Sage Rountree, author of The Athlete's Guide to Yoga, combines her passions for endurance sports and yoga by coaching athletes in multisport and ultrarunning and by teaching yoga to athletes. She has competed in events ranging from hometown 5Ks to the Boston Marathon and the age-group triathlon world championships. Sage's writing describes her experiences using form and breath to stay present on the mat, on the trail, and at home with her family. |
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Here’s the latest edition of my newsletter, detailing my fall workshop and clinic schedule. You can sign up from the newsletter page or by using the form to the right.
My client Robyn is a big inspiration to me. She’s a model athlete, completing every workout as written, logging diligently, and reporting her results promptly. She also takes note of the insights that come through her training, both in her training log and, quite eloquently, on her blog.
I’ve begun teaching short yoga sessions to the UNC football team. It’s a fascinating experience and a refreshing difference from working with my usual, familiar endurance athletes. The players aren’t shy about reacting to the poses—they groan as they ease into pigeon, they crack up as they roll to balance on their sitting bones or fall out of crow. Stoic distance runners aren’t nearly so eager to admit to discomfort or difficulty.
Yoga teaches us that there is enough—enough strength to hold a pose, enough room to breathe in a twist, enough time to relax into the present. Following the principle of nongrasping (aparigraha), we are assured that there is enough. Learning to accept this avoids a lot of unnecessary clutching, making us more efficient (and that’s the goal in endurance sports).
We are in California, spending a few days in Napa before heading up to Lake Tahoe for Wes’s sister’s wedding. Tuesday was a very busy day, with the flight out; navigating SFO; a delicious late lunch at the Sausalito Taco Shop; a precipitous drive up to and down from Muir Woods; a hike through the park there, which was filled with Europeans, apparently taking advantage of the dollar’s weakness; and finally the drive to Napa, during which the rental car GPS and I disagreed vehemently several times yet finally learned to get along, prompting a family discussion about the importance of admitting when you are wrong. The last few minutes of the drive were enhanced by listening to my brother, John Hamilton, host the 6:00 news live on KPFA.
Registration is now available for my weekend workshop at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts, February 6–8, 2009. The off-season is the perfect time of year to learn how to incorporate yoga in your training. I hope you’ll join me! Kripalu is the world’s flagship yoga center, and I’m very excited to be one of the faculty members. One of my running buddies just returned from a weekend there, and she reports the food and running were both wonderful!
Two of now-five-year-old Vivi’s great spoonerisms from the past two days.
There’s got to be some training nugget in no. 2. When is it appropriate to faint your pace? To ask someone else to faint it for you?
Wes and I were cycling on Highway 42 in very rural North Carolina this morning when a pack of motorcycles passed us. The lead rider gave a polite “toot-toot” honk as they approached. (You learn to distinguish the tone of honking pretty quickly on a bike.)
The crape myrtles are spectacular in central North Carolina this year. They remind me of fireworks, the tips of each branch bursting into jewel-toned color. I never really noticed them before, but this week they are everywhere, and beautiful. It’s like the phenomenon where you buy a new car and suddenly see the same model everywhere; I am attuned to the crape myrtle.
The Search Inside feature for my book is now online at Amazon.com. You can (virtually) page through it there. If you weren’t sure whether you wanted to buy it, just have a look and now you’ll know you should! The design won an award, and rightfully so; it’s really beautiful.
