RECOVERY: ANOTHER MOTHER RUNNER SPA
By Sarah
Want to know what’s in my bedside drawer? Let me give you a few hints. It’s long and slender. It’s hard in some spots, and flexible in others. Usually I use it on myself, but sometimes my husband does the honors. Either way, rubbing it on certain parts of my body makes me feel oh so good.
You guessed it: It’s The Stick. (Wait, what were you thinking it was?)
A veritable magic wand for runners, The Stick is so simple, yet so effective. It has handles on both ends and hard plastic spindles covering a flexible bar. The spindles remind me of an abacus counter, except they are positioned evenly across the entire bar with no gaping space on one end. The 1-inch-long spindles can spin freely around the bar, but they can’t move more than a millimeter or so from side to side. To use, an athlete grasps the handles and rubs The Stick back and forth across a sore calf or tight quad. Like many self-help tools, it massages soft tissue and releases fascia that’s constraining muscles. Pressing down harder increases the effectiveness and ouch factor.
The first time I ever saw The Stick was in a van during the 197-mile Hood to Coast Relay. Amanda, one of my teammates in the Odyssey, dug it out of her gear bag after running a pretty-much-all-uphill section of the course. A hurt-so-good scowl spread across Amanda’s face as she ironed The Stick up and down the length of her left thigh and outer hip. Equally intrigued and horrified, I asked her what she was doing. She said she swore by The Stick to release tension in her tight IT band. And she figured rubbing her quads post-run might prevent soreness and stiffness before running her final leg of the relay.
Hours later, as I watched Amanda triumph over the longest portion of the H2C after only getting fragmented sleep and ingesting fatty, salty snacks, I was a believer. Upon receiving mine in the mail, I rubbed it along my denim-clad thigh as I sat at my desk. Despite feeling perfectly fine pre-rub, my thigh muscles shrieked protestations, proclaiming tightness I didn’t realize I had. I kept rubbing, and eventually the cries subsided, and it felt like healing juices were flowing across my (obviously) overworked muscles.
PRACTICAL Motherly ADVICE
HURTS SO GOOD
The idea behind most recovery tools is to attend to muscles and connective tissues before soreness can set in. But as we busy women know, sometimes our best intentions to roll and Stick is like making homemade tomato sauce: It just isn’t happening. Whether you use these tools as preventive or after-the-fact measures, they’ll serve you just as well as sauce from a jar does.
The Stick: I’ve already familiarized you with The Stick, but I’d like to add that it is a 4-year-old ninja’s dream play sword, so be sure to keep your new toy hidden.
TP Therapy: Originally formulated by an athlete with fibromyalgia who experienced constant muscle pain and was told he could no longer exercise, Trigger Point Therapy is a series of at-home kits designed to mimic the benefits of a massage. While the specific area–targeted kits are a bit pricey, justify the purchase with the knowledge that it’s about the same price of a professional massage. Used on key areas of the body to release tension and enhance blood flow, TP Therapy is your at-home masseur, no tip or appointment required.
Foam Roller: Considered indispensible by many, the foam roller is an inexpensive (often less than $20) recovery tool. These rollers, available in smooth or nubby versions, take your at-home recovery a step further and attack muscle knots that can’t be resolved by merely stretching. (You can even make your own foam roller following an instructional video on YouTube.)
Tennis and Golf Balls: Rolling tennis and golf balls under the foot helps to stretch fascia and ligaments in the foot, which can prevent foot pain after workouts and possibly plantar fasciitis down the road. We know many mother runners who keep a ball on the floor near their favorite TV-watching chair or under their desk at work.
DIY RECOVERY TOOLS
“A rolling pin. No joke. I even keep it under my side of the bed.” —HEIDI
“I use my 4-year-old’s XL super bouncy ball for my plantar fasciitis.” —RACHEL
“I fill little Dixie cups with water and freeze them; they work great. I tear down the sides and can hold on to the cup while I massage.” —TRACEY
“My 6-year-old loves karate chopping my legs after a long run!” —JENNIFER
I wish I could say I started using The Stick as religiously as the pope says mass. But like Daphne, my younger daughter, does with a new Groovy Girls doll, I eventually lost interest and misplaced it. Months later, when I found it flecked with dust bunnies in a corner of my closet, I put it in my bedside drawer for safekeeping (and privacy, heh, heh). I broke it out last spring when plantar fasciitis grabbed ahold of my right foot and refused to let go.
