Why yoga counts

I'm now in the middle of the third week on my training plan, and so far, so good. In commencing my official training, I did face a few moral conundrums that my bible couldn't answer. None were more challenging than whether yoga class should count toward my weekly training hours.

After collecting the applicable evidence (namely the ability of my weekly Iyengar class to make me sore after each and every class) I decided that yes, indeed, for this triathlete, yoga counts. Besides, I thought this soul-searching wasn't worth agonizing over for too long given that I only had two weeks of yoga class left when my training began. Of course, now my yoga instructor has invited me to lessons at her house (presumably because she recognizes the yogi inside me -- or at least that's what I tell myself).

Regardless, I'm pretty sure I'm going to continue to count yoga time as training time. Any time you are levitating off the ground while simultaneously placing your knee behind your shoulder, that should count for something! Here's a picture of the pose we were attempting in our last class, called Eka Hasta Bhujasana. I can't claim that my pose looked exactly like the picture, but I can certainly attest to the stiffness in my arms and hips yesterday. Other pain inducers included bhujapidasana (saying that one is about as difficult as performing it) and paripurna navasana.

That class was about as tough as my first-ever 75 min run on Sunday. Yes, strike up the band -- I ran for 75 relatively pain-free minutes this past weekend. But back to my point -- yoga is hardcore and it counts, dammit!