MassAHage away my cares

I am a tense person by nature. I am working on this: on playing, on going with the flow, and trying to find the opportunity and a reason to laugh during the sticky sitations. Running has helped relax me a bit too, at least mentally.

But physically, it has tightened me up. Between the running, the rowing, and the weight lifting, my muscles have just tightened up. I am not a loose, limber person, and that's okay. But I do tense up my shoulders when I run, so my upper back tends to be on the tenser side of things.

One thing caused my shoulders to relax on Friday. I found out that my TA fellowship has been renewed for next year - thank goodness for funding! I had my annual review with the director of graduate studies in our department, and everyone is pleased with progress, both with my research and teaching. That was reassuring and a good reminder that hard work pays off, both in the classroom and on the road...

On Saturday, I ran my last tempo run: 1 mile warm up and cooldown, and 10 miles of tempo - averaged 7:36 pace. Overall, felt really strong, especially because I took on a lot of hard hills.

Afterwards, I went to "A Calmness Within" - this wonderful massage center in Silver Spring. My therapist gave me a wonderful sports massage, with just the right blend of agressive and soothing. I knew my shoulders were tight, but my calves were too! But, it is now Tuesday morning, and all of the tension is still gone (even after a 16 mile run yesterday). Talk about effective! I can't really afford to go often (I go once every 6 months), but when done right, the money is well-spent. I am hoping that this looseness feeling will persist through Monday.

On a Boston-related note: so excited that Joan Benoit Samuelson (1st female gold medalist in the Olympic Marathon, 2 time Boston Champion, former world and American record holder) is also running Boston! Good luck, Joanie!

I am going into this final week hopeful. Hopeful that the tension will stay away, that sleep will be a regularity, and that I can find that delicate balance of excitement and focusness about the tasks ahead!

Forge on...