Well, I'm afraid that for me, I'll always be sweating. I don't know why, but I'm a big sweater. And its not due to poor hygiene - I shower at least once a day, use my clinical strength deodorant, and wear fresh clean clothes straight out of the wash. But I still sweat. Pat enjoys calling me "sweatheart" instead of "sweetheart" - hardy har har. I'm not laughing. (Well I kind of am).
Anyway, I'm not talking about typical sweat...now I'm talking about Bikram. As you know, I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago. I was immediately hooked. I love the long sessions in the intense heat and always leave feeling so refreshed and energized. I would seriously go to a class every day, but two things are standing in my way:
- Cost. The first class you attend is only $10 and you can go for free as many times as you want for the next ten days - great deal. After that, though, it gets more expensive. You can pay $15 for one class (way too much) or you can buy a ten class card for $120 (still a lot), or pay $35 for one week unlimited, or $110 for one month unlimited. If you're going every day, you do get your moneys worth with the unlimited packages, but that's still an extra $100+ per month, and I'd only be happy to pay that much if I really was going every day. Which leads my to my second issue...
- Running. I've heard that yoga is really great for runners, but my experience so far is that Bikram classes leave me sore the following day and my legs feel like lead. Running feels like much more of an effort and I'm not running as fast as I was pre-Bikram. I really do love Bikram, but I've loved running longer, and in my mind that makes it more important (not to mention more affordable and something you can literally do anytime/anywhere/with anyone).
After the Charlottesville Half Marathon I was feeling sore (which is normal) and I did a few Bikram classes in the week that followed. On Monday I realized that I had less than two weeks until my next half marathon. For some reason I thought I had three weeks! So this week I haven't gone to Bikram at all and have been focusing on getting back to running.
Monday - 3 mile run. Slow and painful.
Tuesday - Very sore. Took a rest day and got martinis and beet flat bread pizza with Gina instead!
Wednesday - 5 mile run. Legs felt lighter and seemed like much less of an effort to run.
Thursday - Hills. Its been a while since I did a hill workout, so I took this easy.
1 mile warm-up run
4 hill repeats (0.25 mile very steep incline)
0.25 mile cool-down run
0.60 mile cool-down walk
*I actually felt pretty good and definitely could have kept going but didn't want to push myself too much. Baby steps!
I'm going to try to fit in a short (2-3) mile run today, and tomorrow I'm going to bike. Sunday (in between all of the delicious meals) I'm going to shoot for a 10 mile run to make sure I'm prepared for next weekend's race.
Any runners out there who are able to successfully incorporate yoga into their training? I want to find a good balance, but for right now I might hold off until my longer races are over and I'm just doing 5ks this summer.
Fun Easter plans?
I'm having dinner with my dad and brother tomorrow night before the Easter Vigil, and then on Sunday I'm cooking up a delicious brunch with my mom!
Are you drinking enough after Bikram? Also, I found when I did Bikram if I did about 20 minutes of calisthenic exercise right after bikram, it seems to put my muscles back into a little bit of a "runner" fit. If that makes any sense. haha
ReplyDeleteI've never tried Bikram so I can't offer much advice. But I know it's hard to balance cross training and running--sometimes a fun class or swimming can detract from my running. Hard to find balance!
ReplyDeleteI've had the same experience! I know yoga is supposed to be great for runners, but it always seems to leave me more slow and sore :(
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