It's been tough gaining access to a computer over the past few days, so I've missed a few posts. In that time, I've completed a few runs. The weather is still cooperating for now, so I'm trying to stay outside as much as possible.
Commencing the Phase 1 Recovery Week, I engaged in yoga. To be honest, I wasn't particularly keen on yoga, so I picked the short disc (Patience, Hummingbird). I guess I'll have to work on the "Patience" portion a little harder. The practice does move quickly; actually, the practice moves slowly, but the time passes quickly, so by the time I finished, I was really happy that I decided to do something, rather than nothing at all. It does sometimes amaze me at how well I feel after a workout, in spite of the fact that I didn't feel motivated to work out at all. The important thing is to put in a DVD and hit the Play button, regardless of how you feel.
I'm still working out some kinks in my neck, left over from a slight strain from the last time I did Diamond Delts. These little strains, aches and pains are really starting to become a nuisance. I'm looking forward to just feeling really fit and ready to tackle the challenges of the day. It's been about 5 weeks since I last felt that way.
The other day, I bumped into an old friend who told me that he's still playing touch football on the weekends. I gave up football about 15 years ago, and have had regrets since. I also gave up playing baseball about 3 years ago when I was experiencing pain in my hip flexors and couldn't effectively field a ground ball anymore. Since then, I've done numerous rounds of P90X and similar high-intensity exercises, coupled with a lot of stretching. My hips now have full mobility, although my baseball playing is limited to catch with my son in the local park. Football, however, really intrigued me. With all the running I've been doing over the last few months and the strength training I've undertaken with Plyometrics and Insanity, I think I could take on football again. I'll find out in a couple of weeks, when I attend my first game. With some trepidation, I'm really looking forward to it. At least I know that I'm in better shape than my friend, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to keep up with the group. Another side benefit of doing the X.
Yoga has taught me to calm myself and to de-stress. Today, I had a minor surgical procedure on my eye which, for some, is no big deal, but I'm ridiculously squeamish about anything having to do with eyes. I can't even subject myself to eyedrops. I don't even want to talk about eyes. Anyhow, I had a procedure on my eye and was in the process of completely freaking out when, I thought of yoga. I was able to calm myself by taking deep, cleansing breaths, got my heart rate to normal, relaxed my entire body, and just cleared out my mind. Before I knew it, the procedure was over, and I'm in the process of recovering. Yoga really helped.
As a result of that procedure, I'll be taking it really easy this week, as I've been warned to stay away from heavy, aggressive lifting. So, being Recovery Week anyway, I'll spend extra time stretching and doing yoga. My hamstrings could use some love and attention.
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