iHealthyFitness

ROGA with Caroline Almon starts again at lululemon Grant Ave! I chose the 4.5mi run option. Afterward, since the weather seemed nice, they moved the yoga session outdoors to St. Mary’s Square.

The 4.5mi run was not too bad. I felt tired today, but good thing there were no crazy hills with this run. The pack held together pretty well for the most part. We were running at a pretty fast pace, probably 9min/mi? I tried to hold off the cramping, but it hit me towards the home stretch. After a quick pause and some stretching and I was back to finish strong.

Then off to St. Mary’s Square for yoga! Today’s session was focused on the core. It was not as bad as I thought it would be really. Gotta love that dolphin plank! The hard part was trying to keep warm! Brrrrrrrrrr… it was cold out!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4480945

Wow, what a beautiful, sunny, warm day in one of the most wonderful cities in the world! Good morning, San Francisco!

This morning’s lululemon Cow Hollow run club was a special one. It was Yoga on the Run! A nice 2.5 mile run out to Crissy Field, where we had an energizing, runner focused, hour long yoga session with Kerri Kelly! What a fabulous view of the Golden Gate bridge in the sun and warmth. There was a walk/run event going on for the March of Dimes, I believe. So lots of people and activity going on around the Marina.

The yoga session was great! It’s totally different doing yoga out on the grass (we had mats). To be able to hear the birds, feel the wind, smell the fresh air, and bathe in the warmth of the sun! Kerri led us in finding awareness in ourselves, balance in our feet, and feeling alive.

Kerri teaches classes at Yoga Tree and comes from a running background, so her approaches are spot on. Thanks Kerri!

After the session, another 2.5 mile run back to the store! An amazing way to kick off a Saturday!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4470594

Happy World Health Day! Today, the lululemon Grant Ave run club brought back an encore session of ROGA! It was awesome!

A good 4.5 mile flat run along The Embarcadero followed by a yoga session with Caroline Almon. Started out at a nice pace and really tried to focused on my breathing to avoid the side stitch. I was trying a breathing pattern where I take two inhale breathes (fill and fill to max), slight hold, followed by a strong exhale. I wanted to see if this would allow my diaphragm and side to stretch more to try to reduce the onset of cramping. But around mile 4, I still felt a bit of a stitch coming on again on my right side. Maybe I lost focus towards the end, but still… boo, haven’t found a solution yet.

Thanks to Jan Alotte for the warm up and keeping the 4.5 pack energized all the way through! Jan talked to us about trying not to drag our feet while running, which creates an over hunched posture because our feet are not landing directly below the body. I think I do drag a bit because I think I’ve been running with a shorter stride than typical runners of my height. I guess it’s me subconsciously trying to conserve energy and pace myself.

Yoga afterward was good as always. The poses are not too intense, which is nice after a run. I think running makes me pretty tense actually, so yoga really allows my body to cool down and stretch out nicely. This is proven by me not being sore the next day.

Lastly, good luck to everyone running the US Half Marathon this weekend!!!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4408079

Today was the last of the 5 session ROGA series at lululemon Grant Ave with Caroline Almon. I was lucky to be able to make it to 3 of these over the past month. ROGA, as the name implies, is Running + Yoga. An awesome combination!

There were some down power lines on the 101, so major traffic jam getting to downtown SF. I got there late, rushed and changed and then went straight out running to try to catch up with the group that had already left.

The 4.5mi run was a tough one. It went up the Leavenworth Street hill. I had to just walk those hills, but even walking up them puts strain on the calves. Then it was down hill on Union St., ugggh… too steep for downhill sucks too. Hard for the knees and my foot started getting numb and cramping up too. Had to stop to stretch it out a bit. The route was a strange one, it went through the Stockton tunnel (which I thought was the Broadway tunnel). First time going through there.

Finally made it back to the store in time for yoga. Yoga was great! I’m loving yoga more and more now. I never really did it before, but would like to try it more in the future. It was relaxing and when we did the corpse position, I nearly fell asleep!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4388331

It was ROGA (Running + Yoga) night at the lululemon run club. There was a 4.5 mile and 3 mile option. I chose the 4.5, but man, I tried to catch up to the pack and overdid myself. Started getting a side cramp. It was weird because usually I get side cramps on my left side, but today it was on the right.

Last week, when I ran the 10K, I started to get a side cramp on my left side, so I tried doing the breathing technique where you breathe out when the foot, on the side where the cramp is, hits the ground. And to my surprise it worked! I felt the cramp subside with every breath and every step.

Soooo, I tried the same thing today with my right side, but no cheddar…

That and I missed a turn and ran too far before turning back, making me the slow-poke of the day. Bummer.

Well the yoga portion after the run was nice and relaxing (amid the loud music heard from the street from the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations).

lululemon Cow Hollow has a run on Saturday morning that I’m going to try to go to. I need to get more running into my training, cause 1x a week isn’t nearly enough. Happy St. Patty’s day everyone!