Yoga & Runners

During my last massage, the masseuse asked me if I was a runner. "Why?" She said that my leg muscles were tight like a runner, and she said she could have spent the entire session on just my lower body.

Not good!! I have a confession to make: I am horrible at stretching. I stretch after running but not nearly enough. The recent soreness of my knee reminded me that I need to take care of my body. The possibility of being sidelined for weeks or --SHUDDER-- months, scared me! Time to make a change!

Running causes a tightening and shortening of muscles and if not fixed with stretching, it can cause serious injury. A lot of times, I feel tight and stiff after a run. I assumed that with my swimming I was OK--that stretched out my long muscles enough and relieved the tightness. Which is true. But not enough!

Last night, feeling down about my sore knee and stressing about when I could run again, I did yoga after work. I set up in the living room (picture above right) and spent about 25 minutes doing yoga poses and stretching. I used an iphone app for yoga to help remind me of poses. And yes my kitty helped me with the yoga! :)

I felt so much better afterward! And waking up this morning, my knee pain was gone! I am going to try and do yoga at least once a week. I might incorporate it into my routine on Rest Days. I'm also going to look into local drop-in classes.