The Morning After (A massage report)

I rode to the train station this morning, although the better decision may have been to stay in bed and rest. Yesterday I was up at 3:30 to get to work to fix a server that was down. It is the server that handles emails to the Executive Director and Deputy Director cell phones. With that down, God forbib, they would be without email on their cell phones. I say that like it is a bad thing, but since they pay me to keep all that kind of stuff up and running, I had to get to work early. I also had to juggle 2 appointments that I had previously scheduled for yesterday, but in the long run it all worked out. It just made for a VERY long day.

One of the appointments I had yesterday was for a massage. After my 200k my legs were feeling fine, with the exception of couple of places that remained tight and painful. Having heard of the benefits of a massage, I put the preconceived notions aside and made an appointment. I felt very comfortable with my choice of therapist. The location of her studio was in her home, in a very nice neighborhood in Arnold. Her website gave her first and last name, which made it easier for me to Google her and find out a little bit more about her.

I arrived at her studio, and she showed me to the room where she would be doing the massage. Before getting on the massage table she asked me to sit down and she asked me some questions about how I felt after I get off the bike, what kind of stretches I do before and after a long ride, etc. After finishing up with the questions, she left the room and allowed me to undress and get on the table and under the blanket that was provided.

We had discussed that I wanted her to concentrate on my legs, since that is all that I felt needed massaging. I had also only booked a 30 minute appointment, so I didn't want her working on my neck and shoulders and not have time to get to my legs. She started with my calf and worked up to my thigh and she told me where my thigh was hurting. I guess she could feel the tightness or looseness or something. She worked on that area for a while and then moved to the other leg. Again, starting at the calf and moving up. When she was done with that leg, she asked me to turn over, and she repeated the process on the front of my legs. The entire time the only part of my body that was exposed was the part that she was working on. I never felt like I was "hanging out there" at all. When she finished up, she left the room, I got dressed and she came back in and spent a few minutes going over some stretched with me that would be helpful before and after riding. My 30 minute appointment had stretched into close to an hour, but I was only charged for 30 minutes. I never felt like she was watching the clock or rushing to get me out of there. It was all very relaxed and professional.

I have to say, I was not really to WOWED by the whole thing. When I talked to Bev after the appointment, I told her it was "alright". Some people go crazy over getting a massage. They say, "It is so awesome to be pampered and having someone take care of me." But, I guess because I am pampered all the time, it was nothing special. ;-)  Let's put it this way, I would go back and get another massage provided that the one I just had actually helped the pain in my thighs when I ride.

That is why I had to ride this morning. I had to see if there was any benefit to the massage, and the short answer is yes. My legs felt better and looser and pedaling felt easier. I did not rush to work this morning because I was not feeling 100%, but I did notice an improvement, especially climbing the hill at the end of Deep Creek Ave. So, it really did work.

I would recommend that everyone have at least one massage in their lifetime. I did, and I can cross that off the bucket list now. Next up... manicure/pedicure. Stay tuned!

Garmin info from the ride in this morning.