I am not sure anyone would describe me as flexible or easy going. I like plans, processes, and clearly communicated deadlines. As a lawyer, I am use to breaking my time down into 10ths of an hour and the competing demands of my job require that I plan my day carefully and with precision. Ask any of my coworkers, it is hard for me to stifle my annoyance when my plan for the day gets disrupted, regardless of the fact that it does almost every day. Kids, pets, and COVID-19 have certainly tested my patience and forced flexibility on me, but not without complaining and frustration on my end. All of this to say, I don’t like changing a carefully crafted plan. But the universe keeps showing me in big and small ways that I need to be more flexible.
If you read my last post, Unfavorable Situations, live in the middle of the United States, or follow the weather news, you know the weather here has been unpleasant to say the least. Yesterday’s high may have been 10˚F. I do not have the right winter gear or shoes to run outside in snow, ice, and sub-zero wind chills, and I am not willing to spend a lot of money for one week of bad weather. So, I have not been able to get my miles in this week. The last two nights, I actually jogged around my garage for half an hour just to try and gain a little bit of mileage. We have a few more days of this bitter cold weather and then conditions will begin to improve. I hope to be back outdoors by Friday.
The temperature and snow has required me to be flexible and change my workout plans. Considering all of the damage this storm has brought with it, I’ll take a little inconvenience over losing power, heat or plumbing. This week has provided me the opportunity to spend more time cross-training. One of my secondary fitness goals for this year is to improve my strength and flexibility. For this, I have been relying on functional strength training and yoga. I have been doing yoga on and off for years, but I have never gone consistently enough to move beyond regular and sometimes intermediate flow classes. This year, I want to develop my balance and strength so I can attend more advanced classes and master more difficult poses and inversions.
What are and why inversions? Inversions are basically poses that position your heart above your head. The benefits of inversions are said to include: improved circulation, increased energy, core strength development, better balance and posture, and they are just cool. I do love the way I feel after an inversion pose. It does invigorate you and it reminds me of being a kid doing all sorts of crazy gymnastics and stretches. One of my favorite postures as a kid was to read a book with my body hanging upside down off of my bed. I have been working on handstand and wheel. I am really proud that I have developed my core strength enough for the wheel pose. I can almost do a handstand without support, but I am afraid of falling when both feet are off the wall for more than a few seconds. I have also been working on a forearm stand, but, so far, I can lift one leg off the ground. My nine year old/ photo journalist got a few blurry pictures of this week’s attempts.
While I am anxious to get back to my regularly scheduled running program, I have enjoyed the time to work a little more on my flexibility and strength. I know it will improve my running. Now, if I could only transfer this lesson and adaptability to other parts of my life…
In Medias Race 
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