last night i did yoga for the first time in almost two years. i used to do it regularly back when i was a competitive rower, yoga being a great compliment to the extremely repetitive movements rowers use while training and racing. after a couple of bad experiences with different instructors and venues i stopped going and haven't done it since. with duathlons, most of my time is focused on training and very little time is set aside for stretching and relaxing. and, as a result, here i am almost two years later with a string of injuries that could mostly have been prevented had i taken the time to include flexibility training and stretching into my workout routines. i've always known that yoga would be a tremendous benefit to my training and have been trying to fit it in but haven't been able to do so.
last night i was finally able to tag along with my wife for a class at downward dog - her regular yoga haunt - and, after being away from yoga for so long, i noticed that i'm not nearly as flexible as i used to be and my back is not nearly as strong as it was back when i was rowing. we did a level I class that was surprisingly challenging, and i think that the only way i was able to get through the 1.5 hour class was a combination of the fact that i've done lots of yoga in the past and that i'm already in pretty good shape. otherwise there's no way i would have made it through this "easy" class. i sweat so much that i was able to wring out my towel afterwards, my legs were trembling while holding some poses, and i got worked. anyways, i left the class feeling more loose and more relaxed than i've felt in a long time and was able to notice the benefits immediately. i woke up this morning for the first time in weeks with no sensation of injury in my right leg, the pain virtually disappearing overnight.
if you're an athlete, flexibility plays a vital in your overall physical well being. i'm going to incorporate yoga into my regular routine, mostly to try to prevent and overcome injuries, but also as a means to add some balance to my training. all of my workouts are high-impact, high-intensity and highly repetitive, so an hour and a half a week of slow, relaxed movements will be a nice change of pace. even if i do sweat like a leaky faucet. which is kind of embarrassing. can the rest of the class hear the sweat dripping off my nose?
