Time divine

A running friend who's been tackling piriformis, too, shared her plan for recovery: stretches, yoga, chiropractor visits, cutting back on running (boo, hiss), strength training and massage. Better yet, she gave me contact information for her masseuse.

Since I've tried just about everything on her list, I gave massage a try tonight. Apparently, a lot of runners give massage a try after a race because she was just one of about half a dozen runners I know who made appointments this week after Sunday's race. Of course, none of them thought to tell me that this was something I should consider. Ahem.

But I'm not bitter.

Regardless, I made an appointment for today (thank goodness for evening hours) to see Amy W. at Divine Essentials, 119 N. Washington Square, in Lansing. It's in the building right by the downtown YMCA. She even lets you schedule your appointment on her site so you can pick a time that works for you. Perfection.

I picked a half-hour sports massage to give the whole thing a go since I wasn't sure how  I would feel about yet another person working on my, well, body.

Amy immediately made me feel comfortable and I felt confident in her ability. She didn't disappoint.

While I would have preferred a little Pitbull, she had soft music in the background, some candles burning on a shelf and dimmed lights throughout.

I can't say that the sports massage was relaxing, but she did work on some knots, tight spots and my dumb butt. I even felt like I grew a couple of inches.

She also reminded me to use the foam roller at home this week, so that's going to be back in my rotation. Oh, goody. (Not my favorite thing.)

We'll see how everything feels in the morning before I decide whether to book another session, but after seeing my friend's progress, I'm hopeful. And if you're looking for someone to turn you into a pretzel, I've got to say that Amy's your woman.

Have you ever had a massage? How did you feel afterward? Oh, and are you a cat or dog lover?