My First Virtual 10k!

I've run a lot of races, but never a virtual race!  Essentially a virtual race is a distance race you run on your own time anywhere.  Sometimes races have a specific day you have to run it, this one has a specific window of 4 days. My race packet came yesterday and I am SO excited now!

It even came with a medal!!

I'm totally a sucker for race bling.  And nuun.  I'm planning on running this the first day along a trail that I love but don't visit enough.  I'm also planning on taking lots of pictures along the way.

I'm also going to be doing another virtual race in the fall that I'll incorporate with another actual race.  That one is the Beat the Blerch, based off a comic (and a book) from The Oatmeal.  They're having an actual race all over the country, but we couldn't make it to New Jersey for the race so the virtual race was a perfect alternative!  The race is definitely on my bucket list though, because it sounds amazing--you get chased by people in Blerch costumes and they have couches, nutella and cupcakes (along with "normal" fuel) at each of the aide stations.

What's on your race bucket list?

Team in Training and My Journey to the Nike Women's Half in DC

For two years (2013 and 2014) Nike held a half marathon in DC.  This year in lieu of having a race in DC, they decided to do a world wide race series.  The closest to the east coast this year was Toronto (I didn't bother entering the lottery.)  Last year when I did the Nike in DC, I had entered the lottery but didn't get picked.  That's where Team in Training came in.  They're a fundraising part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  In exchange for fundraising a certain amount of money, you got entry into a race of your choice.  This is basically the only way you can get into a lot of races if it sells out or you don't get in through the lottery process.  They also provide a lot of support for the runners with training, encouragement, and even a place to stay the night before the race if it's away from home.  Leading up to the Nike, I had a few other races to help with pre-race jitters. (The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler and Bunnypalooza.  You can scroll down to my previous entry for their race recaps.)  

The race started off the week before where I did an early packet pickup at a local race partner, Pacers.  (They also do their own races that I've reviewed on here as well.  The Jingle All the Way 5k/8k is their race.)  I did this to beat the rush, and because I could stop by there on our way to Bunnypalooza!  (As an added bonus, my parents lived nearby so I could stop by and say hi.) I also picked up a hat since how often would I be running a Nike race?? 

It figures.  The Nike crew was there doing a photo shoot, and there I was wearing an Under Armour hoodie, Athleta pants and Saucony shoes.  Oops!

The next week I decided to go to the big packet pickup in Georgetown with my Mom.  I had not been in that area for years, so I decided to go with her since she knows the area better...and it was a fun afternoon for the two of us!  We got there well before the expo started, so we had lunch at a nearby Starbucks, and shopped at the Nike store and Kate Spade.  There was a lot of hype for it, and for the most part it is justified.  First, I had to find my name on the sign outside of the Nike store.  (They had race merchandise at the store instead of the expo.)  

Then we still had time to kill, so before having some lunch I stalked the tent.  And even that was fantastic!

I love this sign!  It showed up again during the race in an underground tunnel early on.

This was what you could see walking in, and as you checked in your name would pop up!

The outside.  Those two people were NOT messing around and wouldn't let us in early.  (Darn!)  I think we were still among the first people into the expo.

My words to my Mom when I saw this "S*** just got real!"  The course is VERY similar to the Cherry blossom 10 miler I had run a couple weeks earlier, but to actually see a map of it was pretty intimidating!

On the way out you could sign the wall

A picture of me with my bib!  I brought it with me JUST to take a picture in front of this sign.  There were Nike employees on hand to take pictures of runners and homeless men meandering along muttering under their breath.

The night before the race we had an inspiration dinner for Team in Training where we got a good meal (mostly chicken and pasta), awards were given and we got to hear some stories from people that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has helped.  

The escalator to the inspiration dinner.  All those people at the bottom are Team in Training staffers cheering for us!

 It was an early night, because we had to be in the lobby of the hotel at get this:  5am.  (My reaction to that was "There's a 5 in the morning now?)  It worked out fine, because I hardly get any sleep the night before a big race.  We then walked over as a group to the starting line so we could get our bearings and relax a little bit.  The morning of the race, the crowd was HUGE!  (Probably the largest race I've ever run.)

The Maryland Team in Training group at 5am just before we left!  They had us wear these shirts so we would be easy to spot on the course.

