I hope your week is off to a great start. After spending the weekend traveling to Tennessee and leading teacher training, I am taking it easy and keeping Monday low-key.

I dropped this cutie off at preschool this morning to enjoy a few hours playing with his friends. Update on preschool: Finn LOVES it! Never cries at the drop-off, seems to really love the school and is learning a lot of fun things. (Like how to dance and stomp his feet when you sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”)

I’m excited to pick him up in a bit and hang out with him this afternoon/evening…but first…backing up to the weekend.

FRIDAY LONG RUN 

EXCITING NEWS! I ran 7 miles on Friday. It was my longest run since my toe injury back in July and it felt amazing. I’ve been building mileage over the last few weeks. I set out Friday to do 5 but ended up going for 7 because I was feeling so good. My big toe didn’t hurt during the run but it was pretty sore the following day. I have another follow-up appointment with my ortho next week where they’ll do one final set of x-rays to make sure everything has healed completely. I’ll definitely check-in with him on the soreness.

I am crossing my fingers that he’ll give me the green light to keep upping my mileage and to run the Charlotte Half Marathon in November. I’ll keep y’all posted. 🙂

TENNESSEE FOR VIDA TT 

After my run, I got packed up and took off for Tennessee for weekend two of our 200-hour yoga teacher training at VIDA Hot Yoga. I stopped in Asheville on the way there to stretch my (very tight/sore) legs, get food for the weekend at Trader Joe’s and grab an iced coffee.

I teach hot power flow classes on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings that our TTs take but are also open to the public. Friday night’s practice was so good. We had a TT session after practice where we watched a documentary on Ashtanga Yoga.

I got back to the hotel a little after 9p and picked up Panera on the way. I love their Autumn Squash soup and need to make a copycat recipe at home.

Saturday morning started with an 8a meditation session followed by a hot power practice. The rest of the day was packed with learning.

Some of the things we covered included…the flow of a power yoga class, how to begin a power yoga class, adding flair to sun salutation a, the five koshers, breaking down alignment of a lot of postures and learning about the iliopsoas and how to find it/feel it in our own bodies. We concluded the day with a deep discussion on the Ashimsa and Satya chapters in The Yamas and The Niyamas.

We broke for an hour for lunch. I walked over to the cupcake shop and got chocolate peanut butter and blackberry cream cheese cupcakes. I ate a pre-packaged salad from Trader Joe’s.

I was completely drained (in a good way…but DONE) when I got back to the hotel around 6:30p. I hung out in my room, wrote a blog post and ordered room service. I was asleep by 9:30p.

I needed an early bedtime because our Sundays start at 7:30a. I have to be packed up and checked out of the hotel before I head to the studio. On Sundays we practice led Ashtanga, followed by pranayama and meditation. It’s about a 2-hour practice session to start the day.

After practice we broke for breakfast and then dove into the day’s learning. On Sunday we covered the history of Ashtanga Yoga and talked a lot about the Ashtanga Yoga system, how power yoga came from it and the positives and drawbacks of Ashtanga. We also covered the vinyasa yoga tristana method of ujjayi, bandhas and drishti, adding flair to sun salutation b, practice teaching, more breaking down postures and the guru mantra.

WHEW! It was a lot!!!

HOME SWEET HOME

I got back to Charlotte in time to put Finn down for bed but once that was done I was seriously lacking motivation to cook any food (my fridge is also empty!). I grabbed a Baja Fish Taco Bowl from Love the Wild out of the freezer, microwaved it, put it in a bowl and added plain greek yogurt, salsa, avocado and cilantro. This is my favorite of their frozen entrees.

Needless to say, I was in bed early and slept well last night. I am looking forward to a more relaxed week in Charlotte and I won’t be traveling next weekend. It will be nice to move at a slower pace and have downtime and lots of QT with Finn! 🙂

QUESTIONS

What did you do over the weekend? Any fun fall things? 

For my yoga practitioners, what is your preferred style? 

Do you ever eat frozen dinners?