Should massages to get me exercising again count as shinies?
Stupid thought of the day: "I'm glad I never got around to buying those two books at Audible before the sale ended, bc my mega-shiny opportunity DID come through." Never mind that the two books at Audible wouldn't cover the imputed tip on the mega-shiny.
Tipping is so hard to figure out. There are some people we tip - masseuses, climbing instructors, tourism guides - and some we don't - shooting instructors, my doorman when he retrieves the laundry from the dryer when I left it when I left for Africa. Out of curiosity, is one supposed to tip a pro-domme after a session?
**
Despite taking Thurs and Fri completely off from exercising, I still felt off and wanted to be able to parkour on Sat, so I went for a massage at a place down the block that advertised on Citysearch that it does zen shiatsu, the stuff that Mark Yu recommended. As a massage, it was lovely, but it wasn't anything like the stuff that Mark Yu does :(
Despite all the rest and not running at all since last Tues, my body has found a new trick to annoy me. I did a great treadmill hiking workout on Monday night, gaining about ~1200' over the course of an hour with 39lbs on my back. Next day, the outsides of my legs and my butt were sore, similar to the prior Thurs, which at the time I'd attributed to the heels. I assumed it was some weird muscle imbalance - my hams are much weaker than my quads - but Da Bunny told me about iliotibial band syndrome. Weds morning, I did almost an hour of stair climbing w/33lbs and yesterday afternoon, same places were sore. The hypochondriac's friend seemed to confirm Da Bunny's analysis. The funny thing is, the stretches they recommend are some of my fave stretches, except I don't do them any more bc I didn't know what they stretched and I already get beaucoup stretching from aerial and the six stretches Russ the magic physical therapist gave me. d'oh!!
Anyhow, I booked a last minute massage at Equinox. Bc it was last minute and I had other appts, I missed the chance to work out there. However, this massage was so different from everything else I've tried I couldn't believe it. When I called asking about myofascial release, they put me through to the spa manager, who was helpful, if trying to sell. She offered to let me chat and get a demo from someone she recommended, who is also a marathoner, but I didn't really have time for that.
Constandino's hands were crazy strong from the get-go and he also used a variety of techniques: e.g. at one point he held my arm a certain way and had me shrug while releasing a deep breath. I'm glad he explained what myofascial release is, bc it's very different. He very slowly ran a hand? elbow? up my itb. It was the most painful thing I haven't safeworded out of. I tried very hard to breathe through it but omg it hurt. Oddly enough, when I was face down, he commented that it wasn't as bad as he expected, but when I flipped over, he said, "yeah, there it is." Also, when working on my left butt cheek, he commentd, "you have a lot of adhesions." I liked that he used essential oils throughout the massage - it wasn't the point of the massage, which tends to irritate me, bc I don't have to pay someone to snort yummy thing, but was a nice touch.
Y'know how when you're sick, sometimes your spatial sense is thrown off, so you think the room is spinning, or your feet are really far away? Oddly enough, for a while when I was on my back, when my eyes were closed, I felt like my entire body had puffed up to twice its usual size, so my head was very close to my knees and all the spatial relationships were off. So very trippy.
Immediately after the massage, I was shocked at how much more my legs could move - my knees felt like they were hitting my ears :) Everything feels a little inflamed this morning, so I just took some Advil, but I feel like I have a greater range of motion. I'm taking today off, bc I can't find a pool or yoga class after work :( and I have to clean the place before I leave :(:(:(
**
I'm feeling so stressed about all the logistics of the weekend and I feel so guilty about taking so much time off from working out and not getting enough done at work lately, I feel guilty about the mega-shiny. Esp since I've been buying a lot of things I'd planned to buy and might even have needed, but oh goodness seeing the credit card bill with the furniture downpayment on it is making me feel po'.
Tipping is so hard to figure out. There are some people we tip - masseuses, climbing instructors, tourism guides - and some we don't - shooting instructors, my doorman when he retrieves the laundry from the dryer when I left it when I left for Africa. Out of curiosity, is one supposed to tip a pro-domme after a session?
**
Despite taking Thurs and Fri completely off from exercising, I still felt off and wanted to be able to parkour on Sat, so I went for a massage at a place down the block that advertised on Citysearch that it does zen shiatsu, the stuff that Mark Yu recommended. As a massage, it was lovely, but it wasn't anything like the stuff that Mark Yu does :(
Despite all the rest and not running at all since last Tues, my body has found a new trick to annoy me. I did a great treadmill hiking workout on Monday night, gaining about ~1200' over the course of an hour with 39lbs on my back. Next day, the outsides of my legs and my butt were sore, similar to the prior Thurs, which at the time I'd attributed to the heels. I assumed it was some weird muscle imbalance - my hams are much weaker than my quads - but Da Bunny told me about iliotibial band syndrome. Weds morning, I did almost an hour of stair climbing w/33lbs and yesterday afternoon, same places were sore. The hypochondriac's friend seemed to confirm Da Bunny's analysis. The funny thing is, the stretches they recommend are some of my fave stretches, except I don't do them any more bc I didn't know what they stretched and I already get beaucoup stretching from aerial and the six stretches Russ the magic physical therapist gave me. d'oh!!
Anyhow, I booked a last minute massage at Equinox. Bc it was last minute and I had other appts, I missed the chance to work out there. However, this massage was so different from everything else I've tried I couldn't believe it. When I called asking about myofascial release, they put me through to the spa manager, who was helpful, if trying to sell. She offered to let me chat and get a demo from someone she recommended, who is also a marathoner, but I didn't really have time for that.
Constandino's hands were crazy strong from the get-go and he also used a variety of techniques: e.g. at one point he held my arm a certain way and had me shrug while releasing a deep breath. I'm glad he explained what myofascial release is, bc it's very different. He very slowly ran a hand? elbow? up my itb. It was the most painful thing I haven't safeworded out of. I tried very hard to breathe through it but omg it hurt. Oddly enough, when I was face down, he commented that it wasn't as bad as he expected, but when I flipped over, he said, "yeah, there it is." Also, when working on my left butt cheek, he commentd, "you have a lot of adhesions." I liked that he used essential oils throughout the massage - it wasn't the point of the massage, which tends to irritate me, bc I don't have to pay someone to snort yummy thing, but was a nice touch.
Y'know how when you're sick, sometimes your spatial sense is thrown off, so you think the room is spinning, or your feet are really far away? Oddly enough, for a while when I was on my back, when my eyes were closed, I felt like my entire body had puffed up to twice its usual size, so my head was very close to my knees and all the spatial relationships were off. So very trippy.
Immediately after the massage, I was shocked at how much more my legs could move - my knees felt like they were hitting my ears :) Everything feels a little inflamed this morning, so I just took some Advil, but I feel like I have a greater range of motion. I'm taking today off, bc I can't find a pool or yoga class after work :( and I have to clean the place before I leave :(:(:(
**
I'm feeling so stressed about all the logistics of the weekend and I feel so guilty about taking so much time off from working out and not getting enough done at work lately, I feel guilty about the mega-shiny. Esp since I've been buying a lot of things I'd planned to buy and might even have needed, but oh goodness seeing the credit card bill with the furniture downpayment on it is making me feel po'.