Fresh and Loose!

7:40, 5:27, 4:01, 2:37, 75, 31: these are numbers I have not seen on the track all season...until last night. I had no intentions of running this fast, my hips and joints dictated the speed. I know bodywork is important, and I learned just how valuable it can be last night. This sport costs a pretty penny and well, I don't have the financial resources to do everything I would like to do. Yesterday, I bit the bullet and paid $125 for a 70 minute session with an awesome massage therapist. To my surprise, there really wasn't much massaging, mostly stretching and pressure point stuff that felt somewhat like an ART session. I have to admit that once done, I was a bit disappointed because I didn't feel much of a difference, and I felt a bit cheated that my muscles didn't really get massaged. But later that night, when I was warming up for my track workout, my hip and joints just felt fresh and loose. I instantly noticed the difference when I did my first interval, my body just felt young. I didn't feel like a 40 year-old, but more like my 20's (well, I might be embellishing here, probably more like my 30's). I've had massages and ART sessions but to be honest, none of them made quite the difference like the one I had yesterday. I'm sold that you get what you pay for and that if you pay enough, bodywork makes a huge difference! My plan is to cut back on eating out 4 times per month so that I can substitute one bodywork session.

Well, summer has finally made it here to the Bay Area and I LOVE the freakin summer! I turned my grades in on Wednesday and was officially finito with school. On Thursday morning when I woke up to swim, I realized that I did not have to go to work for the next two months, and I let out a big "Woohoo!" (yes, I really shouted woohoo at 6 AM from my bed). Summer means light at 5:30 AM until 8:30 PM, naps, mid-day coffee shops, reading, volunteering, recovery, warm weather, visiting Kona, and of course training and racing. My serotonin levels must be really up and up right now. I'll just ride the wave. And I'll leave you with a quote that one smart cookie told me, and it really hit home:

Your dreams should inspire you and not haunt you.