Running on Pixie Dust: yoga

Because photographic evidence of me doing yoga
does not actually exist. . .

Anyone who even casually runs can speak to the value of cross training. Running can take a toll on your body if you go too hard, too far, too fast. Getting back into running after roughly a year off means that I need to work my body back into running slowly. However, with weight loss also being a focus of mine, I want to move each day so I've been alternating my running workouts with walking and yoga. While it's been a while since I had practiced yoga, I quickly remembered why I love it - especially as a runner.

Yoga presents a modified rest day in a physically demanding week. Taking your body through stretching and strength exercises works your muscles in a totally different way. I'm hoping this will help strengthen my core and create those long, lean running muscles that I'd love to have! I also firmly believe that yoga will help prevent injury throughout the months ahead of training. Then there are the mental benefits. Taking an opportunity to slow down in the busy world of being a mom, wife, Assistant Principal, and many other things to many other people is important. Lately I've been using The Biggest Loser's Weight Loss Yoga video which ends up being about 30 minutes. Bob Harper talks me through a variety of fast moving poses. Those days of yoga are among my favorites during the week and I anxiously await them on my training calendar.

So how did this week go for me? Pretty well! I kept to my Galloway training plan and did 2 - 30 minute sessions during the week and a 4 mile run on weekend. I also kept to my plan of working out every day by walking or doing yoga on days I didn't run. I ended up heading over to the Y for one of my 30 minute runs on the elliptical which was quite frankly awesome. I think that might be my new go-to piece of equipment when winter weather keeps me indoors - all the motion of running without any of the impact. I was able though to log my 4 mile run outside on Saturday morning before the winter precipitation and polar vortex set in. This coming week is a step back week in my training with my weekend run only scheduled to be 2 miles before upping mileage the two weeks after that.

Time to lace up those training shoes, Mickey!

One of the best things about keeping a blog are the connections you make with others along the way. I've met so many fabulous "virtual" friends over the years who share both a love of running and a love of Disney with me. So in the spirit of connecting with others, I'm starting a weekly post this year that will allow me to share my week in training. My hope is that this will be a place where I can hold myself accountable by publicly sharing what's going on with my running while also hoping to create a community space where all of you who are also enjoying the ups and downs of a fitness journey can share your own stories.

So here we are at week one - let's talk 2019 goals first. Actually, to tell the story of my 2019 goals, I need to tell you a 2020 goal. I'm planning to run the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2020 along with the Castaway Challenge which means that 2019 is a year for me to seriously pile the miles back on! I generally do better sticking with a training plan when I have a race to train for so I have two half marathons on the books this year. In May, I'll be running the Frederick Half Marathon. This race was my very first half back in 2016. I'm also signed up for the Baltimore Half Marathon in October. This will be a return to this race after a three year hiatus. By completing both of these races, I'll also earn the Maryland Double medal. And, because I love medals and it's really only one more race, I may add the Baltimore 10 miler which would get me "King Crab" status for the second time. Ultimately I'm running Maryland in preparation to runDisney again in 2020!

Pretty much. . . #truth

Those of you who have been following me for several years now know my deep love of Jeff Galloway and his training plans so it should be no surprise that I'm once again turning to him for guidance on my training this year. While I continued a regular exercise routine in 2018, I didn't run any races, so I'm back at staring in square one for half marathon training. I'm following Galloway's Beginner Half Marathon training plan that can be found on the runDisney website. It's a 19 week training program which works perfectly since the Frederick Half is 19 weeks away. This week, I ran my three training runs - two 30 minute runs and a 2 mile run on the weekend. It actually felt pretty good being back out there with minimal adjustment for my body. I'm supplementing my non-running days with either walking or yoga to keep moving but hopefully without putting too much stress on my muscles and joints.

What are your fitness goals this year? Any runners out there with exciting races on the calendar? Or maybe you're changing up and trying something new. Whatever your goals are, I can't wait to follow your journeys too!

Namaste Runners

Training Plans!