Pre-Challenge

Obviously, I SUCK at blogging. I'm much better at writing down little thoughts in my moleskin during my (very short) commute to work in the morning. This blog is essentially for myself. I want to look back and remember how I felt during this month. I want to increase my self-awareness. Part of this 30-day challenge will be to write down my thoughts as I move through it.

I'm pretty excited to have a new challenge in my life. During marathon training, I realized how well I respond to limits and deadlines. Making fitness and health a top priority is really effective for me. During my yoga challenge, I will attend yoga classes a minimum of 5 days per week, allowing myself 2 days a week for self practice. I may increase my in-class yoga, but I want to improve/increase my self practice. I also want to attend AT LEAST two new yoga studios. The majority of my practice will commence at YTTP, but I want to expand to new studios and types of yoga during this challenge.

Until tomorrow...

Yoga: The union of our physical, mental, and spiritual selves. To yoke. A method of transcending the limitations of the ego. A way of life. A set of moral, ethical, and practical guidelines to live a healthy and balanced life.

8 limbs of yoga:
Yama - Social conduct, moderation in all things
Niyama - Individual conduct, purity and contentment
Asana - Posture
Pranayama - Breath control
Pratyahara - Sense withdrawal, turning senses to the internal mental and spiritual world
Dharana: Concentration
Dhyana: Meditation
Samadhi: Superconscious state leading to self-realization

$860!!!! Wow I'm so excited. This is really starting to come together I think. Only a few more donations, and I'm in!

This week started off rough, but I think I'm ending it on a great note. I had two great short runs on Thursday and Friday (3 and 4), and Sunday I'm up for 7 in the park. Pre-season training is Tuesday night! Hopefully I can keep up :)

I've also been vegetarian for almost 3 weeks now (with a couple slips in the first week), and I feel AMAZING. I thought it would be much harder than it is. The first time I ordered a sandwich with no meat, I thought I was going to vomit basically. But now I've actually been craving them. I've come to the conclusion that make your body crave anything. I was a little concerned about getting enough protein and iron, but I've been doing my research (I'm addicted to google-ing), and if I eat a variety of food, I should be fine.

My goal for the upcoming week is to focus on cross training. I've been consistent about running, but I need to do some serious strength training and YOGA. Oh how I miss my hot yoga classes, but there are only so many hours I can devote to exercising a day. In my training book they really emphasize the importance of stretching to prevent injury, so I'm looking forward to a few yoga classes in the near future.

It's been a rough week so far. The only day I've trained so far was on Monday. With a big test and four big projects to work on, it's just been impossible. I still have 3 days of training left for the week and it's already Wednesday! Ahh! If I get a day behind, I suppose I will survive. Tomorrow I have 4 miles, then 3 and 7 hopefully by the end of the week.

People keep asking me how I have the time to train. The answer is, I really DON'T have the time. I just have to make time, no matter how busy I am. And training, especially with Team in Training, makes me feel so fabulous that I could never give it up. It will certainly be a very busy summer, but on November 7th it will be SO worth it!

I'm up to over $600 on my fundraising, which I think is really great! There are still a few days left in April to get me to my $1,000 goal. I'm so happy that this many people have supported me. I hope it continues!

This article gave me chills. It's really worth reading, especially if you know New York.

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/training/course_strategy.htm

I've raised nearly 10% of my goal! Thanks to everyone who already donated, it means more than I can say. I know it's tough to donate to something when it's not your cause.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little worried about raising all this money. But I'm so committed to this cause, I believe I can do it. My goal is to get as many letters out tomorrow as I can. If you know anyone who might be interesting in donating PLEASE give them my information.

I ran 3 miles today at crunch, and my time was pretty good at just under 11 min a mile. Tomorrow is 4 miles, and then Sunday is 7!

I need to go to bed so I can get up bright and early :)

ONLINE DONATIONS!!!

my online donation page is up and running!! here's the link:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/nyc10/ldonelson

please donate to help me raise money for this amazing cause!

I'm off to run 6 miles :)

I woke up today, and one of the first things I thought was that I wanted to go running. Funny how I HAVE to take today off, because I have to run 6 miles tomorrow. Then I went outside, and the weather is GORGEOUS. Why the gorgeous weather on my day off from training? And I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow... during my long run. Oh well!

I'm stuck inside all day working on homework in the computer lab. Maybe if I get it done fast, I'll reward myself with a little Central Park-ing.

Hopefully my online donation site will be up and running by Monday. Love to all :)