I’ve been rocking my long runs & recovery for the last month, with noticeable improvements in speed, less stopping & faster recovery. My friends over a PRO Compression sent me a new pretty pair of socks that I will use all year round and especially for recovery.
Color: Marathon Berry
During summer months I won’t wear compression socks while running, it’s just too warm. So i make it a priority to wear them the day before & immediately after a long run. This method seems to do the trick. My legs are hardly tired or feeling beat up the next day. When it gets colder out, I’ll pair my compression socks with capris & create a warm running tight. Does anyone else do this??
This picture was taken October last year the day before the Chicago Marathon. And there I am sporting the very trendy capri & pro compression combo next to The Foodie Runner! Just looking at this makes me wonder when my next marathon will be!
Yesterday I did 11 miles with the last 4 miles with a faster finish (7:45-7:55 pace). When I get back from a long run I drink water, hop in the shower (i can’t stand sitting on the couch smelly & sweaty), put on comfy clothes & Pro Compression socks, more water or fruit & nuts to snack on before figuring out an actual meal.
sitting in the sun warming up & rehydrating
I also like to bundle up on the couch for a while because it takes a little time for my body temperature to return to normal.
she likes to bundle up & watch tv too!
legs up, legs tight!
We went to Denizens Brewery in the afternoon for a beer & a lunch. BBQ chicken salad & a white ipa.
Now it’s your turn up your running game! Use the code PRO15 to get 40% off of PRO Compression’s socks & sleeves. PRO Compression is giving away a free pair of Marathon Socks to one of my lovely readers! You can earn up to 3 entries to win:
One of my favorite things about a racing is the Post Race. And no, i’m not talking about the crappy d-list cover bands or the space blankets or biting a medal in a soon to be very expensive ‘foto.’ I’m talking about the things that make me smile after running hard and how to enjoy the rest of the day (with people that love you so much they’d wake up at ass-o-clock just to watch a ton of sweaty smelly people in herds pass by so they might catch a .25 second glimpse of you with just enough time to shout, “WOOOOOO!!!”)
Here’s my “after” checklist:
-drink chocolate milk & water, eat a protein bar
-hug my family, if they let me
-take off my shoes and put sandals or clean socks/different shoes on
-shower, smell like a normal girl
After Philly 1/2
-put comfy jeans compression tights on and look like a normalperson runner
-find food/beer/brunch/yummy calories/be not normal
After the Philadelphia 1/2 this year, I stumbled upon a place that made me really happy. A place where brunch and beer met to form world’s greatest brunch, specifically designed for Cori Maley. All my favorite things were stuffed into my favorite things. Butternut squash, goat cheese omelet. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
The Standard Tap Philadelphia, PA– If you’re ever in town I highly recommend this place. Bonus- it’s all organic and local.
After Chicago Marathon my friends, Patrick and Liz took me to Burger Bar and it was delicious. I love when burger places get it right!
Bison burger with goat cheese (i love goat cheese if you can’t tell) and truffle fries. Luxury fries people. They were amazing.
I hope this gives you a little insight to what i do after a race. Basically i change from Marathon Badass Extraordinaire to Uncomfortable Little Baby..I wanna be washed and put into warm, dry clothes. I want to be fed until my belly is full and i’ll cry until I have a bottle or two, and finally I’ll want a nap.
In all seriousness, I am forever grateful for those of you who have stood in crowds (or drank in bars) waiting for me to cross a finish line. At the 1st Chicago marathon I completed, one of my best friends, Kristina and her boyfriend David, saw me during the last 2 tenths of the race (the hardest and only uphill part of the Chicago marathon) and they screamed out name. I couldn’t believe I saw them out of the huge crowd and while wearing headphones. I didn’t know they were even coming to the race so it meant the world to me.
With the help of a few reader comments we have a new RICE, now with a side of Wine! WRICE: Wine > Rest > Ice > Compression > Elevation. It’s definitely helping the ol’ ankle feel better.
thank you for the reminder, awesome sign on my wall
Last weekend I found myself wandering around Barnes and Noble in the Sports section, staring up at the running books in tears. I kept thinking that I should get an inspiring running book to read while i have more downtime, but i decided it might make me more upset than encouraged.. Guess i’m just not “there” yet. I ended up with a comedy book & the complete Wizard of Oz series. (I’ve had an obsession with OZ since i was very young.) Seriously though, i feel about 70% better than I did last weekend, and I appreciate all of your concerns & well wishes toward my recovery. 🙂 I’ve honestly never been happier NOT running a marathon and making a good decision. It’s always a better idea to run without pain than to push through and possibly injure yourself. Guess i’m growing up and stuff. #agewisdomrunning
The McDavid Compression sock is literally saving my life ankle. The moment I put it on the pain went away. It holds my ankle perfectly in place so I don’t overextend or put stress where the pain is. The amazing part is there are gel pads on the side to compress the area.
This is the sock turned inside out so you can check out the pads.
