Walking to Run

Two things have happened this week to confirm that spring is, in fact, finally here - I had my first iced green tea of the year and wore my Be Present pants to class for the first time this year!  I love little rituals or things that only come up at a certain time of year...going to the beach in the summer, busting out the crock pot in the fall.

On Easter Sunday I was able to take my first run without a long sleeved shirt on in 2013, which was also a delicious milestone.  I always love running in the springtime, but sadly for me, my body has been very cranky with me ever since getting back from the mini-moon.  I don't know if I dove right back into my crazy physical routine and did too much too soon, but my left knee and right ankle in particular, along with both of my poor feet, have been giving me all kinds of grief and making running very challenging.

Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, but with that pesky half marathon coming up really soon, I'm very nervous that my body won't do what I'd like for it to.  I'm in that place where I'm struggling to find the balance between resting enough or resting so much that I lose fitness - running enough to keep up with my training, but not so much that I injure myself.

A compromise presented itself the other day so seemingly obvious that I can't believe it didn't occur to me sooner - integrating walk breaks into my run.  When I first started running, it was very much a given that I wasn't actually going to run the entire time during the 20 or so minutes I'd make it out the door.  The days I ran one mile, two, three without stopping were enormous milestones, and it's really only been in the last two or three years that I've consistently gone on runs without walk breaks.  It's gotten to be a bit of a pride (aka ego) thing with me and I've just taken for granted that not only can I insert walk breaks into my run, but I really should given my absurdly tight calves, history of plantar fasciitis, and these new and exciting aches and pains.  The athletic mindeset that tends to pervade the sport of running is to push through the pain, but that's the opposite of what yoga teaches us.  I have no problem dropping into child's pose whenever I need to or taking the simpler modification of a pose in class - what gives with the ego when I'm running?

So that's my practice - not just for these weeks preceding the half marathon (and by the way, ack!  have I mentioned I'm nervous about it?) but hopefully for the rest of my life.  I want to be albe to run for as long as I can walk!


On a personal note, I absolutely have to post the link to our wedding photographer's blog post containing our wedding slideshow.  The song she chose was perfect and her photographs were absolutely phenomenal.  If you need a photographer for your upcoming wedding, engagement photos, newborn portraits, or family photos, she is your woman!  Absolutely stellar.  Thank you so much, Stacey!!!  We owe you so much!

Annie + Marc ~ Married!