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INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2003, I taught a few yoga sessions in a small town in mid-western Ontario, Markdale. It was a hatha style of yoga class. Yoga was a new experience for most of the participants. Students ranged in age and were mostly female. Graeme saw my posted flyer and e-mailed me to enquire about the classes. He gave me a bit of his history. I told him about my Yoga for Runners work and invited him to attend the next class. He came to a number of the classes and then I prepared a custom yoga program for him. Since that time, he has continued to practice on his own and I have continued to coach him on his yoga practice. Graeme is planning to complete Ironman in Florida in November 2004. These pages will document his training experience, focusing on how he integrates yoga into his regular training and documenting the shifts and changes he feels in his body. BACKGROUND What sort of activities were you involved in as a child? I was always a pretty active child. I grew up loving the outdoors and was involved in activities like canoeing, hiking, soccer and hockey. When did you start running? I was 21 years old,a student at Queens University and my initial interest in running was to offset the beer I drank - I think I drank a beer for every mile I ran. A few years later, I was at medical school at McGill and I took up running to offset the gruelling and rigorous pace of med school. I found running to be a zen activity that helped balance the rest of my crazy schedule. Within a year, I ran my first marathon - Ottawa in just under 3 hours. That was in 1978. |
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 How was the experience? Actually, it was a pretty painful experience. I wore my green Asics Jay Hawk shoes and I recall that water was only available at the first-aid stations. But. I loved it and knew I wanted more of it. So in the next few years I ran a few more marathons and brought my time down little by little. In 1980 I ran the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington and came in at 2:31. Did you do any stretching during this time? NO! Subsequent running history? In the early 80's I was a resident in family medicine and working 12 hour shifts. I would bike to and from the hospital and kept up my mileage as best I could. My goal was to break 2:30 and in 1981 I ran Ottawa again..this time in 2:26. When I completed medical |
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