Details of how this thing works (buttress..heheh)
All in the same week I’ve felt kinda old. My ankle failed me and I found a stark white hair hidden amongst my dark browns… Not feeling too great after last week, but the positive side is I got the job I interviewed for (and the ankle is recovering!) I’m now the Fitness Manager of our personal training department. I still get to train clients which is a HUGE plus, because I love my clients and I love training. And during this job transition i’m almost too busy to think about running. Almost!
Last week’s workouts (or lack thereof)
Monday:20 min triceps/lower back, 10 abs
Tuesday:4.6m easy 9:30/pace
Wednesday:2.8m easy 9:25/pace
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday:Color Me Rad 5k
Sunday: Rest
Total Miles:10.5
What do you do suggest I do to keep my mind off running??
What’s your favorite gelato flavor?
I had birthday cake & chocolate when we went out, sooo good!
I get questions, funny looks and jokes made about my compression socks and tights and I even know a few runners who know nothing about compression. Sometimes I forget the normal person isn’t reading running blogs or stalking following elite runners all the live long day and so yeah, compression can be a foreign concept.
me and my Pro’s (compression socks)
Running is high impact sport (duh!). During marathon training there’s obviously a ton of impact happening. Legs go through wear and tear, muscle soreness, and muscle tightness. The name of the game when running high mileage is recovery. If you recover properly you can run 5-6 days a week without getting injured, walking around on sore legs constantly or being exhausted every day. Let’s start with the basics of injury prevention & recovery with a little bit of RICE, which is a bit more familiar to everyone.
Rest: I get about 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Crazy for some, i know, but if I don’t get at least 7, i’m a monster and will need a nap anyway. Speaking of naps, i take those when needed as well. Resting gives your body time to repair damaged muscle tissue and restore glycogen (energy stores). This is why i take 1-2 days completely off from running each week! It is VERY important to take a full rest day to stay healthy and uninjured.
Ice: Using ice on sore body parts helps fight inflammation. Another thing that will help are the foods you eat. You can eat anti-inflammatory foods, such as fruits (especially berries), vegetables (tomatoes, greens) and diets high in omega-3 fatty acids (think fish). I like to try using ice and food intake before I take actual NSAIDS (aspirin, ibuprofen etc) for pain/inflammation.
Compression: The man of the hour, the main squeeze—sorry i can’t help myself! Alright, alright. The idea behind compression is to increase blood flow to repair damaged muscles while eliminating metabolic waste. Which basically means faster muscle recovery. (Foam rolling is also a type of compression!)
Elevation: I don’t have a lot of personal experience using elevation. Except for one day i was locked out of the apartment and put my feet up a wall for 30 minutes. I thought it helped with recovery and I should experiment with this a little more. Competitor.com says “elevation provides relief comparable to compression.” I guess the only downside is that you’re stuck in one place for a while. But i guess you’re stuck in one place with rest, ice and foam rolling.. looks like compression gear is the only stuff you can move around in eh??
I’ve had such good results with compression socks, it got me thinking about the rest of my leg. What about the quads & hammies?? Those are places I’m often sore, especially after hill and speed work. The idea of full leg compression really stood out to me and it kinda fell into my lap that McDavid Compression was at the Rock N’ Roll Expo a few weeks ago. They were one of the few brands I found that carried full leg compression tights!
We geeked out for an embarrassingly long time on running and compression. I felt like I made a few friends that day. They generously gave me a pair of women’s compression tights to try out and report on.
First, I loved the design. They are subtle with color and design yet still unique enough to grab attention. I get compliments on them all the time! Where the hexagon pattern sits (shins, inner thigh & knees) the compression is a little less intense, which is awesome because i can move freely in them.
horizontal stripes are just sunlight coming through the blinds!
I wore them before the USA 1/2 marathon and immediately after I got home that day. This are skintight, yet easy to get on and slid right under my jeans when we headed out for post race lunch & drinks.
shhh, i’m secretly compressing!
The BIGGEST notable difference from this race to others: I could walk up and down the stairs normally. <–If you run marathons you know what a BIG deal this is. No crawling or sideways walking for me!! I’m attributing that directly to the full leg compressing because after races, especially hilly races my quads are normally TRASHED. McDavid tights worked a small miracle that day.
The one and only thing I don’t like about the tights—they are opaque. You can hold them up to the light and see right through. So if I leave the house, i need to throw on a pair of shorts over. It’s funny because the one thing I don’t like directly influences the thing I love, which is their breathability. I was afraid these would be too warm to wear while working or working out, but they breath really nice and I never felt too warm, even with a pair of jeans or shorts over.
Nike Pro shorties covering the booty
Other than the opaque quality, these are pretty cool and seem to do their job for recovery. I’ve wanted to try full leg compression for a while now and this just gets me more and more excited to run high mileage and keep experimenting with compression. McDavid even has full upper body compression shirts & shorts! If you Crossfit, swim, or do any other heavier upper body workouts this might be a neat item to try.
What are you best tips or methods for recovering & staying healthy?
