Kriya is a Sanskrit term. Essentially it’s a set of exercises to help move energy throughout the body. Although there is some resemblance to “normal” Yoga asana, it’s quite different too.
I am definitely no expert in either Kriyas or Kundalini Yoga, which is the type of Yoga Kriyas are often associated with. I have dabbled a bit, though, taken a course here and there and read a few books. So I am not doing a deep dive here — if your interest is piqued, I will point you to my teacher, Brett Larkin. She has a YouTube channel here (just search Kundalini), and also an app which is amazing, but not free.
Often when you start a Kriya, you do the same set of exercises for 40 days. The exact same exercises in the the exact same order. I did one last December I think. I haven’t done another one since then . . . until the other day when on a whim I picked up one of my books and just did one. I did it the next day, and the next . . .
According to the “rules”, if you skip a day, you have to go back and start from day one until you complete forty days straight. Many Kundalini practitioners practice in the morning — for the same reason many runners run in the morning. Get it done before the day gets away from you!
So it’s sort of like a run streak, except that there are consequences if you skip a day — unlike a run streak, which you can break at any time. Of course you could just stop doing your Kriya; I don’t think you’d be struck down by lightning or anything.
That’s all my AM Yoga that you see on my weekly run downs!
Kundalini is different
There are many different types of Yoga. Kundalini was shrouded in mystery for centuries. There were few books, and of course way back when no Internet. Generally it was passed down from Guru (teacher) to student. In fact, for thousands of years that’s how all Yoga was taught.
Now we do have Internet, and the veils have been pulled aside. In Kundalini Yoga asana, pranayama, and meditation are all bundled up together. “Regular” Yoga, for instance, has you practice asana, then pranayama, then meditation. Kundalini may have you do asana, pranayama, and meditation all in one pose.
Many poses have movement in them, or involve holding your legs or arms up for fairly long periods of time. It can be very challenging physically, and sometimes triggering mentally. It can also help tone your body all over — especially in areas we don’t get to as much as we should, like our core, lower back, and hamstrings.
Why am I doing a 40 day Kriya?
I didn’t really have that intention when I picked up my book. I guess my intuition guided me to try something different. You can practice Kundalini Yoga without doing a 40 Day Kriya.
I settled on a Kriya for energy. Because I feel as though I’m always lacking energy. You know what? I definitely felt better after I practiced that particular Kriya! That’s why I decided to just keep going with it.
My teacher advises not judging a Kundalini pose/Kriya on how you feel during, but how you feel after (sound familiar, runners?).
Final Thoughts
I don’t really recommend that you just search YouTube for Kundalini videos. You can trust Brett’s videos.
Committing to something — much like running a long distance race — can give you such a sense of accomplishment when you finish. Some days you’ll be excited and some days you really won’t want to do it, but in the end, you just know that you’re going to come away a changed person — in a good way.
Does this just sound really bizarre to you or interesting?
When have you committed to doing something for some amount of time (not running!)?
Most people come to Yoga for the physical benefits — and there’s no denying there can be many physical benefits. Many people stay with Yoga because of the physical benefits. More people stay because of the mental/spiritual benefits. Those benefits can benefit your running and/or everyday life, too.
Not going deeply into the pose right away
It’s really tempting to just muscle into a pose the first time you do it. It’s a really poor idea, though, and can be a recipe for a quick injury — or an overuse injury over time.
Running: Not going out too fast. Most of us have crashed and burned in a race because we gave into the excitement and started out way too fast.
Not warming up for a Peak Pose
Often Yoga teachers will design their class carefully to warm up students for a peak pose. Generally that pose is the “hardest” pose of the class. Sometimes it’s the pose we love to bust out for those IG selfies — but without warming up first. Another recipe for injury.
Running: many runners never warm up for a run because they just want to hit the road and get going, or lack of time, or maybe simply because it’s cold out (guilty!). The whole point of the warm up is to literally warm up your body to run, so that you don’t injure yourself.
