Hurts so good

I had a 90 minute theraputic massage today. It was more of a "let's work out the pain" than a "relax and enjoy" massage. I learned a lot about what was happening with my back and hip and why I was locking up. The muscle that is giving me trouble is the piriformis. It's deeply buried in the booty, and connected to the hip joint (see image of there). So when that sucker tightens up, it's hard to move my hip and that is a main muscle in the skating "push" motion.

I also saw my trainer today. I've been slacking on my cross training because I've been skating so much. I need to get in at least a session a week to keep my body balanced. I've also got to get in some pilates a few times a week along with my strength training. It seems like a lot, but we've worked out a good schedule.

So, I'll be continuing with massages, learned some new stretches for the perifomis, and I'm going to be rolling on a foam cylinder to loosen up some scar tissue. I'll also work on general strengh of the left hip.

It was also recommended to me that I soak in epsom salts, so I'll be doing that tonight. Good thing, because I am so sore from my massage. But in all the right places and I'm very happy.