First Day of Training (and Blogging)

This past fall I was overcome with the feeling that I have done little of significance with my life. Yes, I've graduated from college, held down several jobs, and completed various artistic projects. But in general there seems to be a ceiling on my existence. A ceiling which I bump up against, then helplessly float back down from, never breaking through. I do not know what a breakthrough would look or feel like but I do sense that it will not happen if I try to think my way there. There must be some sort of action that could begin to crack this mental calcification. So I have decided to run a yogic marathon.

Over the past three years yoga has become a major part of my life. It started small, with short classes full of seniors where I rarely broke a sweat, and then grew into taking a teacher training course, and now teaching some of my own classes. Through my practice small miracles have occurred. As my hamstrings have become more flexible, so has my mind. As my core has become stronger, so has my sense of compassion. As I have had to be accountable to exactly what's happening with my body each time I'm on the mat, I have come to more naturally accept what is happening in any off-mat situation I might find myself. Basically, I have realized that what I experience physically transfers directly to the mental/emotional dimension.

For these past three years I have not engaged in any other regular exercise besides yoga, as other types of workouts usually just remind me of all the years I have worked out for the purpose of 'looking good' - which is really depressing. But last fall I couldn't help but wonder what running a marathon would do to my mind; what cracks it might create in my idea myself and reality at large. So I have decided to give it a shot.

The marathon I aiming for is on May 30th, the Burlington City Marathon in my home state of Vermont. This is in four and a half months. Today was my official first day of training (3 miles down and back a residential street in Beverly Hills) I will bookend each of my runs with yoga. 10 minutes before, 20 minutes after. And I will also cross-train for strength and endurance by taking yoga classes. As I continue my training I plan to update this blog with observations on how yoga and running interrelate and how approaching the training as a yogic "practice" shapes the experience overall. I really hope I make it.