Runners

Christopher Moyer, Ph.D., is a psychologist who has done research in massage therapy and meditation. He recently began a blog on research and massage therapy and I was honored that he asked to interview me for his blog.

I first got to know Chris when I heard that he’d done a metaanalysis that overturned what a lot of us thought about massage lowering cortisol. Curious, I looked him up on the internet and sent an email asking about his paper. Shortly after, I encountered him again in online discussions and it led to a friendship that was both professional and personal as we discovered we had many common interests.

 The new True Runner store in Brentwood Plaza recently hosted an after-hours Ladies' Night and Massage St. Louis was there! It was a great event, with about 80 women of all ages in attendance. The atmosphere was friendly and festive, with tasty and healthy drinks and snacks available, attendance prizes, goodie bags for participants, and discounts on purchases made at the event. A representative from Moving Comfort gave a presentation on proper bra fitting and was available for private fittings. Massage St. Louis was there providing brief table massages and speaking with participants about self-help techniques and how massage can help them as runners. Participants loved the table massages and were often heard to exclaim, "Wow! That was great! I feel so much better!"

A drawing for a 30 minute massage was held at the end of the evening and Alex Roth was the lucky winner. Congratulations, Alex!

Of course, all the wonderful women in attendance were obviously winners! It was a great, friendly, enthusiastic group. Gotta love those runners! 

In July of 2011, Will Stewart of 3-D Optimal Performance interviewed Dr. Timothy Noakes, a South African exercise physiologist and author of Lore of Running. Noakes recently published Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports , a book which addresses the little known hazards of drinking too much water, especially for women in endurance sports. The primary subject of this interview is the Central Governor model proposed by Noakes to explain the role of the brain in our experience of fatigue during physical exertion.

Many years ago I worked with a long distance runner whose goal was to qualify for the Olympic trials. He was the most serious athlete with whom I've worked the most consistently over the longest period of time. I saw him at least once a week for 2 1/2 years. After about six months of regular massage therapy, he commented one day that he'd just gone the longest period he'd ever had without a pulled muscle. I asked him to elaborate.