Damn Yoga.

I've been a runner since April of 1977.
I'm certain of that date because of where I was - in life, in location and in lifestyle.

I had completed my undergraduate coursework and my student teaching assignment and was biding my time till graduation in May.

It was shortly after I returned to Bloomington from a ten day excursion in Daytona Beach that I finally decided that this was it - enough was enough. I had to start exercising - seriously exercising. No bullshit exercising, either. The fact that I played softball five days a week in the summer did not constitute a healthy lifestyle. I was a physical wreck at 22 years old. I decided to incorporate running into my life.

On the day of my first official run, I hurt both my feet and my legs. I was ill prepared. Nice going, Mark.

But I learned my lesson. Within a month, I purchased Adidas waffle running shoes and running shorts. In no time, I was really into running and I definitely cleaned up my life. Running/jogging became the habit I've maintained now for thirty years.

So today in 20o7, I have a bit of mileage on the wheels (legs). I'm looking for a discipline to compliment my running activity. Arlene has benefited immensely from practicing yoga, so I thought, why not me? That would be perfect!

So I did two consecutive days of exercise following the Yoga for Dummies instructional video. I mean, it does say for Dummies, right?

Well, if those exercises were for Dummies, I must need the Yoga for Morons version. Let me tell you, just because you're able to run a few miles in this god awful microwave we call summer in Florida, don't assume you can breeze through a thirty minute Yoga workout of twisting and stretching. I tried, and I couldn't.

You'd think I would have known better, being I injured myself running for the first time years before. But no. Now Yoga did me in. Too much, too soon. But I guarantee, I'll be back on the floor mat, attempting tree poses and other balancing contortions that Yoga teaches. Just not in the near future.

As Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force - "A man's got to know his limitations."

I'm learning mine.

Namaste - and pass the icepack.

Learn more about this author, Mark Tribbia.
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