As scared as I still am of Bob's Cody Rev Cardio...

...that's how much in love I am with his Yoga for the Warrior!!

It's definitely tough, and there are several things I have to adapt, but it is a GREAT workout!!

I did it for the first time while I was home, and then again yesterday since didn't want to push my knee by running.

LOVE!!!!

I was getting frustrated because I wasn't really able to do Half Moon because I'm not to the point of keeping my hand on the ground yet. When I went to Laughing Lotus* we were allowed to use blocks on those balance poses so we could do the pose while we built up flexibility. But I wasn't sure if that was copacetic with this workout, because Bob doesn't give that to the adapting guy as an option. So I @ commented Bob on Twitter to see if it was ok to use a block. Today he @ replied me back and said "totally OK" so woo!!! Getting myself a yoga block this afternoon!!!

*Laughing Lotus is this fantastic yoga studio I found a few years ago. I don't even remember how. but I fell in love with it. Some instructors I liked and related to more than others, but that's normal and could easily be worked around. I stopped going, largely because of money - I couldn't really do a 3-month class card all the time, and I felt like I would burn through a 10-class card too quickly because I was going multiple times a week. But as I'm getting back into things, I am finding that while I can do yoga at home by myself, I really miss the community that exists at the studio. Even with different people in classes, there is a sense of community there. So I'm looking at budget and things, and they have a 10-class card special until Tuesday. Since I'm doing running and stuff, realistically I'd go once, maybe twice a week, so a 10-class card would last me about 2 months. And I could do that. So I think I will go to a class on Monday or Tuesday and get that card. :)

Yay!

Today was going to be my first attempt back at running since the whole knee cramping (or whatever it HURT) when walking down stairs incident of Wednesday. It is a gorgeous day, so I contemplated going to Central Park and running or going to Prospect Park and checking that out. But I decided to hit the gym for a couple of reasons. First, ironic as it may seem, I feel like I've got more control over the treadmill in terms of speed, incline, etc. than outside. And second, and most important regarding the knee, it's a fixed distance from the subway station. In case anything DID go wrong, I'd rather be a fixed distance from the subway station than potentially be on the other side of the park from the subway station.

So gym it was.

I started with my warm-up walk, then went to a faster walk before increasing to a run. And I only ran in 5 minute segments with 5 minutes of 4mph walking between. I felt great, and did 5K in 44:15. So that was slower than Wednesday, but my knee felt FINE after!! I can try increasing the running time - or possibly going at 5mph for my 5 minute segments - during the week. And then next Sunday I'll basically just listen to my body. I'll try to walk around and get myself warmed up before the race starts so I won't have to do that first 5 minutes walking, but we'll see.

Overall I'm feeling good.

And really feeling like a runner - when I couldn't run for a couple of days it was really hard. I found myself WANTING to run. So I just have to make sure I don't push things too hard.

When I got home I decided to do the "15 Minute Yoga Abs" segment on Bob's Yoga for the Warrior dvd to work my abs a little. Make that A LOT!!!! Other than using boat pose as a base for some of the work, there is nothing yoga about that workout. It is 15 minutes of solid abs. I didn't do everything - there were a couple of places where I just had to rest or go to simple crunches. I'm sure my abs will let me hear about it for DAYS to come.

But I know I'll be back for more. Hee!