Rub, rub, roll, roll. As I watched TiVo’d episodes of Modern Family, I massaged my overly tight calf, which my acupuncturist believed was contributing to my foot malady, and even endured the agony of using The Stick along my inflamed plantar fascia. While I was rubbing and rolling, 9-year-old Phoebe, my older daughter, walked through our room to get a drink of water. (Can I just interrupt my own anecdote to ask: Why do kids prefer using their parents’ bathroom to the perfectly serviceable family bath?) She wanted to know what I was doing, then asked, “Can I rub your leg for you? Please?” I knew she was largely motivated by a desire to watch television, but I couldn’t resist her offer. I sometimes lack the requisite masochistic streak to push hard and long enough to garner significant tension-relieving results, so I handed The Stick to her. From that evening on, my kids argued almost as much about who gets to roll “Mama’s sore leg” as they do over playing with my iPhone. (Well, a chance to play Angry Birds trumps my rehabilitation, but still.)
Last summer, I also got Sticked by a pro. (Honestly, I didn’t mean for that to come out as kinky sounding as it might seem.) I got to work out at E, a special part of Equinox gym near my parents’ home in Connecticut, for research for a magazine article. Each one-on-one session with a trainer started and ended with a stretching session and Stick rubdown. The pressure was roughly ten times more intense than what my kids could serve up, and the results were equally as strong. Frank, my head trainer/coach, was convinced my foot problem stemmed from a constrained hip area, so he worked on the area with a vengeance. At the start of each session, my ailing leg was at least an inch shorter than my relatively healthy one. After Frank was done Sticking me, my legs were equal in length. And I’d nearly bitten a hole through a towel to keep from uttering expletives.
The Stick is just one of the wonder tools at a runner’s disposal, either for use by yourself or in the hands of a professional. To introduce you to the entire toolbox, brew yourself a cup of herbal tea, slip on a robe, and please join us at the Another Mother Runner Spa.
Picture a young, impossibly beautiful receptionist who talks in a lilting-yet-hushed voice: Welcome to Another Mother Runner Spa. You’ve been working really hard, I can tell. Now it’s time to step back and to let go. We’ve got just the restorative treatment for you. Take your time with our menu and figure out what will refresh, rejuvenate, and revitalize you.
Menu of Services
ACUPUNCTURE
When: Injured
Frequency: Once or twice a week for several weeks, depending on injury
Despite the use of needles, which honestly doesn’t hurt, this alternative medicine treatment has a surprisingly calming effect on both healthy and injured runners. At the hands of a talented practitioner, the insertion and manipulation of the needles improves circulation and sends “chi,” the healing life force, to the affected area.1
$50 to $150
ADVIL, ALEVE, AND OTHER NONSTEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS
When: Pain sets in
Frequency: Every 3 to 4 hours, or every 12 for Aleve
As the name of this treatment indicates, these are drugs that relieve inflammation and alleviate pain. The label says pop two pills for pain after, say, a long run, but we find it takes three to ease the ouch. They can upset some runners’ stomachs, and taken long term, these types of drugs can be hard on the kidneys, so use sparingly. Try wearing your day-after soreness with pride instead.
$4 and up (opt for the jumbo bottle at Costco at the start of marathon training)
COMPRESSION WEAR
When: After a hard or long workout
Frequency: After every tough session, if so inclined
This category of items consists of snug tights, capris, shorts, calf sleeves, and socks designed to be tight enough to enhance blood flow from your feet and lower legs. The scientific community isn’t in agreement about whether these Lycra-laden garments aid performance, so we offer this treatment for recovery only, recommending wearing them after a long run or speedwork, or while you slumber. If you insist on wearing the socks while you run, we insist you rock them with a sassy skirt.
