Yoga Runs You

A lot of us competitive athletes are quick to snub yoga because we think it's not a real workout, or we don't sweat enough, or we're not running 5 miles, the list goes on. I beg to differ. A competitve athlete my entire life, yoga has not only improved my athletic ability, but has also helped me re-focus my energy while I'm working out or competing. As an athlete, I was a gymnast for 13 years, played soccer, and I ran track all throughout high school and college. I only wish yoga could have been a part of my life when I was a competitive athlete. And now I'm making up for lost time.

Recently, within the last year, I've really felt the difference yoga has made in my running. Having been a gymnast, I do have a bit of a competitive advantage having spent so much time upside-down on my hands. Taking Vinyasa style yoga improved my balance, stability, core, flexibility, and from all of those extended arm planks, I even see an improvement in my pushups! As a recreational runner who enjoys running marathons from time to time, yoga has even improved my workouts and my times! My recovery is faster (when I do yoga 3 times a week), my running stride is longer, my capacity to endure longer distances increased, and I run faster! I even feel like I'm in better long-distance shape than I was in college. My only regret with yoga is not starting sooner!!

Yoga can also help you re-gain your focus as a runner. When you're running that 5th or 6th mile, your mind is not concetrating on the actual run itself, you're thinking about what happened at work, or what's on TV tonight, or what you're going to make for dinner, or when the finish line is coming. Your legs can keep moving, but your mind is somewhere else. You can problem solve as you run, but you're also not really in the moment. Most runner's I know can't wait to finish, myself included! Yoga is quite the opposite. From that beginning pose to the ending Savasana pose that we love so much, you're present in each moment, in each pose, each breath. Or maybe Savasana is the finish line.....