Ultimate Relay Equipment

Just thought I'd throw a quick post out about some of the equipment I used for the Ultimate Relay.  I may not list every little thing, but ones that I think should be mentioned.  The 'stuff' of that day was almost as important as my training.  Bonk, get a blister, saddle sore = not a fun day!  So here goes

Swim:
Sable goggles - yes these babies are pricey but I love them!  I try to be extra careful with them and try to save them for open water only.  They calm the sun and glare and their water clarity is amazing!  I love letting friends try them to hear their reactions.
Xterra wetsuit - I used a old full sleeve (possibly a Vector Pro, but it's at least 6 years old, so not sure) on the first swim and my newer sleeveless Vortex on the last swim.  I know and believe full sleeve to be faster, but I haven't found one yet that fits my bicep well, and I love the feel of the water, I am falling more and more in love with racing in sleeveless.  Xterra makes good quality affordable wetsuits.

Bike:
QR CD0.1 Ultegra - Ya'll have seen my bike plenty, and I still like her, mostly now because of her trademark color that so many people recognize me by, the color I hated when first considering bikes.  Funny eh?  The only complaint I have with the bike is the difficulty in adjusting the rear brakes mostly because of their position.
GU bike flask mount - simple, cheap, effective.  It's just nice having the gel securely in front of you within easy reach, especially when I wear a top that may not have great pockets.  Saves me the few seconds it takes to put it in a pocket in T1 too ... terribly crucial, I know ;)
LG Trilite shoes - wider, comfortable, cool zebra print on the bottom, and lighter than their carbon shoe but less money
Garmin 105 - nothing new or fancy, and I really only used it for a 15 minute timer to remember my nutrition.  Did not carry it on the run.
Pjur Original Body Glide - haha, you all will love me here.  So while I also used regular saddle creams like Chamois Butter, I took this from, um, another room in our house and tried it out on the very top inside of my thighs (bikini area basically, where my legs meet the saddle) and nether regions.  It's a liquid, not a cream, and it lasts a long time!  Really keeps things friction free which I worried about being on and off the saddle so many times.

Run:
Altra Lone Peak - wore this trail shoe on the first and  third runs and loved it.  Zero drop, rock plate, fully  cushioned, foot shaped (you don't know what that really means till you've tried Altra by the way).  Not that heavy either.  Wore it once without socks and once with, no rubbing.
Altra super secret prototype - yeah, that's all you get  :)  But it was lighter and great and of course zero drop and foot shaped
Nathan 4 bottle belt - not sure which one as it's several years old, I'm guessing the Trail Series.  Anyway, I like the flat back 10oz bottles and large rear pocket.  Also stored my run sticker and pills in the small front zip pocket.  I usually carried 2 bottles with me, 3 on the 3rd run.

Clothing:
CEP compression tri shorts - wore them for everything except the last run.  No rubbing, no chafing, and based off of more recent races I have to wonder if their compression really did help me, I never really tightened up or got sore till the last run, just tired.  The higher waistband in back is nice for aero and has a small pocket
Moving Comfort Juno bra - I've written a review on this one, it's my go to bra when there's swimming involved since it's racer back and my Jubralee while equally supportive has traditional bra straps.  Again, no rubbing, and I like it's padded straps.  I just have black but they have some really fun colors!
CEP compression sleeves - I wore them until after the 3rd run and I'm sure they helped some.  No noticeable drag at all while swimming in them sans wetsuit
Speedo swim suit - I debated what to wear to reduce drag on my non wetsuit swims as my bra and shorts let in a bit more water than I liked.  Didn't want to take the time or effort to change, so I pulled my training suit up over my shorts and bra and I liked it.  And these polyester, PBT, or Endurance fabric suits, I tell ya, they last forever!  The one I wore is 3 years old and I train in it every week!
Headsweats visor - love the elastic back

Nutrition:
First Endurance EFS drink - love this brand.  Reviewed it here. LOTS of electrolytes in their products (way higher numbers than most products).  Tropical punch and grape were my flavors of choice and they're great cold, so I had a new bottle prepared for each ride in the cooler.  I concentrate my bottles with anywhere from 1.5-3 scoops/bottle.  I usually do about 100cal/hr
First Endurance Liquid Shot 'gel' - it's not a gel at all though, but a thick liquid (which I usually water down just a little).  I carried it on the bike and run in flasks and usually consumed 100cal/hr
Sportlegs and Metasalts -  I usually go EFS and Liquid Shot as my only electrolytes because of their high levels, but it was a very long and hot day so took these as prescribed for extra electrolytes mostly as precaution.
Prolytes - love this stuff in all my water in the 3 days before a race.
Coke - drank about 6oz on the last 3 runs for flavor, a little caffeine, and to keep my stomach calm

Husband - my rock that day.  What a guy!  Best support crew ever!