Noticing Your Breath
In Yoga your breath is your clue to whether or not you’ve gone over your edge. When it gets short and choppy, you know you’re pushing too hard.
Running: Yup, pretty much the same thing!
Starting with a good foundation
It’s important to have a good foundation in your Yoga poses — often this is your feet. Are they turning out or in when they should be pointing forward? Are your ankles collapsing in or out? Is your weight evenly distributed across your whole foot?
Running: Substitute base for foundation, although what your feet are doing in running is important too! We build our base, making sure that we slowly and carefully prepare our bodies for longer and harder runs further down the road.
Finding Our Edge
In Yoga we never want a pose to be too easy or too hard; we call this finding our edge, that sweet spot where we’re stressing our body in a good way, but not feeling pain.
Running: In running we’re trying to find the edge for pushing ourselves hard enough so that we grow as a runner — but not pushing so hard that we get injured.
It truly is the journey, not the destination | Photo by Visually Us on Pexels.com
It’s the Proverbial Journey
Every day on your Yoga mat is different. Something that felt easy yesterday can feel out of reach today. One day we can balance forever, and the next all we do is wobble and fall all over the place. It’s why Yoga is called a practice, because there is no such thing as a perfect pose — there’s always a way to go deeper or improve.
Running: in running it’s not just about the race, it’s about the training that leads up to the race. You may have your eyes on the prize (a goal race, getting faster, going longer), but it’s the training that will get you there. You have to figure out a way to enjoy the process, the training. Otherwise you’re likely to skip the parts you don’t like — plus you’ll be spending a whole lot of time doing something you don’t enjoy.
Union
Yoga can literally be translated as union: union of body, mind, and spirit.
Running: Yup, pretty much the same thing!
Another “translation” for Yoga is the Science of Joy. At its heart, Yoga is meant to remind us that just as our body, mind, and spirit are connected, so we are connected to every living thing. Yoga — not just asana, but the whole package (asana, breathwork, meditation, etc.) — shows us that when we are present, mindful, and unattached to the outcome, our true nature is joy.
Now that’s a lesson we can take into everything in life, not just our running!
What makes you feel connected to your body?
What makes you feel connected to others — even in times like these?
Do you think life is hard and then you die, or can you find the joy even in difficult situations?
I’d like to say snow is in our tailview mirror, but not this week. At least there was no accumulation. But there was snow, rain, sleet, and hail oh my! In between all that there was also sunshine, and some days that were breezy instead of super windy. A little sunshine goes a long way!
Last week I noted that my RHR (resting heart rate, taken first thing n the morning) was going up, up, up. If it suddenly jumps 10 degrees it’s a pretty sure sign that you’re getting sick. Mine wasn’t increasing that much, but there was a noticeably trend up and my runs definitely felt off. This week was better in both departments.
Spring is always a difficult time for me health-wise. Last year at about this time I’d spent a night in a hospital due to fainting & a really nasty stomach bug. So grateful that was last year, not this year. I haven’t been truly sick, but I have definitely struggled with feeling run down the last couple of months. Something some sun and warm days could cure — but alas, it’ll be a while before we see that.
Not my best photo, but loved soaking up some Vit D (Bandit, too)
Of course after I wrote the paragraph above, we finally had a Spring-like day, and I totally took advantage of it, eating lunch outside and then doing my recovery Yoga outside too. I slept like a log last night!
*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links
Running Update
New leaves & flowers are always such a hopeful sign
Tuesday Rain was in the forecast and so I “hustled” and actually got out there around 9. I’d probably get out earlier, but it was cold and windy. The first 3 miles weren’t too bad, and I probably should have called it quits there. Unfortunately the wind wore me down that last mile, especially running into the headwind the last quarter mile.
I seem to have taken a few steps back. What is my body trying to tell me?
It wasn’t warm, but it was sunny — we needed that!
Thursday The first nice day in what seems like forever. By nice I mean in the 40s, with a slight breeze, but sunny, LOL! This run was better than most of last week’s, but still felt hard. Which might be because I chose a hilly route, just to get myself out of the neighborhood! I enjoyed the sunshine, though.
