New Dress + New Shoes = More Yoga

These last almost-two weeks have been a fantastic whirlwind.  From the truly life changing Teen Teacher Training I wrote about last week, to having a BLAST of a 4th of July celebration with my best friend and her great boyfriend, to a wonderful weekend in Florida with my mom and grandma, and a decision I made with my sister at the end of June, life has gotten very, very exciting.

This past weekend, my mom and grandma took me to a fantastic bridal salon in Melbourne, FL where we got - you guessed it - my wedding dress!

NOT my actual dress.

 I wound up with the first one that I tried on, which is pretty awesome.  I of course tried on all of the dresses that the our fantastic consultants pulled for me, but that first one just set the bar too high!

I also tried on a couple for fun, like the one at right.  When your favorite movie is Gone with the Wind, how many times in life do you get to put on a big, poofy Scarlett O'Hara dress?

Getting the dress just makes my role as a bride, a "wedding planner" (so to speak), and soon enough, a wife that much more real and tangible.  It's really exciting, yet can add lots of stress - both positive and negative.  There's excitement, build up, inevitable let down, diplomatic give-and-take with family members, and dealing with things going not quite as you'd planned.  This role has me thanking my lucky stars every day for all the tools that yoga provides to help me keep an even keel and deal with the stressful moments when they occur.  It's really showing me just HOW loud and crazy and fast-paced my mind can get!  When you're throwing so much energy into either thinking of one big day (the wedding) or thinking about your life changing forever (the marriage!), it's more important than ever to try to find ways to root yourself into the present moment and appreciate the journey.

Speaking of crazy anticipation, I made another big purchase last week.  Certainly small, certainly less expensive, and certainly less pretty, but with a hell of a lot of significance.

PureCadence by Brooks.  Love the color!

On Friday, June 29th, at the end of a long, fantastic day of teacher training, I saw on facebook that my sister had decided to run a half marathon in Myrtle Beach, SC.  My sister has always been gutsy, impulsive, and all-or-nothing, so it shouldn't have surprised me that she decided to just go for it.

I've never thought of myself as a long distance runner.  I've really barely thought of myself as a runner - I didn't start until after college in August of 2007 and was continually shocked when I could run a mile straight without passing out.  I ran a few 5K's - one with my sister, one with friends, one by myself - and a 10K with my sister that was the absolute farthest I'd ever run - and still is.  My running tapered off a bit when I moved to the city.  It seemed more time consuming to get out there and do it especially when I was working my office job and training to be a yoga teacher.  After moving to Ditmars closer to Astoria Park I picked it back up again, and Marc and I have run two 4 Mile races together.

My running probably picked back up when I made the commitment to myself to run at least two days a week.  No specified time, distance, route, anything - just as long as I put on my shoes and got out the door for two days a week, I was doing well.  It felt so good to reconnect and recommit, and to really take charge of my schedule and make sure that I fit it in, no matter how busy I can get.

So all of a sudden, there's this opportunity to challenge myself physically the way I have absolutely never challenged myself before - or even considered challenging myself.  Maybe it's because she's my big sister - I don't know the reason - but something in me just started saying that I can do it, and that I should at least try.  I'm sure a lot of the inspiration I was getting from the Teen Training contributed too.

Last night, we made it official and registered for the race together.

I will be running a half marathon. 13.1 miles, October 21st.

I'm excited, I'm scared, and I think I'm a little bit crazy.  I'll also be depending on yoga a lot to help me through the training process - the asana will be beyond essential to help my body balance out all the extra miles it'll be putting in.  The power of mantra will be key as well to help me keep my inspiration up and my attitude positive.  Just like with the wedding, I'm going to be putting a lot of hours, a lot of work, and a lot of preparation to prepare for this one big day, and there's a lot of excitement and stress with something like that.  I'm going to try to take it slow and steady and enjoy the whole ride!

4 Mile Race for Japan in Central Park!

I also registered Marc and I for a 10K race on September 23rd so that he has something to work toward as well and we can train together.  He's my biggest cheerleader and always, always helps boost my confidence and helps me believe in myself.  Having him by my side when I'm training for these races will be invaluable!


Have a wonderful Wednesday, blogverse, and I'll see you next week!