Binds
So despite not really blogging about it I am still doing hot yoga on a regular basis (just not as regular as I did at one point!) and still working at the yoga studio 3 hours per week in exchange for free yoga.
I try to get to one class a week at the very least and prefer to go 2-3 times per week if I can squeeze it in. Now that I’m done training for a bit I’m hoping to up my yoga before marathon training starts.
Anyways, I was in my new favourite class on Saturday afternoon – an hour of Baron Baptiste inspired power yoga that leaves me dripping sweat and with shaky arms – when I looked around the room.
Yes, yes. I know you’re not supposed to compare yourself in yoga. And for the most part I don’t. But I couldn’t help but notice that in a class of around 40 people I was one of only a few that could not get my arms into a bind during extended side angle pose. {image source}
We actually discussed this when we were in Victoria and all three of the girls could easily get into a extended side angle bind even with jeans on! I am not even close.
I also can’t even get close to doing this pose {image source}:
Like I said, I know that every body is different, and just because you’re not in the full extension of the pose doesn’t mean you’re not doing yoga – I totally get that and accept it! It’s just I feel like I’m in a small minority not being able to do these bind poses and after doing yoga regularly for over a year I haven’t had any improvement in this area.
I’m not sure what parts of my body are too tight. Shoulders? Chest? Hips (first one)?
It’s at least a little bit of consolation that Eric can’t do the bind poses either – yes I immediately went home and asked him after class on Saturday! Eric is extremely flexible for someone who never really stretches. He can put his his feet (one at a time) behind his head! That takes some major hip flexibility (which I do not have at all).
I know I have some yoga instructors and hardcore yogi’s reading my blog. Any advice on how I can work on my binds? What part of my body is keeping me from doing these?
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Question of the day: Can you do either of the binds pictured above?
Blogger Meet-up Safety
I am off to yet another blogger friends meet-up this weekend (my fourth major one in the last year – and I consider major blog meetups ones that consisted of spending a few days/weekend with bloggers) and for the first time I’ve already met all three ladies I’m going to be hanging out with!
Remember when you were a kid and meeting people on the internet was scary and dangerous? So not the case anymore! I’ve met some of my very best friends on the internet. That being said, I think it’s still important to be safe, if only to give your mother peace of mind (hi mom!) 
My first big blogger meet-up was last October when I picked Lisa up from the airport to go on a 5-day roadtrip and run a marathon together. Lisa and I had never even spoken to each other before this and our friendship was built solely on emails, g-chatting and blackberry messenger! I had absolutely zero concerns about meeting Lisa, and we met for the first time in the airport, with lots of people around us!
In May I flew to Ottawa for work. I was so excited because it meant I could spend the weekend with one of my very first and best blog friends: Anais! Due to my flight being delayed I didn’t arrive in Ottawa until 4:00 AM! Anais had to work the next day so she gave me her address and left the door to her house unlocked for me. I got a cab to her place and let myself in and went right to bed. I was still asleep when she left for work the next morning so I didn’t even see her until after lunch that day and spent all morning in her house 
OK, OK, I realize how *stupid* that might sound to most people – but Anais and I know each other really well – so I once again had zero concern about it. However, to be on the “safe” side I did have Eric on the phone with me when I got to Anais’ house and I’d texted him the address. Mostly because of his insistence Of course, all was fine, but when I tell people who aren’t bloggers about that they look at me like I’m an idiot.
Blogger meet-up #3 was this summer when I headed to Minneapolis to see Lisa and Amber. There were no issues with safety there since I had met Lisa before and talk to her daily and Lisa had met Amber before!
And this weekend brings us to blogger meet-up #4. Leigh is flying to Kamloops and then we are driving down to Vancouver together on Friday where we’ll meet Lisa and Lauren at the ferry terminal. I met Leigh before I went to Europe last year and Lauren when we ran our marathon in Portland last fall. I consider this a weekend away with my girlfriends, not a “blogger meet-up”
HOWEVER, I do think it is important to protect yourself on the internet. I am very open on my blog. My last name is out there, the city I live in is out there, and it’s not too hard to figure out where I work by doing a little googling. I live with a big, strong man and a feisty little dog (that will soon be a feisty 60-pound dog) so I’m not too concerned about it. But I know that some people are and should be. There are freaky people out there.
Ways that I try to stay safe (and give my mother peace of mind) when doing blogger meet-ups are:
- Make sure someone ALWAYS knows where I am and where I’m going. I give Eric lots of information when I’m going to blogger meet-ups. He had both Anais and Lisa’s addresses when I traveled to visit them and their phone numbers as well as an itinerary of the hotels Lisa and I were staying at last fall.
- Trust my gut. I have never once had a bad feeling about meeting bloggers. BUT, if I did, I would listen to it. Gut feeling are huge.
- Know the person you’re meeting. I would NEVER meet up with a blogger alone/in a private or quiet place, who I’d just started reading or didn’t know very well. I have known both Lisa and Anais for years and exchanged countless text messages and emails with them. I honestly do not consider them blog friends but real-life, best friends.
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Questions of the day: Have you done a lot of blogger meet-ups? Do you ever consider/worry about safety when meeting another blogger for the first time? Do your family members and friends who are NOT bloggers worry about it?
And, for fun, would you go to a bloggers house in the middle of the night who you’ve never met? OR would you leave the door to your house unlocked for them??
Sleep Deprivation and Lululemon Gift Card Winner
Good morning friends!
Aren’t these sunflowers I picked up at the Farmers Market last weekend gorgeous? They make me think of our wedding every time I look at them since the sunflower is going to be our wedding flower
OK, onto more important things. Like the winner of the $250 lululemon gift card giveaway. This giveaway was a little different since it was only open to Canadians so the number of comments on the post doesn’t necessarily reflect the number of entries. Especially since people got extra entries through Twitter and Facebook.
So I kept track of all the entries as they rolled in in a google spreadsheet. In the end we had 124 official entries.
And the winner is….
#45!
Yay Samantha! Email me your address! Samantha is running her first marathon in a month so I’m sure she could use some new lulu gear
I also want to say a huge thank you to Healthy Families BC one more time. What a great organization this is! I really hope you all check out their website!
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Onto the real point of this post: Sleep Deprivation.
Let me be honest here, I do not have sleep deprivation. In fact I may be getting too much sleep. I’ve been getting about 7-9 hours a night but I have SO MUCH trouble pulling myself out of bed in the morning. For example, this morning, my alarm went off at 6:00 AM and I fell right back asleep until 7:10 AM! Yesterday morning I got up, put running clothes on, ATE 1/2 AN ENGLISH MUFFIN and then laid down on the couch and fell back asleep until 7:30 AM, missing my run.
Really Amber?!
I am just SO TIRED in the mornings lately and getting out of bed takes everything I have in me. I got like this around this time of year last year too but I thought that was because I was tapering for my marathon. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing?!
I am definitely drinking a lot of this lately…
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Questions of the day: Do you get extra tired this time of year? How do you deal with it when you are having a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning despite getting a good, long nights of sleep?