I started going to yoga in March of this year, in addition to my running. I’ve done yoga a few times in the past, so when I was laid off from my job, I decided that I had the time to add yoga into my life. My nearby YMCA has lots of classes and I decided that the 0800 class was the one for me. This class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 0800 and Fridays at 0815, so there is no rush to get there in the morning. (I’ve always heard that yoga will help with my running but I’ve not tried it since I started running. It has helped me stretch out more and I think that its made me stronger – especially in my upper body.)
What I didn’t realize though was that this yoga class wasn’t a beginner class. Yes, I’ve done yoga before but never regularly. But what the heck – I figured that I would just do what I could do. The first class was a real eye opener. I couldn’t believe some of the poses that many of the women could do. Backbends, handstands, headstands, the splits, and the list goes on and on.
This class is also considered to be a intermediate power yoga class. Basically what that means is that we do a repetitive flow of several yoga positions, slowly at first and then it repeats, with additional moves and the moves flow into each other. We usually repeat the movements 3 times. It gets the heart racing and has some aerobic benefits.
So I’ve completed about 9 months of classes now and I am still going regularly to them. I’ve seen some good improvements in my flexibility and about 2 months ago, I was finally able to do a backbend! Actually it’s called an upward bow or wheel pose or in yoga terminology Urdhva Dhanursana. I can do a headstand, but I usually do it near the mirror or the wall because I’m always afraid that I will fall over. Quite a bit of the yoga moves take nerve. You just have to try them and the older I get, the less brave I am about trying new things. I hate to get injured.
This brings me to my yoga class last Friday, a few days ago. The class was going well. It wasn’t too crowded because we had an unexpected snowfall overnight. Just a dusting but it was cold and beautiful. Sophia, our resident yogi, decided that we were going to work on our handstands. Now mind you I’ve been trying to do this for many months now. I just can’t seem to get my strength up for this pose. She had several modifications for us to try so that we could work on getting into the right position. But I just couldn’t do it.
All seemed to be fine, but after the class, my left foot started to give me problems. When I took off my shoes at home, I realized that it was actually my second toe that seemed to be achy. It looked okay but was a little painful when I started moving it around. I decided to wear some supportive shoes the rest of the day and everything seemed fine.
On Saturday morning when I woke up — I couldn’t believe it. My toe was black and blue!! Apparently I must have jammed it or something during Friday’s yoga class. I did some quick medical research on the internet (NOT a very good idea) and saw that even if it was broken, there really isn’t much that a doctor can do for a broken toe. Most sites recommended “buddy taping” it to the middle toe and letting it heal. Also icing it and elevating it to help the swelling. Ugghh…
So I put on my walking tennis shoes and went to the local Walgreens for tape. I found a “toe cap” product too that is essentially a padded sleeve to put over my toe. It was difficult putting the toe cap on – but once it was on and I taped my injured toe to the middle toe – it felt MUCH better!
Then I texted my friend Shelley to let her know that I wouldn’t be running with her on Sunday morning. And just when I started to see some good improvements in my pace and breathing. I’m going to give it a few days and then see whether I should run or take a break for the holidays.
