After suffering from calf cramps in all four marathons that I've run, I've done a bunch of reading about what causes it and how to prevent it.
So naturally this road has led me to compression socks. The scientific research only goes so far as to say that there is evidence that these kinds of things help in recovery, not actively during a race.
But there is still a belief out there that they do help in the middle of a run and since I can't just do a bunch of calf-strengthening exercises just two weeks before the race, I'll take what I can get.
The local running store was helpful and so I bought a pair of calf sleeves, pictured above. The benefit with these is that they don't extend all the way down to the toes so you can wear the socks you'd normally wear on a run.
I didn't get out for my scheduled 8-mile run today until mid-afternoon, but that was perfect. The weather was 70 degrees and I ended up lucking out with yet another hot weather day for my workout. I even lugged my amphipod water bottle (and drank it during the run).
I wore the new sleeves for the first time. At first they felt like they were impeding my running but gradually through the run they felt totally fine.
When I got home I noticed one potential logistical problem -- they are so snug they were really difficult to get off my legs! I had to prop up my foot and then really push to get them off. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do this after a marathon, so I might have to just keep them on for a while.
And now that I have the box in front of me, I can see I was wearing them wrong. The logo goes in front.
Time: 3:20 p.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (Doug Kessler 10K), shorts, cep calf sleeves 2.0, Skechers Go Run 3.
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