Since we got there so early, it was the perfect time for a pre-race picture since hardly anyone was around yet!  

The starting line!!  It was a slow walk to get there, but once we got past this point the crowd thinned out considerably.  There was even a red carpet leading up to the gate!

I remember before the race I was scared my Garmin wouldn't connect to the satellite--it took SO long that it didn't actually connect until seconds after the starting gun.  No matter though, because the race itself was fantastic.  The weather that morning was PERFECT.  A lot of the Team in Training coaches were along the course yelling "Go team!" and one even chatted with me and ran with me a little ways when he saw me walking.  (It was just what I needed to keep going!)

It was a perfect day for a race:  Not too hot, not too cold.  I needed a light jacket first thing in the morning, but soon after I was comfortable in a tank top.  (I loved being able to put my name on the front of it so the coaches could cheer for me!)  I also enjoyed the fuel they offered on the course--miniature sized luna bars (stashed for later), chews (my normal choice for fuel), and mile 12 was the chocolate mile where Whole Foods employees handed the runners truffles.  (I also stashed these.  I didn't want to risk it during the race.  But post-race they were glorious!)

I finished that day in 2:39:24, a PR for me!  (I finished the Baltimore half in 2:48:45 while injured.)  I was hoping to be able to finish in under 2:30:00, but I was happy with finishing 9 minutes faster than the previous half marathon!
But the best part of the whole race, was this guy holding a great piece of jewelry...

Forget the firemen!  I want a picture with the guy handing me the box!

What they don't tell you is now they've got firemen in tuxedos standing behind these guys with trays of the little Tiffany's boxes.  The lines were ridiculous and I wanted to get to my husband and my parents, so I opted against it.

Then came the line of tents and tables:  Tons of food, chocolate milk, water, and a tent to refresh.  There were face wipes and mirrors, and foam rollers and yoga mats for stretching.  I was just eager to find some REAL food.  I definitely drank the chocolate milk, but I was ready for breakfast.  Once I met up with my husband and family, we decided to walk back to the hotel (they held onto my overnight bag) and found a crepe place along the way.  We stopped for some breakfast and then my parents and my husband and I went our separate ways.  We took the metro home, and I was so excited to slip on my new race shirt in the car (I don't like to wear them during the race.)  

I still wear this jacket all the time.  It feels like street cred when it comes to racing.

A close up of the necklace!  I still wear this from time to time.

The necklace is probably a little smaller than a nickel, but I still love it.
The shirt was great too.  Nice and breathable for a long run! 

So, why go into this much detail about the race?  The lottery for the half marathon in San Francisco is NOW OPEN!!  (But not for much longer--it closes on Monday at 11:59am PDT!)  And I'm planning on trying for this race!  I've got my fingers crossed.  I've never been to California, and what a great excuse to stop there on the way to paradise to visit my in-laws!

More Race Catch Up!

Jingle All the Way 8k 2013
This was the last year (so far) of the 8k (or 5ish miles) since the next year they switched to a 5k thanks to construction in DC.  This race was great despite me being in the middle of physical therapy for my IT band syndrome, I still PR'd.  I remember this was the year it was snowing for the race, which was TOTALLY appropriate for a Christmas race where costumes were encouraged.  I took a more conservative route with the costume.  I had bells on my bib and a gift ribbon hair clip attached to my hat.  Despite it being SO cold (and the precip not helping that) I was totally psyched to be running a Christmas race in the snow.  Case in point...

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler 2014

I loved this race.  It fit in well with my training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC, and followed a similar course.  (For me, running part of the course beforehand helps with pre-race jitters.)  It was a perfect day weather-wise for the race.  I remember there was great crowd support and it was fun getting a different look at a lot of the monuments I hadn't seen during other races yet, like the Jefferson Memorial and fantastic views of the Washington Monument.  I loved the portion around Hains Point, but be forewarned:  It does get a little cramped because the race is HUGE despite there being a lottery for it for entry.

The lottery for this race is in early December, but you can get a guaranteed entry if you volunteer for the previous year's race.  