$20 to $150
HEAT
When: 15 to 20 minutes as soreness indicates
Frequency: Once or twice a day when suffering
The heat treatment, in the form of a heating pad or hot bath or shower, can be applied before a run to warm up a tight, stiff area. It can also be used a few hours post-sweat to provide pain relief and minimize stiffness on chronically sore back or joint pain, but don’t pour on the warmth immediately after exercise.
About $10 for a heating pad
ICE
When: After an acute injury or on a chronic one
Frequency: Three to four times per day for 15 minutes
Part of the therapy known as RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation),2 this element reduces swelling and pain when applied to an acute injury, such as a sprained or strained muscle. No need for a fancy pack: Here at the Another Mother Runner Spa, we utilize bags of frozen vegetables that are, of course, organic. Remove ice or veggies once numbness sets in. This treatment can also be used for a chronic injury, such as plantar fasciitis, to manage inflammation.
Free to $2.69
ICE BATH
When: Within an hour after a demanding workout (a double-digit run or other especially strenuous efforts)
Frequency: As often as you can tolerate, after said demanding workout
Begin this treatment by undressing from the waist down, and donning warm, dry clothing up top, such as a fleece jacket and hat. A mug of hot chai or cocoa is recommended, as the mug warms your hands, and the beverage, your belly. Fill the tub with cold water and add the equivalent of one or two 5-pound bags of ice. Then step into the tub and lower your body into the frigid water. If necessary, add more water; the water should come to your hip bones so your legs are completely covered. Sit in the icy concoction, letting it work its restorative magic. After 10 to 20 minutes, get out and take a hot shower. Your beet-red legs will thank you as lactic acid is flushed out of your muscles and inflammation is minimized.
A little H2O and ice, but mostly free, as suffering doesn’t cost a thing
MASSAGE
When: Sore post-workout or injured
Frequency: An hour-long one, as often as budget allows
One of our top-tier treatments, massage seems like a luxury. But for mother runners aiming to set a personal best in a 13.1- or 26.2-mile race, an hour on the table, where your healing blood flows freely and your muscles relax, can make a big difference in a training cycle. Our Mother Runner massage therapists don’t travel, so research one in your area: Call a running store or ask a physical therapist for suggestions. A talented therapist will get to know your body, apply the correct amount of pressure, and can sense an impending overuse injury, instead of merely giving you an expensive back rub.
$45 to $90
PAIN-RELIEVING CREAMS
When: Whenever soreness soars
Frequency: As often as you like
When sore, over-run muscles cry out, the answer might be rubbing a pain-relieving cream or gel on them. FlexPower Active Woman is an AMR Spa favorite. This odorless cream, and others like it, creates a warming sensation in muscles, ideal for alleviating pain for several hours or a chemically induced warm-up. For clients (wo)man enough, it can be applied before taking a shower; the hot water increases the cream’s intensity by quite a bit. There are also creams and sprays, such as Biofreeze, that provide a cooling sensation. Arnica, a holistic ingredient in gels available at natural-food stores, is an alternative for those who want simple pain relief, not temperature swings. Caution: Do not put counter-irritant creams like these on acute injuries, as they can aggravate inflammation.
About $20
PEDICURE
When: Appropriate when your heels resemble a hunk of Parmesan
Frequency: Whenever you can sneak away
This treatment is ideal for camouflaging discolored toenails3: smoothing and buffing calloused, well-worn feet; relaxing; and catching up on six-month-old People magazines. Although we recommend silvery OPI Gone Platinum polish to pretty up your tootsies and make you feel as invincible as steel, feel free to pick any color that suits your fancy.
$25 to $40
REST
When: Year-round, but especially during focused training
Frequency: Once or twice per week
This hands-off procedure involves not exercising over the course of 48 hours. Usually done the day before or after a hard effort, rest lets you summon energy stores and permits muscles to recover. Please remember, muscles only get stronger when they are allowed to rebuild during times of rest; too much work and not enough rest lead to lethargy and discontentment, a condition known as cranky mother runner.