Salt Lake Marathon

Ouch.  That's how it went.  Ok, that's not entirely true, here's the run down in short.  Rode a completely stuffed trax train up to the start.  It was bad, must've taken 30 minutes, and it was SO hot in there I thought I was going to puke, we were completely shoulder to shoulder in there and this obnoxious kid decided to push in on a later stop and I had to listen to him yak for the next 20 minutes, uhg.  Anyway, made it up with only about 15 minutes before the start and ran right to a bathroom with a huge line, knew I didn't want to start without one last pit stop and I knew the bathrooms would be busy in the first few miles, and I knew I don't like to stop and didn't have much time to spare.  Fortunately I got in and out while putting on my sock's and watch and took my layers off and had about 3 minutes to hurry and get everything else in/out of my morning bag I needed, run to the bag drop, and stand in line.
Gun went off, took about 3 minutes walking to cross the start line then another 2 to start running, was kind of frustrating.  It was cool to be around 5,000+ other people, but made it really hard for the first 2-3 miles to navigate around them.  I felt good the first half, and the miles seemed to go by quickly.

Hit 13.1 at 1:45 and while I was hoping it'd be closer to 1:40, oh well, I was still feeling good.  Running along a few miles later top of my foot was bugging me again where I tied my key into my laces, so as much as I detest stopping, I stopped at the side of the road, fumbled with the laces, got the key out, fumbled to retie them (it was weird how my hand function was a bit impaired) and took off again.  I had been watching this one lady in front of me for the last 4 miles and had hoped to keep her in my sights as she looked strong.  She obviously got a little on me with that stop, but I could still see her.  Ended up making up time on her and beating her by 20 seconds at the end I think.  It was kind of a motivator like, "hey if she looks strong, maybe that means I do too".  I know, I know, but I don't think of myself in an elitist way.  So wandering along about mile 16 and the left quad/hip flexor start tightening up or filling with lactic acid, not sure which, and I thought 'uh oh' but kept on.  The other leg joined in by mile 18, and my pace slowed to 8:30-9:00 at times despite my efforts to keep it faster.  I wasn't really fatigued per say, my lungs got a little tight which was wierd, and thankfully my nutrition was fine, but those legs, when they tighten up there's not much to do but keep on running and make it to the finish.  I got a little ancy about the miles going slowly in the 20's, but by the time we turned onto State and hit 24.2, that was nice, knowing I had "a mile and", I think like that a lot.  Worked the uphill to my best, and the downhill to my best, and kept my eyes peeled for the final turns and finish  :)

Myself, Steve who ran a 3:15, and Neil who ran his first marathon

The finish line was ok, a lot of people, but no one was really cheering when I went through  :(  I saw 2 spectators that I knew while I was running.  It was fun to see others out cheering for their families, but it was kind of hard not having anyone there for me too.  Oh well.  I focused on the race.  I did get to see 2 coworkers Steve and Neil (who I shared some First Endurance Liquid Shot with when I passed the poor guy at mile 20 who hadn't had any calories besides powerade at aid stations), and I also got to meet up with good friend and 84 time marathoner Jonathan.  We ironically ran races 2 seconds apart in total time, but never saw each other on the course, darn!  It was nice to have a good hug at the end.  Thanks Jonathan!

