If anyone has ever wondered why Sir Scruffalot the Chicken Slayer appears to be the longest living wire haired Jack Russel of all time, the answer is clear - Yoga!
And I have to agree with him - I love yoga in all forms and all styles. But when it comes to a weekend of longer runs, Yin Yoga is the very best way of recovery. I know it should really be lying on the couch eating a tub of Hagen Daaz but if I lay my old bones down on said couch for too long I can barely hobble when I get up.
So what is Yin Yoga as opposed to other forms of yoga? It is a slow practice where passive poses are held for longer than normal - 3 to 5 minutes usually. It targets our deep connective tissue like tendons and ligaments whereas Yang yoga like Vinyasa or Power Yoga targets the muscles.
When you have two long runs on the weekend those connective tissues lurve a good stretch. And when you do get up from the couch you won’t look like someone that’s escaped from a geriatric hospital.
Recovery is super important for us ageing runners. Less is more when it comes to the actual running but we need to add strength work, cross training (spinning for me) and lots of mobility stuff.
Here is a link to today’s Yin Yoga - but there is so much good free stuff out there. Flexibility and mobility work need never be boring.
Month Three of the Long Road to Cape Town is now underway - the workouts are getting harder and the long runs longer. There will be many Yin sessions thrown in!