Did you know that yoga poses give runners more than just foot strength and quad stretches? Yoga can help build mental endurance as well. Your yoga practice should have a converse relationship with your training: When you’re ramping up mileage and churning out hard workouts, stick with relaxing sessions. When your training eases up, you can increase the intensity and frequency of your yoga workouts, says Sage Rountree, yoga instructor, triathlon coach, and author of The Runner’s Guide to Yoga.
We suggest you be humble. We know you love running and are super dedicated! But it can take years to master yoga poses, so don’t go to your first class (or your first 20) expecting to be the star pupil–no matter how many races you’ve run or how fast your PRs are. “Focus on yourself, not what the person on the mat next to you can do,” Rountree says. And realize there’s plenty to gain from a less-than-perfect practice.
Yoga makes good athletes better. This time-honored discipline imparts flexibility, balance, and whole-body strength, creating improvements in an athlete’s form, efficiency, and power. In addition, yoga’s attention to concentration and breath awareness improves mental focus and mental endurance—hidden assets that become especially important at the end of a long training session or race.
Special thanks to Sage Roundtree for her excellent guidance. Namaste
Yoga for Runners Class is not currently being offered