Normal practice
I arrived at the studio about 6:30. Tight again, after diving on Friday and riding on Sat. I really should have practiced on Sun, but could only drag myself from bed to couch and wish my dad a happy father’s day. (My dad is awesome.) Also, I talked to my brother, who I’ve been playing phone tag with since I returned from the NWHI. He sounded good, which is really excellent, because he didn’t for a while there. Anyway, my hamstrings were a little tight, but it’s really my ACLs — I think that’s from the cycling.
It felt like a normal practice: a little too much effort and too much wandering mind, but that’s (sadly) normal for me. After doing a couple dropbacks/ups that felt ugly, I asked CL for an assist to try to get me to lift up more before going back. It helped, but it will take some time for the backbends to feel fluid again. Part of what drove me away from practice last year was shoulder issues, and they have only gotten tighter in the time away.  And my hip flexors got tighter with all the cycling. And my quads just burn through the backbends. So, yes, it will be a while before this all feels good again. There was a time that I surprised myself and touched my heels in a backbend. It will be a while before that happens again!
As for shoulder issues, that’s been pretty good. I still have some pinching in my left AC joint and some crunching in my right shoulder, but eh. I’ve been sitting in front of the computer all day, periodically flexing my rhomboids (pulling my scapulae into my back). When I did PT last year, it turns out that that weakness in my rhomboids was a potential cause of my shoulder issues (letting the scapula pull away from the back when I raise my arm, thereby crunching the top of the shoulder joint). Needless to say, I have been keeping that in mind during practice. The trick is to pull in the scapulae without sticking the chest out. It’s pretty subtle — at least for me with my underdeveloped rhomboids.
I did a brief (50 breath) sit at the end of practice after uth pluthi.
Tomorrow, I’ll have to start earlier to be sure I make my 9am meeting.