Rachel Carson Challenge: The Hardest Thing I Have Ever Done

Every year on the first Saturday after the summer solstice,  there is a challenge hike in the hills along the Allegheny River.      Participants have either 15 hours and 4 minutes to finish a 35 (56.3km) mile hike or 7 hours and 17 minutes to finish a 17.2 (27.7) mile hike.    This is known as the Rachel Carson Challenge and it is notorious because of the terrain, length,  mud, and occurring in any weather condition.    At any given time, you can find yourself walking on a hard road,  crossing a rushing stream,  going down a muddy step descent inch by inch,  climbing up a  steep ascent hand over hand, hiking through a nice shaded glade of trees, or having the sun beat down on you as you climb up and down power lines.    I chose to do the 17.2 challenge yesterday (June 22, 2019) and it was by far the hardest thing I have ever put my body through.   My hats are off to the full challenge participants, some of whom ran it and some who finished in little more than 6 hours.   There is no way I would have finished the 35 mile challenge.

I buddied up with my friend Sharon and we set our goal to finish in less than 6 hours.   It was a beautiful day with temperatures at the start about 60f/16c and at the end  about 75f/26c.  This, along with the lack of any rain really helped. There we no clouds, however,  so open areas had the full sun beating on us.    We did have almost 2 weeks of steady rain,  so it was very muddy in some spots.    This made for some colorful legs and boots and slow going in those areas.

We started pretty strong  (there were 300 people who did the half challenge) and were setting our pace well at first.    We were able to do the early hills with no problem (the first had a steep 400 foot ascent) and with the exception of getting my boots soaked crossing a stream  (no choice there), we made the second comfort station at mile marker 9.4 about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.    I did have one slip by my hiking poles saved me from going down.

We took a short 10 minute break to snack (kudos for the Rachel Carson volunteers for providing salted boiled potatoes and Gatorade along with a bunch of other snacks) and put on dry socks.  

The last 7.8 miles proved much harder.    There was a long uphill road  trek (asphalt) of at least a mile and then once we started along the trails again,  it was lots of ups and steep downs.  One very notorious hill (known as Burtner Hill) was a lung burner..    This was about mile 12 and after that hill, there were even more climbs and descents.   By the time we left that area  (mile 14 or so),  I was on fumes for the hills and just put my head down to finish.    My quads and hips were feeling it for certain.  

The last three miles had minimal hills but made up for it with lots of mud.   Deep,  clay mud that you slid at every step.    About mile 15,  we crossed into the park where the challenge finished, and we had to wind through the park to the end.  This was the muddiest section as much of it was ground level and slow going.    By this time any incline was a challenge and I was very slow.    About 2/3 mile mile before the end we started seeing signs saying Challenge Finish and we were very psyched to be almost done.   Alas,  we came upon the .4 mile to the end sign.  Ugh!.   This last bit had some small uphills that I was not happy to see.   The last 100 meters was a hill that I had to stop on before coming into a clearing and crossing the finish line.       My time as 5  hours and 55 minutes.  Sharon came in 2 minutes before me.

I hiked 17.2 miles and all I got was a lousy T-Shirt..    The hardest thing I have ever done to my body.


I am very glad that I did this but I am still feeling it.    In hindsight,  I should have taken advantage of the training hikes offered by the Rachel Carson Conservatory  instead of doing my usual hiking routine.   I think I would have been better prepared and would not have struggled so much at the end.  I will probably do this again next year, but I plan to be better prepared.  I of course will be one year older but that never stops me.  

Namaste..

 

Elevation Gains

Up and Down

Tired but Happy.

6th Anniversary Post : The end of a Yoga Studio..

Six years of writing this silly little blog.   Even though it has been a while since I wrote a post,  I have not slackened in my resolve to live a life full of good food and exercise.  

The Yoga studio that I was teaching at and where I started my Yoga journey recently closed.    The reason was the failure of the fitness facilities that were the primary business of the owner of the studio.   The studio was unique because the owner was not an instructor but rather had a director of Yoga managing the business.    It was sad to see the rather quick demise of the business and also sad to see both instructors and students try to find new Yoga homes.    I myself had stopped teaching regular classes because of my day job travel schedule but I have not taught a class in over two months and I am missing being in front of a class.

I have been taking classes at another studio near my house but every class is hot (at least 90F/33C) and I do like a mix of hot and ambient classes.  Additionally,  they only offer Vinyasa (flow) classes and I do like Yin as well.   I am challenged by the heat and that is a good thing. Most of the time, I am the oldest person in the class, and sometimes I feel my age.

