Pre-marathon sports massage

I had meant to go for a deep tissue massage before now but what with all the running and everything I didn't got round to it until today. A friend from the club gave me the number of a therapist she recommended who is really reasonably priced so I thought I'd give her a try.
Early indications are, I'll be going back!

Last night was a tough track workout that left me in bits and I felt like an old lady getting out of my bed. Luckily a 6 mile recovery run this morning eased that a bit so by the time I arrived for my massage I was feeling quite limber.

While I didn't feel like I had any obvious hotspots it became obvious during the treatment that the upper part of both calf muscles were quite knotted and required a good bit of work. Ditto for the upper parts of my shins on the lateral side of my knee.

My right side in general was a lot tighter than the left and needed a lot more knots worked out, although the left lateral thigh area (part of the ITB) was unexpectedly a problem area whereas the right was fine. I'm sure this is all a function of my drastically uneven hips and lower spine but I hope some more focussed strength work over the winter will help even this out. Unfortunately nothing but a new skeleton is going to help the underlying issues.

All in all there was more there to work on than I thought there would be and probably less there than she had been expecting! I've been told to keep up the foam rolling, stretching and self-massage as I'm obviously doing a reasonable job so far so that's encouraging.

A productive morning but I'm wrecked now and have a parent teacher meeting to go to. Fingers crossed it goes well and I'm home in my jammies by six!

Shoes! Really this time...

As you can see, my orange-laced Saucony Omni 11's had passed their sell by date.  I got these just before I started training for the marathon so they have got well over the recommended 500 miles on them.  I do rotate my shoes but my other 2 pairs are both over 2 years old.  Shame on me!!
These guys have served me well and I have had no significant injuries in them so far so I made the decision to buy the exact same shoe online.  This meant I got last years shoe at a big discount which is ace as I'm broke :)  I have supported running shops in the past and most probably will again in the future but right now due to the financial realities of being a working single parent of teens I am not in a position to spend 135 euro on runners I can get for 70 online.  I will continue to pay my taxes, give to charity etc. but I'm just not a complete mug!

Can't wait to give the new one's a run out but yesterday, in the rain, on the curragh was not the time.  In fact I didn't even wear the dirty ones so that's not even why they are filthy!  I always wear a less cushioned shoe on the grass as I don't feel I need it as much and when it's wet or uneven I'm much more concerned about grip and contact with the ground than cushioning.  I'm liable to topple over at the least provocation at the best of times so I need all the help I can get on uneven ground.