Yoga Certification

In the past couple years I have been gotten more and more into yoga. I try to make it to the studio at least once a week, and then practice on my own for at least a few minutes a day. For my body, yoga is the perfect counterpart to all my high impact activity. For my mind, yoga eases my anxiety and constant need to be in motion.

seaside yoga = my heaven

I have been thinking more and more about becoming certified as a yoga teacher. Last year I taught an informal class for a family friend's gathering and I did the same again this past week. I loved the feeling of guiding a group through a yoga class.

I went to the info session for the 200 Hour Teacher Training at my favorite local studio The Breathing Room, but ultimately didn't sign up the session which starts in September. It all came down to time. The schedule is 12 Saturdays, 10 Sundays, one Thursday, and five Fridays over a six-month period. I realized that I already had conflicts for 4 of the weekends.

The thing is that I don't think there will ever be an easy time to do this. I will always have to have my full time "real job and" I will likely have to start travelling more again for work too. For the next few years I will also be marathon training and trying to accomplish my 7 continent goal. After that, it's pretty likely I'll be thinking about having kids.

So I started looking at alternatives and found that the American Fitness Professionals and Associates also offers a yoga certification that is done through distance learning. They offer a Yoga Instructor Certification Level 1.

Has anyone heard of this? Is it reputable? It is a quality program?

I really want to get certified. I don't know that I will ever teach regularly, but thats okay. I am willing to do it just to take my own practice to the next level. However, I want to do it right.

Advice please!!

Rest Day

So that whole New Year's Resolution to take at least a day off a month? Yeah, it didn't happen. At all. I know it is not good for my body, and there are definitely some emotional issues, but I just can't make myself take days off. The first 3 months of the year, I did okay because I counted days I went downhill skiing as days off. Since then however, I have had a solid streak of working out every day.

It is not like I do hard multi-hour workouts every day. I usually aim for 45-60 minutes of cardio a day, and then 10-20 minutes of strength 2-4 times a week. I do take easier, shorter days after a particularly hard or long workout or race. Or, if my schedule is just super busy, I will just do a 30 minute workout. So, my worry is less about the physical impact on my body and more about the emotional side. I get anxious and upset when I try to take a day off. I am not a physiologist, but that sounds an awful lot like an addiction to me.

I recognize the problem and I am working on it.

In fact, Monday I took a day off. No running, no biking, no strength, no yoga, no nothing. Just a day filled with boating, sunshine, family and fun.

at the wheel of the boat!

We took off early in the morning and spent the whole day out on the boat enjoying our new outboard. I figured that since we were leaving super early in the morning and would be gone most of the day, it would be a good day to take off. I wasn't in a place where I could work out, which helped alleviate the feeling that I should be doing something. Even when we got home earlier than expected, I didn't use that as a chance to get in a run. Instead, I enjoyed a long, leisurely shower, and then an equally long, leisurely dinner with my family.

In 20 years, I will remember a wonderful day on the water with my boyfriend and family, but I probably won't remember whether or not I worked out.

How often do you take rest days? Do you have to force yourself to take them? Or do you look forward to them?

Annoying Gym Habits

My last post about favorite machines at the gym got me thinking about the strange things I see there all the time. I already mentioned the lady who is so possessive of "her" spot in step class that she makes other people move if they are in it. She will also moved their benches for them if she thinks they are too close to her.

Sadly, she is not alone. There seem to be a lot of people that do strange and annoying things at the gym. Here is my list of the weird (and annoying) things I see at my gym:

-One lady wears a heavy winter coat year round as she walks on the treadmill with 12lbs weights in each hand while wearing wedge flip-flops.

-One guy brings in half the world with him. He brings his laptop, coffee, water, a snack, and the Wall Street Journal. He then sets up his laptop and does P90X, taking frequent water, coffee, and newspaper breaks. He manages to take up the entire stretching and free weight area. And did I mention he wears super short, tight shorts.

-One guy walks around and talks to all the guys lifting. He talks REALLY loudly and swears every other word. I've never actually seen him lift anything himself though.

-One lady ALWAYS takes the machine right next to me, even if there are like 10 of the same empty machines with no one near them. Then, her friend comes over to talk to her and leans on the base of my machine. I have to wipe my face every 2 seconds so I don't drip sweat on her. They talk so loudly I can't hear my music.

What weird things do people do at your gym? What annoys you the most?

Playing Favorites

I woke up this morning to pouring rain, which was a bummer because Thursday is a running day. I briefly considered going to the gym, but I just hate the treadmills there. I hate pretty much all treadmills, except one. My Dad has a Nordic Track treadmill that I really like. That is the only place that I will ever voluntarily choose the treadmill over running outside.

I don't know what it is exactly. There are quite a few things I like. It has adjustable deck so you can choose how hard or soft the surface is. I feel like it is a lot easier on my legs. It also has built in fans, and because it is in a side room in the basement I can open the door to the outside and get a fresh breeze. So, I am not quite as much of a sweaty mess, and maybe I just don't care as much because there isn't a whole gym full of people to see me? I can also blast my own music, and hop on and off the treadmill as I like without worrying that someone else will take it. 