I am trying to figure out what I want to do to teach again.    I will certainly offer volunteer classes somewhere and see if I can collect money for my local food bank.  I have done this in the past and it makes me happy to do so.    I will see how this goes.    I am hesitant to start studio teaching again but I will probably pursue this as well.    This takes more effort and does require demo classes and other challenges.   

Life is full of changes.   I will adjust. 

Namaste.

My Move to a Full Plant Based Diet

Since sometime late last year,  I have been making a conscious effort to only eat a plant based diet and removing all animal products from what I eat.   I have been thinking about doing this for a long time and it has been a gradual switch to only eating a vegan diet.    It has been years since I last ate eggs, meat, or fish but removing all dairy from my life has been a challenge.    I  stopped having dairy products at home about three years ago but outside the home,  it has been difficult .

Moving toward a complete plant based diet is not easy when you go out to dine.   There are temptations (like Pizza and Eggplant Parmesan) and many restaurants sneak in dairy ingredients or throw cheese onto everything.  Even vegetarian Indian restaurants  (which I love) often use clarified butter (ghee) in a good amount of cooking.    There is usually something for me to eat,  but there are times when I had fries and a salad and had to make sure that the salad did not come with cheese or croutons.   It is good that many restaurants now mark things as vegetarian and vegan but it would be nice for every restaurant to offer one plant based meal.

When I am out with a friend tasting beers,  the thought of just eating a salad sometimes just does not cut it and I indulge in some pizza.    These transgressions are pretty rare but they do happen.   Perhaps one day I will have enough will power to just say no.    This has been the biggest challenge for me and something I will just have to work through.    

Family gatherings are another mine field.   My dear mother has a unshakable belief that anything can be improved by butter.    With the upcoming Thanksgiving coming up,  I have to negotiate with her to make sure that some of the vegetables are not living in a butter sea.    I know that I will have a limited choice of what to eat  (and no protein unless I bring some).   No pie for me either.

Explaining a plant based diet choice to people is interesting.    I of course get the usual where do you get your protein question but many people really do not understand my choice.    I am always shy about explaining this to dates, and I think that it can be an issue.   I am sure it is not easy to go out with someone who has chosen to limit a basic part of their life.      

Can anyone say "Tofu Turkey"

Namaste..

Long Busy Summer.

It has been 3 months since I last posted.   I had some half written entries that I decided not to post and before I knew it,  time has slipped by.    

From a Yoga standpoint,  my teaching has taken on a new dimension.   I have now over 50 hours of teaching logged with the Yoga Alliance.   For much of the Summer I was subbing regularly for other teachers.   Subbing is always a challenge because many people come in for a specific teacher and you should try to lead a class in a similar style as the normal teacher.    I have taught Yin,  Hot,  Regular,  Flow and Kundalini inspired classes.   The challenge of subbing helps me become a better teacher.

I am now teaching a regular weekly class.  This will allow me to better develop my teaching style and format my class the way I would like it to be.      I have only had one class so far and it was very small (only 5 people) but the teacher I took it over from had very few people coming so I am not too concerned about that.    The prior teacher's class was very fast with lots of balances and I have decided to slow things down to focus more on getting the poses right and to reduce the number of balances.   I will be adding in Kundalini as I love that style and the movement basis that many of the poses area.

I did my longest single day hike on the Laurel Highland Trail in South West Pennsylvania when I did a 15 mile hike on one of the sections of the trail.    It was surprisingly easy to do.   There was not too much up and down but it is still a long distance to walk.    My own led hikes are getting longer and I lead a 12.4 mile hike along with some 10 mile hikes.     I am always amazed with my energy level on hikes.    I never really get tired and even do pretty well on long uphills.    Hiking is such great exercise. 

Namaste...

Yoga Weekend Learning / Anatomy Workshop

I recently (June 1 through June 3 2018) spent a long weekend at the Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, North Carolina taking an intensive workshop on Anatomy and Yoga.    I am required to have 30 continuing education hours over three years to keep up my Yoga certification (along with 50 hours of teaching).  The class I took provided me with 13 hours toward that certification. 

I have been thinking about a Yoga getaway for quite a while and I wanted that time to be about learning and not relaxation.  I decided early on that I did not want a vacation.   I had investigated going away a weekend of just practice and other activities but this were not really what I wanted.   Many of these weekends felt like going to a spa and in many cases were quite expensive.

Two sisters who attended the workshop called what we did a "Yocation".   You take time away from your lives to focus on Yoga.  I really like that description.

I have a great desire to learn as much as possible about how the body works and especially how the body moves when practicing Yoga.  This is the reason why I decided to take this training.  It is my opinion that, as a Yoga instructor,  I should have good level of knowledge about what muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments are being stretched or strengthened when in a pose or moving into and out of a pose.  This class focused on mostly primary muscles (and bones)  and movement of those muscles and this focus is what I was looking for when I signed up for the class.    We also learned a good deal about general injuries and medical issues (especially lower back).   I learned a great deal (almost too much) and now have the action item to actually synthesize everything that I learned.    The class both reinforced what I already know and added to my knowledge.

