I Love "Me" Time

I am a HUGE advocate for self-care. Aside from annual physicals, well-woman exams (OK, in the interest of full disclosure the only reason I really get my annual well-woman exam is because they hold my birth control refills hostage without a pap smear) and tending to your mind/body wellness, I am a firm believer in the power of massage - especially now that I have been bumping up my running mileage while half marathon training.

While I do have an online shopping addiction (thanks Amazon Prime) and unhealthy crafting habit, I don't spend money on other self-indulgences like manicures, trips to the hair salon (seriously, I get my hair cut twice a year) or delicious gingerbread lattes from Starbucks. But, I have no issue in splurging for a monthly massage. In general I am not a fan of being touched, especially by strangers, so I am fortunate that my dear friend Stacy is a massage therapist. Last night I had my monthly appointment with her, I showed up tired and crabby, but when I left I felt like I was floating on a cloud.  

A quick Google search pulls up countless articles extolling the benefits of massage therapy for runners. Whether the evidence is scientific or anecdotal I don't really care. All I know is that since starting my massage therapy sessions I have found that my recovery time after long runs has decreased, and my ability to successfully self massage with a foam roller has improved because I have a better idea of my "problem areas" - thanks to the dialog I have with the therapist. For me, that has been the key to taking full advantage of my monthly massages... Talk to your massage therapist, she is your friend! 

So tell me, have you employed massage therapy as part of your running regimen? If so, do you find it to be beneficial? 

I Came in Like a Wrecking Ball... (sort of)

Seriously, this is how I felt last week with my running... I was on a streak, hitting the bricks every day from Wednesday through Sunday, completing two 5Ks and the longest run of my life at 9.4 miles on Sunday.  Feeling seemingly invincible (why wouldn't I, a 40 year old women who has been semi-consistently running outdoors since late August?), I decided to hop on my treadmill Monday evening to get in my 1 mile run for the Runner's World Run Streak. While I knew that I still had a couple of aches from the previous day's long run, I figured I just needed to get my legs loosened up and I'd be fine.

The truth was that my legs hurt, bad.  My right knee throbbed and some muscles (I have no idea which ones - human anatomy always grossed me out in college) at the top of both thighs were sore - and STILL are by the way. Knowing that mentally I may not come back from another sidelining injury (See my femoral neck stress fracture and Achilles tendinitis sob-stories to understand my fragile mental state) I reached out to Jeff Galloway for some advice.  Fortunately,

37 Days of Awesome - Days 1 to 5

A few weeks ago I was on a flight with time to kill, and instead of paying $7 for in-flight internet access, thanks United Airlines for nickle and diming me I opted to read my latest issue of Runner's World magazine. Normally I just skim through and read the articles that jump out at me as being interesting, but as I had 4 hours of spare time on my hands I ended up reading the issue cover to cover which is where I learned about the Runner's World Run Streak. 

According to Runner's World, the goal is simple: "Run at least one mile per day, every day, starting on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26) and ending on New Year's Day (Friday, January 1). That's 37 consecutive days of running."

When you are sitting on a cramped airplane bored out of your mind eating fistfuls of gummy bears and delicious Combos pretzel snacks, the idea of a running streak seems like a brilliant idea in which one would be stupid not to participate, especially when I considered the upcoming holidays and my penchant to over-indulge in all things fatty-sugary-salty-alcoholy-delicious. 

So, somewhere over Iowa I made up my mind that I was committed to following though with it. Now, I am usually a 2-3 times a week runner, doing anywhere from 3-5 miles during my weekday run(s) and then 5+ miles on my weekend long runs... and trust me, peeling myself off of the couch to get