogspot.com/2012/02/march-teaching-and-running.html

professional development day recipe

Started by teaching a class at 6:30am, followed by a nap with the dog at 8:30am.

Add in some Moksha posture tip videos over breakfast.


Go to Fit Factory for a bootcamp class to awaken muscles after 4 days of being sick and of inactivity.

Have lunch and a tea by yourself and enjoy.

From there, you've given yourself enough time for a teacher rejuvenation class with Jess Robertson. This will make the day crescendo nicely.

From here you can either do a 90 minute Cycletherapy spin class or a 90 minute Jess Lemon yoga class, either of which will be preceded by a short run.

Eat a little bit more and bookend the day by teaching the 8:30pm Karma class.

I could do this daily :)