COMPRESSION OBSESSION

I am the oldest member of our running tribe. Perhaps that fact alone is the root of my focus on injury prevention and recovery. I am old, getting older and want to KEEP RUNNING FOREVER. In my post baby running (and other forms of exercise) resurgence of over six years, I feel like I have sustained more injuries than the rest of the tribe. I am definitely the one amongst our group who sees Dr. S, the doctor that keeps runners running, the most.  By the way, that has some downstream benefits as I impart Dr. S’s wisdom to the rest of the tribe, would could involve avocados, how to rehab, firing glutes when running and other activities to ward off dead butt syndrome. Let’s see if I can remember & catalog my issues. Don’t feel like you need to read the entire list below, it would be boring and painful, any two of the bullets gets my points across.

• Metatarsal Bursitis, required pad insert in shoes for awhile
• Sprained Ankle twisted while running solo-dog jumped out at me & I panicked by rolling my ankle.
• Deeply Bruised Wrist from breaking my fall while running in a bootcamp pack. Taken down by one tall male instructor who tripped.
• Back muscle spasms from bootcamp freezing workout with medicine ball. Not enough warm up, got rid of that in a few days but the few days were HORRIBLE.
• Concussion from car accident (hit from behind, driver estimated travelling 40 mph). yes that is not a running/work out injury but it lead to three weeks of not running and during my ease back in, I twisted my ankle running on Mount Vernon with girls on one of my first few return runs.
• What I thought was Achilles tendinitis training for a 13.1 Atlanta which got me all kinds of heel inserts from running podiatrist, did not resolve went and saw Dr. S, he painfully untangled tangled calf muscles..heel inserts shelved.
• Knee Pain, Ortho first who MRIed, gave me brace, custom orthotic, kinesio tape…. Then turned to Dr. S and Fairy RunMother to find out it was dead butt syndrome. Saved me with exercises, stretches and glute firing while running. Makes me wonder how many knee pains stop runners from running not know it could be there butt?!
• Hip pain, of course, worried about some horrid stress fracture, again the bursitis, changed my diet, my form, sleep with pillow between legs and fixed it. Dr. S to rescue once more.

I am sure I missed some strains, tweaks, twinges. I have surmised if you are aging and working out regularly, stuff is just going to hurt. Through all of this, I have learned not to panic and immediately conclude a particular pain is going to cripple my running life and require surgery. Okay so that is not entirely true. I do go through that psychological/emotional cycle every injury/strain but I work myself through it much faster..probably in about an hour where it used to take a week of the grieving cycle for me to regain perspective.

Somewhere along this journey, I began to focus on prevention and recovery. I won’t bore you with the eating right, sleeping right, stretching, foam rolling, strengthening and resting. There are far better resources out there than this 49 year old kinda slow runner. What I do want to share is my love and downright obsession with compression. I think if there was a way to compress my whole body head to toe (a la mummy style) once/day, I would probably do it. Just typing this makes me think of when you swaddle your baby (in my case, babies) like a baby burrito. Need for psychotherapy maybe? Any way back to my crush with compression. It all started with Dr. S. When I had the not-Achilles-tendinitis but the tangled-up-calf-muscle, Dr. S said go to BP (our local running store) and get sized for CEP knee socks and wear them as much as I could (with breaks). I did just that. I wore to work, I wore them to run. At first, I just had one pair and realized wearing them three days straight without a wash was not a good plan. I did take them off from time to time but then an avid running magazine reader, I read about one of those cool elite runner girls who wears them to bed. Yup that happened. I would like to pause here and give a shout to my BRFs who endured many runs with me sporting my compression knee socks. Some girl’s legs looks so cute and cool in these knee socks. Not me, I think it just makes the chubby parts the star of my not so long legs. But one must do what one must do to run FOREVER.

So when I had the knee pain and understood the mechanics of the support of kinesio tape or the brace, I researched and acquired a bunch of different style of CWX compression tights.  This worked well in the winter when we are in tights for almost every run especially for feels like teen or single digit degrees. I just blended with amongst my BRFS with their black tights but oh, it felt so good to have all that support. Yes, then II found reasons to wear tights for different reasons. Thinking about how great the socks felt after a long run, I began to apply this same principle to compression tights.  I had a new fashion goal in selecting what I would wear post long run.  If my long run was on a weekend in which I had a kids activity to attend (soccer game, swimming), I found a pair of pants just a little big on me that I could slide on a clean pair of compression tights under those pants allowing me stand on that soccer sideline and cheer like a mama who did not run 12 miles. Or if I had to be at work after a long run (yes, some of my BRFs prefer we knock out the long run in the wee, wee hours on a weekday morning), it can be a bit more challenging.  In the winter where boots and long skirts rule, compression tights..no one is the wiser. This, of course, only works in the winter.  Luckily for me, summer half marathon training is not typical in our group. Speaking of summer running, I had to give up thoughts of running in bike shorts, shorts and stick to compression knickers, capris, shorts…I cannot give up my compression.

And the final slide into my obsession, I read about another one of my fav elite runners sleeping in her compression tights. You must know what happened next. My husband has gotten used to it and my kids do not do a double take anymore. Now, mind you, I do not wear these every night. That would be crazy (crazier) right?  Just before an early morning long run or the night after a long run…or maybe both. I just declare they are magic, magic for me. Giving my legs the extra recovery they need to feel springy for a long run to tackle whatever life has to bring.  

