Yogarific

Got back from Alaska on a redeye Saturday morning. The trip was great, although I must admit that after living in Colorado for 10 years the mountains of Alaska have lost some of their "wow" factor for me. Sad but true.

Cousin J's bar mitzvah was great, as was seeing family-- especially the ones that live in Anchorage. The NJ/east coast branch of the family gets seen plenty. Sometimes too much. Camping and hiking in Denali national park for 3 days was awesome, with moose and bear and eagle sightings a-plenty. We visited Fairbanks for the first time and, despite rumors that it's a dump, were captivated by its unique charm.

The drive back to Anchorage via Delta Junction reminded me how much I like civilization. Despite spending the entire day surrounded by incredible natural beauty, including the incomparably beautiful Paxon Lake, I realized I had begun to breathe more easily when we passed Glenallen, freely when we got to Palmer, which is about an hour outside of Anchorage.


All of this travel, including the plane ride, amounted to a lot of sitting. Yes, I ran while we were away, including a 9.5 and 10 miler on the Coastal Trail in Anchorage, which I love. Yes, I did yoga 3 times. But oy vey, am I ever stiff. I did my Baron Baptiste CD this morning (after an attempt to take a 6:30 am class at Corepower Yoga which the instructor blew off). Wow. They say every day is different. I could really feel the impact those hours of sitting had on my body. Backbends, which are always a challenge, were completely killer. But it felt great to get moving like that again, and it was nice to be reminded how hard yoga can be.

Glad to be home. Now, I need to get motivated to work on my dissertation.