yoga

Date	Place of exercise	Duration	Pull-ups	Classic sprint	Start time
27 Sep	Park	29 min	3,3,5,5,5	1:06.14	8:31

            This was the first prolonged run since August in Russia at I-Camp.            http://runner12345.blogspot.al/2015/09/i-camp-russia.html
  I have been swimming and doing yoga.  I did yoga this morning and then got went for a run. My body was tight. Though I had already stretched during the yoga exercises, my body would not really move quickly.
During the final, classic sprint, I couldn’t really sprint at all.  It was impossible to get the legs moving.  It wasn’t like they had cement in them, just that they were like a rusty pair of pliers.  They weren’t terribly painful—probably because I simply didn’t push them into painful territory.

            Yesterday, Maxim took some pictures of me doing yoga so the readers of the blog could see what I’m up to.  I start out in Mountain pose; it doesn’t need a picture because I am just standing there.  Another unpictured movement is the full back bend with my arms straight up over my head.  Then I go to a fold.  The fold is a very basic bending of the body. Some months ago, when I began to do this exercise, I could not get my head anywhere near my knees. At the beginning of the exercise each morning and night, I don’t get my head to my knees, either.  But later on during the yoga session, I literally kiss my knees.  This may not look like much, but if you try it, it’s a real mother bear protecting her cubs.

Next, I do stretching lunges and such, until at one point, I leave one leg back, one arm straight up and the other reaching toward my front foot.  This movement takes some effort. I’ve become progressively better at balancing during this move.  Ever since my head injury 26 years ago, I have had pretty poor balance.  (Or at least I blame it on the head injury) http://jamesmartinswritings.blogspot.al/2009/02/tractor-accident-1985.html
 During the course of this month doing these exercises, the balance has improved, or maybe it is better muscle coordination and strengthening. 

From the arm up in the air, I bring it down to the hip and reach below with the other arm and clasp the hands.  This move is difficult because of my shoulder injury and I don’t always do it.  As with the last movement, this also involves turning the body toward the ceiling.

The last position is shown below…one leg is straight back, the other leg is bent at a 90 degree angle and the elbows drop to the mat.  This is nearly the ‘splits’ with the legs, and it feels fine.

 

All in all, the yoga gets me moving.  Right now, my muscles are sore all over. I’m having trouble running—sprinting is especially difficult.  It may be because I am doing two sets of yoga exercises per day.  I think I probably dove into yoga a bit over-enthusiastically.  I’ll calm down a bit.

If anyone reading this has advice for me and my body positions, I'm eager to hear it.