I've been away from my mat for months.

I'm training for a marathon. I will be running a half marathon in 2 weeks and a marathon about 2 months after that. I haven't been on my mat in so long. I canceled my unlimited membership. I miss being sweaty. I miss savasana. I miss it all. I haven't been to yoga in so long that when I looked at this week's schedule of classes and who is teaching them, I didn't recognize some of the names! Some of my old instructors are still there - the ones who taught me my first classes 5 or 6 years ago, but I definitely haven't been around the hot room lately.

Wow...

Ok, so I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but I didn't realize it had been quite that long! October 2012? Really? My yoga practice has been quite sporadic since then. I've gotten sucked into the world of spin classes at Flywheel. They are basically the Bikram yoga of cardio classes - kinda hard core, make you feel amazing afterwards, totally kick ass! Also I'm running a half marathon this summer so that has require me to start putting some mileage in. It's so hard to fit in 90 minutes of yoga with work, life and other workouts... but I really want to get back on my mat more often. I practiced yesterday and I felt great after class even though my postures were pretty lame. I couldn't wrap my foot in Eagle. :sob: (Yes, I know that other people have real problems - and I do, too - but right now I want to be in a pity party about my loss of Eagle)

two days to go... TWO DAYS TO GO!

I feel like my practice has improved, I'm living more in the moment and my last couple of classes were totally fine. That being said, I'm still pretty stoked to only have 2 days left of my 30 day challenge :)  Practiced with my mama this morning at the studio up north. It's so spacious and lovely. Not much else to report...

Day 24 - the day it all went pear-shaped...

I don't know what happened all of the sudden, but class today totally sucked. One of the worst classes I've had this month, possibly this decade. First, the part of the room I was in smelled like dead squirrel before class. Either the smell stopped or I just got used to it after the first couple of postures, but when you're supposed to be breathing through your nose, eau de squirrel corpse isn't what one likes to be smelling. That did not start class off on the right foot. Second, the teacher was not my fave. Third, my body seemed to be rebelling. My face was super red, I was really tired, I was getting angry when the teacher was talking about technique because I just wanted her to shut up and to top it all off, I just tried to put on my Uggs and I got a cramp in my calf. Awesome. (Note: I do know that Uggs are ridiculous but I got a pair at a sample sale at work a few weeks ago and they are super cozy to put on after yoga.)
WELCOME TO MY PITY PARTY!

Reality check: I'm fine. I'm happy I'm pushing my mind and body with this 30 day challenge. I do not like the yoga room to smell like dead squirrel.

I love yoga, but omg I am tired of yoga

Day 23. I definitely would not have gone to yoga tonight if it wasn't for this challenge. I was super tired and took a 20 minute-ish nap before heading to class. I do not recommend this. Also I have turned into a super sweaty yogini. Not sure when that happened, but I am now the person who drips with tons of sweat and manages to get her mat all wet during the warm up. Super sexy. Good times.

21 of 30 - the postures are making sense!

I've been doing this yoga off and on for almost 5 years. These 5 years have been the hardest years of my life. This year has felt like things are finally turning around and the same thing has happened with my yoga practice. The postures make sense! My teacher told me that my practice has improved a ton in the past week! Only 9 days to go. I'm 70% of the way done with this challenge. WOO HOO!

Day 17 - the day I thought I might have to go on injured reserve

I rocked Day 15. I was feeling high on life. And then I realized something was not quite right around the waistband of my yoga shorts. I was itchy and there were gross red bumps. Fast forward to Day 16. Rocked class again. Like whoa. But red bumps seem worse. More red, bigger, more irritated. I reluctantly bust out ye olde Google and try to figure out what's going on. Most likely culprit seems to be heat rash. Recommended treatment for heat rash: avoid getting hot. Seriously. Well, that doesn't exactly go along well a 30 day Bikram challenge. So I continued to Google. Apparently heat rash and diaper rash are similar-ish. So fast forward to lunchtime yesterday and I'm at Whole Foods looking at the diaper rash creams. I picked up a nice Euro tube of diaper rash cream and a kombucha and I was on my way. The cream worked its magic - it was super soothing and didn't even smell like baby. I think that's because I picked the European brand :) I am now on the mend! Just wanted to document this here in case any of my other internet yogi friends encounter heat rash.

Day 14 - I think we've turned the corner!

I almost didn't make it to class on time. I was jogging down the street in rain boots trying to get to yoga! For a moment, I wanted to get to yoga. I was happy when the studio door opened because it meant I could do the earlier class. It was crowded and I was hot and sweaty before class even started, but somehow it was good. YAY YOGA! YAY ME! I'm actually looking forward to the fact that I get to go back to class tomorrow. I felt bendier and stronger today. My only issue (because I MUST COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING) is that I've been going through so much water in class. My water bottle is now empty at the end of class. I (obviously) need to work on my hydration... or buy a tower of shame!

Day 13 - almost halfway but totally in the weeds

Another crazy crowded class this afternoon. I think I'm going to have to do morning classes next weekend. I'm a bit in the weeds at this point - going to class is feeling like an obligation rather than a privilege... but I have noticed one thing. Before I went on my vacation, I was having headaches in the afternoons at work almost every day. I started the 30 day challenge right after I got back from my vacation. I've only had ONE headache at work in the two weeks since then. JUST ONE! And I think that was maybe caffeine related, not stress/tension related. So I do feel like the challenge is helping my mind/body even though I am not exactly enjoying it at this point in time.

Class 11 - the class that almost made me run away to PDX

Class last night was so challenging. It was intensely hot and humid. I was probably not hydrated enough. I was wearing capri-ish pants instead of my normal (too short) shorts. I don't even know what to blame - ghosts, spirits, the universe. Whatever it was, it sucked some serious ass. It was ridiculously unpleasant. So much so that I walked out of the room thinking that I would never go back in the hot room. But I've had ~20 hours to settle down and I am going to go back. I'm not going to retreat to Portland this weekend even though my friend did give me a very tempting invite to come visit. I have yoga and other things to do here in Seattle. Namaste bitches.