I can't believe I'm posting this late for Day 50 ( aka my half way point!!), but this weekend there was beer to drink, yoga to do, and Downton Abbey to watch so I lost track of time. I celebrated Day 50 by attending one of those vaguely evil hot yoga sculpt classes. The class was Friday evening and before heading to the studio, I wondered what kind of crowd goes to a torturous class at 7:30pm on the weekend. Yoga Sculpt isn't quite like an invigorating vinyasa flow class. There's less chakra, and more boot camp.
As soon as I walked into the steaming room, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I had officially left behind my fellow beer gut bearing yogis for the big leagues. There were four other women, who appeared to be regulars. I noticed, with horror, that one of the woman was wearing a long sleeved black jacket and long pants. I fervently hoped that I wouldn't witness one of those yoga seizures I've been reading about in Hell-Bent. Immediately, it became clear that humidity was cranked way higher in this class than in others I had been in. I don't know if the class requested that or if the instructor is just secretly sadistic...I'm such a baby. ANYWAY, the first half of the class was fine. I was fascinated by the absolutely animalistic way that the other women tackled their SUN B. I thought I had a pretty good grip on the class, but then the mood shifted. The instructor went from being tough teacher to Head Bitch. Next thing I knew, we were flying through never ending squats and lunges. Everything became I blur as I wildly swung my weights in the air, while trying to somehow to touch my knees on the floor. The teacher kept pulling that fitness crap where she would fake a count down to one then restart from ten during our reps. So basically, in my dehydrated, heat-addled brain, it felt like there was no end in sight. During a particularly unpleasant set of mountain climbers- squats- jumping jacks, the speakers broke and we were given a water break while the teacher stepped out of the room. I couldn't believe that the five of us had made the mirrors sweat so much, my heart rate was off the charts from the humidity, and I just wanted to turn to my classmates and ask," why are we doing this on a Friday night? You, you in the jacket, why? Why? WHY?" Reflecting back on this class, I wonder why I didn't just walk out when the humidity became too oppressive. During savasana, I wanted to get up and leave because my heart was pumping too intensely for me to enjoy lying on my back. I've noticed that the better shape that I get in, the more I'm willing to test my ability to suffer. I suppose this is a quality that will come in handy during my half marathon, but even then, I don't think I'll be despairing at mile 12 as much as I do in a bad hot yoga class.
Day 51 was pretty much the opposite of Day 50. J and I left for Glencoe early in the morning and attended Reach Yoga's Yoga for Runners workshop with my dad and her mom. It was a really perfect way for me to recover from the day before. Steph, the teacher, spent the first quarter of the class explaining how yoga can benefit runners. She made a point to emphasize the relationship that muscles have with each other and how that can affect knees and joints. I have terrible knee and hip pain that I've always chalked up to my tight IT band, however, she explained that along with stretching the IT band, it's important to stretch the bigger muscles around it because those could be contributing to my pain even more than the actual IT band itself. We spent the rest of the class slowly going through basic poses that all runners should be familiar with. It was nice to go back and micro focus on poses like downward dog. Sometimes during a fast flow, it's easier to lose the posture in the pose, so I found this workshop incredibly beneficial. After class, my dad and I worked on our head/hand stands. I'm not quite there yet, but I think if I keep practicing, I'll have the pose down in a few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment