Marching On...

[rocknrollgirl]

No worries Emily, glad to help if you need and and glad you have products in Mexico for your blisters.

So remember back the other day when I posted we got priced out of our local trail 10k? Well we had a snow storm yesterday into last night that dumped about 4-5 inches of heavy, wet, slushy snow. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful now that we got priced out. Don't get me wrong, I love snow running, but I am not sure this stuff even qualifies as snow.

Things sometimes happen for a reason

[emily_in_nc]

No worries Emily, glad to help if you need and and glad you have products in Mexico for your blisters.

So remember back the other day when I posted we got priced out of our local trail 10k? Well we had a snow storm yesterday into last night that dumped about 4-5 inches of heavy, wet, slushy snow. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful now that we got priced out. Don't get me wrong, I love snow running, but I am not sure this stuff even qualifies as snow.

Things sometimes happen for a reason

Yes they do! Sounds like things worked out for the best after all.

Crankin, I found the Teko socks you recommended on Amazon and have put a couple of pairs on my wish list. They look great, and the company sounds very eco-conscious, which I love. Love too that they don't have toe seams since that's an area that has been causing me problems. Will definitely be ordering a couple pair to try. We always have a lot of amazon stuff waiting for us when we descend on my mother in NC. That will be happening on May 1!

[Crankin]

Well, I have been very happy with the Teko socks. I wear the really light and low cut ones for the gym and when I was running outside. I bought a couple of pairs of slightly heavier ones, to wear running in the cold weather, but I found they weren't really warm enough for the real cold and I ended up wearing my x country ski socks, that are thin, but high up. They did work for the fall, though. My feet are extremely sensitive to even a hint of thickness in socks; they feel like they are being squeezed. I can't really wear any cycling socks except super thin wool ones, now.

[OakLeaf]

Emily, I hope the Teko socks work for you, but I'm a little confused by what you said about the seams. All my socks (other than toe socks), including my Tekos, have the same seam arrangement - a straight seam across the backs of the toes, and "darts" on the sides. Which ones are causing you trouble?

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, I hope the Teko socks work for you, but I'm a little confused by what you said about the seams. All my socks (other than toe socks), including my Tekos, have the same seam arrangement - a straight seam across the backs of the toes, and "darts" on the sides. Which ones are causing you trouble?

Emily, I hope the Teko socks work for you, but I'm a little confused by what you said about the seams. All my socks (other than toe socks), including my Tekos, have the same seam arrangement - a straight seam across the backs of the toes, and "darts" on the sides. Which ones are causing you trouble?

All of my socks (New Balance, Smartwick and Peds) seem to be irritating either the side of my big toe or side of my pinky toe because we walk SO much here, being car-free, in addition to my runs. The problems occur where the inside seams hit the sides of my toe. Tekos claim to have seamless toes (http://tekoforlife.com/pages/teko-faqs). This would be a big plus for me as well as their EVAPOR8 blend (from recycled poly!) for the hot/humid climate I'm in here.

I'm confused, though, since you say you have Tekos and they have toe seams. Maybe we're talking and thinking about two different things??

[OakLeaf]

Maybe we're talking and thinking about two different things??

Definitely possible. When I see a place where two ends of fabric are joined I call it a seam, but maybe if it's knitted together it's actually called something else. I won't have a chance to post pictures until this evening.

[emily_in_nc]

Definitely possible. When I see a place where two ends of fabric are joined I call it a seam, but maybe if it's knitted together it's actually called something else. I won't have a chance to post pictures until this evening.

Yes, I'm wondering if the fact that the "seam" appears to be knitted and flat rather than sewn from pieces of material forming a bulky "inside" seam is the difference. The socks I have that bother me most, my New Balance, have a bulky seam that hits the side of my toe when I walk/run and eventually starts rubbing and causes a blister to form if I keep going. The "diabetic" socks I bought have a bulky seam on the outside, so no rubbing of my toes. I guess I could just turn the offending socks inside out!

[OakLeaf]

Ah, when I turn my socks inside out I see what you mean. It's not one of my trouble spots, so I'd never noticed before. The toe construction of the Icebreaker socks is similar to the Tekos and those would probably work for you too. SmartWool probably would not.

You might just try a pair of Injinjis and see if you like toe socks. There's really a lot I like about them, but I prefer more cushion, which isn't possible with toe socks.

