Running the States: July 2014

I haven't been running much lately but I have gotten a lot more into my power yoga!

Before I was only going to the gentle classes. These were slower with less intense poses, and unheated.

More recently I've been going to the actual power classes. They're heated anywhere from 90-100 degrees and wow, do I sweat!! It's a pretty intense workout and I actually still can't do everything. There are some things I have to modify or skip, but I can feel myself and my balance getting stronger each time. I get so excited every time I can do something new, and I'm definitely learning a lot about my body and capabilities.

I also leave yoga feeling so relaxed and much more positive than when I walked in. I know it's corny but I really do feel at peace afterwards! And I get a good workout too. In an hour class, my HRM said I burned just around 500 calories. So I get to use it for myself and for my body!

I also get to take super cute pictures like these.

Do you practice yoga at all?

Lauren

My birthday was on June 5th, so for my weekend I went to Asheville! Ray and I had lots of fun, ate lots of local food, and had a nice weekend away.

But, of course, it included the Asheville Half on June 7th, Saturday. I'm not going to go into a lot of details, I'll sum it up in a few words. Hills. Heat. Hills. Hills.

It was an inaugural race, but it was put on by the people who run the Cooper River Bridge Run, which is a 10k that's been going on for 35 years I think, in Charleston, SC. Despite this history, I had a lot of problems with the race. Some were being a back-of-the-pack-er issues (I ended up walking completely after mile 5 of so, ending just under 4 hours), which should not have been an issue since that was the advertised cut off time, and the race indicated they were walker friendly. I also had/have an issue with my time. My starting time was recorded, but I have no finish time. I called their "office", which I believe to be a cell phone number whose voicemail box was full already, due to other complaints (I know this from their Facebook page). I called originally June 10th, couldn't leave a voicemail, but was called back later that day from a different number because they saw the missed call. I let them know what was happening, and they said they would look into it and contact me back. I had actually somewhat forgotten about it, and ended up calling back on 6/24, and the phone was actually answered. I have no idea by who, because they just answered with a "hello" despite it being an office phone, which threw me off as well. Got an e-mail from the director that I was copied on, going out to two other people, the next day, just asking them to update my chip time to 4 hours. First of all, I told them it was just under 4 hours, and I'd rather have the real time than just have them put a time in! But, despite that, I haven't heard back from them. I just e-mailed them again today because this post reminded me of it.

So, overall, I'm not too impressed. They also advertised music every mile. I didn't see a station for it each mile, and also most of the bands/musicians were shut down by the time I got there, so that was disappointing as well.

I highly doubt that I'll do this race again in the future, but I may definitely still go to Asheville for my birthday weekend. Maybe I'll just spectate and cheer others on from now on.