Yoga: Recovery from Running / Tuesday Practice with my Wife

As some of you may know yoga is also one of my favorite things to do in this life aside from running and it is because of running that I got into this ancient and wonderful practice nearly a decade ago. I also met my wife in a yoga class....but that's another story altogether.

I've not posted much of anything about it in months like I used to and I think it's time I get back to including this in my material because it's fun and it's an important part of my life.

Tuesday was supposed to be a speed interval run day for me but my legs and body were saying NO NO NO. Not Yet. And I listened to my body which is key to avoiding injury.

I guess that 12 mile run Sunday at 9 seconds off my race pace target took a bit more out of me than I'd thought.

So I ditched the speed intervals Tuesday, stayed home with my wife @pretzelgirlsandy and we practiced together for about an hour. She did Ashtanga third series (I think it was either third or second, can't recall) and I did my primary series ashtanga practice and it felt great to loosen up and work some muscle groups other than the ones in my legs which I've pushed to the limit the past six weeks or so. Knowing when to take an extra rest day or two is every bit as important as the running part of the training is.

We got a couple of good pictures of us just playing around after our respective practices were over.

This picture of us both in handstand represents the result of many years of practice and of course trying and falling over and over and over and over again. It took me 2 years into my practice to even semi-master the handstand and she started getting to the point where she can hold this pose for about 10 breaths recently. I'm very proud of her learning this pose--she worked very hard to learn how to kick up and hold it. I typically stay in this pose for 25 breaths or about a minute (on a good day) right at the end of the standing sequence in Ashtanga Primary Series.

The image below shows the poses (not all the transitions though) in the Primary series, all but one of which I can do and normally practice on my yoga days. My wife is so bendy (hence her alias) she can do the one pose in primary that I can't and is more dedicated to her yoga practice than I am to mine (but shes doesn't run). That's why she's moved on to the later series which are much more difficult. I could move on to second series but I don't feel I'm quite ready yet--maybe when I practice more than 2-3 days per week I will.

image source

After the dual handstand was done I started playing around with inversions on top of a set of blocks. People usually use these to make poses more accessible / so they don't have to reach as far into a pose but I used em to challenge myself. She took a video of me kicking up into handstand on these blocks, holding it and then moving my legs into lotus pose which is probably my favorite posture in yoga (The pose not done on the blocks is part of a transition that's part of fourth / advanced C series in ashtanga).

The left side image is just a regular handstand on those squishy blocks (it's harder on those than it is on the mat or the hardwood floor) and the right image is the pose that's part of the fourth series. Learning that one was one of the crowning achievements of my yoga journey / practice so far and it's by far my favorite pose (BIG DISCLAIMER: don't try this at home!!).

Today I'm getting back to my running as I finally feel recovered from Sunday long run and that practice on Tuesday did me a lot of good. Plus it was nice spending the extra time with my wife that I'd have otherwise spent pounding the pavement like I have the past 6 or 7 Tuesdays.

Thanks for reading and Namaste.

~Cryptokeepr