De-stress and Compress

Since my epiphany, I have been happily making time to run and go to yoga. Last Sunday, I ran almost 2 miles in just under 19 minutes! I have officially brought down my 10 minute mile time to the 9 minute range and I am proud of myself. I have worked hard to get here. Yesterday, my 5:30 am day, I was just about to snooze my alarm when my son woke up and started crying. Since I had to get out of bed to get him anyway, I realized I had no excuse. I got out of bed, got ready, stretched and went out for my run. The feeling I had after that run was amazing. I had more energy than I usually do in the mornings, I was filled with pride and I was actually thankful to my son for getting up at 5:30!

My mother asked me over the weekend if I thought I was overdoing it. The past couple of weeks, I have been busting my ass running and going to yoga. I tried a Hot Vinyasa class, intsead of my normal Bikram routine, and boy was I sore! My answer to my mother? No, I feel just right. My head is finally clear.

I don't worry about my bills, an argument with my husband, moving out of our house, having another baby, etc, when I'm running. I focus on my stride, improving my time and gaining distance. During Bikram, the only thing I am thinking about is going deeper into the pose and for my latest Vinyasa venture, I was only thinking about when class would be over!

The older you get, the more responsibilities you have and the more you stress. I stress often about a lot of things. My main stress is being able to give my son everything I grew up with and more. But if I'm constantly stressing, I'm not enjoying life. I find that my runs and yoga help me de-stress and give me the time I need to myself. Mothers constantly feel guilty for doing things for ourselves but I have now realized that doing something for me is actually doing a lot for my husband and son. They get a better me if I'm relaxed and happy.

My recent focus, aside from shopping for new running gear, is to improve my distance. I read an article recently about tricks to improve your run time and distance. It mentioned that we are often mentally tired before we're physically tired. I know this is true. I run until I feel like I'm done and stop. The day I ran two miles, I ran until I was going to throw up. Now that's physical exhaustion. Another couple runs like that and I should be at 3 miles in no time!

As for shopping, I researched the best running tights and discovered the CW-X tights. The reviews were so good that I bought a pair  for myself and my husband. The CW-X tights are compression tights and apparently relieve soreness therefore making recovery easier. I just took them out for their first run and it was really different. In the beginning, I felt as if the tights were pushing my legs closer together. Very strange. I got used to it and left them on for a bit when I got home. I actually feel less sore than I usually do after a run so money well spent!

Until my next run,
Renita