First rainbow & a heart, extra points!
Saturday Often they promise us nice weather but don’t deliver — today they certainly did! I realized maybe I’m simply pushing too hard on my long runs. Then again, I don’t usually look at pace at all. Anyway, I gave myself permission to walk when I felt like it and I felt like it a lot.
Second rainbow — people are creative!
The pace was still considerably better than last week’s long run, despite the extra mile; no doubt due to the more favorable weather.
Lola & Bandit practicing proper social distancing (actually it was hard to get this photo!)
Favorites of the week
If you follow me on Instagram here, you’ll know that we participated in a car parade to thank the staffers at our local Humane Society.
The scarf sorta worked — this was after Tuesday’s run, so yup, a chilly but sunny day
They are not allowing the many volunteers to go in (although apparently they’re going to start letting some come in), so those guys are working overtime to keep the animals safe — while adoptions seem to be booming.
I will totally be getting this again!
This Poke Bowl. Just had to share!
Bandit wanted some too (but didn’t get anything; he got some dog treats eventually)
I’ve noticed cars zipping around, ignoring stop signs and even red lights. On one run this week, though, I had a car stop at a green light and wave me over so I could cross the street. Seriously, how cool was that?
How are you thanking essential workers?
Still looking for rainbows?
What virtual races did you run this week? Just not my thing
Coming up on Tuesday: April’s not quite over, but I’m wrapping up my month & putting a grade on it. Of course I’ll be joining y’all (virtually) for some tea next weekend.
ICYMI: It’s a crave busting meditation. I know there’s been some issues with volume on my videos (not completely sure why), but I worked on this and hopefully it’ll be much better. You can view the meditation here. And Yes, you can always join the 21 Days of Yoga Challenge at any time here.
Be the first to know when I release new videos: sign up for my newsletter here to find out when I add new videos, and you’ll receive a free Self Love Affirmation PDF and a bonus audio-only version of this self love meditation.
More snow, but nothing really to write home about. Wind and cold though! Definitely having some shorts/bathing suit photo envy. I’d settle for putting away my Winter clothes, I stare at my closet and I just don’t even want to put them on again!
Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and apologizing for the rant. We all have our breaking point! Still running, but coming to grips with the idea that the half in June is probably a no-go. Trying to decide if I want to drop the mileage on my long runs . . .
*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links
Running Update
Spring is slowly arriving
Tuesday The mornings are still chilly, and that’s generally when I run. Too bad it’s nicer in the afternoon! It was somewhat cloudy & windy, but still, not bad. I actually almost had slow negative splits. I guess I ran out of steam the last mile.
Wish this was the only snow we got this week — it wasn’t! But it melts quickly.
Thursday Yup, woke up to a dusting of the white stuff, which was gone by the time I ran. Very cold and windy, but sunny — not a bad run. Paces are *slowly* getting better (see what I did there?). Eventually it’s supposed to feel easier to run breathing through your nose — I am most definitely not there yet, but I have some ideas why that may be.
Mr. Judy found this garden art. I didn’t remember we had it, or where we used it in TX!
Sunday This run sucked and was very frustrating on many levels. I don’t have my Garmin to show me pace, normally, but it kept going through data screens & so I kept seeing it. It wasn’t about the pace, though, it was about many things.
By the second half of my run I just ignored my Garmin completely. I won’t say that that made this a good run, but it did get me back in touch with my body. I was surprised my pace actually picked up on a long uphill despite a lot of walking. No injuries, no pain, finally nice weather (by that I mean sunny, mid 50s, and still windy, LOL!) — so there’s my positives.
Thanks Deborah & Coco for setting this up!
Favorites of the week
Another blogger Zoom meetup. So nice to put faces & voices to blogs. If you want to join the next one (which we didn’t discuss), but I’m assuming there’ll be a next one, just let Deborah @ Confessionsofanothermotherrunner know.
