Blind Massage

After my first half marathon (Adidas KOTR '08), I have slowly make full body massage a monthly routine. Prior to that, people says that a massage is infectious, and should be done regularly, to regulate bloodflow, eases muscle soreness etc etc. That time, I thought massages are for the weaks. hahah, Pardon me, I was speaking naively.

It was after Adidas that I was limping for weeks that I sought for one, and since then, I have been going to the same masseuse over and over because it's close to home, but I cannot gauge whether he's good or not since I do not do this often. Even a sample sport's massage by Equal Fitness that I had at DUKEthon was not that convincing.

It was after SCSM'09 that I tried a Thai foot massage at AmpWalk that I realised my old masseuse was not doing a good job. But I couldn't go to AmpWalk again for a full body as they do not have a male masseuse. Malu lah jugak...

A month ago, a sharp pain on my groins/hamstring area is really killing me whenever I started running. It goes away after 20 minutes into running, or could it because I have learnt how to ignore them completely. To compensate for the pain, it squeezed my pace, and re-develop my old ITB on both knees. The pain returns everytime I started running again after any breaks.

With intensifying runs and many, many LSDs coming, Ian advised of a blind massage in Maju Junction, so this week, I headed out after my meeting, and called the masseuse, Fatah. I made an appointment, and saw him at the shop.

Fatah is a partially blind man, who developed some problem when he was 19. We did not talk much though, as I was all the time holding my breath and pain from his powerful pressures - but he was wearing an Ironman Putrajaya 2009 tee, so I was surprised! He says he did it last year with a guide friend, and being not fully blind still gives him direction. He refused to share his timings with me, but the fact that he attempted an Ironman and finished, is inspiring.

Many Ironmans I know are at the peak of their physical health, and to draw an inspiration from a less fortunate finisher is somewhat overwhelming. For a moment, I felt I could brave the 3km swim and 180km ride and finish mine too. Very uplifting, lah.

But his point pressures in his massage is of course, less inspiring, or may I say, less forgiving. Sakit yang amat, when he pulled affected veins, but it was good as he explains what went wrong with certain type and points of pain, and suggested ways to rectify them. He went to explain that the technique he's using is similar to Chinese practitioner's acupuncture healing, and explains the anatomy of our body. Hey, I skipped Biology back in my SPM years, so he could fool me easily.

After 90 minutes of feeling whirpooled in a washing machine, I was feeling all light and feathery. I need a lot of work, as my hamstrings are knotted badly.

I am feeling good, and despite the pain still on my back and feet are not fully gone, I am itching to run again. Lame as it sounds, I am afraid of gaining old weights, but still enjoys my food. Only running has so far allows me that privilege. But with an exam approaching fast next weekend, it is without a doubt that my runs will take a back seat.

*Sigh*

Sundown is off to a bad start.