This past year, I've been super into hot yoga, as the town I moved to has an adorable little spot called The Yoga Barn. The majority of classes are either Hot Power Vinyasa, or Warm Yin Yoga. So depending on whether or not you want a solid sweatfest of a workout, or a peaceful relaxing stretching session, those are the options. For me, it all depends where my schedule and shift work lands. Most times after a night shift, I'll stay up to attend the 9am class. Or if I am off, I'll go to which ever one is the hottest class of the day. This week, I was luckily off for all 4 days of yoga! (She has classes Monday-Thursday with some extras on weekends sometimes).
So I registered into the Hot power classes all four days. And as I'm sitting here typing, I'm realizing just how sore I am from 4/4 days of hot yoga. It's not as easy of a workout as everyone seems to think, and so I figured I would share with you all the thoughts that go through my head while I'm in class.

Okay, here we go I'm ready for a workout.
Woah, should have came earlier, its PACKED in here.
Okay there's a spot I can fit in!
Shit, it's at the front of the class..
Well I hope people behind me don't try to follow what I'm doing.
Alright, childs pose to start. I can handle this.
Deep breath in through the nose, deep breath out through the mouth.
I'm totally not a nose breather.. it sounds like I'm snoring over here..
First pose.. I got this.
Okay this isn't so bad, I'm not even really sweating yet!
Well then.. that must have just been the warm up.
Yup, now I'm sweating.
Right, focus on breathing. Opps.
Downward dog, my favourite because I can take a breathing break!
Oh, never mind we're doing another flow again.
If we do any more chaturanga's I'm gonna chaturanga on the floor.
Okay, yes focus on breath.
I've never sweat SO much in my life.
Warrior 2.. my shoulders are on FIRE.
Is anyone else sweating as much as me?
Like.. I'm literally DRIPPING on the floor
Chatu-friggin-ranga.. aka just do a slow motion reverse pushup until you collapse on the floor
Embrace the pain
Okay the sweat is literally in my eyes and I can't see.
Good childs pose, I'm just gonna lay here and die for a second.
Nope, no break were going again.
Damn it there I go losing focus again!
Breath in and high mountain, breath out and fold.
Maybe if I grab my towel and wipe my ENTIRE BODY no one will notice?
I think I have ADHD..
Just. Breathe.
Warrior three.
Yep and I just fell over onto the girl beside me.. SORRY.
How do some people have such good balance?
Phewf I think were slowing down.
Ah my breathing is almost normal now.
Savasana.. my favourite pose.
YES the cold compress.. ALSO my favourite.
Mmm it smells like peppermint.
I never want to move from my mat EVER.
That was amazing.
Im gonna be sore tomorrow!
When can I do that again!?
Maybe after a shower..
Ew, is that really how much I sweat?
What a GREAT workout!

Some day, I might be able to get through an entire yoga class without letting my mind wander, but today is not that day!

Peace, Love, Yoga.

Namaste,

The Rural Runner

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Yesterday, for my cross training day, I decided to borrow my moms bike and hit the trails. It's been a couple years since I've been on any form of a bicycle, besides a stationary one, so let's be honest, I was kinda nervous...

And apparently excited, as you can see in this picture haha. (Ps, safety first kids!!)

The tires were flat so mom helped me pump them up!

I was a bit wobbly at first.. And a bit too small for the bike (#shortgirlprobs).. But after a short circle around the yard I got the hang of it! Totally understand the saying "just like riding a bike again" now, because I guess once you've got it, you don't really lose it.

I set out onto the old railway tracks (where I always do my runs too), which are relatively straight and flat, making for a very smooth ride. It took me a bit to get a hang of the gears and whatnot, but once I did, I was cruisin.

Also.. Thanks to my sis for the Nike leggings as a belated bday gift.. I love them! So comfy :)

I decided to aim for 10k (honestly had no idea how long this would take me.. I'm a biking noob).

Not sure how good these stats are, but considering that it's my first ride in about 2-3 years, I'm happy with the results! (I didn't start tracking until about a kilometre in)

While I was on the trail by myself, for almost an hour, I spent a lot of time thinking, and I've come up with a list of things I learned while biking.

Here we go:

1. Biking is a lot harder than it looks.

Seriously.. My legs = noodles today.

Not even 5 minutes in and I was already a sweaty hot mess. Yup. Great workout though! My calves and legs will probably be throbbing for a couple days.. Thanks to DOMS.. (Not).

