No Run for You

I am still in my self-imposed exile from running as I work on strengthening my knee and resting my feet.  Also finally dealing with some medical issues that I had been postponing out of concern that they would derail my marathon training.  I definitely miss running, but not as much as I thought I would, which leads me to believe my need from some downtime was both physical and mental.  Looking forward to starting the new year strong and getting back into training for some yet-to-be-decided event.

Work and life have been a bit crazy, so I've fallen far behind in terms of blog posting, and following other blogs.  On the few occasions that I can reflect on this past year, where I went from never doing any race, to having completed two marathons, I try to track the tools and techniques that truly contributed to this marathon push.

Garmin - a necessary evil for me to track mileage and pace as I move along.  I'm a data junkie at work, so this is right up my alley.

FuelBelt - I'm a creature of habit with running, so this allows me to fuel at my own rate and hopefully stay ahead of dehydration when it hits 100 degrees with 800% humidity in the Carolinas.

Superfeet green insoles - Kept my Plantar Fasciitis largely under control.  Use them in all my shoes now.

Compression gear - started with compression shorts to help support a pulled hamstring.  Added 2XU calf compression sleeves for my training for my first marathon to deal with a strained left calf.  Added CEP compression socks for the last month of training for marathon 2.  The socks are great for recovery after a long run, and the fact that they squeeze your feet too really seems to help with the PF issues.  Added bonus in that my whole family thinks I look like a dork wearing them, which, although this is mostly correct, makes it more fun to wear them around the house.

iPod - my little musical friend.  Sadly, the screen on my Nano fell victim to a major downpour while in the middle of a training run, but it still works and was there for just about every mile, including the races.  Hoping to get a new one for Christmas so I can see what I'm picking to listen to.

Accelerade, Ultragen, Gu, Hammer gels - None of these things are very tasty, but they all do seem to work.  Haven't had any issues with cramping other than a minor hamstring twinge around mile 23 of my first marathon.  Wish these things were a little cheaper, especially the Ultragen.

Tempo runs, mid-foot strike form - Added tempo runs for M2 training, and worked on mid-foot strike during the training for M2.  The tempo runs really helped to recalibrate my normal running speed at a faster pace than during M1 training.  I'm still working on the mid-foot strike, but being able to do this during M2 really helped my knee to make it to the finish

Lots of other things I could list, but these were the most important and/or helpful of the bunch.

Finally, if someone approaches you to join a Fantasy Football league after you haven't watched football for about 10 years and have very little free time, run away as fast as you can.  My personality is such that I am way too analytical about the whole thing, and devote way too much time to it.  It's been mostly fun, but much more work than I would have expected.

Run swiftly my friends...