It's all in your head.

Today was the first day I did the "king" of asanas (yoga positions), the headstand.  I should say it was the first time I attempted it in the middle of the studio floor and not up against the wall. 

It wasn't perfect.  My legs were piked forward, slightly, but I got up and balanced without assistance.  Woo-hoo!

Then...I stayed up for what seemed like a world record breaking headstand.  It was probably only a couple of minutes, but when you're balancing on your head time goes by slower.    I've just started attempting this pose so I can't say if I've benefited from all the wonderful things they're supposed to do: of course help blow flow to the head and brain, help circulation, relieve lower back stress, bring a sense of calm. 

I can say that once the terror of falling over onto the person next to you subsides, it really is calming.  And any kind of calming for me is close to a miracle.  (Picture below is from yoga-made-ez.com)

Maui 1/2 Marathon

I am SO happy I decided to sign up, travel to Maui, and run a 1/2 marathon there!  It was such a wonderful and amazing experience.  You really could not ask for a better course, a more beautiful setting, or a more organized event.  It was a pleasure to be a part of. 

You'll have to excuse me while I still bask in my euphoria from the run.  I'll try to recap the best I can.

When I stepped outside of the Hyatt's lobby at 4:45 am the heaviness of the air hit me.  "Uh-oh" was all I could think.  Get that kind of thinking out of your mind, fast!  It's kind of hard to talk yourself out of how hot you feel when it seems as if a wet blanket of air is sitting on your shoulders.  I also saw a toad hop away, on the beachwalk, as I was walking toward the starting line.  I'd like to remind you how terrified I am of toads and frogs.  I believe half of Ka'anapali  heard me scream.  It was all good though.  Once the race started and we ran onto the main road the breeze picked up and the excitement took over. 

It was just one of those runs that I kept reminding myself to stay in the moment.  Actually enjoy it and remember it!  I probably looked like a crazy woman because I kept waving and smiling at everyone on the side of the road.  Trust me, there were a lot of people on the side of the road.  It was so nice to see people clapping and cheering you on as you run by.  I'm going to use the word "see" loosely, seeing I'm legally blind without my glasses; and seeing that I don't wear them when I run.  I'm almost in need of a seeing eye dog during races.  Haha! 

This slight impairment can be an asset though.  It can almost be like running while you're drunk.  Everything is blurry and has a hazy dreamlike quality.  Perhaps it helps to think I'm really just dreaming when I'm running and that I'll wake up any moment.  It also helps, the lack of vision, when you're running and you can't really make out the huge squished bullfrogs on the highway as you run past.  At least that is what I kept telling myself when I almost stepped on a dried corpse of an unfortunate amphibian.  Gag! 

The long/short of it is...I beat last year's 1/2 marathon time by 16 minutes!  I completed this race in 2:13:20 and stayed under my pace goal.  Now those evil thoughts are creeping into my head, "Maybe I can do another one under 2 hours?"  Yup, I just might be hooked.