Oh yeah, the Ironman!

I know, I know. All Over Yoga has kind of taken over my time and this blog. But I have a little thing called an Ironman coming up in 2.5 months and I don’t have a training plan. Umm, yeah. Oh, and there’s a 50-mile race five weeks after that!

So, I’m going to get my butt down from down dog and talk about my other training, too!

I’ve been maintaining my training with long runs on the weekend and several swims and bike rides throughout the week. Honestly I’ve been so focused on yoga that I’ve let my triathlon workouts slide. Ooops! You can see all my workouts here.

To fuel my workouts I’ve been eating at great restaurants with even better friends. I love plenty of non-vegan restaurants, but it’s hard to go to a “regular” restaurant when we have so many great vegetarian places here in Orlando! Ryan and I recently visited Dandelion Commnitea Cafe for their iced tea and Native Mama Mix- a budget-friendly mix of quinoa with toppings and dressing of your choice.

I chose corn, broccoli and garbanzo beans as my toppings and green goddess as my dressing. This would be so easy to make at home!

Of course I’ve been eating plenty of Ethos Vegan Kitchen!

Ethos is by far the most indulgent vegan food in Orlando. It’s the best place to take the biggest vegan skeptics! I enjoyed some shortbread cookies… and my old favorite, the “What’s the Dilly Philly"?” sandwich! Can’t beat the best ;)

I’ll leave you with a shot of the beautiful Lake Eola. The 1-mile loop around the lake and I have a date in the morning. Ten miles is on the agenda!

Do you have any tips for an Ironman training plan? :)

All Over Yoga

Yoga on my car… on a table… in a restaurant. No, I haven't always fallen into yoga poses in random places and photographed it.

"You post too many photos of your butt in the air," my mom scolds me.

Not everyone understands my passion behind All Over Yoga. Last month I unwound from a long day with some simple yoga on my living room floor. I didn't do anything fancy and I wasn't in a special yoga studio, but with each down dog my muscles relaxed and my mind centered. My whole night got better.

I posted about my experience and challenged myself and healthy ashley readers to do 10 minutes of yoga every day for 30 days. A simple enough challenge, many joined in.

I was excited to have so many friends including little bits of yoga in their life, but the emails and comments that followed showed me this challenge did something much greater.

Girls with eating disorders used yoga to battle their behaviors. Athletes intimidated by the practice decided to take a second look. Fellow bloggers decided child's pose and shavasana were perfect for unwinding after a long day.

People started doing yoga and seeing the benefits.

Forcing myself to include yoga into each day changed yoga's role in my life. No longer was it something I practiced once a week to supplement my other activities. Instead I started playing with new poses and testing my strength. I learned side crow, improved upward bow and (with lots and lots and lots or practice) finally got into my beloved headstand.

So I did a vinyasa on the sidewalk of a sleeping city; I fell into side crow on the floor at a party; I played with a few moves in the middle of a bar. I was on a yoga high and couldn't wait to show everyone how fun yoga could be.

Yoga flushes the stresses of the world out of my system. It allows me to feel each part of my body- from the tightness of my shoulders in warrior I to the sensation of spreading my toes in supported shoulder stand. I'm not super flexible or strong and that's okay. Yoga asks nothing of me except for me to breathe. That's it.

Yoga changed my life.

Hearing how yoga changed your lives as well inspired me. I don't want yoga to be some secret club reserved for expensive studios and self-proclaimed yogis. It's too powerful to be kept hidden.

I say yoga to the people! Yoga can be upward bow on top of a car. Yoga can be child's pose in your living room. Yoga can be five minutes of deep breathing. Whichever practice you choose this day, yoga will better your life. And, yes, yoga is for everyone.

To celebrate the fabulousness of yoga I am working on AllOverYoga.com, where the mission is to make yoga fun and accessible to everyone! The site will include giveaways, tips, stories and more. Of course I'll also be asking each of you to send your All Over Yoga photos showing off the crazy places you practice!

Keep your down dogs steady now- AllOverYoga.com will launch Monday, August 16th!

What do you love about yoga? Or what has kept you from giving it a try?

Parking Lot Yoga

It's been a while and there is a ton I want to talk about... but I am short on time... so I am going to put everything else on hold and tell you about today. Today, after all, is all we have.

Today began as a day full of stressors. Last night I traveled from Orlando to Syracuse, NY for the Boilermaker 15k expo. From losing my toiletry bag (full of brand new, organic products) somewhere in the nation to almost not getting my rental car... plus the fact that I haven't had a good workout in several days... I was feeling like a mess.

I finished my oatmeal breakfast with a package of Oreo's and then declared I was going to make this a good day. Even when so many things seemed to be out of my control I was going to make everything I could control great.

Before heading into the rest stop for some snacks I had a little yoga session in the parking lot. Even one minute of yoga leaves me feeling lighter and more positive. In front of minivans and truck drivers I did a vinyasa for each thing that was stressing me out. Up dog... down dog... I thought of each thing and let it go. It was amazing.
Working the Bondi Band booth at the expo was a blast. It was outdoors and all the people were so friendly. I got to chat with Bobby from SpiBelt in the booth next to me.
I'm always sure to talk to customers about their training and running goals. It's amazing how inspiring those chats can be!
Parking lot yoga had calmed me down quite a bit, but toward the end of a long day I needed more.
I headed in front of the booth for some yoga! I love taking up space and doing yoga poses. So often we think it's only acceptable to sit or stand in our little space- I'm working on breaking that mold!
I can't wait to share the other great things that have been going on. They're exciting!

