Saturday, February 18, 2012

The more things change, the more they stay the same

In a flashback to childhood, topics for today will address chocolate milk, knee socks, and training-wheel bikes. 

Post-Run Recovery Fuel
Coerced by many suggestions to drink chocolate milk for post-run recovery, I finally broke down and bought a bottle of chocolate syrup.

Initially I tried to go easy on the amount of chocolate syrup I used in each glass of milk.  I quickly realized that diluted chocolate milk does not do the trick, so I went all in and souped it up (literally and figuratively).  One of the biggest benefits of being an adult is being able to use as much chocolate syrup as you like in your milk.

Now I drink a lot of chocolate milk even when I'm not in post-run recovery mode.  Just today I drank chocolate milk when I got back from going downstairs to pick up the mail (post-postal pickup mode?)
CEP Compression Sleeves
I was surprised at the number of runners I've recently seen wearing knee socks.  Not just white knee socks, but also black, hot pink, neon green, etc. 
At first I thought it was a throwback with a vengeance to the tube socks of the 1970s.  Now I've learned that these are compression socks, which supposedly help blood circulation for better endurance and faster recovery. 

Initially I wasn't sold on the idea of these compression socks, especially since I already have a couple pairs of rather expensive specialty running socks.  Then I saw compression sleeves, basically footless knee socks, which you can wear with your socks of choice. 

In continuing my mission to singlehandedly keep Amazon.com's stock prices as high as possible, I decided to buy a pair and see if they are helpful.

One might think these look even more bizarre than the knee-high socks.  But I figure if I wear white socks it'll probably blend in fairly well, other than the gap in between the bottom of the sleeves and the top of my socks. 

What would be even cooler would be if I wore the compression sleeves with my Cho-Pat knee straps on top.  Remember these bad boys?

Or maybe I'll just wear long pants so nobody will be the wiser.

Wonky Knee
I only ran once this past week, but my left knee still feels off-kilter.  It's a different feeling of discomfort than what I experienced when I went through physical therapy last summer.  Back then, I had pain on the front of my knee around the knee cap.  Now, it feels achy behind my knee and in my lower thigh just above the back of my knee.

I'm going to take some more time off and hopefully things will heal up.  It's frustrating because I had such good training momentum going, but I know the earlier you address your aches and pains the better.

Guess it's time to get reacquainted with the exercise quadricycle.

6 comments:

  1. Yay for compression sleeves. I have two pairs that I wear all the time. I'm not really sure if they work, but because I think they work, I feel better when I wear them. (It's all about the placebo effect with me!)

    I hope your knee becomes un-wonky!*

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    1. Very cool! Placebo or not, it's great to hear your vote of confidence on the compression sleeves. Do you wear the sleeves both during and after your runs?

      Thank you for the well wishes on my knee - much appreciated! Good luck on your half in Austin, you are going to do awesome!

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  2. i hate taking time off when things are going well, but you are smart to do it quick rather than make things worse

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    1. Thanks, Amanda - indeed, I've certainly learned the hard way not to run through injuries! It's a huge mental battle to balance recovery time with feeling the fitness level wane. =(

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  3. How is your knee feeling today? I am sorry some pain came back in a weird spot!

    My friend was commenting on all the people wearing compression socks at the race on Sunday. I think I may order her a pair. I wear them from time to time. :)

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    1. Appreciate the sympathy! I went for a 3.5-mile test run yesterday and my knee felt good for the first 3 miles, but then the achyness started up again. So I'm not 100% there yet, but it is an improvement from last week. Heading the right direction!

      You wear compression socks, too! Would love to hear what you think of them! And you are so considerate to be thinking about ordering your friend a pair!!!

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