Thai Massage

This is some of what I learned this weekend at my Thai Massage workshop. This was developed about 2500 years ago by a doctor to the Buddha. It was started in India and traveled to Siam (Thailand). Its focus is on the energy of the body.
Some of the listed effects are releases stress and tension, increases flexibility and suppleness, increases vital energy, deeply relaxing, relieves pain and soreness, brings the systems of the body into balance, increases blood and lymph flow, releases emotional blocks, excellent therapy for common injuries and ailments, deepens the connection between mind, body and spirit. That is a lot. That is just for the receiver. For the practitioner it enhances meditation and concentration, awakens compassion and loving kindness, deepens the connection of mind, body and spirit.
This is a description about how a practitioner works:
“Intention is the hidden power behind each action. If the underlying intention or spirit behind the action is to help, to heal and to work with love and kindness then the work takes on a much deeper and more powerful effect. Working with mindfulness, awareness, loving kindness, compassion and joy throughout a session takes some practice, but when these energies are present within the spirit of the work being done, the massages given are truly healing, not only to the recipient but also to the giver.”
I must say that with every new technique I learned I thought, “Oh, the runners will love this”. I was able to give a treatment to Steve and he pretty much melted. You will have to ask him what he thought.
Remember some people are more flexible than others, so the pictures may show a person in a deeper stretch than you would go into. The pratitioner listens to your body and places you were you need to go. These are a few pictures I found that demonstrate just a very few of the positions.

Too Much Stress = Dis-Ease

I'm sure there is a mathematical formula out there that represents the amount of stress (internal or external, good or bad) times the energy of resisting said stress is equal to the amount of dis-ease created in the body and the time it takes to recover.

Okay, so Robin has moved home and is taking the quarter off. It is for medical reasons, not grades. (not that it should matter, but...= stress) He was accepted into Pierce College for the spring quarter and is planning on trying to go to UW in the fall. (sick kid moving home from college = stress) Learning that I can't fix everything sucks (stress) and I have to let him learn what he needs for himself. (you guessed it, stress) Rearranging schedules and getting him settled into his room/sanctuary/man cave is a process. (hmmm, more stress)

After Christmas I decided that I wanted to cut back on my time at the Y. I was feeling a little depressed and felt I did a lot of busy work and I could use my time more effectively at home. Is that selfish? (stress) Then I had 12 hours of training to teach over 3 days in a week plus the organizing and planning, which I love, but that put me at almost 40 hours for a two week period, quite a bit more than normal and much more than I really wanted. How did that happen?

Last weekend I had a scratchy throat for two days and even though I was determined to have that be it, my body obviously wanted some down time. Guess who won? By Tuesday, I knew it wasn't going well, so I decided to get a sub for one of my three classes on Wednesday. After teaching the first class, I was so glad I had gotten my sub. Thank you Callie. I was to go back for a meeting to finalize the training paperwork, but it wasn't happening. I also had one last class but there was no way I was going to be able to teach it. I felt really crappy about leaving everyone in the lurch. (stress) Before noon on Thursday, I realized that Friday would be a no go for me and sent off emails to get a sub. When I didn't get an immediate response (I'm so patient) I called my supervisor to let her know where things stood. I think the fever of 102 had me a little off and I was a lead weight sinking into the couch. I really couldn't sit up for more than a few minutes at a time, and since I didn't have much voice I didn't think I could make any calls to find a sub. This is the first time I have ever done that (guilt, guilt = stress, stress) but the couch and an ice bag beckoned to my sore, achy body and head so strongly I let it go. While my classes got covered, one from an email I had sent, I still felt reprimanded that I had let them down.

It is now a week since the throat thing started and I’m still sick, but the fever is down. I will need to continue to watch my stress level to keep it at a manageable level (ha-ha) so I can heal. But, I’m not depressed and since that is my usual reaction to too much stress I’m pretty happy. Now it is time to think about what makes me happy and how that can translate into making a difference in people’s lives. I love the training that I have been doing. I have more learning to do, but that comes with time. Honestly, I am thinking I would love to teach Anatomy & Physiology at a massage school. So we shall see what happens.


Life is a journey. I have my journey to travel and I get to decide what things in my life that I can change if they become so stressful that they are counterproductive to my health. There will always be things I can’t change and must learn how to accept. I have to accept that my children have their own journeys to travel and while I can be there to support them or give advice if they ask, it is not my job to lead them anymore. I did that already and it is now their turn to lead themselves. And they are doing a great job of learning who they are and what they need in life.

Ixtapa Report

I am sorry to report that there was no marathon involved in the making of this vacation. There was also no animal testing. We tested the beer and wine on humans. And neither of us had any tequila at all. Amazing.

Our travel day down was long. The flight time was about seven hours, but travel time was about 21 from the time we left the house until we checked in at the hotel. But it was fine. We had books and we just chilled in the San Francisco and Mexico City airports. We walked around and ate at both. But I must say by the time we ate dinner I was so exhausted I couldn't see straight and I only had two glasses of wine with my dinner. We chose our possibilities for the trip in San Francisco. We do this all the time, we think about how we want to experience our lives. I chose flow, fun and adventure. Steve chose connection and tranquility. This is exactly what we got.

