I’m in love. With trail running.
I’ve walked on trails, hiked on trails, skied on trails, rode horses and mountain bikes on trails, but I’ve never run on trails.
Because, usually, I run alone. And this is not something I feel safe to do on trails.
But today, with my husband and my dog, I set out for a 3-mile trail run, my first real trail run, and it was glorious.
The damp, misty day lent a surreal feel to the forest, muting sights and sounds and casting an eerie, low-lying fog on the lake, but without my iPod or the distraction of cars rushing by, I took in the subtle noises around me; the trickle of a stream, the call of a bird, my dog splashing at the water’s edge.
(This is what my trail looked like, minus the leaves)
I felt alive; free. A blur of movement in the still of the forest. The slightly sodden earth gracefully absorbed each footfall in a way that the unforgiving asphalt and concrete surfaces cannot.
Instead of exhaust fumes and blacktop, I inhaled the scent of damp leaves and pine.
Though my pace was slower on the trail as I navigated the occasional tree roots and rocks, my mind was stimulated, my body exhilarated. I felt the way toddlers must feel when they peel off their pjs before a bath and have the sudden urge to run with abandon, naked and uninhibited, through the house; it’s a feeling of unbridled joy.
When I’d reached my three-mile goal, I wanted to keep going. I was not tired, but invigorated, and my body felt rejuvenated instead of beat up the way it usually feels after pounding out the miles on pavement.
I felt completely thrilled by the experience and also completely cheated; this is what I’ve been missing. There is a whole different world of running out there, one with trails that wind through the trees and beside streams and lakes; one that coexists with the deer and squirrels and chipmunks that bound through the forest; one that offers peace and tranquility and a sense of freedom and well-being; one that is mere steps from my front door and yet, I don’t truly have the freedom to enjoy it at will. It’s the realization and understanding that the world, with all that is good and kind, is also a world that is dangerous, unfair and unforgiving.
Before today, I looked upon the pages of Runner’s World, drooling over the pictures of the desolate and magnificent Rave Runs, and could only imagine how inspiring and inviting it would be to run in places like that. But now I know. And now I will long for my next trail run and will cherish each opportunity to run among the trees and imagine that the world is as open and peaceful and beautiful as the trail that winds innocently through the forest.
Or, as a fellow athlete & blogger recently wrote: Yoga got punched in the face!
Yoga painful and dangerous? Maybe if you're doing this:
Or this:
Then you might feel like this:
But in my yoga classes, this is the feeling I'm going for:
Here is a reprint of a column I wrote for my local newspaper on the subject:
Yoga is under attack. A recent New York Times article vilifies the practice and suggests that it can wreck your body. Eating scrapple, drinking soda and smoking can wreck your body. So can wearing high heels or leaping off the couch to high five your friends when the Ravens score a touchdown. But yoga?
When I think of yoga, I envision a practice that focuses on the breath and is peaceful, soothing and kind to the body. The alternate popular view of yoga is one that has people standing on their heads, contorting their spines, and grimacing in pain. In the later scenario, you could indeed wreck your body.
According to Glenn Black, a yoga teacher of nearly four decades who leads a master class in Manhattan, yoga should not be used by the general public and is only for people in good physical condition. I disagree.
When done correctly and carefully, without ego and with respect to the body’s limitations, yoga has the ability to calm the mind, energize the body, strengthen the muscles, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, increase flexibility, and generally improve the well-being of one’s mind, body and spirit.
Yet, the article goes on to suggest that “the vast majority of people should give up yoga” because it is too likely to cause harm. Given that rationale, perhaps we should all give up our stressful jobs and our dangerous vehicles as well?
In my class, I remind students that quieting the mind and focusing on the breath are the most important elements of yoga. I do not allow headstands or encourage students to push beyond their limits. Yoga is a non-competitive sport and everyone’s practice should vary to meet their individual needs. There should never be pain and there is no such thing as “one size fits all” when it comes to a yoga practice.
As more people participate in yoga, more yoga-related injuries are certain to occur, but so too will incidences of healing and improved health. However, while the article leads readers to believe there has been a meteoric rise in the number of yoga injuries, a survey by the Consumer Product Safety Commission showed that in 2001, when 4 million Americans were reportedly practicing yoga, only 20 cases of emergency-room admissions related to yoga were reported. That, to me, is certainly not cause to roll up my mat and assume a yoga-related injury is inevitable. Most of the injuries described in the article were the result of irresponsible and extreme practices, such as sitting for hours a day in a kneeling position or doing a back bend while balancing on your head.
The benefits of yoga far outweigh any risks. If you currently practice yoga, I urge you to continue in a focused, purposeful manner that honors your body. If you do not practice but have considered it, I encourage you to give it a try. There are a variety of yoga disciplines so it is important to find both a teacher and a class that meets your needs and leaves you feeling balanced and rejuvenated after you practice.
Namaste.
Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A fellow fitness blogger recently posted something that made my blood run cold; her cousin in Montana went for a run one morning and never came home.
The very thought strikes fear into my heart. All living things have a life force, a will to live, which probably means that most people do not wake up and wonder if this will be the last day they walk out their front door.
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts — locking our doors, moving to safe neighborhoods, having our cell phones at the ready — evil still exists.
I’m not suggesting we hide in our homes or live in fear but, rather, to recognize that we are vulnerable and remember that we should always pause to consider the risks and benefits of our actions.
Every issue of Runner’s World magazine features a “Rave Run.” Inevitably, these runs are on magnificent, breathtaking landscapes ranging from rocky shoreline trails to snow-covered single tracks in the mountains.But despite the varied terrain, these runs often have one thing in common. They are extremely remote.
Each month I drool over the Rave Run with a sense of longing and wistfulness, knowing that I will likely never run in such an environment — not because of geographical limitations, but due to my upbringing.
As a woman growing up in the Baltimore-Washington suburbs, I was taught from an early age that, in the interest of my safety and well-being, I should avoid remote and desolate places.
My home sits just a short distance from several gorgeous trails surrounding Piney Run Lake and the Liberty Reservoir and I often envy the freedom my husband has to run these trails at will. I realize that I, too, possess this freedom but I choose not to run these trails alone, understanding that, fair or not, I’d be putting myself at a greater risk than he.
I have thought of that female runner in Montana every day since reading that blog post. She left her home , a place where she’d lived for most of her life, and set out for a pre-dawn run on a trail in a field within a mile of her house, possibly something she did daily. But, on that fateful morning, she was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Thinking of this woman, and mourning the loss of a fellow athlete that I did not know, has not caused me to hang up my running shoes or retreat to my treadmill, but it has prompted me to revisit the necessary precautions for staying safe when I exercise outdoors, such as varying my workout days, routes and times.
I once read an article on men who were interviewed after they’d been convicted of assaulting female runners and they were asked what they looked for when choosing a victim. The top answers? Women who were distracted, wearing pony tails, wearing headphones, running in the dark and running alone.
So, be safe out there and train smart. Listen to your intuition and don’t take unnecessary chances. And, if you must explore that inviting wooded trail, take a friend and leave the iPod at home.