Other than that, same old, same old — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Except the weather. The weather got me down this week, but today I believe we made the turn away from Winter and back towards Spring — I hope! I think tonight we’re going to do Moroccan for dinner (delivery). We continue our virtual world culinary tour.
How are you overcoming bad weather, if you have it?
How are you dealing with those cancelled races?
What is motivating you off the couch and out the door?
Coming up on Tuesday: have you been hitting the snack drawer hard lately? I think a lot of us are, for a variety of reasons! I’ll give you some tools to cope with those cravings.
You can start the challenge any time!
ICYMI: It’s a biggie this week. I released a 21 Days of Yoga Challenge. Short videos every day for 21 days. A collaboration between myself and four other Yoga teachers, so you know I packed my portion with a lot of runner Yoga. You can sign up here.
Be the first to know when I release new videos: sign up for my newsletter here to find out when I add new videos, and you’ll receive a free Self Love Affirmation PDF and a bonus audio-only version of this self love meditation.
If doing more Yoga was a New Year’s resolution (remember those?), then I have the challenge for you! Excuse me while I do a little bit of shameless self promotion.
Along with four fellow Yoga teachers, I have been working on this challenge for months. I am so excited to finally share it with you!
Come practice with us for 21 Days & make Yoga a habit
What is the 21 Days of Yoga Challenge? The short story is that it’s 21 days of short Yoga videos. Most are between 10-15 minutes, some are even shorter. You’ll be hitting your upper body, your lower body, your core. You’ll stretch it out in the morning and again in the evening.
I owe many thanks to the following Yoga teachers who worked with me on this project:
You may not like my style, and maybe you don’t like someone else’s style, but you are bound to find someone’s style of Yoga that resonates with you with five Yoga teachers.
I have, of course, included a lot of videos that go straight to runner problems:
Help for Plantar Fasciitis
Loosening up that IT Band
Pre- and Postrun Stretches
Strong Hamstrings
And there’s 17 more videos!
A sneak peak at what you’ll get
You will get a short, daily email with links to the day’s video — and more. There’s a calendar, there’s an ebook, there’s three bonuses.
Interested? You can sign up here. Oh, did I mention it’s all free?
Yoga meets you where you are. Yoga doesn’t want to change you, it wants to help you. — Chocolaterunsjudy
What type/s of Yoga do you enjoy?
What time of day do you practice Yoga — or want to practice Yoga?
What’s your biggest problem when it comes to practicing Yoga?
Yes indeed, we got just a tiny bit of the white stuff yesterday — nothing sticking, just a brief snow shower. Thankfully I chose to run today, a much nicer day. Yesterday the wind was insane. Today it was just windy.
Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and sharing still more doggy cuteness again. Which is what happens when we’re at home and Mr. Judy is bored.
*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links
Running Update
Blurry daffodils, still most welcome
Monday Finally a nice running day; I was even a little overdressed due to getting out later than planned (I got caught up working on my spare room). Still nose breathing, still slow, but a lovely day to run.
I don’t normally do runfies, but this was part of stuff I was working on for Tuesday’s post
Wednesday Not so nice, but not too bad either. I got excited because this run was just a little faster. Then I remembered I came up with an idea for Tuesday’s post and there were a lot of photo stops in the beginning.
I’ve been talking about grounding a lot lately. Notice the trees roots rising out of the muck — that’s grounding!
Sunday You may or may not have noticed I took a lot of rest this week. I was feeling pretty run down by the end of the week. The weather wasn’t bad today. I chose the other side of the neighborhood, which is still hilly, but not as steep.
Still can’t figure out why a much slower pace still feels really hard simply by breathing through your nose. A glimmer of hope, though, this was slightly faster than last week’s 8 miler, and the pace was very consistent — whether I was going uphill or downhill. I was tiring towards the end, and walking a bit more, and really wondering why I had to run into that headwind at the end.
Now that’s partner Yoga!
Favorites of the week
Lola tries to get Mr. Judy to go to bed earlier than he wants to. And Bandit gets very clingy and/or antsy until I’m in bed at night.
