Just Breathe

Last year, I started going to a yoga class once a week in addition to my running to supplement my training with a little strength and flexibility. I was absolutely horrendous at it. I had weak arms, awful balance, tight hamstrings (and, well, tight pretty much everything), erratic breathing, and, maybe worst of all, an overactive mind that I just couldn't seem to get a hold of. I had avoided yoga like the plague up until that point. First of all, I hate doing things I'm bad at, and I was decidedly bad at anything that required me to be bendy. And second, I was not into all of that breathing and feelings mumbo jumbo that I thought yoga was about - looking back now, probably because I was uncomfortable trying to even get a grasp on all of that. But, regardless of my disdain for what I thought yoga was and would be for me, I started going at the urging of several friends who touted the benefits to their running routine. I certainly didn't love it, but as I continued to go, yoga started to slowly grow on me, and grow on my running.

The first benefit I noticed from yoga was a surprising one for me. It wasn't strength or flexibility related at all (though I did notice an improvement in both over time), but rather it had to do with my composure. Where I would sometimes feel my breathing become hurried and stressed during a run, I started to experience calmness. And where my breath went, my body seemed to follow. I started to feel a release in where my muscles normally tensed and gripped during a run, and the more I felt this way, the more easily running seemed to start coming to me.

I'm lucky now to take a yoga class taught by my wonderful friend and former college roommate, Meghan Meade. I credit Megs with getting me on the running bandwagon back in college, and now, I can credit her with my actual enjoyment of yoga. Yes, that's right, I actually like going to yoga now. In last week's class, we were doing crow pose, which, if you aren't familiar, involves balancing on your hands with your knees propped up on your triceps (if that makes no sense, here's a picture). Anyways, I have been oh so close to being able to hold myself up on my arms for a couple of weeks now, and this week, Megs said something that all of the sudden made everything click. She said "Smooth out your breathing. When your breath is smooth and controlled, your body will relax and will know that what you are doing is okay." And literally, I did just as she said, and next thing I knew, there I was, in crow, balancing, not falling on my face - of course until I realized that I WAS DOING IT! and I fell out of it. But the point is, that advice, that your body follows your breath, was something that I had not really thought explicitly about since I had first started yoga and had noticed that initial benefit to my running.

Fast forward to Tuesday. As I mentioned in my blog, I wasn't exactly wild about going to my track workout on Tuesday night. But, I went, and was fortunate to run with two teammates who both run at a challenging pace for me, but not so fast that I am dying trying to keep up. We worked together really well throughout the workout (12 x 600 meter repeats), hitting pretty consistent splits that were a good deal faster than I've been able to do on my own or in previous workouts. I was feeling good through 8 repeats when my teammate suggested that we do our next two repeats in the same fashion as we had been doing the others, but for the last two, we should try to speed it up a little. Uh Oh. I was seriously in doubt that I would be able to do any repeats, even two, faster than what I had been doing. Nevermind the fact that for the first faster repeat it was my turn to lead our group. Great.

I took the lead as we came upon the beginning of repeat number 11 and did my best to channel my inner Shalane Flanagan. For anyone who doesn't know, Shalane just won the women's olympic trials in the marathon, but she is also a killer on the track. I dug deep and tried to push as hard as I could. After the first lap (of 3) I wasn't sure I'd be able to sustain the speed, and then my crow experience from yoga the day before popped into my head. Control your breathing. So I did, I concentrated as hard as I could on the breath going in and out of my lungs, breathing relaxation into my neck and shoulders as my legs pushed on below me. When the repeat was done, we had shaved almost 10 seconds off of our previous ones. I was wiped out, but exhilarated.

I certainly don't expect simply concentrating on breathing to get me through the entire marathon. But as someone who often times mentally has a harder time with running than I do physically, what I've learned in yoga class has helped me to partially separate the mental from the physical when I run. I truly believe that will help me get through the 26.2 in April when I reach that point, often around mile 22, where I become overwhelmed and unsure of my ability to finish.