So there it is out in the open, my compression obsession. I maybe sharing and spreading this obsession. I lent Zelda my CEP knee socks and I think I she felt the magic and power. Winter is here and I just ordered a new pair of CWX cool weather tights. Cannot wait until they get here and I get to take them out for 10, 11, 12 miles.

 

Compression Wear + Sadie = LOVE

1. MY IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA JOURNEY AND WHAT IRONMAN MEANS TO ME

   Due to some technical difficulties, we are reposting this blog from our BRF, Rose. Originally published on October 10, 2014

   
   

   In the past, I’ve often written and shared race recaps of my major milestone races. I considered doing that for Ironman Chattanooga, and I’ll probably write up something for future training and racing purposes, but Ironman is really so much more than a race, and a simple race day recap really wouldn’t do it justice. What Ironman is, is a transformative journey that takes most of us a year to complete and culminates in a grueling day and crossing a finish line to hear Mike Reilly say the famous, coveted line, “You Are an Ironman.” There is so much emotion at that finish line, for every participant and spectator – and for folks back home tracking and watching. Deep down we all know that something amazing has happened – but it is the story leading up to that moment that captures the real magic of Ironman.

   For me the journey began 5 years ago with my running girls who brought me back to fitness and running races after a hiatus to have kids. This lead to participating in my first Sprint Triathlon in Acworth and the feeling of success and accomplishment that day had me hooked and I quickly progressed to increase my distance and became a bit of an endurance junkie. During that time, I ran a handful of half marathons, tackled several sprint and Olympic distance races, two Half Ironman races, and my first marathon -- and I joined a great team and coach at Dynamo. All the while I knew, deep down, that Ironman was calling me but I was unsure of when, where or how it would happen.

   I remember the day clearly from last year – a beautiful fall day in September on my way to meet a triathlete friend for lunch when the news posted on Facebook, came in my email and suddenly in texts and calls from friends – they were opening a new Ironman in Chattanooga. I’ve always loved Tennessee – having lived there as a small child, attended Vanderbilt University and raced in Chattanooga several times. I knew this was my race and when I managed to get a spot to race in the inaugural Ironman Chattanooga – which sold out 3 minutes after opening – it seemed more meant to be than I could have imagined. And then the work began.

   I love to train and I was never daunted by the schedule that I knew I would work toward. I enthusiastically attacked my training schedule, embraced the aches and pains, the fatigue that came later in training – the juggling of my schedule as a working mom and an Ironman-in-training and the work of maintaining balance. Toward the end, I let Ironman take over my brain as I meticulously planned race day strategy, nutrition, equipment, hotels, and schedules. I fought off a cold at the end of my taper that left me paranoid and neurotic worrying that a simple cold was going to ruin my year of dedication.

   What happened along the way -- as I tackled those long rides, labored through long runs and walked around in a chlorine induced haze – is that I reached a new clarity on who I am at my core -- and I found my people. Let’s face it, people who race endurance are an odd breed, and I am no exception. I have many great friends who have loved and supported me through many times in my life.  But the great gift of Ironman for me, was finding people who really understood me with very little explanation needed. The community of triathlon is a unique and diverse place. No two of us are exactly alike. We come from all over the world, we are men and women, we have different kinds of jobs, some of us are married, some have kids, some are single. But there is something indescribable at our core that bonds us. Finding a community of people who accept you for all your strengths – and all your weaknesses, which they surely get to know on 100 mile rides -- is an amazing gift.

   For me, this gave me the clarity to really understand myself, more than ever before. To stop trying to define myself by my surroundings or fit into the prescribed box I should belong in. It gave me the freedom to freely explore who I want to be, what I want in my life and what I want to pass along to my children. I found pride in what is different about me and a belonging, unlike I’d ever know before. And I came to realize, in a real and practical way, that it is when people embrace your faults that you find the confidence to let your strengths soar and grow.

   It was with this foundation of friendship and support, built over the year and many miles of training, that I arrived in Chattanooga to successfully race 144.6 miles. It was two weeks (or more) of supportive listening and encouragement from dear triathlete friends, promising me I could do this when doubts began to creep in; it was the smiles and cheers of encouragement from Dynamo teammates and a tightly clasped hand of my friend Maria as I anxiously began to cry before the swim; it was encouragement and concern from friends, Reiko and Teesha, as I flustered with a flat just out of transition; it was riding side by side with a teammate up the hill before Hog Jowl road – and another teammate standing there all day, by himself, to cheer us on; it was seeing Andrea at the end of the race on our way to the finish line and her encouragement and deep understanding of where I was at; and it was the larger triathlete community and our supporters – quite literally willing me through a brutal run – this is the magic of Ironman. While that day alone changes you, with its amazing highs and its deep and painfully dark lows, it is really the journey that leads up to that moment, and the people surrounding it, that define Ironman for me.

   I was speaking to a friend the other day who became an Ironman many years ago. She said whether you go on to do more Ironman races, or you only do one, it is always a part of who you are. I definitely think that is true. There is something about knowing how deep down you can go - how far you can push and still come back - that prepares you in a unique way to face life’s challenges. For me, I will return to Ironman. Again, I am not sure when or where or how just yet, but I will return - I suspect many times. And whether or not I am out on an Ironman course in 2015, I know that the friends I have made on this journey will now be riding alongside me for many years to come as we support each other on and off the road. This is the one of the most precious and lasting gifts of Ironman.

   
   

   From Rose, who is currently searching out her next adventure . . . stay tuned! 
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