HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEREDITH DOWLESS

This is a new thing that I'm doing to honor my friends because they are all so special to me. Sorry to Amy Brookshire, Blair Wright, Jeanne Boughner and Ronnie Amick for not thinking of this earlier in the year so I could do it for you.

Meredith Dowless is my friend, running buddy, crossfit buddy, race buddy, and work buddy. I have run 3 half marathons with her (all of my half marathons), and we're going to run the full in Savannah and the half in Las Vegas later this year. Meredith is awesome because:

1. she is really nice
2. she is very supportive and she will tell you good things about yourself always
3. she is generous, she helps me at work A LOT
4. she is fun to run with - she is WAY faster than me but she pretends like she's struggling when i'm struggling just to make me feel better
5. she is strong
6. she works harder than just about anyone I know
7. she has a successful career
8. she is fun to go on business trips with
9. she is fun to go shopping with
10. she is very fashionable and always looks so cute
11. ALL MEN are attracted to her. Always, gym, trade show, everywhere
12. she is a baby recruiter (inside joke)
13. there are other inside jokes that I will not mention

only con:

*she is a gamecock fan.. but she's really nice about it

So, Meredith Dowless, this is a tribute to you:

Yoga Pose Wednesday

Everyone seems to have a "insert phrase here" "insert day here" so I thought I would do the same. Since I'm going to be getting my yoga teacher certification in the next year, I figured Yoga Pose Wednesday would be perfect! Now I just have to remember to do it because sometimes, I forget.

Today, I want to give some basic information about yoga since this is my first post. The word "Yoga" means "yoke" in sanskrit. You can probably interpret that in any way you'd like but how I like to think of it is that it's the central thing that brings everything else in my life together. Through yoga, I learn how to deal with daily situations without fear, I develop a better relationship with God, it helps me physically get stronger and helps my body stay injury free. There is a mental, physical and spiritual aspect to it.

Yoga began in Southeast Asia as a physical, mental and spiritual way to attain a state of perfect spiritual insight and transformation. It is used in 3 different religions: Hindu, Buddhism and Jainism. But as it's been introduced into western culture, it can also be used as a compliment to christianity. There are no rules that you must be of an eastern religion in order to use it for your spiritual practice. We can all use quiet time with God, no matter how you view that God.

Obviously, it is huge in the fitness industry as it does help strengthen, stretch and build your mental strength in a physical way. There are so many western variations of yoga that you can use it in any capacity you want. I am one who prefers the calming, meditative use of it because since beginning Yoga, it has helped me strengthen my relationship with God and come to trust Him more. It also helps me stay flexible and injury free during my marathon training.

The first pose I'm going to discuss is Downward Facing Dog. The Sanskrit name is Adho Mukha Svanasana but in my time of studying yoga, I have never heard anyone use the sanskrit name like they do with other poses. This is a rest pose in the Sun Salutation series and one that you will always use. For stretching purposes, it helps stretch the back, open the chest, and builds upper body strength. It is also supposed to help stimulate the brain/nervous system, improve memory, concentration, hearing and eyesight, aids in digestion, helps increase blood flow to the sinuses, calms mind and lifts the spirits. SO... you can see why it's so important.

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The basic information I can give on how to do this is to start on all fours with knees hip distance apart and hands a little in front of the shoulders. You want to push back onto your feet making sure you keep your back flat. For someone like me whose shoulders are tight, well my whole body is tight, I typically have to start with my knees bent a lot. The goal is to keep your head in line with the line of your back, you want to extend your hips towards the ceiling, push back into your heels so they are as close to the floor as possible and try to straighten your knees, although you should be gentle with yourself and never force a pose. You want to keep you shoulders down and think about keeping your arms rotated. Your elbows should be pointing towards the floor. You want the weight of your hands to be at the base of the index fingers. While you don't want all of your weight to be there, it's so unnatural for it to be there, it's best to concentrate on that so that the weight is evenly distributed throughout your hand. Most people tend to put all of their weight on the outside of their hands. 

Modifications: 

1) bend your knees - your main goal should be to flatten your back and point your hips towards the ceiling

2) if you shoulders are extremely tight, you can put your forearms on the floor. Your hands will be in the same position but you'll have the support of your entire forearm as opposed to just your wrist. This is also good for people that have issues with their wrists. 

I should've taken a pic of me doing downward facing dog!! Maybe next time!!

Do you take yoga? 

How many times a week? 

What's your favorite yoga pose? 

Cheesecake...

No, I have not run this week
Yes, it is tuesday.
No, I have not done any cardiovascular activity this week.
But I did yoga... woot woot

So, on to my fav thing: Cheesecake

I love cheesecake and I've had a lot of different types of cheesecake.

First: The Cheesecake Factory
*Ok, I'm NOT a fan of chain restaurants. I HATE them but for whatever reason, I've been to a bunch of Cheesecake Factory's and they are delicious, especially the cheesecake. Here are some of the different types I've tried:

Fresh Strawberry

Godiva's Chocolate Cheesecake (my fav)

Key Lime Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Yes... I have tried these all (all pics from the Cheesecake factory website) 

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My friend Jane also made a delicious cheesecake that was a mix of cream cheese and ricotta cheese. Read about it here: Jane makes a cheesecake

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Lastly, there is this little Italian restaurant here in Greenville, SC named Giovanni's. It is the most delicious place ever here in SC. It is owned by a little Italian man. There is no website, no nothing. It's just there. and it's wonderful. I had Gnocchi with a Gorgonzola cream sauce and smoked salmon. BUT what is important is that their cheesecake was made with Ricotta cheese and IT. WAS. DELICIOUS. It was creamy, not heavy, the way Italians like it. I think about it a lot. I want it to live with me... but I will be fat... so I'll just go there every once in a while. 

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So... that's my fitblog for today... about yummy cheesecake. 

Bloggy bloggy blog blog....

I was going to post about a floral arrangement class I had the the other day but since blogger was down, I didn't. So I'd like to at some point but for now, I'd like to ask a question.

Let me first give you my training plan for the week. I've determined that I may be overtraining a bit as far as having too many super intense workouts which may be why my runs are suffering... SO... i'm keeping it to cross training with body weight style strength training. The plan for this week is:

Monday - 5-6 3 minute intervals with a 4:30 minute rest
Tuesday: Swim: I am researching tri training plans to see what i'll do BUT I am so basic, it'll probably be kicking drills and learning form
Wednesday: Hill repeats - 30 second and 60 second hill repeats
Thursday: not sure... this may end up being a rest day
Friday: Long run - 55 minutes with 90 strides 3 time torwards the end of the run
saturday: Bike ride??
sunday : rest or bike ride if I didnt ride bike saturday

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Ok... on to the real topic. I am new to blogging. Well, I started back in October but didn't really get introduced to the blogging world until the beginning of this year. So, what I've been trying to do is get more followers. I've been commenting on other people's blogs, I've been participating in blog hops, I joined a couple of blogging networks.... and I've gotten hardly any new followers...

what does this mean?

Does it mean my blog sucks? Does it mean that I need to write about different things?

I'm trying not to get wrapped up in the amount of followers thing but I'd really like to interact with people more in the blogosphere and am wondering where my place is in it all...

Any suggestions?