Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Pros/Cons of Yoga Challenge

I kicked spin butt tonight! I didn't want to go but was glad I did at the end of the class! My legs we're burning throughout the class and I kept telling myself pain is temporary I figured I push through long runs, speedy runs and half-marathons I could push through a spin class. Nothing like dripping sweat in your eye balls to make you feel hot.


I didn't want to go to the gym, I wanted to stay in my warm house with my fiance and not drive in the rain
I felt AWESOME after my workout! 

Also, today marks day 21 of my yoga challenge. I can't believe it, this month has gone by so fast! I am seriously loving this challenge :)

 I've received a lot of questions from friends who know about my challenge, asking if the challenge is worth it. I thought I would just make a post about the pros and cons of my challenge!


Pros
-I get a break from running ( I am still training but I cut back a lot on my running to add in yoga)
-Pain in my hips and knees have decreased (due to the increased stretching I am allowing my muscles to have)
-Increased flexibility ( I am not flexible at all....!)
-Having a goal in mind ( I am very goal driven: It's party of my type A personality)
-Getting Excited about Yoga everyday
-Hot Yoga (no need to say anymore)
-Sweating more than I sweat when I run
-Having the opportunity to stretch (since I don't do that enough on my own)
-My body now craves yoga
-Yoga buddies
-It makes me Happy :)
-Fiance has taken a liking to Yoga and joins me :)

Cons
-Being completely exhausted and not getting a "real" rest day
-Waking up extra early on my rest days to get yoga done
-Time consuming (If I didn't have time to do yoga, then I would skip it, now I have to rearrange my schedule to fit yoga in)
-Not being able to go to the studio when I want (due to schedule conflicts) and having to do yoga at home
-Yoga at home (boring!!!!)

So overall the challenge has been amazing. In all honesty doing yoga for 30 days straight is a little hard, especially time wise, there are days I just don't have time to do yoga at home or make it to a class and I have to wake up earlier to get in my practice or my body is just exhausted and needs a break and I can't take my "rest" day because I'm pushing through my challenge. This challenge has truly been mentally, and physically exhausting but I truly love being able to push my body in ways other than running. This challenge has also done wonders for me. There are days I just don't want to run, so I do yoga and feel amazing. The pain in my knees and hips have decreased also, I think in part because I am stretching more in yoga (something I don't do enough of on my own). I truly have fallen in love with Yoga and it has been an amazing experience for me.

I have also decided to sit down and figure out what way I plan to go with my blog. I started this blog off as a food blog because I was so inspired by all the foodie blogs I read. But I have quickly realized that food blogging is just not me. I am having a hard time taking the same picture of the same bowl of oatmeal or tuna salad. None of my eats are special or out of this world. I have realized that my blog "direction" is more of a "running" and "just me" type of direction. I have been inspired by a lot of blogs I followed but decided I need to go my own route and find what works for me. Periodically I will post food recipes if it's something "incredible" but most of the time I will just post about my life, yoga and running. Yoga and Running make up about 90% of my life so why not blog about something I am passionate about. I plan to also blog about the things that make me happy; fiance, family, friends and the journey of college graduate to nurse and fiance to wife! I hope to gain more readers and really find a spot in the blog community!

Question:
What do you think I should do about my blog? Suggestions?!?!? :)

Now time to enjoy the evening and catch up on some reading and eat some amazing treats my amazing friend Christina baked!




5 comments:

  1. I hear ya about the food blogging, if your not passionate about it then it's not for you! Do what makes YOU happy. I can't wait to get back to they Yoga studio!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love those meals!! I think the benefits of your yoga challenge outweighs the cons and therefore I need to try it!! You are so stinkin cute....great job kicking butt. It is crazy how awesome it feels after!! I like the direction you are taking...running, your life and food every now and then and recipes!! Basically I love how it is right now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I saw you do what you do what will make you happy with your blog. I'm like all over the place and it is just me. Maybe a lot of people are getting bored because I get no more comments. But I am having fun with it. Just have fun, enjoy and know that people are reading and people are enjoying it!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Val! I hear ya about the rain! I'm near Riverside and it's POURING over here!

    Do you do the yoga on your own or do a video at home? I can't seem to find a yoga video I like.

    About your blog, I think it's great. I know you think it's all over the place, but I think it focuses on YOUR journey and that makes it different from others. Sure, we all have food, recipes, working out in our blog and that's "generic" but your story about those things is what makes it unique. Like you, faith is really important to me and maybe working that into your blog will make it different too. Hope that helps :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am glad to see that you had trouble fitting in the yoga too - but thumbs up to you for DOING it instead of FAILING like me. oops.

    I never saw your blog before, but I like it now, so I say leave it!:)

    ReplyDelete