Welp, it happened. I signed up a 5k. But not just any 5k, my bestie Amishi hooked me up with tickets for Wanderlust108, which is a mindful triathlon: 5K run, 75 minute Yoga practice, followed by a 20-25 minute meditation session.
And, I completed it this past weekend with a dear friend, who cheered me when I finished the 5k, almost crying. Here's why: the entire event took place on the Santa Monica Pier, which is amazing and right near my house; however, the run portion took place on the beach, in the sand. This by a long shot was the hardest run I've ever endured.
Like many others, I didn't know that the 5K was to take place on the sand, so I went down with my running shoes on. I started the race with others, trudging through the sand with tennis shoes on, getting wet, huffing and puffing. About 3/4 of the way to the 1/2 way point, I pulled over to the side and took off my shoes and socks, which now weighed about 2lbs because they were wet. Taking off the shoes was like Christmas morning -- I was finally able to run a little bit more freely. Making it to the half way point felt like a huge milestone in itself, but finishing in 50 mins felt like finishing 3 precision running classes back-to-back. I knew my legs were going to hurt like a mother-f'er later that day.
I still had the yoga portion to get through, another physically challenging endeavor. However, we had an hour to kill in between finishing the 5k and the start of the yoga practice. We spent the time visiting some of the vendors. If you've never attended a Wanderlust event, I highly recommend it, it's every health-conscious, tree-hugging, yogi wanna-be's dream come true. I grabbed a sip from the Kombucha station, got some cereal from Kashi, an Rx Bar, I also bought a hoodie and a tank-top from Adidas and got a cute swag bag from Ford amongst a bunch of other fun stuff.
Ironically, the yoga practice felt amazing. It was the stretch that I needed following that bitch of a run. The 75 mins sort of flew by, not like what I usually do, count down to Shivasana. I was also reminded of how much I truly enjoy yoga. This year has been so busy for me with work, renovating my parents home, and just life, that I've completely fallen out of a regular yoga routine. It doesn't help that my fave yoga instructor at the gym has been on a month long vacation.
It took everything out of me to not fall asleep with my hat on my face (the sun was beating down at this point) during the meditation portion. The instructor's voice was soothing, as expected, and the time just flew by. I don't think I'm ready for a rigorous meditation plan like a vipassana, but these short meditations are my jam. I felt completely relaxed, which is great, because the ensuing pain was not fun.
Following the event, we went to Cafe Gratitude and ate so fast and in silence, it was kind of funny. My toes were completely messed up from the beach and I was long over-due for a pedicure, so I treated myself. Afterwards I came home, ate dinner, took 2 Tylenol PM's, turned off my weekend alarm and went to bed. It was one of the best days.
