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.