Bunnypalooza 10k

This is a race that I still am not sure how it came together.  It's a race in Bethany Beach, DE during Easter weekend that is put on by the Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation to help raise money for the community.  I registered my husband and I for the race within days of it opening in January and I always make it a point to ask if shirts are gendered if the website or registration does not specify it.  I asked, and they said it would be unisex.  Great!  I registered us and we made arrangements to have a place to stay right on the beach and it was going to be a great weekend.  The day of packet pickup, I was thankful we arrived there early because all of a sudden they had shirts donated and were gendered and there were not enough to go around.  (I was surprised when the shirt size I ordered actually ended up fitting because they wouldn't allow for exchanges and were actually rude about it.)  Okay, one fairly minor crisis averted.  Then just after finishing the race, they ran out of medals and had to use leftovers from the previous year for finishers!  (Granted, there weren't any years printed on the medals so it was also no big deal.  But I do a lot of races for the bling involved.)  

The course itself was kind of boring because it was the 5k course twice, but it was nice to run it once then enjoy the view the second time.  It was totally flat and I PR'd on it and still haven't gotten anything close to it.  I don't know if I would do it again though.  It was nice to run in a race in an area that I had grown up in but never run, but with the minor crises that kept coming up it felt like it wasn't worth the special trip.

On being an "Athlete"

Growing up, I was never active.  I was the fat kid.  I was incredibly self-conscious about it too and was constantly teased about it.  Then as I grew up, I lost the weight in middle school, gained some back during the first year of high school and then lost it again.  Then I lost more my freshman year of college because of just walking to get everywhere.  Then after some particularly stressful events and medications I was on during my sophomore year, I gained a lot and ballooned to 200lbs over about 6 months and just couldn't get rid of it.  This was me at my heaviest, during a fun moment with some of my friends trying to oneup each other with giving me stickers.

This was in early 2005

Weight-wise, I was miserable.  I tried working out but always felt intimidated by the gym.  I tried just walking around town for fun but got injured and gave up.  I had tried Curves (a women's gym with hydraulic-based exercise equipment) the summer between my junior and senior years of college during an internship.  Then after I graduated I joined one as an employee.  I quickly lost some weight, then started their diet, and after 7 years of that, I picked up running because of my graduate school schedule conflicting with the gym's hours.  This is my after picture:

From the Cinco de Miler race in May 2015

Despite becoming a regular exerciser and calling myself a "runner" I still find it strange when other people call me a runner or even just the more general "athlete."  I went to a free yoga for athletes class a couple of weeks ago at a local running store, and it just struck me as strange for the instructor to speak in terms of all of us doing yoga for ourselves as athletes. (Not that it was a bad thing!)  Then I spent a lot of the rest of the time trying on the word and thinking to myself "Wow, I'm an athlete.  Look at me!  I'm being athletic!  Look at how I'm trying this new pose!  I'm such an athlete."  You get the idea.  I'm still trying on that word, especially since I've been working on Runner's World's Summer Run Streak and really enjoying it.  

Nuunbassador!

So some of you may have noticed the little logos to the right.  I've already talked about Influenster (it's a kind of sample and review type group where you earn badges and get boxes of samples to test and review.)  However, this lovely blog has given me not only an outlet to talk about running and thrift shopping.  It's given me the chance to be an ambassador for nuun!  (Or a nuunbassador as they call it.)

So if you've gone into a running store (or a camping supply store) surely you've seen these little tubes near the registers or by the area with other fuels like gu and chews.
Basically each tube has tabs that fizz when added to water, and add flavor and electrolytes.  The directions say to add one to every 16.9 oz bottle of water.  Fairly often I'll toss 2 tablets into a full 32 oz nalgene bottle.  Fuel and hydration are totally personal preferences--I like very specific kinds of nuun, and you can try a variety of them at larger expos.  (For example in the DC area you can try almost all the flavors at the Marine Corps Marathon expo.)  Nuun is very different than gatorade because it doesn't have sugar but still tastes sweet and has a somewhat similar effect.  Sometimes during cold and flu season I like to take a tab of the lemon lime nuun and a tab of lemon lime airbourne and put both in a full 32 oz nalgene bottle.

Even before I became a nuunbassador, I loved the stuff (and still do.)  I currently have a couple boxes (which you can buy directly from nuun, Road Runner Sports, and local running and camping stores) of the cherry limeade and watermelon flavors.  But I have been known to get tubes of strawberry lemonade and lemon lime.

What's YOUR favorite flavor of nuun?  Are there any flavors that you'd like to see them make?

