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Monday, November 5, 2012

30 Days of Thankful: Days 4 & 5

So I knew exactly what Day 4 would be early in the day, but never got around to typing it up. I was having such a nice day with Isaac that I never wanted to take a break to blog. I figured enjoying my time with him was more important, doubling up one day is not the end of the world.

Sunday I was reminded of how thankful I am for some hip pain I experienced over a year ago. I had only been running for a few months to train for a 5 mile run and I started having horrible pain in my hip flexor. I was so frustrated that I had finally found an activity I enjoyed and now I was in pain. I got new shoes, tried do some pre run stretches and resting it, but nothing worked. I was dragging my feet on going to the doctor, afraid of what they would say so I kept putting it off. Then one day I saw an article on Twitter about yoga for runners.
I had always made fun of yoga and “yogis” I saw at the gym with their sandals and chai lattes they would come in with, but I was desperate so I found a Sunday Vinyasa Flow class at our gym and gave it a try. 

It was like a switch flipped, almost immediately I began running pain free.  I felt so relieved that I was able to something so simple to help my runs so I branched out and began attending Body Flow class at my gym as well. Body flow is a yoga/Pilates hybrid class choreographed to music. You get the stretch of  yoga mixed with  Pilates and get a really good full body workout. The best part of all of this was not only did I found something I love to do, I also found something I’m good at!  I generally have a pretty easy time attempting new poses and can usually do the "advanced" option.  I’ve never been “good” at any sort of physical activity, but between running and yoga I’ve found 2 things that I enjoy doing and I'm actually good at them!  Well I’m good at yoga, running I do it, I enjoy it most of the time, but I’m far from the fastest or have the far from the most endurance. I’m good at yoga though. I’m much more flexible than I ever thought I could be, my balance is improving, and core muscles are improving.

 It took a few years, but I finally found a workout regimen that works for me, and that I love. I’m so thankful that I didn’t rush to the doctor and got over my hang-ups to give yoga a shot. It’s made me a much stronger person, and I can’t imagine my life without it.

Today, I am so thankful for my extra hour of sleep! Sounds silly, but oh my gosh did I feel well rested this morning! The rested feeling lasted all day, I had my best run in a while, got dinner together while Isaac went to the gym and finished some laundry. I know the euphoria of the extra hour will wear of soon, but I'm thankful for it while I have it!

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