When I practice yoga or swim in a pool I am totally flowing and in my own space. I have heard athletes talk about being in a zone, dropping into your breath and the moment. That is how it feels. In yoga we call it “staying on your own mat.” I have come to understand that this takes a while to learn to let go of what’s going on around you and just drop in. When I teach beginner yoga, I always mention the importance of enjoying the journey and mentally staying on your own mat. Since I have been practicing yoga for a while, this comes more naturally to me, and as I have started to swim again I am able to “drop in” there as well. Running is a TOTALLY different story. I find that I am consumed with my heaving breath and I am literally counting the seconds as I run. I am doing the sprint triathlon, so I only have to run a 5k and while that may seem like no big deal to most people, it is a big deal to me. Did I mention I am a really slow runner? Well, yesterday I had my Personal Best (or is it Personal Record? I don’t know what the official lingo is as I am NOT a runner- I mentioned that, right?) Here is a picture of me as I logged in a 12:13min/mile for 2 miles. Instead of telling myself that is really lame and I must improve, I am going to practice what I preach and “stay on my on mat.” Or in this case, I am going to stay in my own stride, take this little gain and run again tomorrow.