How will you/do you branch out and use more of your space?

Yoga Is

Sometimes yoga is falling down. Sometimes it is frustration because I don't feel like holding down dog for another five counts. Sometimes it is my left leg on fire because I've been balancing on it for way too long.
But then yoga is growth. It is turning my frustration into gratefulness. It is peace. It is pushing myself.

And sometimes it is discovering you can do fun new poses! I was able to get into shoulder-pressing pose during class for the first time tonight!
I've been practicing yoga for one year (thanks to my original yoga buddy Ryan!). I've taken class at College Park Yoga at least once almost every week. I had dipped my toes into the practice with DVDs and classes at gyms, but one class at a real studio changed everything for me.

Ninety minutes sweating in a studio was intense. I left sore, stretched out and so much lighter. I was hooked.

The studio taught me a lot about form. Adjusting your form can make the pose.

Now thanks to my job at lululemon I am often hear about other local yoga studios and am able to try them out. I've fallen in love with Orlando Power Yoga and Guruv- two studios with hot power yoga that will push you harder than ever before!!

The new studios introduced me to poses that I had never heard of before. They'd encourage me to just try it and I was surprised when I could get into a lot of them (side crow anyone?!).

Now yoga still offers me the peaceful, refocusing retreat from the rest of my training-- but it's so much more! I'm having fun seeing what my body is capable of and setting goals.

I love yoga and can't get enough.

What does yoga mean to you? If you're participating in the 30 Day Yoga Challenge how is it going?

Shopping Saturday

I fueled my Saturday morning with oats (with just a bit of sugar) and a Clif Shot before my run. I set out to do another complete 70.3 workout. I did the run first to try to beat the heat, but with my late start I couldn’t avoid it. I realized I’d perform better and be more into the whole 70.3 if I did it another day when I had more time. I cut the run short at 8.5 miles and headed out the door for some non-exercise-based fun!

After a quick stop at the farmers’ market for kettle corn I took the pups to the dog park! I’m dog sitting a friend’s two dogs, so we basically brought the party ;)

While supervising I polished off an entire large bag of kettle corn.

Later Katy H. and I had plans to visit Whole Foods! Kelly was doing a demo there and give us a tip that there would be lots of samples and vendors there. You don’t have to tell us twice!

There’s Kelly!

We tried a ton of yummy (and not so yummy) samples. Luna was sampling their protein bars. I asked if it was vegan before I tried it. All four reps seemed unsure but said yes. I checked the box to be sure and the main ingredient was whey protein. Not cool, Luna ladies. If you don’t know, check first. I got a regular Luna bar sample instead. Even though I ate a ton in Whole Foods, I couldn’t resist a cookie sample! The Home Free cookie was good! It was really light and had a nice ingredient list.

After a little mall browsing (and buying!) Katy and I hit up Dechoes, a local thrift/vintage store. I’m all about scouring thrift stores for awesome buys.

I was excited to find an awesome dress that fit like a glove!

Throughout all the shopping I munched on about 1.5 of Two Moms in the Raw bars. Love these!

A few more errands and I was finally home. Brian came over to watch more Drop Dead Diva episodes. While watching I demolished a good portion of the below spread.

Whole Fruits’ mango sorbet was on deck for dessert. I had two servings :)

Before bed I snuck in 10 minutes of child’s pose and corpse pose. Delicious!

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Mine are down dog, pigeon, side crow, upward bow and shoulder stand!

We Love Caitlin

Tonight was all about hanging out with some of my favorite Orlando people at Caitlin’s going away party. Caitlin, Megan, Katy H., Katy W., Kelly and others all met at Relax Grill in downtown Orlando.

The outdoor seating atmosphere is nice. There was live music playing and the restaurant overlooks Lake Eola. Pretty nice!

The restaurant certainly wasn’t vegan-friendly, but it worked. I ordered a hummus appetizer with pita and lots of veggies. I had eaten a PB+J shortly before dinner, so my appetite wasn’t its best.

I know our get-togethers seem like blogger meetups, but I definitely consider these girls my friends who just happen to all blog ;)

The pita/hummus/veggie appetizer was delicious! I would order this again.

After dinner and lots of conversation the girls took a stroll around the lake. I run Lake Eola on most of my routes, so it was different to see the path at night.

Of course we had to have some self-timer fun to remember the night by :)

    

What fun :)

 

YOGA!

This morning I squeezed in a Bikram class at Bikram Yoga Southwest before work. Practice was amazing! I didn’t enjoy my first Bikram class at all, but I loved this- proof that the studio and teacher can make a huge difference on your practice.

Bikram is a set series of 26 poses and 2 breathing exercises, all performed two times. The 90 minute practice is performed in a room heated to 105*. I encourage everyone interested in hot yoga (the best kind!!!!) to try a hot power yoga and Bikram. Each has its fans!

Class this morning didn’t stop me from playing a bit before bed! I’m still working on my upward bow… and I’m venturing into headstands! 

Have you tried Bikram yoga? What is your favorite kind? *No need for big, official terms here!