Two weeks from today we leave for San Diego to run in the Rock and Roll Marathon. We have officially moved into the “taper” phase of training, which means we are dropping our mileage to allow our muscles to recover and be fresh for the race. We feel good and we’re looking forward to the race. No plans on breaking any records (ha!) but we feel confident that we’ll be able to finish

About the fundraising, it’s going well but we aren’t quite there yet. Our deadline is Monday and we’ve made great strides toward our goals. Tomorrow we’ll be counting the donations in our donation jar at the office (thanks to everyone that contributed!) and we’ll be adding it to our fundraising totals. We’ll also be taking the rest of the donations from our massage fees to contribute (over $200 last month, this month we have already donated $95 of our earnings and we’ll add a bit more for the rest of the sessions this month!) It’s been an interesting process, since neither of us have undertaken something like this and the goals are quite high! But, it’s an important cause to both of us so we’ve been working hard at it.

If you’d like to donate directly, please visit our links:

Self-care for headaches

As we talked about in February, our mission this year is to do more to give back. So far we transitioned to requesting clients bring their own water bottles to decrease our use of disposable plastic water bottles and we did a fundraiser for Red Dog Farms (an animal rescue in Greensboro.) For the month of April, we are donating part of our session fees to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. If you don’t want to read more, here’s the reader’s digest version: What do you need to do? Nothing, unless you want to. All of our appointments during the month of April will be the normal rates, but we will be donating $5 from every 1 hour session and $10 from every 90 minute session to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS.) If you want to help, make an appointment! You can also help by donating at our office (we have a donation jar!) or you can scroll to the bottom of this email for web links to our Team in Training Donation pages and you can donate directly.

Thanks for being awesome clients and for supporting our efforts to be even better people and a better business!

Now, continue to read if you would like to learn more about LLS, our marathon training (how we are raising money!), or why we are doing it… please do! Even if you can’t donate, we appreciate encouragement and well wishes

So, a few years ago I (Jessica) decided I wanted to become a runner. I’ve thought this many times over the years, but didn’t do too well with the execution of my plan. I would try to run for a week or two… Maybe you saw me. I was the chunky chick with the bright red face, sweating profusely and gasping for breath, looking like a water buffalo stuck in a mud pit. Yup, that was me. Well, this time I was not only determined, but I had a plan (couch to 5k, it really works!) and I had support from my dear girlfriend, Faith. It made all of the difference. It’s still been crazy hard, but I’ve stuck with it. At first my goal was a 5k. Then a 10k. Then a half marathon (13.1 miles!) I’ve managed to do all of those things although it wasn’t pretty, I still sweat like a pig and turn bright red, let’s face it, I’m also still a bit chunky. But the point is I’m doing it. Faith has been right by my side the whole way. Running comes easier to her and she’s run in the past, but she’s building her mileage, just like me. Anyway, now I’ve set my sights on a marathon. Yes, even I think 26.2 miles is insane. But hey, it’s good to have goals, right?

Those previous, shorter races have mostly been for good causes (part of the entry fees go to a charity) but the marathon is different. This time, we wanted it to be something bigger, more important. So we decided to join Team In Training (TnT) and we have committed to raise at least $3,500 each for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a part of our marathon goal. When we raise the funds, we’ll be running in the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon in June!

TnT is an amazing organization that does so much for those battling leukemia and lymphoma. I have a personal reason for supporting TnT because my sister-in-law, Beth, was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lymphoma while pregnant with her second child, my adorable (and a bit bossy) niece, Alison. Beth endured very difficult treatments following the birth of Alison and eventually it went into remission. We are so grateful that she had access to such amazing care and that she is doing well today. The Leukemia and Lymphoma society, among others, helped her through that difficult process. Faith has a personal tie to the cause as well, since she’s been working with cancer patients for years as an infusion nurse. As she puts it, cancer sucks and blood cancer patients are cool.

While we’ve made great strides in cancer research, there is so much more to be done. Thirty years ago, there was no effective treatment for leukemia. In 1960, the survival rate for children with the most common form of leukemia was only 4%!! Chemotherapy, which is now an effective treatment for patients with most forms of cancer, was pioneered by leukemia research. Thanks to research supported by programs like Team in Training, the five-year survival rate for children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) has increased to 81%. Patients with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s Disease and myeloma, have an overall survival rate of over 40%. Funding helps research happen, and research helps patients. Donations through TnT go to research and also to patients to pay the medical bills and receive medical treatments. TnT is an organization that puts most of the donated funds in the hands of patients and research programs, unlike other charity organizations that pocket a lot of the money. That makes us comfortable to ask for donations & to contribute part of Endless Summer’s income to the cause.

If you would like to donate directly or if you just want to follow our progress, go to these links:

Faith’s TnT page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr13/faithy

Jessica’s TnT page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/rnr13/Jessicaledford This is also my training blog, and if you’d like to follow my training process.

Thank you reading all the way to the end & for your support and encouragement! Come in for an appointment this month to help the cause!

Jessica & Faith

P.S.: if you work for a company that does charitable donations, please consider passing on the information to see if they might donate. Also, ask if they do matching donations (whatever you donate, they match.)

The article also discusses the issue of massage becoming an accepted medical treatment with insurance benefit coverage. I suspect it will still be awhile before this is common place. However, it is gaining in acceptance with research and experience showing the benefits in case after case.

- Jessica

In February I (Jessica) had the opportunity to attend a great continuing education class titled, Effective Prevention and Treatment of Running Injuries. It was full of so much information. I learned about dynamic stretching for general physical health and in preparation for exercise and running. I learned a bit about how to utilize KT tape. I learned massage and stretching techniques for both runners and other types of athletes.

As a result of the class, I’m working on take home materials for clients for stretching, foam rolling and other self-care techniques. Feel free to ask either one of us about it.

In the meantime, I ran across this blog post that compares foam rolling and roller sticks for self-care. I thought it was nicely written, short and to the point. And these tools aren’t only for athletes!

If you want to help, please mail them a check or give them a call to see how you can help. Share the love and help the animals!

They are a non-profit animal rescue network dedicated to the rehabilitation, fostering and adoption of animals of all sizes

For the month of February, Endless Summer will take $5 of every massage session to be donated to Red Dog Farm Animal Rescue Network. Also, for anyone willing to donate extra (monetary or supplies), we will add aromatherapy to your massage session at no charge. What items could they use? Dog and cat food, farm animal feed, collars, leashes, flea or tick meds… At the end of the month, we’ll post a tally of what we raised for these animal friends! Help us help them!

(So far we’ve raised $25, schedule an appointment and help that total go up! Or just email us to set up a donation!)

We recently moved to a wonderful new office! The environment is quiet and soothing. We can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Our relaxing treatment space is now located at 711 Iredell St. in Durham, near historic Ninth street in Durham (it’s almost directly behind our old location.)

Endless Summer Canine Massage

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