Quick Race Catchup

Holy cow.  I looked over my race spreadsheet (I use it to keep track of finishing times, and when and where I've raced) and there are SO many I haven't talked about!  At this point, it's been so long I really don't remember much.  I'm just going to talk about the major things I remember.

Baltimore Running Festival Half
My first half marathon.  The hills.  Goodness!  The hills.  They were plentiful and painful.  Afterwards I could hardly walk.  My husband and I had tickets to see Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec) that evening, and I hobbled the whole way from the car to the gym to watch him.  (Totally worth it.)  The whole race experience itself was wonderful.  It was my first big expo, and it was great.  So many vendors, so little time!  The race was great.  The crowd support is like nothing else.  Anybody who's run the longer distance races in the festival knows what I'm talking about.  The Eye of the Tiger dancers (people in tiger costumes dancing to Eye of the Tiger for the entire race), the Natty Boh (people offered cups of it which I declined), the gummy bears and candy corn (germaphobe so I declined), people playing a "Good Morning, Baltimore" remix from Hairspray, and the fantastic feeling of running through the gates of Camden Yards to the finish line.  I think this picture says it all...

Okay, I was also super psyched to see my parents and husband near the finish line.
Despite the post-race pain and running this with IT Band Syndrome...I would totally do it again.  I love my newly adopted city.  I loved being able to see parts of the city that I hadn't seen yet and wouldn't dare run on a normal day.  

Columbia Turkey Chase 10k 2013
This race was so. incredibly.  cold.  The race had wind chill in the single digits.  They handed out the aluminum blankets before the race because people were jumping around trying to stay warm.  I was still injured from the Baltimore Half at this point (and had been during the MCM 10k too) but I had signed up for it so I had to do it.  It was not my greatest time, but I was determined to do it again in 2014 since I knew the time would be better.  The post-race food was great.  It was the usual bananas, bagels and water, but they also had a chili cook-off from local restaurants.  I don't usually go for something hearty after a race, but the warmth of the chili was greatly appreciated.

Pilgrim Run Kansas City 2013
My family has a tradition of running a race together on (or around) Thanksgiving.  We like it as a way of burning some calories and spending time doing something healthy before eating a huge meal.  This year we ran it in Kansas City since we were there to visit my Missouri family (an aunt, uncle, couple cousins and Grandmother.)  It was a lot of fun.  I was still injured, but the race was great and I finished behind my brother-in-law who finished third in his age group!  The scenery was great since there were lots of gorgeous houses and the race started and ended downhill.  (The middle was uphill, but not horrible.)

I don't want to overload each post with races, so I'll add more in my next post until I'm all caught up :)

Basic Race Etiquette!

In my last post, I mentioned a few things that bothers a lot of runners:  Lack of knowledge of basic etiquette.  I consider this a public service to let rookie runners the lay of the land.  We've all been there, but some end up with a helping hand to know what's what before their first race.  (I had my big sister there to tell me where to start and what to do if I wanted to walk during my first race!)  

