Beyond the Training Plan: Rediscovering Joy Through Play
Play like no one is watching.
My first sailboat ride. Photos from author’s collection except where noted.
In this issue:
✨Pure Joy in Play
🖋 Journal prompt
🧘♀️ A yoga flow to let go and play
🌟 Offers & services to support your journey
🔥 Mantras
🍲 From the Kitchen
🏃♀️ What’s next: Hills, hills and more hills
Pure Joy in Play:
Train hard, play hard and rest well. A moment during play where every thought, worry and burden falls away and the feeling of pure exhilaration takes over. If only for a moment, then it embeds in memory forever. The approach of summer awakens the same desire to go play. Reminds me of roller coaster rides as a kid or riding waves at a water park. I could ride all day either one, tracks or waves. I wanted to stay all day.
Summer begins this month. Ideas flood in to go camping, hike mountains. Seek waterfalls, swim in the basins. Fly a kite at the beach, dust off golf clubs and hit the links or pump up bike tires head for the local greenways.
The picture above remains as a highlight memory for me. A gorgeous late summer day in a small gulf coast town. I was there to join an event to swim across the bay. The swim course was one mile across full of marine life, boats and choppy waters. I was a little nervous. The day before the swim, my friend’s dad offered me a ride on his sailboat. He had been sailing his whole life which I found interesting to watch him set up and launch. He asked me to join him. Nervous at first because I didn’t know how to work the sails. No experience needed he assured me. The first glide across the water was sheer elation, creating a surge of excitement. All my concerns or worries disappeared in that moment. I wanted to do that all day. The thrill and pure pleasure of sailing across the waters will stay with me always.
In contrast, the swim across the bay was terrifying and I ended up jumping in a rescue boat at the halfway point. The buoys marking the course floated away toward the bridge. Waves were relentless and a current pulled me off course. Each stroke my hands raked over jellyfish that had saturated the waters. I got out, sat in the boat and cried at the failure. Sometimes endurance events don’t go as planned, but the sailboat ride is what made it all worth the adventure.
Every time this memory comes up about gliding so freely and peacefully, it brings a smile and good feelings. There is a difference in doing activities we enjoy and doing something that is pure joy. If we take the time to play, then there is the potential to destress and release emotional blocks keeping us from growing and reaching goals. Especially for athletes, take time off from structured exercise and enjoy the body you have worked so hard to train.
Play like no one is watching.
Last year, my nephew stayed with me a few days. We hauled bikes around to several parks until our legs were sore. We rode an agility course, trails, gravel roads, greenways and found a few hills to wiz down. His biking confidence increased so much by week’s end he wanted to bike off the front porch down the steps. I had to deny him that thrill and possible crash. Not on my watch. Months later, he mentioned his brave ride on the trails and going down steep hills dodging rocks. So simple, but one for the memory of fun times. Pictured below is our trek out a gravel path in a wildlife reserve. On the way back we were caught in pop up rain shower with a heavy downpour. That was fun too!
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." -George Bernard Shaw
Riding trails with my nephew.
Journaling prompt:
Describe the last time an activity took you home smiling from pure fun?
Yoga Suggestions:
Somatic Yoga.
Coloring outside the lines.
Tree pose with challenging arm variations and side stretches.
Play with a pose like a tree swaying in the wind.
Notice sensations; move intuitively; drop the script.
Try somatic yoga. Start with a favorite pose, then add easy movements found in nature such as waves, shaking, swaying and rocking.
Dance free form like no one is looking.
Strut as you walk through your house. Very possible, this will make you smile.
Make your practice more playful. Do all the poses that create a dance and breath into it.
Use Lion’s breath get started to release any tension. Lion’s breath is a normal inhale with an audible exhale through the mouth wide open. Like a lion roaring. Let go and play.
How can I support you in your athletic adventures:
Monday Yoga for Runners, Hikers and Walkers: Start the week off moving and recovering from the weekend. 7:30am CT Click the link to register. 🧘🏻♂️
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Mantras:
I enjoy life.
My joy is contagious.
I love to laugh and have fun.
Joy flows effortlessly in my life.
I celebrate beauty and blessings.
I attract positivity,
I am a light for God.
I am worthy of joy.
I welcome joy, peace and love in my heart.
Blessings are all around me.
FROM THE KITCHEN:
Summertime and watermelon.
Watermelon provides excellent hydration. A surprising fact about this delicious melon is it may enhance exercise performance. I know for me, if I have it the day before and after a long run, then I recover quicker and have less soreness. Check out other benefits from Healthline.com.
My favorite stretch of gravel road on a steady incline because coming back down is pure elation.
What’s next in training…
Hills, hills and more hills. My previous coach advised me to run at the beginning of the hill or the end of a hill at least 10 to 20 steps. I found this to improve confidence, pace and cardio. The confidence in knowing you have the breath to get up one more hill. In New York’s marathon, there are five bridges - they are no joke. In training, I need to run inclines and power hike. All summer hills, hills and more hills. Nothing crazy, just keep them in my run routes.
What does your summer training entail?
I would love to see your comments below.
Call for runners to interview who have participated in the New York Marathon. I would love to share your story on my newsletter during the next 6 months of this journey to the race. Direct message me for details.
Keep moving forward shining your light on and off the mat.
This is more than a newsletter, it’s a call to live fully, creatively, and actively, no matter your age.
Thanks for being a part of the community. I can’t wait to share the road ahead with you.
Namaste’
Jill