2. Being outside is great

I used to do bodybuilding competitions, and can honestly say I spent hours in the gym on any given week and being outside in nature biking made me realize just how amazing it is. I would literally go to the gym, just to sit on a stationary bike, or run to no where on the mouse wheel called a treadmill. This seems ridiculous now, considering I could have been doing the exact same thing.. Except while actually experiencing life and breathing fresh air outside. (Not hating on any bodybuilders out there, the lifestyle just isn't for me anymore.)

3. Being outside is free

Nature has no membership fee.

All you need is a pair of shoes (well maybe a bike too), and a positive attitude! 

4. Biking seriously hurts your ass

No really.. I'm still sore. Like who thought that it was a good idea to invent seats that are literally a third of the size of an average humans butt?! Crazy. It's uncomfortable. I'm going to install some memory foam.. Or a lazy-boy.. or something on there. #bigbootyprobs

Again, legs = jello.

5. Biking is kinda scary

Like the were points I actually scared myself because I thought I was going so fast. I'm a wimp.

And also, biking near cars that don't care about bikers is literally the same as having a death wish. SRSLY people, share the road! Not like we're allowed on sidewalks, so suck it up and move over.

It's pretty bad I've only biked for 1 day and already think this is a problem.

6. I was not prepared

You would think being in the army I would have the ability to plan ahead and pack accordingly.. Nope.

I lack this skill. At least I brought water.. Next time I definitely need lip balm, gloves, snacks, and probably less clothes. Like I said, biking is hard work. #sweatlife

7. Biking is fun

Sure, I was sweating my ass off (gotta love a good workout though!), and I'm complaining about near death car experiences, and how my body hurts.. But holy moly did I have fun! What a great feeling, flying through the trails, wind blowing in my hair and sun shining on my face. I'll definitely be biking more often on rest/cross training days.

It's not too often that you capture a picture of pure happiness like this one.

If anyone who is actually a biker wants to give me tips, I would welcome it! Like, how do I figure out what gear to use? I was kinda just playing with them until one felt moderately right.. Opps (this is pretty sad considering I can drive my stick shift like a dream).

What do you like about biking? What do you bring with you on long rides?

Keep training friends,

The Rural Runner

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A couple weeks ago Kirk and myself decided to go on a date to Ontree. If you've never heard of Ontree, the best way I can describe it is as an obstacle park up in the trees. We went to the one about 30 minutes from where I live at the local ski hill. We got there and could only see a couple obstacles basically on the ground, and a small building. Our first impression wasn't super great, and when we found out it was over $40 bucks each.. We were kind of iffy and unsure if it would be worth it. Eitherway, we had already driven that far and are always open to try new things so we stayed. The instructors helped us get strapped into our safety harnesses, and brought us over to the obstacles on the ground that we had noticed earlier. These turned out to only be used as a training guide.

We were taught how to clip on and off, and how to use our rappelling line. I felt very safe as there is a locking system that prevents coming undone without a key that's located at the end of each course, making it impossible to fall off anything once your carabiners are hooked on.

Here I am on the training course. You can see the 2 carabiners hooked onto the wires, which was the same throughout the course.

After completing the training we were concerned that the instructor would be required to be with us at all times, however we were sent on our way, solo, and told we had 3 hours (but that we probably wouldn't need it all since generally people get tired by then). Once we passed the training area and fully entered the park, we were amazed by just how many courses there actually were! There were many easy ranked ones, medium ones, and a few black diamond (similar to a ski hill design). We started off with some easy ones..

And eventually felt the need to be challenged a bit more. I was impressed by just how different and original each course was. There were also TONS of zip lines within each one you completed, covering a lot of area, even going over rivers. We tried out a couple of the black diamonds, and safe to say - they were tough! My arms sure got a workout that day!

This black diamond was particularly hard because the rock wall was free floating and shook back and forth as you were climbing!

The picture below was another black diamond, the logs swung.. A LOT.

The day ended up being such a great workout, and such a fun date! Before we knew it we were at the 3 hour mark and had to return our stuff. I guess this was a good thing, because like the instructors said would happen, I was exhausted!

Here I am on a black diamond course, looking very focused.. And pretty tired haha.

Overall we both agreed that it was well worth the money. We will definitely be going back as the park was so big we couldn't even complete all of the courses within the 3 hours! We could have stayed longer for a few dollars more, but both of us were tired and starving and pizza was calling our names haha!

