I’ve never been a runner – it doesn’t come naturally for me. Sometimes I’ve felt bad about this, and felt like my body just wasn’t cut out to have that kind of stamina.  Yoga throughout my teen years and 20’s was a great way for me to feel good about my body and feel “in shape.”  It seems like I have tons of endurance and stamina in yoga, which has been validating. 

 

But I’ve always wanted to run.   A few years ago, I started running, but I went too fast and an old back injury kicked in.  I’ve had some stops and starts since then, but now that I know soem things to do to stick with it and not feel injured, I’m really committed.

 

And I just signed up for a 5K race for next month! 

 

Over the years, I’ve figured out that I do best if I run every other day, and do lots of yoga on the off days.  I’m mostly running on the treadmill so that I can control how fast I run and how long I go, so that I don’t overdo the training and tweak my back.   And if my back gets a little achy, I know what I need to do if my back starts to hurt.   Basically, I do lots of gentle yoga stretches and some good self-massage with tennis balls and foam rollers and Yamuna Body Rolling.  I also love to soak in a hot tub, especially right after a run J

 

Here is one of my favorite asanas, which I do just a little right after I run and then as part of a long practice the day after:

 

Lying down hamstring stretch (Supta Padangusthasana), holding in the center as shown, and then going to each side – holding each variation for a LONG time (2 minutes or more)

 

 

 

If you’re interested, I can tell you others 🙂   This is probably my favorite, but there’s so much to choose from! 

 

Happy spring everyone – I hope we all get outside a lot more this month and take some deep breaths, whether you’re running, walking, biking, or practicing yoga 🙂

 

Be well, and enjoy your practice,

 

Barrett