Getting Rid of the Knots!

Yesterday my friend Molly and I decided to go to Sarah Ferguson's Dana-Farber Fundraiser - Restore Total Body Sports Massages! My massage therapist, Amy was great. I never realized how many knots I had in my legs. From the hamstrings to the calves, and even the foot arch muscles I was tight! She told me that my left leg was even tighter than my right leg, which was pretty surprising to me, considering that it was my right hip flexor/glut that was giving me some trouble. After my massage she gave me some great "prevention" tips to keep my body from getting injured... using a tennis ball on the balls of my feet and any other tight areas (like my hip) to massage out any kinks that run deep (and that a foam roller wouldn't catch), and some great hamstring stretches using just a towel!

I'll definitely be going back for another massage before the marathon. Today at the gym I felt much less tense, and my legs felt looser. I also decided to take a yoga class at the BSC this morning (on my day off!) before my run, so I'm sure that all the stretching in yoga was helpful for my run.

Back to work tomorrow, but I hope to up my mileage this week! Hopefully that massage will be beneficial in helping me reach that goal!

Helllllooo 2010!

It's been so long since I've written a blog - I've been MIA since Christmas, but I assure my DFMC teammates and friends that I AM still actively training for Boston! Lately, I have been getting up to 12-13 mile days once a week, with intermittent fartlek and hill days, and of course lots of cross-training too! With all this cold weather though, and lots of snow, I've been completing most of my workout inside... on the "dreadmill" or ellipticals. And then of course, yesterday, I tried out a new class at the Boston Sports Club called Total Body Workout - and it was, really it was! Pat, our instructor worked us hard, and at the end of the class I was already feeling sore. Needless to say, today I can barely walk - but in a good way! We did lots of squats and quad and hamstring exercises, which my trainer, Stacie says is best for marathon runners. One Boston Marathoner even told her that squats were what saved her on Heartbreak Hill last year, so I've got to trust her on that!

While on vacation 2 weeks ago in the Turks and Caicos with my family, my younger sisters, Ashley and Amy and I ran and walked the 6 mile long beach daily. A couple times I tried barefoot which was also a drastic change in my workout. I could really feel the burn in my calves, and I've heard that it's really good to run barefoot occasionally to work those muscles in your legs that typically don't get used much with running sneakers on. Again though, super sore on the flip side. I guess that's a toss up whether barefoot running helps or hinders your training regiment.

With the Boston Marathon approximately 3 months away (I can't BELIEVE it) I promised myself I would stick more to my training schedule and kick butt in the gym daily. In addition, I am going to try to make it to most (if not all) of the weekend group runs... if I can drag myself out of bed by 7am! ugh!


xoxo stay tuned for an update later this week.