If you go, I would recommend bringing your own gloves (I have small hands and mine were pretty lose.. Plus we had to pay extra for them). Also, we had brought snacks (black cherry caffeine bloks yum!) but I forgot them in the car.. Fail. Definitely make sure you have water and snacks handy if you plan on staying all day. Plus layers.. Cause you'll probably get sweaty! Definitely a great autumn date idea if you're an adventurist.. And not afraid of heights ;)

Keep climbing friends,

The Rural Runner

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Sometimes the best way to motivate yourself, is by motivating others. Recently, I've had the opportunity to help my mom with her weight loss goals. We've been working together for about 2 weeks and so far it's going great! Not only has she lost 8 pounds, but I've lost 4 myself! I've been helping her with healthier eating and we currently are working out about 5 days a week. She will head to the garage to exercise on the treadmill, and I complete my run outside on the trail. We also include one day a week of weight lifting/resistance training or cross training to keep things interesting. Not only has she noticed a significant increase in her ability to run further distances at a time, but she is feeling and looking better. I'm so proud of my mom for putting in the effort, and love seeing her positive results.

Helping her has been such a huge motivation for me to keep going as well. I was even able to complete a new goal this week... Reaching the blue level on my Nike plus running app!

                                                                       

I may be a huge nerd.. But this literally made me jump up and down in excitement! Now if you can see how much excitement that brings me.. You can imagine how overwhelmed with happiness I am when I can help someone else reach their goals too! I can't even describe to you what an amazing feeling it is having someone tell you that you inspire them to work and try harder. I am always encouraging a healthy, active lifestyle for the many physical and mental health benefits it provides, and when I am able to make a difference with someone else's life it is very humbling. If I can cause a positive impact on someone's life then that makes me one happy lady! Especially if it's someone I love.

Keep inspiring friends,

The Rural Runner

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After officially deciding to run the hypothermic half marathon coming up in January, I realized it was probably in my best interest to start a training plan, instead of just winging it. Normally I don't have a plan for my runs until like an hour before when I say to myself something along the lines of "hmm I think I'll run 8km today!" As some people always say "failure to plan, is planning to fail." Or something like that? Basically I needed some help in the run schedule department..

I have a goal of a sub 2 hour half marathon on my mind and would love to accomplish that. Therefore, I started looking into possible training plans. I recently learned that Nike plus has a coach option (I wonder if I even live on this planet sometimes haha). I figured this was pretty convenient since I already use the app to track my runs.. So I might as well have the same app tell me how far and how fast to go. I entered in my race details, estimated my current fitness level (intermediate) and just like that had an entire 12 week training schedule made and customized for me. Nike plus is a great app for keeping track of runs, PRs and even challenging friends (add me - MisLyns)!

The plan increases in intensity each week, up until the peak week of training. There is often a cross training day on Thursdays and includes a rest day on Sunday's. Cross training days are great to improve endurance and maintain fitness, all while helping to decrease risk of injury (weight and resistance training is perfect for this too). Some days are easy runs where as the next day is commonly an interval run or fartlek (frequent variation in pace, today mine was 3 minutes faster pace followed by a 2 minutes slower pace). Fartlek training can help with conditioning, and I find it makes my runs go by faster.

The distance of the runs vary from 1 shorter run (around 4-6km), mixed in with a couple medium runs (8-12) and one long run a week on Saturday (16+km). Each week the distances increase, averaging 50-60km total every week.

Monday was week 1, day 1 with an easy 4.8km run. Great start to get the legs stretched out and ready for today's fartlek. Today was an 8.05 km interval run. It took me 50 minutes for the full run, warm up and cool down (I'm not the fastest, but this program will help to increase my speed). Day 2 of the training plan went well and felt good.

Tomorrows run will be the same distance, except an easy pace, so I'm going to change up my route to keep things interesting. Thursday is cross training, and I plan to do an upper body day with the weights in my basement (I haven't really lifted since my bodybuilding days.. So this should be interesting). Friday is a 6.4 km run, easy pace for 4.8km, followed by a faster final 1.6k. Saturday is my first long run of the training plan, and will be 12.9km. I'm looking forward to this comfortable paced long run. Adding distance is important to build up to that final 21.1 km half marathon that's my goal, so hopefully I can complete this run with a similar pace that I'm hoping for on race day. Should be a great Halloween run! Sunday will be my first rest day, and I'm sure it will be well earned.

After the day off, week 2 starts with another 8.05 km run of easy 4.8km and finish with the last 3.2km at a faster pace. 

I'll be posting updates every week as I continue with this program.

How's your training going? Do you prefer the longer easy pace runs, or shorter interval training runs?Are there any races you're working towards? Let me know!

Keep training friends,

The Rural Runner

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