Fear of a Female Planet

Running: Week three of the half-marathon training finished with a 6 mile run on Sunday. The program is going much smoother this time around, even with the extra day of running and attempts at pace setting. I find myself halfway through my long run before I think to look at the clock.

Climbing: Well, my climbing partner and I started the "Climb a Mile" in February challenge just for fun, openly saying "there is no way we will finish this, but let's see how far we can get for fun," and gosh darn it - we're both going to finish! Dianna will be done tonight because she had a stronger start than me, but I'll be done on Wednesday! We went from an average of 7 climbs a night, two nights a week to 28 climbs a night, three times a week! We are looking forward to incorporating more laps into our climbs, but also to adding in new routes - this challenge does not incentivize trying anything new or very hard, it's more about stamina.

Strength-Training: I am really happy with the benefits I am seeing by just doing this class once a week. It's has increased my core strength exponentially more than yoga ever did - greatly helping in climbing, as well as yoga. Most of all - squats and lunges? They make your ass look amazing!

Yoga: I need to get back to Kristin's low key but intense class for the spiritual well being (stupidly stayed out too late partying on Friday night and missed the class I wanted to go to with purplemb13), but the strength training class has definitely helped in the power yoga class I like to do Monday and Friday morning - those crazy push-ups and sit-ups don't seem so bad anymore. Actually, I should probably try head stands again...

Diet: I've plateaued a little again at 145, but with less variance on a day-to-day basis, so I'm very happy with that. I'm back in my skinny jeans and things just fit better. Mostly though, I'm seeing a real effect on my running by adjusting my diet to my training. That was one element I didn't incorporate last time, but by being more careful about the carbs, protein, and fat that I eat, I definitely have more energy on my runs and I am more efficiently building more muscle (I was surprised last year that I didn't seem to build more muscle, but now I see I wasn't eating what my body needed to do that). It's also helped me save money because you really have to plan out your week, especially breakfast and snack wise, if you want to have good fuel and muscle building options available.

One thing that has definitely returned from training last year - the need for more sleep than I am used to - I have to start adjusting for that because it makes getting up for 6AM yoga hard when I used to be able to go to bed at 11 and still get up for that.

Is the Spirit of Competition in the Soul of Yoga?
By SARA ECKEL, The New York Times, November 19, 2009

THE competitors stood nervously on stage, awaiting the judges’ decisions. As each name was called the crowd cheered, and the winner stepped forward to claim a prize, bowing his or her head to accept a medal.

“Wow, that was a miracle,” said Kyoko Katsura, the winner in the women’s division of the New York Regional Yoga Championship.

Yoga championship?

Yoga enthusiasts like to talk about the many benefits of their practice — good health, inner peace, killer abs — but seldom do they brag about the thrill of victory. Yoga as a competitive sport has been almost unknown in this country, largely because the practice is seen as a spiritual quest rather than an exclusively physical exercise like gymnastics.

But now Rajashree Choudhury and her husband, Bikram Choudhury, who created the style of yoga known as Bikram, are trying to build momentum for competitive yoga in the United States. Mrs. Choudhury has set up two nonprofit organizations, the United States Yoga Federation and the World Yoga Foundation, and she has been staging competitions for the last seven years. This fall and winter, regional championships are being held in several states, and the winners will advance to a national championship in Los Angeles in February.

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