110% Play Harder

So I finally received my new compression sleeves in the mail. Yippee!! I was so impressed by the fancy packaging and was excited to find out what these compression sleeves were all about!

Back View

Front View

So I opened them up and pulled everything out of the silver bag and started reading all about these compression sleeves.  It turns out that the nice insulated silver bag is to carry the ice inserts with you to keep them cold.  I was pretty wow'd by this and it is pretty hard to wow me!  

The ice inserts are shipped to you completely flat and require you to run them under warm water to allow them to expand. Once they expand about 1/2 inch, they are ready for the freezer.

So to make a long story short, I went for a 6 miles run in the compression sleeves this morning.  They have 50% more spandex than most compression sleeves so they did fit much tighter than my Zensah's do.  They were comfortable and felt like they kept everything together!  These sleeves are actually doubled layered so the ice inserts sit in between the two layers of spandex. After my run, I slipped the ice inserts right into the sleeves and let the cold take over. Ahhhh!! There is nothing like a bag of ice directly on your shins but these inserts are great.  The slots on the sleeves allow the ice to wrap around the bottom of your legs 360 degrees so you can ice your shins and your calves at the same time. The ice inserts can also be cut to the size that you need them as well. The best thing about these compression sleeves is the convenience.  I finally have a solution to icing at work! I am excited!!

I highly recommend these to anybody who has shin splints or any kind of pain in their legs that requires icing.  They are convenient to use at work or even at home if you don't have time to sit and ice! They cost about $75.00 but are well worth it if you have these nagging injuries like me!

My Worst Nightmare....Shin Splints

I am kicking myself in the "you know what" today because my shin splints are back!  It was a stupid decision to try out my new shoes on a 10 mile run!  Only my left shin that had been bothering me, but now it's both!

This was me on Monday, icing my shins to death and hoping that this was all just a dream, or should I say my worst nightmare! (Please excuse the my dogs' pee-pee pad in the background, but I was too lazy to pick it up for the picture!)  I am so irritated with myself because my last post talked about the great week that I had coming up and how close I was was to achieving a hundred mile month. My running buddy, Shawna, was just getting through this and now it is my turn....again! Like I have said before, shin splints are contagious! People tell me all the time that I should do something else beside running, but I am not ready to retire yet. I have too many goals to achieve before I call it quits.

110% Play Harder

 

I get so frustrated with shin splints because I can't really ice them at work like I need to.  I ice them at night but I don't think that it is good enough.  I was going crazy thinking about the whole icing problem at work and I went on the hunt for a solution. I came across some compression sleeves from 110% Play Harder that have built-in slots for ice sheets.  The thermafreeze packs can be inserted during or after your workout and stay frozen for up to two hours.  They were not cheap ($75.00) but if they help, then they are worth every penny!  I should have them by the end of this week, and once I try them out I will have to let you all know if I recommend them or not.

My First Visit to Road Runner Sports

Shawna and I took a trip to Road Runner Sports during our lunch on Wednesday to see what kind of running shoes "Shoe Dog" would recommend for me. The Nike's that I have been wearing for the longest are classified by Road Runner Sports as "Neutral" shoes so maybe I shouldn't have switched to the ASICS Gel Kayano 17's which are "Stability +" shoes?? I know, I am a mess!

Woof! Meet "Shoe Dog."

Sorry! No photo of me running in my work pants!

I took the "Shoe Dog" test, which required me to run barefoot on a treadmill for 30 seconds while being videotaped from the waist down. The video is then played back in slow motion and analyzed to identify my running style.  My results indicated that a Stability shoe is the best fit for me, so I was happy to know that I did not make too bad of a choice with my new ASICS, which fall into the Stability category.

Shoe Dog's recommendation

Trevor, my kind salesman, made me some custom inserts based on my running style and my arch type.  I found out that I have medium arches, I put most of my weight on my heels and I land on my heels when I run! The inserts were not cheap, but they have a 100% money back guarantee for 30 days! I wasn't obligated to buy them, but I kind of felt bad for Trevor after all of the time that he spent working with me and my feet, so I bought them. Yes, my feet were clean but I did skip my much needed pedicure because of my missing toenail.  I hope he didn't notice it! Trevor also told us that he had a bout with shin splints in the past and he fixed them by using inserts.  Maybe this was just a sales pitch but it's worth a try for me.  He was also telling us about his marathon experiences and the Long Beach Marathon course. He claims that it is not a flat course...great!

I am going to do things right once my shins calm down.  I can't wait to try out the new inserts in my shoes!  Hopefully, "Shoe Dog" got it right and my shins agree with him too!

The One Hundred Push Up Challenge

So for now it looks like I have to spend more time cross training, which I think I kind of hate!  I will now be forced to go to spin class and continue with my stability ball workout at home.  I have to say that since I have started to cross train I have developed a little bit more strength in my arms that I never had before.  Three months ago I couldn't even do a single push up.  Now I can actually do 12 !  Don't laugh!  I am really proud of myself for accomplishing this!! My goal is to be able to do 100 consecutive push ups.  I came across this website onehundredpushups which provides a six week training program on completing 100 consecutive push ups!  First you have to take the initial test and then you follow a six week push up training program based on your fitness level. Now that I can do a few, I think I will try it out to keep myself distracted from my shin splints! How many consecutive push ups can you do? And I mean real push ups...not the "girl" push-ups!