It is my favorite treadmill by far. But actually I guess I have all kinds of favorites. At the gym I have a favorite elliptical, a favorite spin bike, and a favorite tread climber. I get annoyed if someone is on my favorite machine. These make no sense, because really they are identical to all the others around them. I also have a favorite place to stand in step class and a different favorite place to stand for kick-boxing. I can be quite territorial about my spot. But not as much as one woman who actually makes other people move and goes and takes back "her" fan if someone moves it!

Do you play favorites? Or does it make no different to you what machine you use or where you stand?

King Arthur Flour and Home-made Bagels!

After my trapeze class on Saturday, we headed to the King Arthur Flour Flagship Store in Norwich, Vermont. My Step-Mom and Sister went over the winter after a ski meet and have been raving about it since. 

It is pretty amazing, especially for someone who likes to cook as much as I do! You can watch their bakers in action in their huge state-of-the-art bakery, get a snack at the cafe, take a cooking class, and browse their awesome store. Unfortunately the cooking classes were sold out for the day (I would have LOVED to take the Petite Pastries class!). But the store was more than worth the trip. They had pretty much everything a baker could ever need. 

I was too busy shopping to take any of my own pictures, so I "borrowed" one from their website

I could have easily spent hundreds of dollars there, but I tried to control myself and just get a few things that were unique and not available other places.  The first was a dough improver which helps makes dough easier to roll out. I make grilled pizza a lot and one of the secrets to a great pizza is getting the dough really thin. I frequently feel like I am fighting with my dough and get really frustrated because it keeps shrinking back as I try to roll it out. Problem solved!!

The next thing is Sir Lancelot Flour. This is a high protein, hard wheat flour. It is supposed to make extra chewy bread and work well when mixed with whole wheat flours. I try to use primarily whole wheat flours, but sometimes too much wheat flour leads to dense, heavy, not so yummy bread. Adding in some Sir Lancelot is supposed to fix this and make it tall and fluffy. Cool! 

The back of the Sir Lancelot had a recipe for home-made bagels, so I also grabbed a bag of Everything Bagel Topping. I love bagels and couldn't wait to try my own. In fact, I tried it the very next morning! For the most part it was pretty easy. My only point of confusion is that the recipe on the bag didn't have any liquid in the dough. Maybe the "instant yeast" it called for was a special premixed liquid yeast they sold? So I just added in some warm water a little bit at a time until I got a thick dough. I let my dough rise while I went for a bike ride, then came back and shaped and boiled the bagels. They baked while I showered, and then I had hot bagels for breakfast. Yum! I can't wait to make them again!

What is your favorite thing to bake?

Trapeze Class

This weekend I headed to NH to use my birthday present from my Dad and Step-Mom, a trapeze class! I was so excited. I think I was a bird in a former life, because I love anything that feels like flying.

My little sis and I were at Fearless Flyers bright and early Saturday morning. It is just down the road from my Dad's house, way out in the country of New Hampshire. It felt strange to drive down this quiet country road, turn into a driveway, and see this.

Our class was taught my the owner, his wife, and brother. They got us into harness belts (holy tightness) and went over technique right away. We practiced the bar grab, the lean, the job take-off, and the knee hang down on the ground.

And then I was up. Somehow I ended up going first (actually I was totally that person that was jumping up and down volunteering.) The ladder was the worst part for me, it was a long climb up and it was wiggly.

I took my stance at the end of the platform, with my legs wide and my toes hanging off. Even though I was clipped in, and the instructor had the back of the belt, it was still a little scary! 

He said "ready" and a I bent my knees, and then "GO" and I jumped off. 

Once I was in the air, it was amazing! The instructor was shouting out instructions so I was so busy listening to his cues that there was no time to be scared. I got my knees up on the bar easily- it was actually easier in the air than on the ground because of the momentum!

 And then I was dropping into the net and my first turn was over! I think Maddy was even more scared than I was, but she did awesome! With each turn we added a little more difficulty. Our second turn we learned to do a back flip off, and then subsequent turns we practiced preparing for the catch.

Our last turn we got to try a catch. The instructor hung from the second swing and at the height of the knee hang we were supposed to grab onto him, let go of the bar with our knees, and hang from his arms! The scary part is that all of that had to happen in just a couple seconds. The instruction was so good that it just seemed to happen naturally. Maddy and I both nailed it!

This was such a fun class. The instructors were amazing and all the other class members were so supportive. I can't believe how much we learned in just a couple hours. I can't wait to go back!

That time I qualified for the Triathlon National Champtionships

I was completely and utterly shocked to wake up this week to this e-mail

"Congratulations Kiersten. You have qualified for the Olympic-Distance race at the 2013 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships on August 10 in Milwaukee, Wis., after finishing in the top 10 percent in your age group at the Tri for a Cure.



Um for real? A national championship?

I am not going because it is in like 2 weeks, but also because I feel like I would be totally out of my league. I just started doing triathlons a couple years and ago and I only do 1-2 a year. I would get totally blown out of the water.

But it is still pretty cool to qualify! It is funny because as a gymnast I was super competitive. My goal was always to qualify for regionals and for nationals. I didn't consider it a successful meet if I wasn't on the podium. But as a runner, and now as a triathlete, I am the opposite. I am competitive with myself, but I never expect to place. Running was just so hard for me when I started and I have never felt like I am built to be a runner. Finishing, and knowing I had done my best, was always enough for me. But now I wonder if I am selling myself short?

Are you competitive with others when you race? Or do you do it mostly for the personal satisfaction?