Is It a Tricep or Bicep?
The Body Surprise: The Ragnar Relay
I’m still amazed at the many ways my body can surprise me. I think I know my body pretty well and then it does something it’s never done before. Over the weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay for the second time. This year we ran from Plymouth, MA to P-Town. The runs were easy and mostly flat. None of the legs were very long. I ran 6.5 miles, 6.1 miles and 3.9 for a grand total of 16.5 miles.
I didn’t prepare that well. I ran leading up to the race, but not intensely. And normally if I know I have a long run, I hydrate and eat really well the day before. I didn’t do that this time. I think I kept telling myself this was going to be a breeze—I only have to run 6.5 miles at any one stretch and I can get through that. I didn’t tell myself that over the course of a 24-hour period I’d […]
Cold Shower in Review
Okay—so maybe I’m not so good at sticking to my own challenges. There were a few days where I just totally skipped on the cold shower.
That being said, there is something I like about the frigid water after I’ve gone for a run. I think it helps cool me off. If you’ve ever seen me after running, my face is bright red and hot. It will stay that way and you can even sometimes see the red drain from my face over the next hour. The cold shower helps speed that process up.
Every day that I took a cold shower I liked the way it felt on my face. I recommend hitting your face with cold water near the end of your shower. I still don’t like the way it feels on the front of my body. It makes me think of everything I’ve learned about the body—how the front line is the protector—we […]
Foam Roller
I’ll admit not everyone loves the foam roller as much as I do. It’s a great way to get a good work out and challenge your balance and stabilizer muscles, but more than that it can massage you and your achy fascia! But that is the part not everyone is a fan of sadly. One most people have never heard of fascia and then when they actually get down on to roller to massage the fascia, tendons, and muscles they don’t always love the way it feels.
It can feel a bit intense. Some people describe foam rolling like the feeling you have when you press on a bruise. Why would you want to do that? Because it’s good for you and it won’t leave a bruise. I think it hurts in a good way. But […]
Two-Minute Meditation
Recently in my struggle to meditate, a client suggested that I try linking meditation with something I do every day like putting my shoes. That seemed like a brilliant idea, but the problem sort of was I don’t really want to meditate. I’m not motivated to do it. Her suggestion was that I try for five minutes. I suggested two minutes.
Honestly, I don’t think I really thought I would do it, but I surprised myself. Two days later I put on one shoe, remembered this should be a reminder to meditate, and so with one shoe on I sat down and began to breath and repeat two words over and over. When I opened my eyes, I had barely lasted two minutes. But I’d done it.
Five minutes later I tried again, frustrated that two minutes could seem so long. This time I focused more on breathing and lasted two-minutes, fifteen seconds. Hey it’s a start, right?
Although, I have to admit, the next day I forgot to do it entirely.