ETA - I just remembered I have two pairs of Coolmax Injinjis that someone bought me a few years back, that are too small for me and I never got around to exchanging. They're size small, US women's 6-8.5 or Euro 37-39.5, one pair white micro height original weight, one pair grey no show lightweight, new in packages, if you want either or both they're yours, just PM me with an address.



Monday will be three weeks out. Today, anyway, I'm feeling strong. Turned over 200 miles for March on my way back from yoga this morning and there's still three more running days in the month (tomorrow's my day off - bike to farmers market, buy cookies, eat cookies ). Feeling relaxed and rested at the end of a 54-mile week ... new territory for me! I've struggled with the heat this late spring, every workout "fail" has been due to a sudden rise in temperature, but I feel really good about the workouts I've done in more moderate temps, so here's hoping that the snow melts in Boston before race day but the temperature stays below 70 and hopefully closer to 50!


I just have to give a plug to aerial yoga in this thread. My studio only started offering aerial after my injury, and it wasn't until this winter that I felt like my shoulders were stable enough to try it, but now, it is such an incredibly wonderfully great complement to running! Even if all you do is hang upside down in the sling, it's gentle oscillating traction to counteract the compressing impacts of running. Every Sunday for most of the winter my routine has been bike to the studio and park there, do one of my two hardest running workouts of the week, aerial class, bike home - and it's been just amazing. I'm getting a kite of my own so I can hang whenever I want, and get the upper body pulling work as well. Basically anything you can do with a TRX you can do with a kite, though it's less adjustable for length - plus all the ways you can use it for support and inversion. I just love it!

[Crankin]

Oak, I think most of the snow will be gone. Although, we are getting snow showers tomorrow, I see lots of 50s and even 60 forecasted over the next week. The rain yesterday/last night got rid of a bunch of snow, although the fields and meadows still are covered. I saw on the news today they are heating/melting the snow in Hopkinton. Can't guarantee it will be below 70, but history is on your side.
You hang upside down?

[OakLeaf]

You hang upside down?

It's amazing. Some of the moves are a little scary the first time, but you're super secure in the kite. http://www.yogabody.com/yoga-trapeze/ There's a lot more we do with them besides just hanging, but that's my favorite part.

[emily_in_nc]

I love the idea of aerial yoga! It's not offered here in any of the yoga studios that I am aware of, but I just have a feeling it would feel so good after all the walking I do, plus a little running and several yoga practices per week. My lower back is almost always slightly sore and hanging upside down just sounds like it would feel great.

Oak, your mileage is amazing. I just can't imagine. Wow! That's so nice of you about the toe socks, and I would love to try them! I'll send you a PM with my mother's address. I'll be there May 1. And I hope you'll let me Paypal you a little $ for them.

I am excited as I just found out about a 5K here in Playa to benefit the children's autism organization. It's on April 26, my last Sunday here, and I thought it would be a great way to end our six month stint here in Mexico. It starts and ends at the track where I run anyway, so it'll be easy for me to get to *. The documentation for it is all in Spanish, so it's obviously aimed at locals, but that's okay. I do hope to sign up and go for it. Just knowing I am going to do it will help me continue to train through what I've been assured will be a very hot month of April here!

[Crankin]

I do think that the hanging part might help my back, but I know I couldn't ever do it. I'd be frozen with fear and dizzy .
One of my high school aged clients does circus stuff as an activity. She's really good at it and unafraid. I think it really helps deal with trauma, but I am someone who cannot even look over the edge of a narrow trail without feeling dizzy. Hence, the end of my mountain biking career!

[OakLeaf]

I am someone who cannot even look over the edge of a narrow trail without feeling dizzy.

See, me either! But for me, my phobia of falling is very dependent on whether my body feels supported vs capable of falling. So yeah, the one thing that they do in the kite class, that I haven't been able to bring myself to do yet, is the inverted Mountain where you unwind your legs. Even though they don't stay in it long and it's just a preliminary to flipping out of the kite - which I can do fine with hips bent, once I got my head around the idea - I'm terrified when I start losing the pressure of the sling on my butt. But cradled in it, I feel fine.

[OakLeaf]

So the good news is I had an absolutely fabulous workout yesterday. The weather was perfect, race pace felt relaxed, and I'm not even sore today.

The bad news is I did something to my foot. It's not a stress fracture. Not not not not not. Not. Not.

Trying to stay off it today though there's a whole lot of non-running stuff I need to get done that can't be postponed.

Someone send me some healing vibes ...

[Crankin]

Healing vibes sent!