Try as I might, I couldn’t quite tie the preceding post into this video! Here is my take on downward-facing dog for runners. You do not need to get your heels down, now or ever, for this pose to work. In fact, you don’t even need to get your hands down; try taking the pose against a wall (or a boulder), which will be kinder to your hamstrings and will stretch your shoulders nicely.
While my trip to Ironman Coeur d’Alene* has occupied most of my thoughts in the past week, another project that’s taken a lot of work has reached fruition: The Athlete’s Pocket Guide to Yoga has been released! We arrived home from Idaho late, late Tuesday night (actually, early Wednesday morning) to find my shipment of books.
I still remember how exciting it was to get my shipment of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga. Working on this new book was like having my second child: I knew what to expect, it was less work to bear, and it brings pleasure equal to the first. It’s more colorful than the first book, a little smaller, and—unlike my second daughter, Vivian, who lives up to her lively name—it lies flat and still.I’m trying to minimize the effects of my Ironman training on my family. This means doing my long run midweek (a good idea for anyone in IM training who can swing it, in fact) and, until it gets too long to fit in logistically, my long ride on Friday while the kids are in school. With the sudden return of winter to North Carolina—39 and drizzling today, with a forecast of gloomy weather through the weekend—this meant I put in an epic ride on the bike trainer today.
Last week’s webinar presentation was an interesting experience. I shooed Wes and the girls out of the house and sat at my desk, facing my computer, talking to people I couldn’t see or even receive a reaction from. (This last point is not necessarily true of all webinars; because I work on a Mac, I had some limitations.) It felt a lot like my former work as a radio announcer, and I found myself clicking back into some of the habits I developed over those six years. I tapped my foot slowly to help slow down my speech; I turned away from the mike to clear my throat or sip water. I did not, however, put on a twenty-minute Ornette Coleman tune so I could duck out and smoke a Camel, as I used to do!
I enjoyed leading a workshop on yoga for strength yesterday. Now, when we Northern Hemisphere endurance athletes are in the base period, is the time to amp up your yoga practice. (When your training is less intense, your yoga can be more so: keep them in inverse proportion to maintain balance.)
Wes got the last copy of USA Today at the Wellness Center paper box this morning. I’m hoping that means a lot of people read today’s paper, because I’m quoted in it, in an article on figure skater Sasha Cohen and her yoga practice.
Registration is now available for the hour-long webinar on yoga I’ll be giving Tuesday, January 27, at 6 p.m. EST. What’s a webinar, you ask? It’s a seminar delivered on the Web, in this case using software called GoToMeeting. You’ll see a slideshow and hear my voice, and you can submit questions for me to answer at the end of the presentation.
I’ve been booking some fun workshops for the new year, aimed at showing how yoga can aid your training and racing in various ways.
I’m in Boulder, Colorado, where I have spent the last three days shooting pictures for my next book, a practice guide, about which more later. It’s been a treat to be in a place whose beauty is so different from that of my native North Carolina. Yesterday, I ran on a semi-icy bike path toward the sunrise, then turned around and ran back toward the mountains, lit by the dawn. Today, remembering my previous experiences with altitude, I didn’t even try to run. Instead, when the shoot wrapped, I ate a hot bowl of spicy tomato-tortilla soup, then headed to Chatauqua Park for a hike on the icy trail into the Front Range.
In the last few months, I’ve explored a few new options for social networking (read: procrastinating from other work). I’ve enjoyed learning to use Facebook (friend/fan me!), and I’m really having fun with Twitter (follow me!). What better way to quickly alert my friends that I’m now the proud owner of a Jeff Burton NASCAR Crock Pot, or to confess that I now have a deep bruise on my belly after meeting the business end of my resistance band when it wasn’t properly anchored in the doorframe?