So far, so good. That’s how I usually respond when people ask how we’re doing. Another week, getting groceries delivered from the store, did curbside pickup from the pet store for dog food and Frontline (talk about sticker shock!). This week we really threw caution to the wind and got sushi delivered — mainly because it’s Passover. Sushi isn’t exactly considered kosher for Passover but I say it’s in the spirit of the holiday.
I wanted to share some other stuff from YouTube; a couple of videos I watched this morning. Oh my goodness, this YouTube video hereis so inspirational (watch til the end, it even ties in a bit with running!).
Ishvara pranidhana is a concept that I love — basically that there is a higher power that has a plan for us. I believe in that. Watch this YouTube video here if you want to see how that concept could help you right now.
How are you doing?
Are you in a new normal?
If you celebrate Easter today, how has that changed for you?
Coming up on Tuesday: I have a fun little challenge for those of you who are stuck running in your neighborhoods. Stayed tuned.
ICYMI: Well, nothing new on YouTube or Facebook today. I suggest pairing my new grounding Yin Yoga practice here with the grounding meditation here.
Be the first to know when I release new videos: sign up for my newsletter here to find out when I add new videos, and you’ll receive a free Self Love Affirmation PDF and a bonus audio-only version of this self love meditation.
*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links
Running Update
Pepperoni wanted out from social distancing
Tuesday Kind of a raw, chilly day. At least I didn’t get rained on. Of course Wednesday was beautiful, but I got other stuff done then. Started working on nasal breathing while running. I’ll write about that — eventually. Basically it made my run much slower, and felt really hard — even though slower.
I’ve also never struggled with my nose running while running until today. Who knew mouth breathing was the answer?
Finally Daffodils
Thursday Still breathing in & out through my nose. Felt a bit easier today. Still very slow but it’s supposed to be in the beginning. It’s kind of like beginning HR training. I tried a few things and nose wasn’t running as much.
I didn’t run up that hill, but lots of others
Sunday Back to nose running (literally & figuratively). Have to admit I couldn’t imagine nasal breathing for 8 miles, and it was tough, but I mostly did it. This run was 12 minutes slower than my very hilly run last week. Same distance. That wasn’t completely due to nasal breathing, though, I just wasn’t feeling the hills on the way back so I did a lot of walking.
Mr. Judy & I debated me calling him to come pick me up so I didn’t have to come back up the hills, but in the end, I nixed that idea. Kinda sorry about that.
Dogs. The silly things they do.
Favorites of the week
Lola is definitely showing her age, sleeping a great deal, and sleeping later in the mornings. I told Mr. Judy to just put the bolster on top of her when he got up, so he did.
Not liking? Got an email update from my mom’s senior living community. They have their first case. In assisted living, and my mom does not live in assisted living, but it’s still part of the building. Thinking good thoughts. She’s tough.
Ending on a lighter note. It’s not just Lola. Although Bandit did this on his own.
No doubt you’ve probably heard about the Blogger Zoom call yesterday by now. I’m sure it will have even more people next week. And hilarity will ensue.
Are you doing all the cooking?
Are you afraid of going live on Facebook? I know I’ve been resisting it!
#teamtraining or #teammaintenance? For now I am still training, at least until I find out if the half end of June is a go or not. If it’s cancelled, I’ll be back to maintenance.
Coming up on Tuesday: There are three things you need for a bad weather run. Then on Friday I’ll go more into Karma vs Dharma which I talked a little bit about in my vlog here.
ICYMI: I’ve got a new meditation to help you let go of your worries here. I went live on Facebook yesterday Friday with a great Yin post run stretch that hits all those tight spots — you can catch the replay here. If you do like these meditations and videos, please press the like button — it helps me continue to bring everyone free videos.
Be the first to know when I release new videos: sign up for my newsletter here to find out when I add new videos, and you’ll receive a free Self Love Affirmation PDF and a bonus audio-only version of this self love meditation.
Mr. Judy and the dogs figure largely in what I’d tell you if we were meeting up for some hot beverages today. I’ll bet you’re really shocked — not!