I think the dish that gave me the push to figure out some recipes was this blueberry belgian waffle i recently ordered. I also ordered a side of eggs and bacon, poured syrup on it and then ate The Entire Thing. I just try and make a McGriddles but it’s so good at a diner. When the waitress came around i actually apologized for finishing. It was the “i’m sorry, i’m not sorry” apology. It’s awesome how much food a runner can put down. I shouldn’t have apologized, I should have asked where my gold star was.
I took 4 days off running after the half marathon and the full marathon is 40 days out so I’m rolling right into training. Basically i’ll be hungry all the time and this is a great excuse for me to attempt some cooking/baking ideas for protein packed, nutrient dense snacks. I’m always seeing amazing recipe ideas and spend a LOT of time looking at recipes, but I never try them.
This might become a long tasteless journey, like my lemon, strawberry muffins I attempted. But it’s exciting to focus my energy on making something with my own hands. Plus I was compressing in my McDavid tights, so you know, the muffin making wasn’t a total waste of time. I got the muffins to rise and that’s half the battle!!
I did 3 miles on Saturday and completed a 9 miler on Sunday. Crazy how just a couple months ago running 9-10 miles was so mentally tough, and now that’s considered a “shorter” run. It went by quickly & easily & I’m actually excited for the 15 miler I have in 2 weeks!
attempting a full body shot, didn’t work, but you can see how messy the apt is! Score!
One of my favorite food sites to stare at pictures and recipes is Clean Simple Foodie. This chick has some fantastic flavor combinations that gives clean eating a bold taste. I gave the Thai pizza a go and it was a major success!
fresh toppings!
And the finished product…
I’m happy with the few accomplishments from the weekend, and they aren’t even running related! Crazy I know. I’m working toward that new year’s goals list I created in January.
Workout Recap!
Monday: Rest
Tuesday:25 min Kettle Bell workout, 10 abs
Wednesday:4.7m easy, easy easy! (First run after the race) 9:00/pace, 30 min abs/core, pushups
Thursday: 30 min chest/triceps and handstands–>first time i’ve done this in a while and yes the shoulders felt it! Hoping these will help with the yoga goals i set for myself.
Friday:6m fartlek 8:08/pace, 20 min biceps, 10 min abs
Saturday:3m easy walk/run.
Sunday:9m easy/long 8:37/pace
Total miles: 22.7
Are you still on track with accomplishing your NYRs & goals?
Do you have a good recipe for a protein snack? Favorite store bought protein snack?
Well, i’m not sick, just suffering from severe sinus and allergies. I had a strange allergic reaction to generic brand sinus meds…yes that’s what i said, allergic reaction to allergy medicine. What is wrong with me!? My eyelids were super red, raw and burning for two days. I didn’t take a picture of it (you’re welcome) but I did take one of me and my glamorous life with chilled chamomile tea bags de-puffing my lids.
Monday’s allergy fiasco!
I made a quick stop at Target and bought out their allergy section. I hate taking medicine. Besides the fact that my eyelids have gone back to normal, thank you Benadryl, i’m feeling much better in the sinus department. Still super congested without meds, but I’ll deal with that after the race!
I did a training run Tuesday that gave me a huge boost of confidence while running with sinus congestion. It was scheduled as 2 easy miles, 1 moderate, 2 at goal race pace. I tried not to push it, in case my energy wasn’t there, and also I don’t want to be sore heading into a race.
8:07, 7:29, 6:28, 7:17, 7:13.
I don’t know what the heck happened, but I acquired a new mile PR with 6:28. As soon as the Garmin flashed that mile split, I slowed down. Even though I was feeling fine, i knew that is no where close to my actual race pace. I was happy with the last two splits which were closer to where I’m attempting to hang at tomorrow. Gonna have to keep telling myself not to go out too fast!
Yesterday I headed to the Expo at the DC Armory. If you can, always head to the expos on the first day, that way everyone working the booths are well stocked, happy and energetic :). I didn’t do a ton of sampling, but I did stop at the Gold’s Gym tent and got to talk with a few girls from our marketing department. It’s always fun to put a face to a name!
Of course I had to stop at the Nuun station. If you ever want to stock up, usually they have a good deal at Expos, $5 per tube, buy 2 tubes and get a water bottle free!
I only got 2 tubes from the expo because I just got a shipment of new Nuun Energy– caffeine flavors! Lemon-line, Cherry Limeade & Wild Berry!
The last tent I stopped at was McDavid Compression. I told them i had JUST heard of them days before the expo because i’ve been in search for full compression tights. We all ended up chatting for almost half an hour about compression, marathoning, crossfit, personal training…and they were kind enough to give me a pair to try & report on!
Jeff, Me & Marcie, totally not prepared to take a picture–we were still talking through the photo op!
I’m literally wearing them right now in hopes my legs feel super fresh tomorrow morning. I’ll do a full review on them next week. I’m also planning on wearing them after the race all afternoon to speed recovery so i can jump right into marathon training!
Suffering from sinuses, but i’m gonna fake it till i race!
Anyone racing this weekend?
Favorite Pre-race Meal??
I’m going to have pasta (plain ol’ white) with spinach, mushrooms and a few chicken meatballs
shesgoingthedistance.com 