Oatmeal Smiles and Restorative Yoga

This has been one of those weeks when I can look back on the week’s craziness and smile. Did I take a conference call from the office on Thursday that didn’t end until 9:45pm? Sure! But, I also practiced my intuitive eating, balance, and helped a few co-workers along the way.

Life is about the little things sometimes, including a small reward at the bottom of my breakfast mug. What? You don’t have a smile painted at the bottom of your oatmeal mug?

Thursday night in between conference calls I headed to Central Park for a mind clearing run. The weather was perfect and the 45 minutes of peace during the evening dusk was a great way to calm myself before this weekend’s race, conquer a few hills one last time, and review race strategies.

Last night instead of staying for an evening of drinking at my work happy hour, I stopped in to say a quick hello and then headed downtown for another Friday night of yoga at Laughing Lotus. It was Annie’s first time teaching the Lounging Lotus class but you would have never known! She led the packed class through restorative poses while reminding us each how important this form of yoga is for our mind and body health. The class required us to use 6 blankets, 2 bolsters a strap, and 3 scented eye masks which were used to cover our eyes and weigh down our hands. These props allowed us to move into comfortable, relaxing poses and stay in them for 5-10 minutes without putting stress on our body. It was a very new practice to me as other than child’s pose I had never practiced any of these poses which included supported child’s pose, supported bound bridge pose, reclining bound angle, and supported back bend pose.

(below images are examples of the poses, compliments of www.maurayoga.wordpress.com)

Today, Bo and I both slept in before he spent the morning working and I headed uptown to volunteer with the New York Junior League before working my way back downtown running errands along the way. I had to fight through drunk St. Patrick’s Day revelers to get to the NYC Half Expo but once inside was able to quickly by a few new Sparkly Soul bands and grab my packet.

Next stop was the grocery store to ensure we had ingredients for a pasta dinner and breakfast before the race. We’re both too exhausted to do anything fancy but instead are settling for pasta, sauce, chicken sausage, and lots of parmesan cheese. Around 1:30 I found myself craving macaroni and cheese in an odd way. Normally I would forget about it or go home and try to create a healthier form of macaroni and cheese. But, in keeping with this month’s Intuitive Eating Challenge, I followed my hunger to Beecher’s Cheese and bought the smallest portion. Two bites were all I needed but now I have a delicious post race treat waiting for me in the refrigerator!

Last but not least, I went for an easy shake out run around Gramercy and Union Square this evening in the snowy mix.

I kept my pace slow other than a few striders that I mixed in and returned home for more time on the foam roller. I’m so glad this nasty wintery mix is getting out of the weather’s system tonight instead of tomorrow morning. While I’m sure I could manage running 13.1 miles in snow and rain I’d rather enjoy a brisk, cool overcast morning run instead!  My goal is to spend 30 minutes on the foam roller by the end of the evening focusing on multiple different areas but especially my calves and hamstrings.

Last but not least, a huge congratulations to all those people who rocked out the RNR DC Half today! I know that Theodora and Anne both threw down huge PRs while Elisabeth and Emily both ran their first half marathons today and finished smiling! Hopefully their good energy spreads to me tomorrow!