Foot Massage!

Yesterday was a recovery day for me. It was anything but that! I received my first massage from Joachim at TerraMassage, located in nearby Santa Ynez, CA. His studio is very cozy with the smell of essential oils and a warm-glow from his earthly painted walls and lighting. He explained to me in his native French that my massage will "open up some toxins" but I should be able to go back into some training straight away. I should be relaxed and be fully communicable if I needed less or more pressure as he was working.

I stepped in the massage room, fully prepared to strip to my underwear. To my surprise he had a mat on the floor with a bundle of pillows set up. He said, "lie on your stomach and make yourself comfortable."

"I don't need to take any clothes off?"

"No, no. Just lie down and use the pillows to help with your back [prevent hyperextension]."

OK. I've never lied on the floor for a massage, let alone while keeping my clothes on. I followed his directions with hesitancy.

The next thing I knew, Joachim was standing on top of me and massaging my hamstrings with his feet! With his toes, heel and ball of his feet (he changed feet here and there), I was massaged from the hips down! It was amazing...but gosh, so incredibly painful at times. I had feelings of nausea when he hit some knotted spots, and like a true athlete, I gritted my teeth and held back from saying anything. He managed to hit a number of sore spots (especially my quadriceps!) all with just his feet. Each of my quads is one big sore spot!

"Where did you learn this?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Up my sleeve!" He smiled and looked at me with a sense of pride. Apparently Joachim discovered this technique at a seminar he attended last year and found it very beneifcial for athletes and those with a lot of muscle mass to get through. It saves his hands as well!

After the massage, I booked another for next week. The massage was one of the best I've had. Not relaxing, but gosh, my legs felt like pillows afterwards (and they feel great today). It will do wonders for me if I keep repeating this weekly. The more you go to massage and work out the muscle soreness, the better your muscles are able to perform, and as I'm told, the less pain I will have while getting massage. I'll keep gritting my teeth until that happens!

I did have the rest of the day for recovery and warming up my body. Chuckie drove me over on his motorbike (he wanted to see if Joachim was all that he was cracked up to be) and we froze the whole way there and back. I'm being literal about this. WE FROZE. We looked and felt like Dumb and Dumber on their scooter escapades into "Aspin". Next time, I'll be covering my self head to toe with winter clothes. Winter clothes in California? Who knew!