Let me give you a quick preface about myself. I got into triathlon last year after basically running and road biking for fitness. I placed 2nd in my AG 25-29 in my first race and was hooked. However in a charity on June 13th, a torrential downpour and metal grated bridge, meant a bad crash and a skin graft. After 7 weeks I was allowed to resume working out and definitely went way too hard trying to make up for missed time. I ended up with my groins and quads seizing up in a race and I basically battled my inner thighs just above my knee getting super stiff for the rest of the season. I finished the season running 2 10k races, the first one I ran 47:45 and my legs definitely were bothering me. The second I ran 43:25 with it being a warmer day and my legs feeling much better.
Anyway I decided with no formal training plan or coaching and some success, I wanted more. So I joined a local tri team who is coached by a 15 year pro Jeff Beech (some may know him.) We started by changing my stride to mid-foot and getting more extension in my stride. I also started running 6 times a week in Nov and slowly increasing my kms. I am now running 8 times a week. Throw in 4 swims and 2-3 bikes on my computrainer using ErgVideos my fitness is coming along.
In the mean time I had received Compressport compression socks, calve sleeves and quad sleeves. The first thing that attracted me to Compressport was the fact that they use the circular stitching. I had tried 2XU compression and for the socks quickly lost elasticity. I was very happy with CEP and I was excited to compare the two companies. To be completely honest I can’t tell the difference between the two products in terms of feel in my calves and compression overall. Where I do like the Compressport socks better they have an arch support and 3D Dots which are pretty cool.
However the product I have been most impressed with are the Quad sleeves. First they have little rubber like dots which allow the sleeves not to slip down. Next, I notice a difference in longer bike and runs in fatigue when I wear them versus not (whether it be placebo or not its working for me and I’m feeling much better when I wear them.) Finally, I will often wear them for a while after the workout just to help with recovery. I am going to get 2 more pairs so I don’t have to keep washing the same pair every day. I feel so strongly about the benefits I’ve got several guys I train with ordering pairs because I can stop raving about them.
So going into today’s half marathon my goal was to go sub 1:30 based on the gains I’ve made doing the speed work and my level of fitness. I was considering this a training run and wanted to do it with tired legs because I am doing 4 70.3 races this summer and if I couldn’t run well with tired legs I would need to re-assess my training. So yesterday I biked 100 km with an average of 230 watts (305 FTP) and ran 25 min off the bike. On Thurs night we do our speed work and it was 15 400s strong with 100 recovery. So I raced this morning wearing my quad sleeves and compression socks and my legs felt good. I ran my first 10k at 4:10 then my next 9k at 4 and my final 2 I was in the 3:45 range. I ended up 4th overall with a 1:26:26 2 seconds behind 3rd and 5 behind 2nd. My coach was first with a 1:17.
In reflection I learned a lot from this race:
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I could have started my kick sooner, I felt great coming home and still had gas in the tank. Having never done a race at that distance I have a much better idea for my next one.
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It’s a lot of fun negative splitting and reeling guys in.
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I know what I’m capable of and I’d like that time to be my time if not better after swimming 2k then biking 90k.
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I was very happy with the Compressport products. I highly recommend the socks and quad sleeves.