In the last few weeks I've been attacking several problems.
First and foremost, I'm starting to see some very positive results from my yoga practice as far as loosening up the shoulder where I had extensive cancer surgery. (I had a radical axillary
lymphadectomy performed in 2002, and that shoulder -- which already had a blown rotator cuff -- has been pretty much a mess ever since.) With enough downward dogs and a little bit of work warming up to inversions, much of the scar tissue there is finally starting to release and break up. Pincha mayurasana ("feathered peacock inversion") is finally starting to come to me as a shape that actually exists in my current body. A lot of that has to do with building core strength, but there's no question that I wouldn't be where I am with it were it not for the fact that my shoulder is loosening considerably. In light of the fact that the surgeons who dug into that shoulder weren't sure I'd ever be able to raise my arm above shoulder level when they got done, I'm sorely tempted to get somebody to snap a photo of me in the full inversion so I can send it to them.
First and foremost, I'm starting to see some very positive results from my yoga practice as far as loosening up the shoulder where I had extensive cancer surgery. (I had a radical axillary
lymphadectomy performed in 2002, and that shoulder -- which already had a blown rotator cuff -- has been pretty much a mess ever since.) With enough downward dogs and a little bit of work warming up to inversions, much of the scar tissue there is finally starting to release and break up. Pincha mayurasana ("feathered peacock inversion") is finally starting to come to me as a shape that actually exists in my current body. A lot of that has to do with building core strength, but there's no question that I wouldn't be where I am with it were it not for the fact that my shoulder is loosening considerably. In light of the fact that the surgeons who dug into that shoulder weren't sure I'd ever be able to raise my arm above shoulder level when they got done, I'm sorely tempted to get somebody to snap a photo of me in the full inversion so I can send it to them.
Speaking of core strength, it seems that every coach I have is in cahoots at the moment to hammer me on that very subject. I run regularly with "Gilbert's Gazelles," and with warmer weather approaching and the number of marathons dropping to a seasonal low,
he's been backing off some of the requirements to log lots of long mileage but cranking up "core conditioning" in their place. At the same time, Greg Galindo has passed along a few tasty exercises with a stability ball that also dig deep into core. And the two yoga instructors with whom I train the most -- Logynn and Sanieh -- are both pretty merciless in their driving home of the whole "core conditioning" concept. Also, since I've been with them both long
enough, niether seems to be at all bashful about singling me out for "special attention" during class. Other people get a bye on a lot of poses where I don't. But this is probably all to the good. As Sanieh says, "It's my job to make you uncomfortable, and I'm okay with that."
Meanwhile, I'm going after two giant problems that have always plagued my workouts. First, I like to eat. A lot. And second, I like to stay up way past my bedtime. So I'm continuing to
do more intelligent "portion control" of my intake as well as putting myself to bed earlier. Actually, if I'm rested, I'm also generally a lot less hungry, since I'm not trying to compensate for lack of energy by shoveling more food into myself. The key there is just to stay disciplined. Not always easy when you have a startup business and clients who'd like you to work all day and night on their stuff. Or when you're networking your way through another restaurant
meal. But as best I can, I'm trying not to let the realities of having to earn a living interfere with the real goal of leaning out.
Wish me luck...
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