Free (although it can be tough to find)
DOWNWARD Dog LIKE A MOTHER
SIX BEST RECOVERY YOGA POSES
Seeing that pretty much every movement we do in yoga class could be dubbed Awkward, Twisted Pretzel Pose, we turned to Sage Rountree—author of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga and The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, and a marathon mom of two daughters—for expert advice on the must-do poses for runners. (And if you want more, we love Sage’s DVD, The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga.)
CHILD’S POSE Kneeling, rest your belly on your thighs, your head on (or toward) the floor, and your arms stretched out in front of you. Enjoy noticing your breath on your legs as you release your ankles, quads, hamstrings, and back.
HAPPY BABY Lying on your back, bend your knees and draw them toward your armpits, lifting your feet toward the ceiling in an upside-down squat. Hold the backs of your legs and, if you’re feeling very happy, rock right and left. You’ll be releasing your back and inner thigh muscles, as well as a smile.
RECLINING FISH AND COBBLER Lie back with a rolled blanket or stack of pillows running the length of your spine. Spread your arms to the side for a chest stretch, so your body forms a T. Put the soles of your feet together and drop your bent knees to either side to stretch your inner thighs.
RECLINING CROSS-LEGGED TWIST Lying on your back, cross your right knee tight over the left and drop both knees to the left, rolling way up onto the outer left hip. Spread your right arm off to the right and breathe, feeling the stretch in your chest, spine, and hips. Repeat on the other side.
LEGS UP THE WALL Sit one hip very close to the wall and take your hands behind you as you swing both legs up, propping your heels over your hips and spreading your arms to the sides. Your butt will be on or near the wall. Relax your back into the floor and enjoy the inversion, which drains swelling in your legs and helps you recover. (This pose is especially great after a race.)
CORPSE POSE Lie flat on your back, palms up, legs slightly separated and toes flopped out, and simply breathe. And pretend you can’t hear the cries of, “Mom! Mom! Where are you, Mom?”
REVERSE TAPER
When: The days, weeks, or even month after a race
Frequency: After every race4
This critical post-race recovery treatment is too often skipped by enthusiastic runners who immediately resume a regular exercise routine. Instead of picking up where you left off and continuing to tax your body, repeat the week’s training leading up to race day—but in reverse. For example, if you ran 6 miles on Sunday, 4 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday before a Saturday race, do 2 on Monday, 3 on Tuesday, 4 on Thursday, and 6 on Saturday. All at a super-relaxed pace. (And if that feels like too much, no pressure: You can cut those miles in half, walk them, or crosstrain.)
For a marathon, many experts recommend taking it easy for a day for every mile of the marathon (we’re talking nearly a month). We encourage you to take off the first week post-’thon. Walk if you want and run a little, if you feel like it, but generally give yourself time to recover, clean your closet, get out the dog hair from the corners of the living room, and cook healthy dinners. Then, depending on how you’re feeling, you can start to run again, slowly and short distances only. Two weeks post-marathon, you can reverse your taper, as explained above.
Free (and you’ll thank us for it afterward)
ROLFING
When: Your whole body feels like it needs to push the reset button
Frequency: Ten consecutive sessions, done weekly or every other week
This comprehensive body treatment involves both a significant time and financial commitment. A series of 10 structured sessions realigns the fascia, or connective tissue of the body, so that your body can function the way Mother Nature intended—not as your stride, posture, and lifestyle have morphed it to be. Each session focuses on “organizing” a specific body element: the area around your rib cage, the length of your backside, the leg from the ankle to the pelvis. The pressure can be significantly more intense than a massage, but for Dimity, the results were definitely worth the pain and expense.
Approximately $100/session; find a certified Rolfer at Rolf.org
SELF-MASSAGE
When: Preferably after most runs or when aches make themselves known
Frequency: Daily, whenever possible
One of our most reasonably priced offerings, self-massage is performed by your hands or tools you already possess. Feeling tight in your quadriceps or a twinge in your Achilles tendon? Reach in and search out the sore spot. Trace it back to its origin, seeing if mild to moderate pressure there helps alleviate tension. Self-massage helps release knots and adhesions in soft tissue like muscles and fascia.
