Several of my runner friends recently bought bicycles and are riding more as part of their training. This is the advice I'd offer to anyone getting on a bicycle for the first time in a long time.1. Get on the bikeWaiting until the weather is nicer or you are in better shape is a sure way to never become a better cyclist. Just get out on the bike, even if it…
As most of you have experienced, relationships change with time. When I first began practicing yoga I was focused on developing strength and concentration. Later it became very meditative for me; eventually this became a problem as I tackled thoughts that I preferred to push away rather than deal with. During this period my practice became dangerous; I sought pleasure from my practice so I would intentionally push past my edge,…
I love large community events. I think it is important for a school, company, or city to effectively cease operations so that everyone can go out and enjoy themselves. These types of events tend to happen in the spring, when the weather first starts to warm up and people are itching to get out of their winter hideouts. In college, on the last Friday of the spring semester we celebrated Georgetown…
The focus of this first month was to start building up my mileage. I started with fifteen, then did four weeks of around 23 miles. I've never been good about sticking to rigid schedules so I didn't try to force myself into one. I always did one long run on the weekend. One week the weather was kind of gross so I only did one other long run. The other weeks…
Earlier this year, when I decided to start running, I started searching the internet for some articles for beginner runners. However, after a lot of searching I couldn't find many articles for people like me: already relatively fit but with no real running background. Most of the beginner articles I found were "couch to 5k" type advice. I wasn't just getting off the couch; I had no problem going for a…
I would consider myself a risk averse thrill seeker. What this means to me is that I love the thrill of doing something new and apparently dangerous, but only once I am reasonably assured that I have taken some basic precautions. This has attracted me to pursuits such as roller coaster riding, free diving, and bike commuting. When I began practicing yoga, my adventurous side was drawn to inversions and arm…
I've noticed in both my personal practice and my teaching lately that I have shying away from chair pose (utkatasana). This is a very common pose and part of the surya B sequence so I encounter it in every class I take and teach. Utkatasana is sometimes referred to as "victory pose." Lately, this pose has not been feeling very victorious.I first noticed my aversion to chair pose this summer. In…
I'm sure many of you have heard me complain about running. It's never been my favorite way to exercise and as far as transportation is concerned, there are much more efficient ways to get someplace. Unfortunately, I'm pretty competitive and I've been hanging around runners. After some friendly reminders of looming registration deadlines, my non-runner friend and I decided to sign up for the Marine Corps 10k this October. When we…
Last night I was riding over to a local bike shop for their regular Tuesday night ride. I decided in late July that I wanted to improve my cadence, so I finally broke down and bought a Garmin (I held out for over a year). I know I look at it way too frequently when I ride, but I didn't realize just how dependent I had become until last night. I…
We left the Salvation Army in Centralia where we had spent the night for the start line around 615. I had originally intended to go without my wind breaker because it was supposed to warm up and it was only going to take up space in my jersey pocket I could use for food instead (I was practically a grocery store with the amount of food I had by the end).…