Today I managed to meet several of my personal goals that I've been putting off for far too long.
The first one started with waking up at 5:30AM. No coffee, no TV, no bodies, just me and the sunrise. It is a lifestyle change I've been trying to adopt for a while now. With having to get up early (for a Saturday) to participate in the MS 5K it gave me an incentive to wake up with nature -- as opposed to acrobatic kids on my bed.
Shortly there after I was able to follow through with another hard-to-achieve goal of mine which was to participate in and help with more charity events. Once I arrived I saw how beautifully the sponsors for the event had everything arrainged. There was a kids' area already put to good use by the time I arrived just after 7AM with moon walks, games and music. Some of our local businesses showed up to help all the walkers get into the swing of things: free coffee from Starbucks, free fruit and breakfast cakes from the grocer, hats, bandanas, a live band, water, hot chocolate, and more.
I joined my neighbor & friend over at her team's hula hut booth, the SPASMATICS, to get aquainted with everyone. Since I was skipping my usual Saturday yoga class that I teach at Yin-Yang Fandango and Tango Tea Room for this event, I went ahead and had my own yoga warmup and stretch over to the side on a lovely sun-lit piece of grass. Sun was very important today since it started out at 40 deg., but thankfully no wind!
The SPASMATICS team captain was a woman who had just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, herself. MS is described as a result from attacks to the nervous system by the body's own immune system. Some believe it is a metabolically dependent disease while others think that it might be caused by a virus such as Epstein-Barr. Still others believe that its virtual absence from the tropics points to a deficiency of vitamin D during childhood.
There are several medications out there to help with the symptoms, but nothing yet to prevent or truly fight off the disease. So..... we walk to help.
Another goal I met today was in the walk itself. The MS 5K offered me a great chance to get into the mindset for the upcoming Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in April. I was able to watch my diet and the effects more closely today, assess my body's wear and tear after only a few miles and my style for walking with several people (as opposed to my lone training walks these past couple months). One thing came through crystal clear, I needed to really stretch afterward. Walking soreness and tightness is not the same as running sore/tight.
When my friend and I crossed the finish line I checked the clock. My yoga class that Melissa was so generously covering for me was just barely starting. And the class was just a few blocks on the otherside of downtown. Knowing that it takes everyone a good 10-15 min. to set up and settle down, I decided to forego the free bar-b-que lunch and festivities after the event and hightail it over to yoga.
I arrived just a minute or two after they started. I was excited to see it was a full class so I slipped in and put my mat down in the very back by the door. By the second run of psycho-physicals (warm-ups) I noticed I was still wearing my walking number that was pinned to my back. I'm still not sure if that would be considered a super-focused mind or an unfocused one ???
It only took a few minutes for me to realize my decision to skip free food for yoga was absolutely perfect. I wasn't tired or sore from the walk, but my glutes and tensor fascia lata really enjoyed the extra stretch-and-hold work. Plus, Melissa is a great instructor and it's been too long since I last took one of her classes. We both received our yoga certifications at the same time through a Solar Yoga school and we have remained close since.
After yoga was over and Melissa and I took a moment to chat with our fellow yoginis, it was lunch time. Very much lunch time!
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