• Plan on walking?  That's fine, just don't start up front!
• In big races, elite athletes (those with corporate sponsors or professional runners) start up front usually as close to the starting line as possible.  Why?  Because they don't want slow runners (like myself) getting in the way.  Their entire job is winning races.  They don't care about seeing the scenery like more casual racers.  They want to win so they can keep the paychecks coming.
• Are there corrals or signs showing paces?  Great!  Before the race starts, stay in your corral!
• This goes along with staying out of the way of elites or at the very least those faster than you.  It's very common to corral hop when there are physical barriers between each corral.  Most people do this because they believe they're placed in the wrong corral.  Sometimes this happens, most of the time its a judgement call on the part of the runner.  Think you can run a 10 minute mile when you only ran 12 minute miles while training?  Not very likely.  If anything I would go towards the back of the 11 minute mile group, closer to the 12's.  It's likely you'll run faster in a race than in training, but not a whole 2 minutes faster than your normal pace.  If anything, you'll be able to move ahead after the starting gun.
• Do you run intervals?  Great!  Walk along the side of the course.
• Cannot stress this enough.  If you plan on walking at any point in the race PLEASE go to the side of the course.  As far left or right as you can get so people can get around you easily.  Can't get over?  That's fine.  A semi-universal sign is to put your hand up over your head so people can see you.  It's enough to get the attention of the runners around you to let them know something's up.
• DO NOT stop running in the middle of the course without warning.  This is how accidents happen.  People will knock into you or worse, get hurt trying to avoid you.  It's also about being aware of your surroundings.  You wouldn't pull out into traffic onto a highway going 20mph.  Don't do it in a race either.
• Throw your trash away or hold onto it until you find a trash can.
• This is another big one.  Cups and gel packets can be dangerous.  Cups after water stations can be dangerous because that area is very slippery.  A waxy, paper cup gets slippery in these situations and plastic cups get kicked around.  Gel packets are slippery like a little ketchup packet on the ground...only bigger!  
• This tip also makes the lives of volunteers easier.  One of their jobs is picking up trash around the water stations.  They're spending their free time making sure the race runs smoothly, so why not make their lives a little easier?
• Say "Thank You!" to everybody you see helping with the race.
• The policemen and women, the people handing out water and fuel, the medics, and the people standing alongside the course making sure everyone goes the right way.  They are ALL volunteering their time.  They don't have to be there, but they choose to for various reasons.  It's just polite to be gracious of their time and effort to make the race run smoothly.
• Arrive early!
• I like to arrive to a race at least 45 minutes early if it's a large race.  (I can deal with arriving closer to gun time if I know it's small.)  It'll give you time to get your bearings, and go to the portajohns once or twice before you have to line up.
• Pin your bib to your front.
• This helps race organizers identify you more quickly AND can help you find yourself in pictures faster.  A lot of photographers these days index photos based on race numbers.
• Headphones.  
• I can't run without music.  Most races ban headphones, but this is really just enforced for elites.  I keep one earphone in, the other is wrapped around the back of my headband to help keep it from being tugged on too badly.
• It's important to hear pre-race instructions and any announcements during the race.  You want to hear these as best as possible.  Don't turn the volume up all the way.  I keep mine high enough to hear the music, but low enough to have a conversation with my Dad before the race.
• Don't cut the course.  Don't mess with the timing chips.
• This has gotten more publicity lately, with the cheater "winning" the St. Louis Marathon.  Don't cut the course.  Don't rip the timing chips from your bib or forget to put them on your shoe.  The cheater was stripped of her title, and all but banned from running the race.  (Why do people do this?  No idea.  It could be to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which has a sliding scale for qualifying times to run the race.)
• Yay you finished!  Keep walking until you can get off the course.  Don't stop just after the finish line.  Keep moving because there are people behind you finishing and the momentum of the sprint to finish makes it harder to stop on a dime!  Get your water and your medal (if applicable) and get off the course to meet up with people.

This is seriously just the beginning of basic etiquette.  Use your common sense and you'll be fine on race day!  You'll learn more as you race.  If you want to learn more, this is a great read as well.

Catching up on Races!

So I'll admit it:  I took an extended break from blogging.  I didn't think I had a lot to say at the time because it was the off-season for racing.  Since my Across the Bay 10k post, I ran 6 more races:  Columbia Turkey Chase 10k, Jingle All the Way 5k, Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5k, Sole of the City 10k, and the Cinco de Miler!  So I'm going to start to get caught up with race reports.  Promise. I remember quite a bit about races.  It's something about the movement of running that helps me remember a lot.  (I think it's called kinetic learning.  I used this to my advantage in graduate school when I had to study for classes and used flash cards while running on the treadmill.)

Columbia Turkey Chase 10k
It was significantly warmer in 2014 than in 2013.  (For one thing, it wasn't in the single digits when the race started!)  But I felt like the race was not as well organized.  For one thing, they ran out of medals so if you registered after a certain point you would be sent one later on and they marked your bib accordingly.  My husband and I ran the full 10k while my parents opted for the relay because my Mom wanted to get involved, and she was left behind by everybody because she's a walker.  (So this race isn't walker friendly.)  I remember passing her after the halfway point and feeling HORRIBLE for her because she was all by herself.  It turns out she had made one last bathroom stop because there weren't any portajohns on the route or at the relay pass off area.  When she came out of the portajohns, everyone was gone so she started a few moments after everyone else.  (The organizers told her that portajohns weren't allowed in Columbia neighborhoods, when during their half marathon they had them along the course at water stops in neighborhoods.)  Then she got upset because she didn't get a finisher medal.  It turns out that they had marked my Dad's bib showing that he should've gotten two and the people handing out the medals didn't notice.  
The first year I ran this race (2013), they had a chili cook-off at the finisher's area that was lovely along with water, bagels and bananas just because it was so cold.  In 2014 though they had some chips, bagels, cookies and bananas.  Not very many races offer sweets like this after races, so I stuck with the usual half a bagel (split with my husband) and banana.

