Thank you kindly for the bum-rub

So yesterday I cashed in on an old gift card for Spa Nordstrom that my wife gave me for our anniversary some 6 months ago. An hour of full-body deep-tissue massage seemed appropriate given my recent meltdown. It was an interesting experience at the spa...a little too frilly beforehand. I didn't feel 100% right being the only male in the pre-massage room sitting on a bunch of oversoft chairs with my feet soaking in some herbal tea or some crap like that, but in truth it was very relaxing, and I didn't care. The massage itself was just awesome. The masseuse spent a little extra time on my calves (which have been giving me trouble in recent months), and on my stabilizers (read "my ass"). My IT band also had an up-close-and-personal with the woman's knuckles. No surprise to me, my upper back was also pretty tight from doing mind-numbing calculations and editing my presentation 12 hours a day. I was a little sore in a couple spots afterwards, but nothing too bad. I could definitely feel the scar tissue in my left calf for about 40 minutes after, so that still needs some work.

I ventured out for a run this morning, and it went pretty well. I didn't keep it super easy, but I didn't run hard either. 6 miles at 6:50-7:00 pace. I really needed a generic run to get my mood up again, and this did the trick. I probably should have been running 8 minute pace, but my brain needed a recharge. My back didn't feel bad at all, so hopefully I'm just about over this little setback.

So thank you, stranger who rubbed my bum, and thank you, wife, for the great present that I put off using for far too long.