So I came away in 3:36.08, a 1 minute PR.  And I wasn't super excited about the time or the race the first couple days, and I think that's because it really hurt a lot.  Ironman hurt a lot too, but not like this, IMSG zapped all the energy out of me by the end, but didn't leave me in pain at the end like a marathon does.  I knew I was going into this marathon under trained and that it would hurt, but I was hoping I was in good enough shape, those tight legs wouldn't come into play till the last 6, not the last 10.  It wasn't an easy race for me, it was tough.  But I should, and am getting toward a more positive feeling toward the race just thinking that hey, it's another marathon under my belt (#4), and a PR despite under training, and despite the legs slowing down earlier than they did the last time I ran a marathon.  At least I still ran through that which was mentally and physically challenging and managed to pull off a PR when I thought I'd be on track for a 3:40 something finish.  1:45 first half feeling reasonably well, 1:51 second half feeling a lot of leg pain.  Not too bad I guess   :)  Thanks to all the friends who were kind enough to say something since the race.  I don't want to come off all negative, and your words have helped me to remember the good in the race.  I have been awfully sore since the second I finished, taking a good 20 minutes walking barefoot to the car when it should have taken me 10 or less, having to have my kids help me up out of a chair or off the floor or out of bed, not being able to carry my kids up the stairs because I need all the upper body strength to pull myself up and down the railing, but as a good friend reminded me, I guess I just left it all out on the course, and that's a good thing, something I'll take.

Some more thoughts about the race:  The course is very urban which is cool because you have a ton of residents out watching in their yard, but the scenery was lacking at times too.  It's not my favorite full marathon course, but I wouldn't mind trying the half, think it looks faster and just better overall.  But along the way I was mistaken for my twin sister twice from people who knew her in high school, passed a guy with a full KISS face paint, passed another gentleman with a soft serve ice cream machine in his front yard (yeah, sorry buddy, I'm not taking ice cream at mile 7, it was a nice gesture though), and passed another guy dressed in green tights and a green tank top with a huge yellow flower pedal thing around his neck.  That's one thing I don't quite get, why so many costumes lately, so many tutus in regular races?  I get it in a Halloween or costume race, but think it's kind of strange otherwise, but to each is own.  Oh yeah, also saw 5 or 6 guys with tight jeans and short sweaters out hitting cowbells along the course, you know like Will Farrel's "more cowbell" skit on SNL?  Humorous and nice of them to come out and support.

So here's what worked about the race:
Nutrition - used First Endurance Liquid Shot (mixed half the new berry flavor with half the vanilla flavor, liked it a lot) and took a serving every 4.5ish miles starting at mile 5.  Also carried a flask of Coke with me and sipped on it between 17 and 23 miles.  Next time I will make sure it's more flat and will carry it in a belt or something.  I don't mind holding flasks, but that one got me a little bit sticky as it would fizz.
Shoes - wore my Altra Intuitions for their first marathon.  Really liked having my toes spread out, think it kept my feet out of pain, and so far no black toe nails.  Loved how well it held my heel into place, and love how long I was able to keep good form (most of the marathon).  That zero drop is good stuff, I tell ya.

Blister help - so I got a blasted blister on my heel from some shoes 2 days before the race, nice timing I know.  Was worried about it as my Altra's rubbed it and the last thing I wanted was to suffer through that all morning.  Used these Nexcare Comfort Fabric Brights Assorted Bandages and they were great!  Stretchy so held on well, a nice pad, and breathable.  It didn't move at all under my CEP's.  Great help.
Socks - CEP's.  Love em, don't run long without em.  These are totally something you can experiment with on race day and they won't hurt you.  I just really like the help and support I feel like they give during the race, and have made my calves the least sore part of my lower body since the race.
Jersey - Ran in a new top from Freemotion, a partner company with Altra.  Just enough support for me, loved the movement that came from the thin straps, no chafing at all, and a long top, never worried it was creeping up to show my mama tummy.  Nice and thin too, just really well built.  Also had a cute new sweat/head band I wore.  I kind of look like a cancer patient in it but it's all good.

