A stroller-friendly race is a running race that allows parents to walk, jog or race with a stroller. These races are not specific running races for strollers to race one another or have specific categories for “strollers” like age group categories, but just to allow running parents to participate with their child in a stroller. We have found races in all distances (e.g., marathons, half marathons, 10k, 5k, etc.) that allow Stroller Runners.  To read more, click here for the entire...

Are you in the market for a jog stroller, here are our top recommended features to look for when purchasing a jog stroller.  Read the article in full at Run Stroller...

Should kids get medals for participating in a race. Here the reasons why I think kids should receive...

Are any foods “off-limits” in your house? If you don’t ban “off- limit” foods in your pantry, you will not be able to control yourself? Not me, and this is why.  Read here....

By Stephanie Maziejka This month’s massage article is inspired by Lara Coffee’s recent Ironman accomplishment, Congratulations Lara! Sport massage can be used to supplement the health and wellness of athletes everywhere and a good massage therapist caters the session and treatment plan to the athlete’s specific sport. Doing so allows the session to be as efficient and streamlined as possible and will take into consideration repetitive movements unique to the sport, targeted muscles for the sport, and the conditioning/training schedule of the athlete. Most runners that I have come across are passionate about running, almost more so than any other athlete is about their sport. Running, though not a contact sport in the traditional sense is incredibly hard on the body. Direct and forceful contact is made striking the ground repetitively sending shock through every joint and muscle in the body. Running’s Repetitive Movements and Injury Running is a series of movements continuously repeated which is why runners are at risk for repetitive injury if they are not careful. The most common areas of injury for a runner involve the feet and the knees. The joints of the body are meeting points for two bones and it is the place over which muscles cross resulting in articulation or movement. Injury (not caused by a direct trauma) usually occurs in hypertonic stressed areas where muscles have overly contracted, adhered to adjacent soft tissue areas and pull at the structure causing tension and overload. Overtime a body under stress and fatigue will decrease in productivity and resiliency and become more susceptible to mistakes and injury. It’s the same concept as individuals surviving through sleep deprivation or flourishing when well rested. The main actions of running are flexion/extension at the hip, knee, and ankle joint. The type...

By Stephanie Maziejka I have been discussing health and wellness as it relates to the individual and I would like to branch out and focus on why healthy touch can have a much larger positive impact on not only the family unit but the community as well. My previous articles discuss the physiological benefits of massage; relief from musculoskeletal aches and pains, stimulation of body systems, and a decrease in stress/increase in relaxation via accessing the parasympathetic nervous system and kicking our bodies out of the fight or flight stress stage, where many of us spend our daily lives.  In a world where individuals sustain heightened stress levels, more and more preventable pathologies are popping up (a discussion for a different day) and the emotional and psychological connectedness that used to be prominent among families and communities has suffered.  Physiologically, touch improves health. When individuals are healthier they tend to be happier and psychological studies* have shown this to have a tremendous affect on the happy individual’s interpersonal relationships, work ethic and productivity, and their connectedness to the world around them. In addition to the physiological benefits and the increased levels of happy that massage and healthy touch can provide, its strongest attribute is to promote and establish trust.  One reason that touch has become such a taboo subject in our society is because of the horrendous stories told on the media about physical and sexual abuse among adults.  Even more atrocious are the stories of physical or sexual abuse of children by adults.  As a new mother, I am affected by these stories more so than before I had my son. Now upon hearing these stories I get a visceral reaction of panic, disgust, and overwhelming sadness. I realize that upon hearing these...

By Stephanie Maziejka Last month I introduced the idea of healthy touch and creating a foundation for a healthy lifestyle through Infant Massage, but if you want to set the groundwork, you need to begin while the baby is in utero with a prenatal massage. Newborns are just that, new! It’s up to us as parents and guardians to nurture and guide these little babies towards healthy growth and development. A baby is born with up to 40 weeks of development in the womb already behind them; therefore, Mamas treat yourself and your body to a healthy, therapeutic, and relaxing prenatal massage. Pregnancy can be a scary time, it’s a whole new world and there are a lot of physical and emotional changes that occur on a daily basis. Aside from the hormones, part of the emotional roller coaster of pregnancy comes from the utter discomfort that can be caused by our changing, growing, and leaking bodies. Pregnancy remains a wonderful and beautiful experience because of the miracle of life growing inside, HOWEVER getting to that bundle of joy is not always 9 months of sunshine and rainbows. The first trimester (and for some unfortunate individuals all three trimesters) offers retching sickness and fatigue. Trimester two is a bit of a reprieve from both sickness and fatigue and it’s when the first real positive signs of pregnancy begin, the first signs of the baby bump, the first sounds of heartbeat, the first flutter of little feet. Towards the end of the second trimester into the third trimester there is tremendous growth-of everything. As the body grows, the center of gravity changes and so that we don’t face plant every time we stand up the body’s lordotic curve increases, that lower back arch that is...

  By Stephanie Maziejka Touch. It means something different to each of us. It is nearly impossible to live life without touch. We touch and are touched every day. We hug when we are happy and we hug when we are sad. The same action can convey very different emotions. Yet in today’s society touch is almost taboo. The media covers stories of negative touch so frequently that in our minds touch is a bad thing. Touch has the power to transfer emotion and intent and we must learn when and what kind of touch is acceptable. My mission as a Massage Therapist is to educate about touch and its amazing benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. In my monthly posts, I will be discussing touch as it relates to different demographics and giving you tips on how to use and introduce touch to your family! Infant Massage is a great place to start talking about touch since the best way to ensure a healthy lifestyle is to introduce healthy habits at a young age! Infant Massage focuses on providing nurturing touch to promote bonding and attachment between you and your baby. An Infant Massage class or session is facilitated by a Certified Educator of Infant Massage (that’s me!) with parents being the ones to administer the massage strokes to baby.  The massage itself is compiled of techniques taken from Swedish massage, Indian Massage, Reflexology, and Yoga. In addition to the strokes Infant Massage teaches baby behavioral states and body cues to help parent’s better respond to their newborns. It is a lot more empowering as a parent to look at your little one and know he’s sleepy than to run through a checklist of a thousand possibilities as to why your sweet...

Since becoming a mom in 2010, starting this blog and Run Stroller Run (a stroller friendly race site), I’ve continually yearn to lead a healthy, happy, fit life not only for myself, but for my family.  I connected with Stephanie Maziejka, a NCBTMB certified and a CEIM under Infant Massage USA and a new mom herself, to learn more about the benefits of infant massage. The more and more I learn, the more and more I like to share with other parents. On a monthly basis, Stephanie will be contributing to LaraCoffee.com and Run Stroller Run, discussing touch as it relates to different demographics and giving parents tips on how to use and introduce touch to their family.  Stephanie’s first article will be the Importance of Touch; the Benefits of Infant Massage. Introducing Stephanie Maziejka Stephanie Maziejka is a massage enthusiast. She provides clinical massage at a gym during the week and teaches the art and science of massage therapy on the weekend at the National Massage Therapy Institute in Falls Church, VA. Believing it is never too early to begin a healthy lifestyle, she teaches infant massage and enjoys helping families to bond and benefit from nurturing healthy touch. Stephanie has recently become a mother herself and is getting to experience firsthand the joys and benefits of motherhood and massage. Stephanie has her BA in history and literature, her MS in Psychology and is National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) certified and a CEIM under Infant Massage USA. She is looking forward to writing about massage and wellness as it pertains to babies and families. She would love to hear from you, contact her directly. If you live in Northern Virginia, you can also stop by the Lifetime Fitness in...