The Zen of Ultra Running

Finally!!! I was able to do the lotus (and elevated lotus) pose! Recently, I've been practicing yoga regularly and am able to work on more difficult poses like the bird of paradise, and some other arm balance poses (but not the headstand away from the wall). Yesterday I went to the class on Monday night and the instructor made us do the lotus pose. After stretching and doing other poses to prepare us for Lotus, I was able to do the pose but only on one side of the leg. So happy. Another pose that I need to work toward mastering is the headstand away from the wall. I feel that I am scared of falling so much that I don't want to practice it. Need to figure out how to conquer the fear and be able to master the headstand :) Sydney

There was a new yoga studio that recently just opened in town. The studio is a hot yoga studio. They have all kinds of hot yoga including vinyasa, power, yin-yasa, etc. As a promotion, they offer a 14-day pass to unlimited yoga classes at the studio. So, I thought I would give it a try as I've never done hot yoga before but heard some people like it, and some don't. The first 20 minutes into the class I thought I was going to pass out. I'd never sweated that much before in my life. Every time I did the standing forward fold, I could see a stream of my sweat pouring down on the floor. The class was a heated power yoga and it was very fast with non-stop moving from one pose to another. It was like that for 60 minutes. I was not sure if it was my first time doing hot yoga or the class was too advanced for me. I could barely keep up with the pace (plus the non-stop sweating). Already bought the yoga towel and will give it another try before my pass expires.

I would say yesterday weather was 'perfect' for the run. It was sunny and cool. The run was organized by Indianhead Track Club. To enter, you only need to bring a can of beer and a bag of M&Ms. The bus dropped runners off in Meridean, WI and the runners were supposed to find the way back to Eau Claire. The whole distance was 17.5 miles, which finished at Ray's on Water street. However, the runners can choose to stop at either 7th or 12th mile mark, where there would be water, beer, and M&Ms provided. For more information, see: Beer and M&Ms page I did not feel well during the first couple of miles. Maybe it was because I was too tired from traveling and not enough sleep for a couple of days prior to the run. However, I started to feel better after the first 3 miles and was able to pick up the speed until the rest stop no. 1 (at mile 7). Overall, it was a nice, fun run where you went at your own pace. The trail was spectacular. It runs along the chippewa

This week I had to be in Minneapolis for work. Stayed at Westin Minneapolis, which is located in downtown minneapolis not far from the river. Westin offers a program that helps their guests stay active and healthy while staying at the hotel. They lend workout clothes and shoes for their guests so you don't need to pack your workout clothes and shoes when travel.  Another program that they offer is the RunWestin. The hotel cooperates with New Balance to map out a 3 and 5 mile running path near the hotel.  I got up and ran the 5 mile loop by following the map before the seminar started in the morning. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The night before it was raining real hard in Minneapolis so I was afraid that it was going to rain this morning.  The path took me on the trail by the river. What could be better than an early morning run by the river?

Since I started running, I'd been too scared to run in a group because I thought I had to be very fast to run with the seasoned runners. One thing I did not think about - runners are the best group of people to hang out with. The local running club in my town started a pub run on Thursday night that made me want to run in a group (and yes, I run for alcohol). What would be a better combination between running and beer? ;) (isn't it the reason why people run?). I've started to go to the Thursday night pub run (see the last post) and really enjoyed the people and the conversation. It's hard for me to find runners anywhere else (especially at work). Let alone the conversation about running!!! I learned a lot from other runners who have run several marathons including Boston. This morning (Saturday) was my first time joining the Saturday training group to prepare for my Monster Dash 10 miles in the cities. Others were training for other marathons but they always