I don't know if I'll run the Turkey Chase again this year, especially because of a race I ran with them on October 12th (the Let's go Hoco 5k.)  The races have progressively become less and less organized, and they haven't done anything to pass along basic etiquette to new runners.  For the 5k I ran with them in October, it was horrendous.  Packet pickup was a nightmare because the line was out the door the whole time I was there, and the volunteers took a long time to find everything for a packet.  Although I will give them this--There was very nice swag for the race.  We got a long sleeved shirt, reusable shopping bag, and a stainless steel water bottle!  Pre-race there were basic warm up exercises.  The race itself left a lot to be desired though.  This was a community race and there were a LOT of kids.  Most of them didn't know basic race etiquette so I was nearly tripped by many of them.  And there were plenty of adults too who planned on walking the entire race and started right up front. 
Needless to say, the Let's Go Hoco 5k was my worst race time yet.  At one point I put more effort just avoiding people who would just start walking in the middle of the course or kids weaving through the crowds than actually worrying about my time.  
 (Don't worry, if this means nothing to you I plan on covering basic race etiquette in a separate post soon!)

Run Streak!!

Happy National Running Day!  (Although everyday for me right now is National Running Day!)

So I have taken on a new running goal besides training for more upcoming races.  I have started a running streak!  It isn't like a streak in college--this is running at least a mile everyday for a certain number of days.  On Memorial Day, I saw Runner's World was getting a running streak group going until the 4th of July.  Forty-one days in a row of running at least a mile.  I decided on a whim to join it.  I'm now on day 10, and I'm feeling good!  There was a little blip of some tightness in my hamstrings during the first week that I was able to overcome with some stretching and foam rolling.  But now I'm doing great!

Running streaks are not easy.  I have to set aside 15 minutes everyday even when I'm busy to hop on the treadmill to get my mile in.  Before undertaking this, Runner's World recommends that you should have been running consistently and injury free for at least 6 months.  And yes, running everyday can be rough (see the above bit about tight hamstrings!)  But it's easy to overcome if you know what to do.  Yes, you can get burned out.  Some days are still harder than others, but it's fun to be able to supplement runs with yoga, stretches or other mini workouts.  (I LOVE the Nike Training Club app.  It has workouts ranging in difficulty and time and can be as short as 5 minutes or as long as 45 minutes!)  Lately I've grown to love a couple poses:  Pigeon and lizard!  

For the pigeon pose, I'm working towards bending my back leg behind myself but for me leaving my back leg straight is fine for now.  It feels fantastic to stretch out my hips and my thighs.  For lizard, I like to keep my front foot flat on the floor and I'm working towards having my elbows on the mat.  Generally when I do these two poses, I go from mountain, to ragdoll, then put my hands on the mat.  From there I walk my feet into downward dog, and then bring one foot forward on the outside of my hands and lower my back knee to the mat to go into lizard pose.  Once you're comfortable (after about 10-15 seconds I push a little further leading to a full 20-30 seconds for me) I walk my foot over across my body to get into pigeon pose.  Then after 20-30 seconds, I go back into downward dog and repeat lizard and pigeon poses with the other side.  If you're feeling really tight in your hips, I totally recommend doing those poses.  

I started doing yoga about 10 years ago now through classes at a local rec center and fell in love with it.  I took a long break from it, but I'm starting to remember why I loved it.  Yoga takes as long or as little as you need it to so it can fit into almost anybody's schedule.  You can do it on your own (like through apps like Yoga Studio, YouTube videos and the collection of yoga routines on the Runner's World website) or in a class (check your local running store or yoga studio for free classes!)  My local running store, Charm City Run, offers free trial classes from local yoga studios on a near-monthly basis.  I like to go occasionally just to brush up on my practice since a lot of the time the instructors will readily correct your form.  It's also fantastic stress relief!  Even though I'm currently unemployed, the job search has been incredibly stressful at times.  Taking just 15 minutes to do a quick routine of stretching and balancing poses really does wonders.