Life was good before Navasana

I'm taking a lady's holiday and skipping Ashtanga this morning, so I thought I'd pop in and write a little update about how it's all going. In a way, it's going well, and that's why it's also becoming more of a challenge.

Recently, I got "advanced" to Navasana, much to my dismay. If you don't know, this is Navasana:

Source

The picture looks all floaty and happy, but it's actually sweat-inducing and shaky and soul crushing.

Here's what my Navasana looks like:

Yes, that is blood, sweat and tears.

And I've got to do this every morning, 5x, with one breath lift-up inbetween. Uggggghhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrr.

However, Navasana is like the gateway to the cool stuff that comes afterwards, so hopefully I'll be able to levitate and gain mind-control powers soon, like all real yoga people.

My knee is healing well and my hip on that side is feeling looser every week. I'm still too fearful of hurting my knee to pull into a lotus position, but I do feel like I'm getting closer, and that's a good change for me. I've always been so into the "yoga as healing" camp that I've down-played the importance of going forward in the sequence, the "yoga as challenge" camp, let's call it. As I'm healing I feel like it's OK to introduce some more competitiveness and challenge into my practice rather than going easy and holding back.

You certainly can't go "easy" with Navasana.

Why can't I have bionic knees?

Last Friday night, I inhaled these two beauties from The Cupcake Bakery:

That's Peppermint Chocolate and some sort of delicious Chocolate Explosion that cost 0.80 more than normal cupcakes, but was worth every last drop.

I've been gaining a few pounds these days as a result of my sugar addiction, so I've made it a goal for myself to cut back.

I went for a run Saturday morning while Steven got to hog the bed for once (apparently I sleep in strange kicking yoga poses. But without any proof, I don't buy it).

Balls Head Reserve is quickly becoming my favourite part of my runs.

Sydney is absolutely beautiful in the morning!

By the time I got home, I literally collapsed into a heap on the ground. The last hills of the run were killer.

The picture really doesn't do this hill justice, because it is 45 degrees straight up. It levels off into a gentle little incline the rest of the way, which just adds to the burn.

My details:

Elevation kills me.

A few hours after the run, my right knee started feeling really sore.

Steven and I grabbed some lunch, walked around a bit, and my knee just kept hurting.

Until I plugged in my Garmin, I didn't really realize why:

That puny little 3.4 mile run had been my longest run since having my Garmin, which means my longest run in at least 3 months.

I've been steadily increasing my weekly mileage, but I guess 3.4 miles was just too much, too fast.

I'll have to make it a conscious effort to run slower, and run less. Alas. The life of a runner with a meniscus tear.

Saturday night was a big one for Steven and I. We went to the Sydney FC game against the Melbourne Wanderers. I am now a huge fan of soccer, even if it means random sweaty males falling all over the place and beer rain.

"Jump up! Jump up! Jump up! In the cove!" the chant went.

"Jump up! Jump up! Jump up! Feed a goat!" I heard.

Maybe I have a secret desire for a pet goat.

My Knee Hurts...Again

I've been plagued with a bum right knee for ages, but I only really noticed it when I started practicing yoga nearly 3 years ago.

Since then, it's been on-again and off-again. I can't really say that it's ever healed completely. Recently, with my daily home practice, I've been getting closer and closer to a pain-free ardha padmasana (half lotus). I do this with a lot of care and attention each time I move my knee in an external rotation. I thought my work was paying off.

However, yesterday, something triggered a deep ache in my right knee that I can't seem to shake.

Every step today has been worrisome and painful: downhills, uphills, stairs, even just standing still--it all hurts my knee.

Steven and I came home early from a day out.

He made dinner, and now I'm calling it an early night. Hopefully I'll wake to a healthier, happier knee.

The Sydney Bay Run

Yesterday, I took a day off from spreading my heart over Sydney and getting rejected looking for a job. 

I did this: 

All Murakami on sale at Kinokinuya for 9.95!! Except 1Q86, the only other one I haven't read yet. Boo.

Starbucks soy latte because soy is free here (Aussieland 1, Canada 0).

This is THE BEST DANISH I HAVE EVER EATEN. 

The fresh, flaky crust embraces the sweet blocks of mango like a koala embraces its tree. 

As you bite into the pastry, the crunch of the crust is such a pleasure against the syrupy sweet mango, which tumbles off the pastry and into your lap creating a big sticky mess, but whatever. 

This was amazing. 

You know what else is amazing? 

This guy: 

After a long day of making the bacon, he brought it over to Iron Cove.

That's where our friends took us to do the 7K Bay Run.

Now, we didn't do the actual Bay Run, because that's in August, but we ran/walked 7K.

My stats:

30.07 minutes
2.87 miles
10:30 min/mile average pace

Then, I stopped and took about a 10 minute walk, and did a few more minutes of running.

This was an absolutely beautiful run.

You go around the bay, encounter all sorts of dogs and people, up some hills, over some bridges, through city, country, and everything in between.

It's too bad that my knee hurt.

I knew 2.87 miles was enough for me, but I still kept pace with my friend back to the car.

I will have to take a few extra rest days to get my knee back.

Oh well!

Anyway, because our place is out of internet (friggin internet, bane of my blog-xistence), Steven and I have come here to our favourite cafe for some treats while we Inter our Nets.

I am pondering why lattes here are served in glasses, and glad I'm not alone. Glasses get HOT. It makes absolutely no sense that this is the "proper" way to have a latte. (Aussies 0, North Americans with mugs 1).

Have a good night everyone!

This can't be utopia!

Yesterday, my other half-chromosome set and I went for a run.

It was 5.3 miles of hills and trying not to choke on her dust. She runs fast.

Luckily, I finished pretty strong, and went home to eat a ginormous breakfast.

The sister was complaining of knee pain, so I taught her "Thread the needle" pose as Moksha calls it. It's a really important runner's stretch because it targets tons of external rotators and especially my pain in the ass.

Here she is modeling it, while The Dog looks confused.

For the knee that pains her, I taught her how to get into it without torquing the knee.

Two decided to join the party. She is also a fan of healthy knees.

Later, Steven and I were scheduled to go to a housewarming, so we ate an early dinner at a restaurant highly recommended by friends: Utopia.

Steven had the chicken quesadilla. He said it was very good, but the coleslaw was weird (it was, I tried it), and the rice and beans mediocre. 

Our friends had the bison burger, which he said was AHHHH-MAAAAHHH-ZING!

I don't have a picture of it, but I ordered the Veggie Souvlaki.

It sucked. The pita was hard and stale, the veggie "meat" was cold. The only redeeming feature of my dish was the hot fries and some nice tzaziki (which they charged us 95 cents for an extra little dish anyway).

Later that evening, I had dumplings at home cuz I got hungry.

Alas, it has been proven that Sandy Cannot Live On French Fries and Tzaziki, Both Of Which Are Obviously Nutritious and Filling so This Finding Comes as an Absolute Surprise.

Before the house party, we walked around Queen St. W. Loblaws and found my new future home.

Down the street, we also saw this:

Is it weird that I want it?!