Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Long time no post

I was checking my last blog entry - almost 2 weeks ago! I updated my stats, but had nothing interesting to say about my running.

I did pull a calf, on the treadmill (go ahead...laugh at the irony). Its my left one. I haven't had to skip any runs. The calf feels ok during the runs. Its been sore so I went to the running store to buy a calf sleeve. Instead, the sales lady gave me a sample of Rock Tape. Similar to K Tape which was made famous by Kerri Walsh in the Beijing Olympics.

Taping a calf is easy. You tape a long strip from your achilles' tendon to the botton of your knee, and then tape a short piece across it near the bottom of your calf muscle. It's a cross on the back of your leg. I did both legs because I think my right calf feels left out and is having sympathy pains. It was not attractive and the red tape totally clashed with my pink and black outfit.

Verdict: the tape is worthless. I am very happy I did not waste $18 on a roll. First of all - part of it peeled off. On the left calf the top part of the vertical strip rolled down to hang over the horizontal strip. On the right calf, the entire horizontal strip came off. I'm not sure when or where. I apologize for littering. The time it was on I wasn't sure it was making any difference.

I'm all for gimick products. I own a TrionZ bracelet (one of the magnetic/ion/voodoo things you see a lot of athletes wearing). I don't know if it works, but I figure it can't hurt. Plus, it's pink so it matches the vast majority of my running outfits. I would buy a Phiten necklace, but they are expensive. TrionZ bracelet: $10, Phiten necklace: $40. Homegirl is on a budget.

I also buy socks that are specific to my left and right foot. I don't know if this helps either, but it makes laundry sock matching much simpler. I own compression socks. They are also bright pink. I wear these for the remainder of the day after my long runs and on other days where my legs are feeling tired. Again - not sure if it works, but I figure it can't hurt. I actually do think the compression socks work. I honestly think they've been helping my calf.

Rock Tape, however, is a gimick not to waste your money on. I was told it could remain on for up to 3 days (including showers), but it didn't last through 6 mile repeats. I also didn't dig how it said "Rock Tape" all over it. Simple, basic colors please (pink!). I am open to trying K Tape, but I think I'll have a professional put it on.

An update on my nutrition plan:
I've actually been pretty successful with it. I would give myself a B+. I'm disappointed that I haven't lost any weight, but I will say that overall I feel better. Less bloated. My energy level has stabalized. I no longer feel the late afternoon drop. Up until last week I also thought my clothes were fitting better, but the past two days they haven't. I felt like giving up, but after an entire month and with the wedding less than 50 days away, I might as well stay the course.

Running updates:
I ran 21 miles on Sunday - 8 with Linda kicking my butt. I don't think she knows how to run slow. We'll talk about taking it easy, but we still end up doing most of the miles around 8:00. Since I run less than half of my long run with her it's a good marathon pace simulation. We talk the whole time, so I know I can handle the pace. Plus, she runs the middle portion of the run with me. It is my goal every Sunday morning to wake up early, run 10-12 miles, meet up with Linda, run the remaining 6-8, and be done. I always fail at this plan. I can't get out of bed to save my life. So I end up rushing around, being late, running around 7 miles, meeting Linda, and then finishing on my own. At least its a cool down.

I also did my first speedwork OUTSIDE today!!! Milestone!!! I had been doing my speed work on the treadmill, but I couldn't motivate myself to do mile repeats on it today. Believe it or not, I now have a workout I would rather do outside. How the crap did this happen???

I will throw in this small disclaimer - it was only in the upper 70s today and the humidity was very low. Had it been 90 degrees with over 80% humidity, I would have probably gerbilled it.

4 comments:

  1. Greg from Rocktape here. So sorry you had a disappointing experience with RT. Hopefully we can help! RT needs to be applied correctly on dry, clean skin for it to adhere properly. It also needs to set for about 30 minutes before rigorous activity.

    Most importantly, please make sure that you don't stretch the ends of the tape. If you do, it will come off. This is true for any kinesiology tape.

    We have many happy customers who are marathoners and Iron men/women and have no issues with stickiness which is amazing considering they are swimming 2.5 miles, biking for 112 and running a marathon.

    Unlike "hologram bracelets" which are simple parlor tricks, I'm very confident that kinesiology tape is effective when applied correctly. Over the last 25 years there have been hundreds of double blind test confirming its effectiveness.

    Hope this helps and feel free to contact us if you have any other questions!

    And yes, we do sell rolls in pink ;-)

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  2. hey Kari

    thought i would share my experience with Rocktape. Ive been using it for about a year now. I had and ACL sprain from running and also various other aches and pains from just getting old and being a triathlete. this past May i competed in the ironman 70.3 at disney world florida. i applied the tape the night before as you should do with RT ( or any other tape for that matter ) and it stuck perfectly right therough the entire 5 hr 39 min event for me. there was a bit of lifting on the edges but that is normal.

    i have no issues with my knee anymore and am confident RT had something to do with it.

    its all about the application with kinesiology tape. clean dry skin. put it on at least a few hours before your workout. no jeans, RT likes to be shown off. trial and error is what works best. peoples bodies are different and you might need to tweak the application a bit to see what works best for YOU.

    as greg said they do sell it in pink as well. good luck with the running, you seem pretty serious.

    you can contact me at jason@cricketstoreonline.com if you have any other questions.

    Jason

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  3. Thank you Greg and Jason for your comments.

    Looks like I made the grand mistake - I put it on about 5 minutes before I ran. In my defense, the sales clerk did not mention that I needed to put it on earlier. In your defense, tell I didn't read the instructions. (Who does that when there is an excellent photo guide?).

    Here's what I propose: I am going to give Rock Tape one more try. I will buy a roll of pink rock tape for my half marathon on Sunday (if I can find one, if not I'll use another color). I'll put it on Saturday night before I go to bed and put it to the test for 13.1 miles. I'll let you know how trial #2 goes.

    I really, really appreciate the feedback. I am always surprised that people I don't personally know read my blog :)

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  4. Hi Kari! Yep...I'm a believer in ROCKTAPE too. I'm a bike racer and RT helps when my knee gets sore from training and also helps keep my hamstrings from cramping (big problem for old racers like me in the over 40 crowd) in long/intense races. Check out ROCKTAPE's how to section: http://rocktape.com/how-to-use/ Greg makes a great point...if you put any stretch in the tape, make sure you leave about an inch on the ends that are laid down flat with no stretch. Good luck! Please blog about how it goes for you. Btw, my fav is "Flying Skulls."

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