March! and a few thoughts about yoga

March is here - a psychological milestone if nothing else.  The weather is no different than February although we are lucky to have unusually clear roads for this time of year.  After an unexpectedly long run on Friday afternoon, I worked all weekend and wasn't able to do much by way of training.  In physical therapy I have graduated to once weekly therapy with daily at-home stretches and every other day exercises, most of which I integrate into lifting or core routines.  That's the plan, anyway, as I can fit it in.

The neck sprain is improving and in the meantime I sprained my wrist, making vigorous resistance training very difficult, except for pure leg workouts, which I'm not really doing right now, and some core work.  In this context, I've realized that for me, yoga is less enjoyable if it is not in counterpoint to some hard, caveman style calisthenic or resistance training (yes, burpees included for the crossfit devotees out there).  Ironically, my running is going as well as it has anytime over the past few years, and I am very optimistic about the marathon in may.  But, just as I was feeling real progress in overall strength, fitness, and power, I am "sidelined" by injuries that are purely my fault.  So the lesson going forward is either (1) be more careful and protect yourself better when pushing the limits, or (2) just roll with it and be glad you can still run for now.  #1 is hard for me because it's difficult for me to be careful while pushing limits (the neck was mostly my fault, along with some underlying biomechanic imbalances, and the wrist strain was purely my fault).  #2 sounds great but of course the art of acceptance is easier said than done.

In any case, I have the pleasure of a day at home with the girls today -- Jess is back at work temporarily so we are juggling for a bit -- after some good hard work this weekend.  I will get back on the road (or path) tomorrow and see how things go from there...

yesterday: yoga 1 hour
today: rest day