Pull up a chair and mug with Cocoand Deborah and me for the ultimate coffee tea date, while I forgive the dogs for the disgusting things they do because they’re cute. And maybe Mr. Judy, too.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . . I would tell you Mr. Judy was going through some old stuff, and came across some papers from his Dad (who also suffered with dementia).One was a list of passwords. One was JLITT.
We had a good laugh when at first I was puzzled about why he would use my name as a password. His first name was Jerry. I needed that laugh!
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . . I’d tell you that Mr. Judy got a bee in his bonnet about making latkes (potato pancakes) from scratch. Yes, Mr. Judy can cook, but doesn’t do it a lot, so it’s often filled with me finding almost everything for him and some swearing. If you’ve never made latkes, it’s a labor intensive procedure and this fell in the week we were moving my Dad to the nursing home.
I made the frozen latkes from Trader Joes — as did one of his aunts and his sister — but that wasn’t good enough for him. I runfess I’m glad he did it while I was away from home.
It’s a good thing they’re cute
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . . I’d tell you I came home from yoga last Sunday, put away the groceries, sat down and talked to Mr. Judy a bit. Got up to make myself some tea. Walked back over and . . . someone had thrown up.
Lola has done her share of “redecorating” as I euphemistically call it
My money is on Bandit. Lola had just gotten up on the couch, and I think we would have noticed if she’d gotten back off. I don’t remember Bandit getting off his couch, but he is the one that randomly throws up.
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there when I was talking to Mr. Judy, we didn’t hear anything (Bandit tends to do it pretty quietly). It wasn’t me and it wasn’t Mr. Judy. Good thing the dogs are cute, and at least this time they missed bedding, furniture, and carpeting.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . . I’d tell you I have actually gone from someone who loved to bake, and often baked simply because I enjoyed it and found it stress-busting . . . to someone that doesn’t bake so often anymore.
Could that be part of the secret to being able to maintain my weight without tracking? It’s mostly been that I am just too busy with other things. You know how when you’re really engaged in something and you don’t even think about eating? Yeah, it’s kind of like that.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . . I’d tell you that starting my YouTube Channel (you can check it out here) has been hard! I seriously knew nothing about editing video before I started. It seemed like with each new video a different problem would pop up.
In my latest video, I’d recorded an intro to it — at the moment I film using my Ipad — and for the first time, for whatever reason, the audio came out completely garbled. Unusable. Hence no intro to that video.
In that same video, I recorded the audio early one morning. It’s a longer video, clocking in at almost an hour. I finished, hit done, and poof! No audio. I simply didn’t have another hour to sit & re-record it. As I was venting to Mr. Judy, it finally appeared. I guess it just needed some processing time.
What was the last good laugh you had?
What was the last thing you had to learn that really challenged you?
What was something you used to really enjoy doing that you no longer do?
People have been talking so much about 2019 being the close of the decade (or 2020 being the start of a new one). Seems they can’t even agree on when a new decade starts.
So What can Change in a Decade?
A whole lot, it turns out!
RIP, boys
Saying Goodbye
There were many losses in the last 10 years: Mr. Judy’s father, my sister’s MIL, 3 furkids (Simba, Chester, Gizmo) –more, of course, but those hit closest to home.
Chester was my velcro dog, always wanting to be held by me or on my lap
My father had brain surgery, my mother had surgery, and we emptied out my childhood home (and I am still going through their stuff, or my mom is giving me stuff to throw out or donate) . . . then we moved my parents to a senior living community.
Hard to believe this photo is from 2017. So much has changed.
Now we’ve moved my Dad into a nursing home. It wasn’t what anyone wanted, but it was just the only option as my Mom could no longer cope with his worsening dementia even with a live in aide.
We welcomed a new furkid, too
In the midst of all those losses, we welcomed a new furkid, Bandit, a senior rescue. It got off to an extremely rocky start, and stayed that way for many months, but with time, love, training, and Nutricalm, Bandit found his forever home in our home — his third. Lola had also had multiple homes when we adopted her, but she was still a puppy. She needed a lot of training too, but at least she got along with humans and our other furkids.