As noted previously, this treatment can also be done with a variety of tools. Many of our clients swear by rolling out tight IT bands, cramped gluteal muscles, and even impinged shoulders on a foam roller, for instance, after every run or every evening. Others keep a golf ball under their desk to roll their arch throughout the workday. You can even take a rolling pin to your legs, substituting your legs for dough as you roll. Even a few minutes are beneficial in (and on) the long run.
Free
SLEEP
When: Not too long after your kids hit the hay
Frequency: Every night, and sometimes in the afternoon
The most restorative of all recovery aids, sleep is also the one most often ignored. It may sound like a shocking amount, but the body needs 7 to 9 hours every night to bring back vitality. Sleep experts recommend supplementing this standard based on how many miles per week you are running. Add as many minutes per night as miles you run in a week. Stacking up 25 miles this week in anticipation of your fall half-marathon? Spend 25 more minutes in slumber per night or in the form of a nap. As accommodating as we like to be at AMR Spa, we don’t have a way to provide this extra time to you. But we recommend not answering all your e-mail, not being fastidious about every crumb on the kitchen counter, and not picking up after children who are old enough to do it themselves.
Free (although sometimes it feels you pay dearly for ordering this treatment)
STRETCHING
When: After a workout
Frequency: As often as is convenient
Still a highly debated subject—Should I stretch before or after I run? Should I go lightly or deeply?—stretching is a treatment that should be guided by your body. Releasing the tension from your muscles after a run can be nirvana, but go gently: A hamstring stretch shouldn’t bring tears to your eyes. Be sure to hit your hips and glutes (the classic figure-4 stretch—crossing an ankle over one thigh, then sitting back as in a chair—is a good one) as well as your quads, hamstrings, and calves.
Free (and you accrue AMR Spa reward points if your children or dogs crawl on top of you while you stretch)
TAKE IT From A MOTHER
ARE YOU A SERIAL RACER/TRAINER, A MOSTLY RUN-FOR-FUN’ER, OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN?
“A bit of both. I really love to be on a training schedule, but I also really enjoy the few weeks after a race when I run for pleasure.”
—ALLYSON (Runs at 6 A.M.-ish because she “loves to be done.”)
“I like to schedule workouts, and I do better while on a training plan. I am currently winging it and am struggling with the lack of structure.”
—EMILY (Dreams of a running date with Vin Diesel. “But only if he doesn’t talk.”)
“Having a future race goal gives my workouts meaning and keeps me motivated, so I schedule at least one race a month.”
—LAURA (Improves her speed with “Dirty 30s”: “Go at an easy pace for 30 steps, then at sprint pace for 30 steps. Repeat several times.”)
“As far as training, I do my own thing. I called my last marathon training the ‘Leslie Slacker Training Plan,’ and I ran a PR. But I am a serial racer. It’s only May, and I’m already working on my racing schedule for next year.”
—LESLIE (Tracks her race times on Athlinks.com.)
“Over the years, I have gone back and forth. Right now, I’m in serious training mode, but I think ‘down’ times, when you run for the joy of running, are important.”
—TERZAH (Forgot her bra for the NYC Marathon but didn’t realize her error until the morning of the race. Thankfully, she borrowed one from a friend. “I’m pretty flat chested, but not flat enough that I wanted to run braless for 26. 2 miles.”)
“After every race, I tell myself ‘After this race, I’m taking time off.’ Then, the little voice in my head tells me to sign up for something else.”
—MELISSA (Didn’t realize the Ziploc bag holding her Clif Shot Bloks—and stored in her shorts liner—had a hole in it until mile 12 of a marathon. “I grabbed a cup of Gatorade, dumped it out, dug out the Bloks, put them in the cup, and used the Bloks. Not a proud moment in my life.”)
“It’s always about the next race.”
—HEATHER (Races in her dad’s “ratty and faded” Phillies visor. “He died suddenly, and I need him with me during races.”)
.1 ARE YOU WITH ME?
