BeneFIT member Spencer Conklin is back practicing Bikram Yoga again for almost a year after a long hiatus. As a very competitive athlete in his younger years his body took a lot of beatings and the accumulation of injuries had taken its toll. Since being back in the hot room and sweating through the Bikram Yoga sequence of postures, his arthritis and pain in his joints is virtually gone, his knees are stronger, and he’s been able to run again. This combined with better sleep and and more energy have made the rewards of 90 minutes in the Bikram Yoga torture chamber an obvious win.
But an even better Bikram Yoga win for him was many years ago when he was striving to finally win his age group in the CapTex Triathlon. He’d come close in the previous 5-6 years but had never taken the title. That year he was determined and knew he’d gotten off to a good start. He was the first out of the water after the swim and was still ahead of anyone in his age group even after the cycling. But during the run, the last phase of the race, he saw at least one of his peers pass him up.
It was a hot day, in the 90’s with humidity around 60%, so conditions were challenging. But as he was approaching the hydration station he could see that the guy who’d passed him earlier was stopping. There was his chance. He calculated the risk of not getting hydration and electrolytes and thought, “This is not any harder than Bikram Yoga.” He felt the breeze cooling his skin as he ran and said to himself, “This is not as hot as Bikram Yoga.” Instead of stopping as he came to the hydration station, he motioned to have the volunteers throw the water at his face and chest and picked up his pace. His mantra for the rest of the race was “Bikram Yoga is harder than this.”
He didn’t know if he’d won when he crossed the finish line but when he calculated his time for the run he found he’d ran 7 minute miles, his fastest time ever. The icing on the cake came the next morning when he looked to see who’d won and there was his name at the top of his age group–First Place!