Here's what didn't work out so great:
Shorts - So while I know and tell people you never try anything new on race day, I was an idiot and tried new shorts on race day.  They were Zoot Compression Tri shorts I just got.  I had hoped they would help the leg pain I'm used to getting that last hour.  Wore them on a 3 mile run the week of the race to try them and loved the support they gave my legs (and did on the marathon too, very nice), but come race day they chafed me something fierce, and not where I was expecting.  I have run in tri shorts during races and some training for 12 years, I have never had this problem running, but basically they didn't sit right on my lady parts and rubbed me RAW.  Like light bleeding raw.  Hurt during the race, tried pulling them down a little, didn't help.  They had a plush fleece pad, part of the reason I thought they'd be great, but something wasn't right I guess.  Came home from the race, used the bathroom, and lets just say yelled out pretty loud, it is pretty bad.  Trying to wear as many loose pants/skirts as I can to let air heal things up.  The negative things said, I did like how high they were on my belly and back, felt like good core support and held in what pudge (yes there's some) I have.  They weren't too hot on my legs, but I don't know that I could handle them in hot conditions unless I get them wet at aid stations.  I'll not retire the shorts all together due to the chafing, but I'll cycle in them fine and run in them WITH something underneath them.  I obviously got pretty pained during the race but I don't know whether to say that means they didn't do their job or not, it's still a long way to run on the road and if there are any shorts out there that take all that pain away, someone better tell me!  Although I suspect they don't exist  :)
Music - So I did end up taking and using music.  Put it in at mile 10 I think, earlier than I thought, but I was getting bored.  Just no one to talk to and not a super amazing scenery course.  I liked the music, but by the time my legs started hurting, it was hard to not be able to run fast to the good songs like I do in faster training. It kept my mind a bit busy and I still tried to focus on spectators, but I think it would be more fun with legs or a race that would allow me to run faster.
The pics - Silly I know, but I looked pretty pooped in some of the pictures and made some pretty lame faces in others .  Also couldn't get a stinkin photographer to take a pic of my shoes, I asked like 3 times (most of the weird faces are them catching me asking) and they all just laughed at me.  I would have bought a good close up, oh well.


So that's that.  I got to do marathon #4, it was a great day with great overcast cool weather, my body stayed healthy in the regards to stomach issues and the head pain I get sometimes, no dizziness, no seeing stars (I prayed the night before and morning of that my body would be well during the race, and that's what I was looking for, no scary head stuff).  I've had great help from my mom brothers and my mother in law and friends watching the kids for me so I can go to work and get this second workout of the week in.  Going to take a few weeks off running now and get back on my bike and back in the pool.  It's been way too long for both.  We'll see what I can finally figure out in the way of future races too.

CEP compression sock review

The stockings all hung by the chimney with care......sorry, couldn't resist  :)

So after attending a Powertri clinic about compression apparel I walked away with a pair of CEP compression socks.  I'm telling you people, if you're local, come to the clinics!  They're free, they're always informative, and you often times leave with product of some kind.  I answered a question right, so I got a pair of socks.  Come to the clinics!  And if you can't, you can watch them live online, or recorded online here.  Here is a link to the compression clinic I refer to in this review.

So anyway, I was thrilled to have a pair, and like some women, questioned and questioned what color to get, and eventually ended up with pink which I like.  The pink is pretty trendy with the ladies so if you want to be different, pink might not be your choice.  Believe me, I considered the lime green  :)   I was excited to get them when I did since my husband and I were going to run the Halloween Half Marathon in a couple weeks and it is a very downhill course, perfect testing grounds.

Compression is about lowering muscle vibration/bounce during impact, but more importantly, all about blood flow and keeping it from pooling in your feet and calves. Compression wear,  proper compression wear keeps the blood flowing well which improves oxygenation of the blood, improving lactic acid metabolism. We're all going to produce lactic acid, it's just an energy cycle, but with the proper oxygen in your blood it can get flushed out more efficiently. CEP's socks and sleeves (the term for calf sleeves, socks without the foot part basically) do not have to only be used during activity, but can be used before and after as well. As explained at CEPsocks.com, "Pre-exercise - muscle activation and reduction of injury risk, During Exercise - optimized performance and stabilization, reduced muscle strain, Post-Exercise - quicker and shorter recovery phase"

Now I've had compression wear, but only true recovery tights, these ones from Zoot, not active wear.  I think I notice a difference with the recovery tights, but it can be hard to tell how much with recovery only stuff, I do think it's beneficial though.  Maybe I'll wear one leg on one leg off sometime.....ok, probably not....maybe.  I was hoping for a more noticeable difference with the CEP socks since you use them during.  CEP even "consistently see increases in athlete's performance by up to 5% as well as a drastic reduction in recovery time and increase in lactic acid metabolization.".  5%?  Do the math, that's a savings of 12 minutes in a 4 hour marathon, or 4.5 minutes in a 1:30 half marathon.  That's pretty significant for a pair of socks my friends.  I didn't get to test them out for speed, but I did for distance, elevation drop and lactic acid metabolism.  And let me tell you, watching people at the finish line of this race really proved it.  Everyone was protecting their calves and complaining how bad they hurt, which is understandable on such a steep downhill course.  Been there, done that, many a time.  The pain for me?  Nada, nothing, zipp!  Seriously, my calves felt the same way they did when we started the race.  My poor husband, several friends, and dozens of people on the race's Facebook page were dying right after and for several days, but I honestly felt no pain or discomfort at all.  And I don't attribute that to running slower than my usual race pace since I was with my husband.  I ran a 10 mile downhill long run with my husband and friend at a pace slower than my race pace the week before and I came away considerably sore, but not this race day.  These results were unlike anything I've ever felt.  This is definitely something I will be using in my next half marathon or marathon, for sure!

