Training for the Richmond marathon was detoured a bit because of sickness… which in and of itself was not very important to me last week as I was just trying to garner enough energy to get out of bed… but once I started feeling better my mind quickly started reeling about whether I would be able to “make up” the miles or whether it would throw off my training all together.

I started searching the internet for feedback from other runners about training program interruptions and what if anything I needed to try to do to play catch up.. I have a lot of time and energy and money invested in this marathon goal.. Alison and I have been extremely dedicated to this training program to try to ensure success on race day… success to us is finishing the race and running it at our own pace…

I was pleased to learn that most of the feedback I found said a small training interruption because of sickness is not the end of the world… some bits of advice suggested that a brief break may even help with training… that I should “enjoy” the rest… while I was glad to know our marathon goals were still well within reach… there was no “enjoyment” to the so-called rest I got while dealing with the Flu.

This week I have eased back into running… I don’t want to cause any kind of relapse or overdo it and end up sidelined again… so today was one of my “rest days”  that usually means I do something relatively active that does not involve running… so with limited time before I had to head to Roanoke this morning I woke up… ate some oatmeal and then trotted downstairs to our basement where we have a very very modest fitness area that consists of an old weight bench… some dumb bells and a treadmill Matt’s aunt was kind enough to give to us…

After a light upper body weight work out I opened my latest issue of Women’s Health magazine to the page with 4 yoga moves called “Four Zen moves to help you go with the flow this season” I know a major point of yoga is relaxation so I don’t know how relaxed I was reading the directions intently for these moves… when to inhale… when to exhale… when to have my chin up… up dog.. down dog… you get the idea…

Anyway… my overall point is that I sweated more in the 10 to 15 minutes it took me to practice the yoga moves that I did during my entire weight session… I mean it really is challenging… instead of inhaling and exhaling in a relaxed way… toward the end of the reps I did… I was almost panting like a dog…

I am assuming that with practice I will be able to control my breathing better and hold the poses in a more graceful way but trying it has really inspired me to delve further into the yoga world… I almost bought a mat tonight while I was on dinner break… we’ll see…

So… for those of you who are master “yoga doers” (my random late night made up term)... I admire you.