Sports Massage for Monmouth County Runners: Timing the Work Around Your Training

Before I was a massage therapist I was a competitive weightlifter: Master of Sport, USA National Champion, and three-time World Masters bronze medalist. The biggest thing competing taught me about recovery is that timing matters as much as technique. The same massage that helps you in week six of a training block can leave you flat if you get it two days before a race.

Three kinds of sports massage

Maintenance work during a training block. This is the most useful kind for runners. Every one to three weeks we look for what's building up, such as calves that have stopped absorbing load, an IT band area that's getting cranky, or a hip flexor that's shortening your stride, and deal with it before it turns into an injury.

Pre-race work. This is lighter and quicker, done a few days out. The aim is to feel loose and springy, not worked over. Never schedule your first deep session the week of a race.

Post-race work. Give it a couple of days, then use gentle flushing work to bring back range of motion and help you get walking normally again.

Running problems it helps with

Sports massage at the Manalapan studio is often aimed at:

• Tight calves and Achilles irritation as mileage climbs
• Pain on the outside of the knee from the IT band and the hip muscles above it
• Hamstring tightness and hip flexors that limit your stride
• Plantar fascia and arch tightness
• Low back fatigue in the late miles of long runs

Massage won't fix a training plan that ramps up too fast, or shoes that are done. It does let you notice and deal with tissue problems while they're still small, and it gives you an extra set of hands checking what your body is doing.

Building it into a training block

A simple pattern for a half or full marathon block:

1. A baseline session early in the block so we know your usual tight spots.
2. Maintenance sessions every two to three weeks as mileage builds, booked after hard workouts rather than before them.
3. A lighter session in the last week to ten days before race day.
4. A recovery session a few days after the race.

Masters runners in their 40s, 50s and 60s usually do better with sessions closer together. Tissue takes longer to recover as we age, and catching problems early matters more.

Where we are

The Manalapan studio is at 198 Route 9 North, Suite 100, an easy drive from Freehold, Marlboro and Old Bridge. See session pricing or request an appointment. If you also have long-standing pain that isn't from running, deep tissue work may be part of the plan.