So now that you're intrigued, let me tell you a little bit more about CEP.  They are a company from Germany (thanks to Sarah for the correction) and have just penetrated the athletic scene in the U.S. over the last couple years and are now the most popular brand of compression socks at Kona, the 140.6 Ironman World Championships.  They come from a medical background making true medical grade compression necessary for some people's day to day health.  They make excellent quality stuff, not just slightly snug socks that look cool (or not depending on who you're talking to).  Check out the science here. as well as the CEP link above.  I've tried on 3-4 different popular brands and these guys have it right.  They have a left and right sock as our feet are not the same, they have more Achilles and ankle support than any other brand I've tried, and they're long enough.  That's a big issue with a lot of brands, especially calf sleeves (socks without the foot part, used mainly for shorter triathlons), some can come very short.  The sole in these socks is also really nice and padded.   I don't feel like I"m going to put a hole in these in a few months.  They are built anatomically, of course allowing room for your calf, true graduated compression, these socks are not just straight up tube socks, you in fact have to measure your calf to choose your size, not just choose small, medium, large.  And just a tip, the women's socks are the same, just shorter, so if you're a man with shorter legs consider getting the women's so that you don't end up with a lot of fabric under your knee.  And tall women, works both ways, find your calf measurement on the mens chart and buy a man's if you have really long legs.  CEP is great with a 30 day money back guarantee too, so you can give them a try.  Did I mention they're the lowest price tag brand out there?  Yeah, they are!  I LOVE selling people on CEP because it's such good quality stuff, honestly the best that I've tried, but for significantly less than the other big brands like Zoot, Skins, and 2XU.

A few more details I want to give you, a lot of people, myself included, see these and say "no way, I'm running in the middle of summer, I'm going to be way too HOT in those!".  Not so though, the socks have many ventilation channels, and actually help keep you cool when the water you splash on yourself at aid stations runs down your legs.
Socks vs Sleeves.  The socks are better for recovery than sleeves, can be worn for longer periods of exercise, and in my opinion are the best choice if you compete in half-full marathons or half-full Ironman races.  The sleeves lack the foot part obviously which interferes with circulation a bit, but are a good choice for shorter distance triathletes who don't want to take the time to put them on after the swim.  With a sleeve you still get benefit but you can wear it under your wetsuit.  You can also wear sleeves after with flip flops if you don't want closed toed shoes post race.  CEP also recommends you don't wear the sleeve for more than 2 hours of running, a sock is better suited for the 13.1 distances and up for most people.
And finally, how to put these on.  I didn't use them in Ironman St George this year obviously, but plan to the next time I race a half or full Ironman, especially such an arduous course like St George.  But I can't afford 5 minutes struggling to get them on.  If you're like me, you scrunch your socks up, push your feet in and are off.  Try that with a compression sock, go ahead  :)  It's going to be VERY hard to scrunch them (think trying to stretch a dozen+ elastics all together) and stretch them enough to get your foot in.  And add moisture to your foot and it gets even funner.  But Matt Frazier the CEP rep who came to the clinic showed us a great technique.  You fold down the top half of the sock inside out over the foot part, slide just the foot part (with leg section over top) on over the heel, then you can simply pull the leg part up.  Make sense?  Try it, even with a normal sock, so much easier.  I could easily say I could have these on in under a minute with this technique.

So there you go, a long review, I apologize, but I hope it helped some of you.  Compression isn't just a fad, and with great quality brands like CEP out there, you can find out what it's all about for yourself.  Powertri carries their full line of running/triathlon socks and sleeves (CEP does actually make other socks for many different uses like walking, hiking, winter sports, soccer, etc), so you can come in, get measured and try them on for yourself, or you can always order online.  My athlete discount code does sweeten the deal some too.  :)  Oh and it can get even sweeter.  Check out this link to win a free pair of socks or sleeves of your choice simply by submitting a photo of you wearing CEP in your next race.  Race and train on friends!!