Training Days 47, 48 & 49 of 71: Twenty Miles & Toronto

My life has been a bit of a whirlwind over the past week. I crammed 5 and 9 mile runs in early last week. Then on Friday afternoon I was flying to Toronto for the Yoga For Runners Teacher Training so I had to squeeze in a 20 mile run that morning. Now that I'm back from Toronto and it's a sunny Monday morning in LA I can hardly believe it all worked out.

The 20 miles was good. I did a 10 mile loop twice that went from my apartment, through West Hollywood, up into Beverly Hills beyond the Beverly Hills Hotel, then down below Olympic to get back to my apartment. I ran in to use the bathroom, then went and did the loop in reverse. I would definitely say that the first round was more enjoyable, but the second was fine and I made it back with an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for my flight.

The Teacher Training in Toronto was quite delightful. I had traveled the furthest to get there by far and I was met with a group of ten lovely Canadian yogi/runners on Saturday morning when I showed up at the funky Dovercourt House outside downtown Toronto (see photo of nearby mural above). Christine Feldstead, who created and taught the training, had a wealth of runner-specific yoga knowledge and set an atmosphere that was so welcoming I felt right at home. It was a real pleasure to be in a group that was so mixed (some were much more identified with running than yoga) and it was very illuminating to see the spectrum of perspectives. This Module focused mainly on the spine - how important it is to just MOVE THE SPINE in order to maintain bodily alignment and health. If you only sit at a desk/drive home/go running you are moving the spine very little, in fact you are mostly compressing it. The numerous twists, forward bends, and backbends in yoga keep the spine lubricated, long, and supple - counteracting those other activities that tend to degenerate spinal health. The more I learn about the spine the more I am in awe of it's extraordinarily intelligent design. How lucky we each are to have one!

Lindsay, a Toronto local from the teacher training was kind enough to zip me over to the airport last night with just enough time to catch my flight back to LA. Now comes the final push for my marathon training. This week 39 total miles (22 mile long run). Next week 44 total miles (24 mile long run). After that the mileage ebbs for three weeks until marathon time. Oh my goodness. So much laundry to do these days.