The workshop  itself had about 40 people  (we were crammed in a bit too much in my opinion) and most attendees were instructors like myself.   The age range seemed to be from 22 to 70 and with a variety of experiences,  teaching styles, and teaching situations (including one woman who taught at a prison).    One woman I chatted with taught at a studio I went to in a Chattanooga, Tennessee a few times when I was working down there and we had a mutual instructor friend.    That tells you how all interconnected we are.

It was really great to be in a learning environment with so many practitioners of Yoga.   I stayed at a shared guest house owned by the center with seven other students,  walked to the training facility,  did not bring my computer,  and practiced both during class and in the morning before class (there was a Yoga room in my guest house).   I basically talked and breathed Yoga for 2 plus days.    It was wonderful.   I even had the best vegan meal ever at Plant.   Plant Restaurant.    

I think back to when I started my Yoga journey.   It is eight years in the past.    I feel that I have both traveled a great distance and taken only a few short steps.   My body is very happy for what I have done for it.    My knowledge of Yoga has just skimmed the surface.    This weekend inspired me very much and has served to increase my passion for my own practice.  It will hopefully  help me be a better teacher.  That is where my Yoga focus is mostly now.   I am inspired to learn and learn more and share what I learn.

Namaste..

Life of a New Yoga Teacher

It has been about three months since I received my Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) from the Yoga Alliance.     I have also gotten liability insurance and am now CPR certified.    Both of these (along with the RYT) are general requirements to teach in studios.

Since my certification,  I have been teaching a fair amount.     I did a 30 minute "1 on 1" demo with a studio director (a bit stressful I have to say) and as a result of that demo,  I was hired on as a substitute and to date have taught three classes there and have more scheduled.    This was the first time I earned any money from teaching.    Since I have a day job,  earning money teaching is not my primary goal,  but it is great to see that my efforts in becoming a teacher have been appreciated enough for someone to charge for my time.    I have also taught a ten week session at an  after school program, which was my first foray into teaching teenagers, and a few volunteer donation classes at a cat shelter.     I am now in the middle of teaching a ten week session for new and beginner students at a local church.   This is an on going series I started and it is great to see people coming back for the third session. 

As a new teacher,  I can spend up to five hours preparing and practicing  for each one hour class that I teach.    I am still learning my teacher voice,  nuances of poses and pose cues,  and also I am working on sequences that are unique to me.     All of this takes time but I do not mind the effort as I am learning as I go.     What I have noticed is that the amount of time it takes me to prepare for a basic flow class is significantly less than what it took last year.   I have, in a pinch,  also taught a class without preparing for it.    It was not too difficult to do, but I do not want to make it a habit.    I owe it to my students to prepare. 

The only downfall to teaching is that since I work a regular job and because I  spend a lot of time preparing,  I have much less time to grow my own practice.    It is not that I am not practicing Yoga.  I generally run through each class to make sure the flow is good and I am not taking too much or too little time  (this is harder than you think).   I spend one to two hours many nights in my Yoga room.   This all means less of what I need for myself.      We were taught not to neglect your own practice,   but I do find this a challenge. 

Overall though,  I am so happy that I took the teaching plunge.  I was looking at some photos I took from training and it feels like a million years ago when I first sat with 14 strangers in a room to begin that journey.     I want to share with as many people as possible the benefits of a Yoga practice.   The best way I can think to do so is to teach.  Any time and any place I can think of.

Namaste...

Fifth Anniversay Post: What a long unstrange trip it's been.

I am not one for endurance,  so I am amazed   that I have been writing this blog for five years.   I am also amazed that almost seven years ago I decided to start practicing Yoga and that I am still practicing.  What is most  amazing is that I have practiced Yoga with an intensity that astounds me.    In my past,  I would flow in and out of exercise routines.   That has never happened with Yoga.    I have barely missed a day in my practice. 

In those seven years I have been able to again touch my feet,  do a headstand,  balance in ways I never thought possible, and increase my  flexibility everywhere.      What is more important is that I have taken control of my health by focusing more of my life on exercise and diet.    Living a mostly Vegan lifestyle with daily exercise of walking,  Yoga , and hiking has done wonders not only for my body but for my spirit as well.

This blog was written as a way to share my experiences in the hope that it gives others incentive to follow a similar path.    It has not been difficult to take control of my health.   I love Yoga, I love hiking,  and I love what I eat.  It only takes discipline and focus to bring this about.   

It is easier than you think.

Namaste.