Now What?

Four days after the Ironman and I am begging Coach T to allow me to run again. I am begging him in my head because if I actually ask him, he will send me an email that reads;

Email being ignored.

Today is Thursday and I get to teach spinning. I teach spinning at the Rochester Institute of Technology... as a college course. These kids are a load of fun and the facilities are gorgeous. You should see this pool. I just can't wait to get on the bike today. My first day back in action.

But it is the off-season however and one needs to be careful. The high of Iron still hasn't left so naturally the tendency is to want to continue on with training. But I know where that leads to so I shall be good. No running for at least a week. Spinning class for fun, and swimming at Masters when I am ready. That'll be tomorrow.

Workouts though will be more loafed than focused. There will be chatting with lane mates, mountain bike rides instead of time trial rides, the PowerMeter is off for a few weeks. My big focus for the month of November is my yoga practice.

My goal is to move away from the wall in my forearm balance. Something I have been terrified to do. A forearm balance looks like this, but I do it without the strap or block.

It looks fancy but I find it much easier than a headstand. What's the point of this? Aside from strength and balance going upside down is something that is crucial to recovery for me. We yogi's call them inversions. In the simplest form think of this; you are on your feet all day long. Allow gravity the chance to pull on your body in a different direction.

Before I go to sleep each night I spend 5-10 minutes in Viparita Karani, minus the bolster and eye cover. Before and after an Ironman I do this for 30 minutes at a time. Give it a try, the results are fantastic!

More to come on my life as a yogi. It's something worth incorporating into your training. There a a bunch of types, a bunch of styles. Next post I shall break them down and explain why I love the Baptiste one!

:-) mary