Why I’m Adding Yoga To My Marathon Training
Runners and yoga often don't get along. But you can learn to love it!
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As I write this, I’m about 3 weeks away from the first of two marathons I’ll be completing this fall. I’m in the middle of my peak week of training and starting to get really excited about the race. I’ve been hitting my runs (even in the terrible lingering summer heat and humidity that DC has been experiencing), getting to all my beloved Pure Barre classes and feeling strong. I’ve recently added yoga to my rotation. If you know me, you know that yoga and I have not really been friends in the past.
I’ve never been anti-yoga. I’ve just always felt like I was so terrible at yoga. I’ve been that girl, sweating profusely five minutes into a supposedly “restorative” yoga classes. I have never really found the same “peace” within yoga classes that others seemed to experience. So I just said that yoga wasn’t really my thing and I moved on.
However, I recently discovered Jasyoga – they not only offer tons of easy to follow yoga videos that I can do from my living room (Holla! No feeling out of place!). Two weeks ago they launched a Jasyoga Into 26.2 plan that coincided perfectly with my first fall marathon. I decided it was a sign and then I jumped on board. It’s 4.99 a month for unlimited access to their videos – I declared it a steal!
The plan involves a pose of the week that you do each day—ideally pre-run, but I’ve also done it during stretch breaks in my home office. Then there are 2 or 3 videos that you fit in when you can. I’m a big fan of the flexibility (no pun intended) in the plan and I don’t feel stressed by it. Ironically, many of the poses we are performing are things that my physical therapist always reminds me to do.
For example, this week’s pose focuses on single leg balance. I’ve been focusing on single leg balance all summer, so this fits nicely within my marathon prep. I have found that doing short videos (I haven’t seen anything over 30 minutes) as breaks during my workday in the quiet of my home office has really been helpful. I’m feeling solid going into these races. I won’t yet say that I’m a yogi or even a yoga lover, but I have appreciated what yoga has taught me so far. I’m thrilled to have added it to my marathon training routine.
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