Tapering, Yoga & YIOM

Tapering for the marathon is interesting when you also practice yoga. The idea of a taper is to rest your body, prepare for the marathon day, store up some energy and prepare for the marathon - oops, already said that, but that's the point! It's all about resting, which is preparing. Building a yoga practice into this has meant that I've cut back on asanas, and tried to do alittle more pranayama. In an ideal world I would have also fitted in a few more meditative sessions but it's been tricky to find time.

There have been two recent YIOM blog posts that have really helped me this week:
1. Living in the k(Now), a post about pain,
2. The Veganasana's post about listening to your body.

The point is that as I taper for the marathon I have developed a niggling, nagging tightness in my right hamstring that even after a few massages and the rest doesn't seem to have gone away. I am aware that during this resting period aches and pains might start to appear as the body relaxes and recovers from the training, and that ultimately all will be fine on Sunday - it's not a pain as such in my leg but it's still on the back of my mind...

So, I've come up with a three point plan - based on points from Born to Run and also the above blogs:
1. Breathe into my hamstring when I stretch and run, to keep everything relaxed :)
2. Listen to my body - be attentive - need to keep the ego in check!
3. Tune in to the positive - all the preparation will make a difference on the day!

A BLT running/ yoga mantra :)

Thousands of people are running in the London Marathon on Sunday and everyone will have a few tales about their preparations. And hundreds, maybe millions of pounds will be raised for charity. I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with my family, running friends and the running community that the marathon creates.

Now...which gate is the flight to London?...