Confessions of a reformed runner

Torn hip cartilage, acute trochanteric bursitis, knee tendonitis, plantar fasciitis. These are just a few of the ailments that I’ve accumulated over the past few years. Flash forward to today and I am totally pain free. What happened?

In short, I wasn’t listening to my body. No, I wasn’t running marathons. Heck I wasn’t even really running much, but I was pounding my body with high impact aerobics. I loved that endorphin rush and the feeling of really challenging my body. I was afraid if I gave that up, that I would lose all the fitness gains I had worked so hard for.

In an effort to mix things up, I’ve been experimenting with all yoga rotations. And my newest obsession is barre work, which takes its name from the barre used in ballet classes. These workouts are just as intense as Insanity and the like, but they are much less jarring on your body.

There are some major life lessons that I learned from these past few years. The lessons learned:

1. Stop and take an honest look at your life and your goals.

Do this periodically.  I am trying to do this once a week. Every Friday at 3 pm is my “stop” and “think” time. I turn off the computer, get comfortable and just think!

2. Have a trusted advisor.

For years, my Mom has been telling me that I was overdoing the exercise. I didn’t listen to her. I just thought that I was getting older and I didn’t want to admit that physically I couldn’t do what I used to do. It makes more sense for your advisor to be friend, not a close friend or a family member since that creates too many other dynamics.

3. Measure your results.

Even when I made the decision to lessen up on the impact, I was afraid that my fitness level would suffer. Well, it hasn’t. If anything, it has improved. I’ve lost a few pounds and inches. My core is stronger than ever. How do I know that? I can kayak faster than ever before. You use your core to help paddle.

4. Embrace the change whole-heartedly.

Once I made the decision to change, I dove in with both feet, so to speak. I read a lot about barre and yoga. I had a blast ordering new workouts and trying new things on YouTube. I literally spring out of bed every morning (at 4:30 am), very excited to start my day and my exercise.

5. Keep revisiting and revising.

This is not to say that you should question your decision, but you should keep checking in to make sure that it is still working for you. I’ve added Buti Yoga to my routine, which is kind of like Kundalini Yoga on steroids. I love the way it gets my heart rate up.

The end result? I am pain-free. I have more energy than ever before.  My mind is filled with new ideas.  Sometimes it takes some pain, either literal or figurative, to make a change.

So what have you done to change up your life lately?