Running Yoga

For the fourth year, my colleagues and I ran the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge here in Chicago. It’s a crazy race, with 20,000 participants making their way through Grant Park to cross the finish line and get to the party tents. We always have a blast and are generally one of the last groups to leave the park.

I am not a runner. I’m not fast and I don’t particularly enjoy running. But I like what running does for my body, so I run. I have to listen to music while I run; it’s what makes running bearable. Getting ready for the race, I discovered that I didn’t have my iPod. No tunes! What would I do?! My husband lent me he iPod Shuffle, but as I made my way to the starting line, I realized the battery was dead. Hit with the same no-tunes stick twice. Ouch.

I was late getting to the starting line, so I was stuck at the very back, behind all the walkers. No tunes, and stuck in the back: I’d never make it to the tent and the cold beer. At that moment, I realized I had a choice. I could stay stuck in the idea of how terrible this race was going to be, or I could dwell in each present moment. Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile.

Since I was made aware that I had this choice, I chose the pass less grumpy and breathed in and out for 3.5 miles. I breathed and smiled as I waited seven minutes to cross the start line. I breathed and smiled as I weaved my way through the mobs of walkers. In this running meditation, I just kept coming back to my breath. For the first time in four years, I didn’t stop to walk any portion of the race, even though I hadn’t trained. I realized the race wasn’t just about body; it was body and mind and breath. It was yoga. So I practiced and I ran.