The Big Move We thought we’d retire in TX, we really did. Retiring in TX would also have meant Mr. Judy retiring from working. So we sold our home of 15 years, we packed up all our belongings (in one moving truck! — which included both our cars in addition to our furniture and stuff), and we made two plane trips to bring the boys (the cats) and the dogs to our new home in New York.
I became a Runner I still kind of don’t know how it happened, but happen it did. Apparently I had started to experiment a bit with running when we lived in TX, but it wasn’t until I moved to NY that I became a Runner.
But I was never going to be a Racer. Oh no, not me. Not this turtle.
Not sure what this night would bring to me
I became a Racer Then I ran my first 5k. It didn’t change my life. I ran another 5k, though. I decided a half marathon for my 50th birthday sounded like a good goal; I ran longer and longer races. Then I ran my first half marathon . . . and I was hooked. The dream of running a half marathon in every state was born. I am still far, far away from that goal, but it’s still a goal that motivates me.
Happy I was already signed up for another in six weeks
I’ve also gone on to race more 5ks, 4 milers, 5 milers, 10ks, 15ks, and an 18 mile race.
Mud & Chocolate Half. Yup, I earned my chocolate with plenty of mud!
I became an occasional Trail Runner/Racer 2017. It feels so long ago. The year of 4 half PRs, including my first trail race (yes, chocolate was involved — as was my shoe coming apart in the last mile or so), my slowest half ever but hey, an automatic PR. Yup, my first trail race was a half marathon — go big or go home, right?
Running trails with friends on a beautiful night
Since then I’ve done a couple of trail 5ks and one trail 10k. My running buddies were not interested in trails when I was training for my half, but last summer they finally decided trail running was cool, so I had some company on the trails for a change.
I haven’t ruled out a future trail half, but so far I mostly stick to road races.
Local friends do Wineglass
Racing with the Girls
Somehow most of those half marathons (but not all) have involved running friends, bloggers and non bloggers, local and not local. Even when it wasn’t a girls’ trip, somehow almost all our vacations became racecations.
HoHoRuns invited us to her home away from home in FL
Bloggers do UT
UT had me falling in love with hiking again
I remembered how much I love hiking The racecation to UT reminded me that I really love to hike. Moderate day hikes (like not even all day). I’m always looking for hiking wherever we vacation now — and closer to home, too.
I lost the weight
It was the reason I started to run in the first place, to try to get those last 10 pounds off. At first it didn’t help. Eventually, though, after years of plateauing about 10 pounds above my very reasonable goal weight, I lost those 10 lbs. I’ve kept them off, too. At the moment I maintain my weight without even tracking my food, which is something I never thought would happen.
I used good old Weight Watchers. Going to meetings every week. I’ve been a Lifetime member roughly 30 years Although not attending meetings all that time, definitely often not at my goal weight all that time.
I’ve been maintaining that goal weight for about 6 years now. This last time I realized it wasn’t just about what I eat, but what was eating me. I think that’s the difference from all the other times I gained and lost 40 pounds (and yes, there were multiple times in my life that happened).
I became a Yoga Teacher Like so many things in my life, I couldn’t tell you exactly when I started practicing Yoga, but I can tell you I’ve been practicing it a long time. I wanted to take my Yoga Teacher Training for a long time, at first I thought for my own knowledge; YTT is expensive!
Finally I decided to invest in me. I committed to YTT, and I knew that I wanted to teach. We did a specialty Yin Yoga module, and I knew that was what I wanted to teach. I also always knew that I wanted to make my practices meaningful, with mantras, inspiring quotes, meditations.
I started a Youtube Channel
Just squeaked in with that one! I believe that Yoga is so beneficial to everybody, and Youtube is a great way to make it accessible to everybody. I wasn’t going to start it this year, but I had things I wanted to share, so I sucked it up and I got it done.
