The Infinite Pool of Joy?

I guess I am giving in to the fact that yoga seems to have a good place in my training program. Since I am worried about over-training and getting injured, I wasn’t too happy doing weights M/W/F–all those lunges, squats and dead lifts left my legs tired right before my Saturday “long” runs. While I could do the elliptical instead, for an “easy” cardio workout, I know my body needs the stretching and different type of strengthing that yoga can offer.

I have had the same favorite (only!) yoga program (Beth Shaw’s YogaFit) for I don’t know how long.  Its an actual VHS tape, so that should tell you something about how old it is. While I still enjoy it, I thought it was time for some variety, especially if I planning on doing it–gasp!–every week. I like Rodney Yee’s non-nonsense style, and my friend likes his programs, so I though I would give him a try. After much browsing on Collage Video and Amazon.com, I settled on his A.M. Yoga DVD. It has five different 20(ish) minute workouts, each with a different focus, designed for a Monday-Friday rotation.

Today I did the standing poses program (“Monday”) and the hip openers program (“Friday”). Both were good, but I have to laugh at my inflexibility.  While Rodney is folded flat in half on his forward bend, I am lucky to get to a 45 degree angle!

At the beginning of the program, he talks about drawing on the “infinite pool of joy” within us. I don’t know about that, but I do know that I will continue to do yoga as part of my training program, and maybe even after I cross that finish line.

I also did some time on the foam roller. Another “necessary evil” of my training program.