Our room was fabulous. Here is the view from our balcony.

We immediatly suited up and went to walk on the beach. We walked by the massage tents. There were probably about eight tents set up. They all charged $20 for an hour massage. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were open on my calendar. My only complaint is they use mineral oil and by the time I walk back to the hotel I get a little burnt. But I learned from the last time we went to Ixtapa that I had to shower immediately. Sorry, I got a little distracted reminiscing. After our walk we changed clothes and went to look for a dinner spot. We found quite a few and everyone wanted our business. We chose but as I said earlier, we were so tired we had to go straight to bed. We were asleep by 7:30, it was great.

This is how most of our days went. Get up, go eat, walk on beach or at the market, have a beer and snack, go to the room to take our time getting ready and then go out to dinner. Steve ran Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings. This is the start of his first run from the 11th floor balcony. This is pretty blurry because I had to zoom in a long way. we got most of our shopping done and got signed up for a private tour of the country side on Tuesday. We saw crocodiles and bird, archeological artifacts, churches, markets, beaches, coconut candy and where they collect sea salt. Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip.


































Here is one last picture I promised Rick.

Sand to Snow

This is what we woke up to yesterday.







This was today.

This is life

We've been busy here, which is what life is all about. I have been working at the Y on changes we are making to the schedule. I also have been going to trainings. I will start training instructors in January. It looks like I will have one weekend most months that will be focused on training others. I like it.
Steve has been running events. He doesn't train a lot during the week, but gets in those long ones on the weekend. Tomorrow he is running Ghost with Robin and his friend Adam. Adam is a marathon virgin so it should be good.
Robin came home for Thanksgiving. It is great having him in the house. Everything gets busier. He is hopfully going to transfer from Western to UW for spring quarter. We are waiting to hear.
Family came over for Thanksgiving yesterday. It is so nice to have a house full of people. We had 11 at the table and four on the floor. Begging. We had Puck, Blossom, Safari, and Oliver hoping someone would drop something, anything. I'm sure none of them will start in the next few days. Puck and Blossom need to go on a little diet here pretty soon. My Mom and Dad came, my sister, her husband and two kids, and Sydnee brought Drew. It was great having him help prep for dinner. I had help from everyone it seemed and made the day go easy. After my sis left, Michelle and Wally came over for dessert. They brought Snickers salad. I know it sounds strange, but it was really good. I got the recipe.
Today my dear friend, Anne, is coming down. Anne, Mom and I are canning applesauce. It usually takes me forever to cut and core and cook the applesauce, but I think three sets of hands will make quick work of it. The time consuming part will be the canning. Six jars at 20 minutes. Did I mention we have about 80 pounds of apples. It's going to be great.
Mom and Dad will be taking the dogs home with them so Steve and I don't have to worry for the next two weeks and can enjoy ourselves. I am so thankful for them and their generous spirits.
I love my family bunches.

Massage Office Redo

Here are some pictures of my new sanctuary. Actually it is my massage office, but I love it. My mom came up for the weekend to help me with wallpapering brown paper bags on the wall and then a watered down latex paint wash. We shopped two of the days she was here, went to an art show and saw the musical South Pacific. We also went to church this morning. We were busy.

Baker Lake 50K, Robin’s First Ultra

Robin did great on his first 50K at Baker Lake. The Garmin had 31 and was short a mile or more all day to the course miles. SportTracks had the adjusted mileage at 33.5.

We did the early start at 7 AM and ran the first 20-21 miles with Michelle and Eric in 5:30 (15.46/mile), singing and hooting like Mad Monkeys. We got a lot of smiles and a few return hoots from the many runners passing back on forth. Michelle decided to take a short and well deserved break at the Aid Station and we were ready to move on. My kids amaze me, they run so well with very little training. He took the lead and ran steady and strong for the last 12.5 miles in 2:20, 11:18/mile.

The normal single out and back course was revised this year because of washed out bridges. Shawn (RD) and TC ran till 4AM to mark the trail section. Now that’s a dedicated RD and crew. Many thanks to Shawn, Tony, Arthur, Jon, Laura, and the other volunteers for their time and a great event.

The first 4 miles were uphill on gravel, then back down two on gravel to the main AS. Then began the two out and backs (14 miles and 10 miles) on beautiful single track trail along the lake. The trial along the lake was a mix of flat and rolling hill sections, mostly smooth with maybe a third narrow with roots and rocks.

James, Chris and the other elites were amazingly fast on the course. We got to see everyone multiple times in the three out and back sections. Michelle recovered well after her break and ran well for the last third. Robin and I hitched a ride back up the road and meet Michelle and Eric and ran in the last mile or so with them. Michelle and Eric finished in just over 9 hours, with Mad Monkey #2 carrying her across the finish line threshold for their anniversary.

We stayed a while to watch the last runners come in and chat with friends. Then, we changed into dry clothes, headed to Red Robin with Jane, and began the long drive home in the drizzle. Another wonderful weekend of running and friends.

Life is good. Hugs to you all and peace be with you.