I started this blog It’s not my first blog. In fact, I’ve been a WordPress user for a very long time. My first blog was in about 2000, although I’m pretty sure that that one at least started with me just coding in HTML. I’ve had previous blogs about my cats, about graphic design, and a really short lived one about cookbooks.
This blog is the first personal blog I’ve had that really found its audience. My previous professional blog about graphic design did quite well, and I managed a large, thriving community of designers and those interested in design.
A decade can definitely change you!
Thank you for walking (or running) down memory lane with me — if you got to the end, you deserve a prize and I thank you for reading!
I can honestly say that I am a different person than I was ten years ago. Some people like to do the same things, year in and year out. Go to the same places for vacations. Live in the same city you were born in. There’s comfort in that, but despite the fact that change can be stressful, I like to change things up.
Jobs, where I live, hobbies, activities, where I travel to — even where I run! I haven’t really worked at one job more than about 10 years, although my stint at About.com (RIP) was a bit more than 10 years, but not by much
Change is the only thing certain in life. Well, death and taxes, I suppose, but aren’t they just changes after all?
I don’t post a lot to my personal FB page — although I’m always saying I should do it more because I do love looking at those memories — but this weekend the weather Gods aligned to give us the perfect day on our anniversary (our actual wedding day, not so much). We made the most of it. It also had me running long solo the day before on a windy, cooler day — and how did that work out for me?
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Running Updates
All the leaves
Monday Went with some running friends to the Lawson Lake Trail Festival. This one was for fun, not for time (let’s just say that was a good thing, see my recap on Tuesday). A pretty park but some major hills so there was a lot of walking. Thankful for even more perfect running weather!
All the Halloween decorations
Tuesday Late afternoon recovery run. Yes, we’re still having great weather. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a “run” of weather this nice. The legs felt heavy but the pace was decent at a decent heart rate.
The weather sounded like this run would be tough, but it wasn’t that bad
Friday I don’t know why, but the pace was much slower due to my HR today from the get-go. I can understand the heart rate going up as the run goes on, as you fatigue. Tuesday’s run was so strong.
I tackled a hilly route again, as the 15k, if I do it, is hilly. My first double digit run in 8 months. It’s not the first time I’ve gone that long between halfs, but there’s no half in the near future, so after the 15k I’ll drop my long runs back down.
It was quite windy, and I thought it would feel really cold, but I was probably overdressed. With the sun going in & out ultimately I was happy with what I wore. Didn’t need the neck gaiter, though, and glad I didn’t put on light gloves because I didn’t need them, either.
I was pleased that I got up most of the first, long big hill on this route without my heart rate spiking until the top. I also noted how quickly my heart rate would come down on any decline, no matter how small — my body really does love a downhill!
Anniversary Shenanigans
Favorites of the week
Glad the weatherpeople finally got a forecast right, because our anniversary Saturday was picture perfect. Literally! A little chilly, though; I am wearing three layers of tops and needed every single one!
I’d decided this summer if the weather was nice on our anniversary, we’d go to Prospect Mountain — we’d tried in the summer, but although many reviews said it was dog friendly, there’s a sign for the scenic drive saying no pets allowed.
Turns out they’re not allowed on the shuttle to the summit or near the picnic areas at the summit, but otherwise it’s okay. Good to know, although we left the pups at home. You can also hike up to the Summit from the village, but that’s a bit beyond what Mr. Judy wanted to do.
We also enjoyed a lot of eating out this weekend. We even found a pizza place we both like — the last one we tried that we both liked closed shortly after we tried it. We like very different things in pizza places, so finding one we both like is a big deal.
Lastly I could use some good vibes for Tuesday. The studio yoga class I went to today had a substitute teacher — the owner of the studio. I chatted with her afterward and now I’m doing a demo for her on Tuesday! I can use all the “do a great (or at least good) job” vibes I can get!
Do you & your SO have trouble choosing restaurants, or do you enjoy the same things?
What would your ideal anniversary/birthday look like?
Would you walk or run through those leave covered trails?
