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Posts Tagged ‘massage’

Flexibility Project, Pt 2: A Massage Story

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Next step in project loosey goosey. Get a massage!

I live in kind of a hippie neighborhood. While I have a ton of yoga studios and massage places within walking distance, they are all the incense burning spa-type, not the serious medical treatment kind of place that I really wanted. All that hippie stuff is cool, but not when I’ve got some serious knots that need attending to. I want my quads and gluts to be pounded away on and grinded down into mush, not exfoliated.

I took the subway to this place downtown after work that got pretty good reviews tonight and was totally psyched to get beaten up and mashed around a little. My masseur (is that the right word?) was really cool and is a runner so she knew all about the kind of pain she was about to inflict on me, the good kind.

I have only had one massage before, and it was at least 10 years ago so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

There definitely was that somewhat awkward “undress as much as you feel comfortable and I’ll be back when you are ready” line before she first left the room, and I had to give some quick thought to it. I sort of thought that was a trick question. Wait, not EVERYONE is most comfortable naked? If it wasn’t for social norms and er… cold weather… I would probably just go naked all the time, but that is a different story all together. TMI? And if I’m trying new things, I might as well jump in the deep end and embrace it all, right?

After 45 minutes of having my hamstrings, quads, neck and back mushed away into tiny little pieces, I totally felt amazing. She found all these extra knots and hidden tight spots that I never knew about and probably wouldn’t have been able to clear out with any stretches on my own.

Strangely enough she found out that my right leg (not the one that had the IT band issues) was a lot tighter than the left. Apparently I’ve been neglecting it a little too much while I’ve been focusing on recovering. It did help me realize the toll that triathlon training put on my body and while I was faster and more efficient than I ever have been, my body clearly isn’t at 100% and needs some TLC to bounce back after all the physical beatings that I put myself through.

My gluts and calves are definitely a bit tender, but I do feel really good. Maybe even a few inches taller. I may have to make this a regular occurance…

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Flexability Project, Pt 1

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

While the tri season isn’t quite over (although I’ve almost been training like it is) I’ve started to set a few off season goals for myself, the main one being working on my flexability. I’m also trying desperately not to regain all of the 15 pounds I lost training for the Rhode Island 70.3, but that is for another post.

One of my hopes this year was to be able to race all year injury free. Didn’t happen. I didn’t even make it to my A race without an injury. It sucks because while I didn’t ever think that I knew that much about triathlon training, it is just a kick in the pants like a recurring IT band injury that makes you realize how much more you have to learn.

So this off season I’ve decided to really work on being way more flexible. I have been a lot better about it this year compared to last year, but after finding the big knot in my left ass cheek that was likely caused my IT band issues, I still have some things to work on.

I especially started thinking about during the Olympics when Usain Bolt destroyed the 100 and 200 and everyone was talking about how few strides he had to take to do it. Some commentator basically broke running fast into stride length and turnover. Increase either and you will be a faster runner. Here are my initial plans on having a little longer stride, and hopefully staying injury free.

Step 1: Start going to yoga regularly. I got myself a sweet yoga mat and have already taken two classes at the studio up the street and have never sweated more standing in one place. I even rocked my compression sleeves like a total dork at my class tonight. I had been getting sharp cramps in my calves at work during the last two days while sitting at my desk at work, so I figured they might help. So far I’m a huge fan, but have a full review on them coming later. Hold tight.

Step 2: Massage. My own stretching routine clearly had some gaps, but I’m hoping that going to a massage therapist that knows a thing or two about keeping athletes’ muscles in check can help out there. I know, it just dounds like I’m making some excuses to pamper myself, but if it works and I get to have some masuse rub me down for an hour so who am I to complain?

I probably won’t know how this whole project will tun out until the middle of next season, but hopefully if it is something that I keep up with regularly, then next yearI’ll be able to go a whole lot faster a whole lost more comfortably.

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