By Sarah
A few hours after my first husband made the abrupt, out-of-the-blue announcement that he wanted out of our marriage, I asked him if he would still accompany me to the out-of-state triathlon I was doing the following month. Please. Yes, amid my torrent of tears and body-racking sobs, I knew I wouldn’t be able to ply the lake or run along the country roads unless John was there to support me, even if our marriage was the emotional equivalent of a flat tire. It’s hard for me to imagine now, but at the time, I had to have him at every athletic event I did—be it rowing in the Head of the Charles Regatta or running a 10K along San Francisco’s Embarcadero—otherwise I’d feel too nervous and weak. (Me? I know, hard to imagine. But true.)
Fast forward a mere four years, after I’d limped through the unexpected divorce and the resulting emotional fallout to land squarely on my own two feet. Jack had achieved live-in boyfriend status, and I was immersed in training for the New York City Marathon. We lived in San Francisco, and I’d bought my plane tickets to the Big Apple months earlier. I was out for drinks with gal pals a month or so pre-NYC when one of them asked if Jack was going with me. I snorted Hefeweizen out my nose. Jack go to watch me run the marathon? It was a laughable suggestion: Why on earth did I need my man there? I was capable and excited all on my own, thank you very much.
The topic didn’t even come up between Jack and me until about ten days before I was due to jet east. By that point, a ticket would have cost a king’s ransom and, again, what was the point? It honestly didn’t occur to me until after the marathon that it might have been special for Jack to see me push myself in a running race, but I didn’t feel any burning need to have him there for support. I’d toughened up and learned how to fly—and run—solo. Funny how a thing like divorce will do that to a gal.
I’d also become a more competent, confident athlete. Navigating a race expo or jockeying for a spot in a starting corral didn’t intimidate me like it had in the married-to-John days when I was a race novice. Now I gained courage and pride by going it alone. It added to my sense of accomplishment: I came, I saw, I conquered. Just me. Nobody else.
Even now I rarely ask Jack, and the other, shorter spectators in our house, to come to my races. I understand it’s a huge hassle to load them all up, find parking, get them to the right spot, then entertain them for what feels like—and can be—hours until I show up for a millisecond. But for the 2010 Portland Marathon, with my heart set on running fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I asked my cheering section to be there. My weekend training runs often took me down a long stretch of the course, and I’d envisioned my family foursome under a large sugar maple near the 21-mile mark, or, in other words, prime wall-hitting territory. I was so intent on them being under that specific tree, I drove Jack by it twice and wrote down the address of the house it was in front of. And to ensure there was no mistake, no, “Oh, she doesn’t really care if we watch her run or not,” ambiguity, a few nights before the race, I told Jack in my most solemn, I-mean-it voice, “If you don’t show up at the marathon, I. Will. Never. Forget. It.”
I don’t know why it felt so important for them to be there. Maybe a part of me is envious when I see all the adorable, kid-made “Go, Mom,” “Mommy Runners Rock!” and, of course, “Run Like a Mother” signs other mother runners post on our Facebook page. I knew my brood wouldn’t have any signs, but I figured my twins + cowbells = a loud racket.
Come race day, rain was falling in sheets, as a part of me had predicted it would, thus the pre-race suggestion of the leafy canopy to serve as nature’s umbrella. Rounding a bend in the course, I spied my huddled masses under the appointed tree. A smile burst onto my face, and my steps felt lighter. Sure, my son, John, barely registered me when I briefly stopped to hand them an empty water bottle and to babble something idiotic like, “Weather sucks, huh?” but I got a major boost from seeing them.
As I continued toward the finish line, I thought about how I am strong enough to go it alone now, but that sometimes it’s nice to know I don’t have to. Funny how life works out like that.
1 Sorry to get all woo-woo, but it worked wonders on my plantar fasciitis.
2 Rest: self-explanatory. Compression: Wrap an ACE bandage around the injured area or wear a compression garment, such as socks, if ankle is sprained. Elevation: Raise the injured area while icing or afterward.
3 Public service announcement: Your running shoes should be at least a half-size larger than your flats, boots, and heels.
4 Caveat: This treatment should not be followed after a see-how-things-feel race done as part of a buildup to a target race—for example, a 10K that’s part of training for a marathon. In that case, ease back into a training plan 2 or 3 days post-race.