Relays, pushing through in a race, clothing

Original content from Movable Mom

I’m resting and enjoying some much needed down time this week. My calendar is slowly getting more quiet, but I have a few more things on the agenda to finish up before we start summer vacation. A birthday party, end of school activities, starting a volunteer slot at the Humane Society (more on that later!), and our niece’s high school graduation. I’m really looking forward to the start of June when we can sleep in and relax a little! What else is going on? I’m working on a relay team, I have a quick discussion on running and injuries, and I’m thinking of where we purchase our sports clothing from.

A quick point about my full marathon with the foot pain

I wanted to mention something regarding my full marathon and the foot pain that cropped up. Yes, I did choose to continue with that race and finish; however, I never felt it was broken, sprained, or fractured. I stopped, walked, and analyzed it. If I had ever felt it was a full injury requiring a DNF, I would have honestly stopped. I really wanted to make sure my readers knew that I was aware of what was going on during the time. We all know our own bodies and if you’ve been running for a couple years solid, you really start being able to sense your body’s changes better. I almost hate using the word “injury” in any of my posts about that race; it may really be just “a damn sore tendon” related to just trying to get through an extreme sport. With racing and especially endurance running, there will be very uncomfortable moments. Your calves may start screaming, your thighs tighten, you want to vomit – all kinds of things can go on and we will have to push through most of it in any of these races. It is part of the sport, breaking past the uncomfortable and getting to the finish line.

It will be uncomfortable at times. It will sometimes burn. It will sometimes feel unattainable. And it may sometimes hurt. But most of the time, it is your body adapting to more rigorous activity. Own it. Push through. Conquer it. You can get through more than you realize!

Thinking of relays

I may have a relay team put together! Just like that, I think I’ve collected a group of runners who are interested in doing some fun relays next year. I haven’t looked too far ahead into my own plans for next year other than flip-flopping on whether or not to try the Disney Marathon, but I do know I want to run for fun next year. After watching the relay runners on the Carmel Marathon course, I am really hoping to get a group of friends who will run a relay with me and it sounds like I’ve got some interest now with my friends! More to come on that. Check out my RRCA classmate Lindsey’s lastest post about a relay she just ran for Back On My Feet downtown Indy. I’m thinking this one might be a good one for my team if they have this race next year again.

Where we get our sports clothing from

The Bangladesh garment workers building collapse that has killed 200+ poor workers has me thinking again about my running clothing. This isn’t the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last. I don’t like that I can’t control where my clothing comes from. As an American consumer, I don’t have a lot of options with regard to tops, bottoms, and shoes. I only hope and pray the brands I use are keeping a close watch on their manufacturing processes and facilities. I’m glad for many of the Made in America (or Europe) options with regard to compression socks and regular socks like Thorlos, CEP Compression, and Pro Compression, but I know most of our industry’s brands are still imported. I can’t change that. I can’t change what Target sells. I can’t change any of this! What I can do is be one voice here on the internet pleading to our companies to solve this problem. I’m willing to pay a little more for quality and humanity.

During my marathon that turned out to be bitter cold, I changed out my clothes at the last minute to account for the weather. I wore Thorlos socks, CEP Compression calf sleeves, my CW-X Ventilator shorts that have worked well in most of my races so far, and two Champion USA tops. The short sleeve top underneath is old and I knew I could throw it away along the course if I felt like it. I had some new Brooks Running gear to try, but since the weather changed at the last minute, I chose to run in what I knew worked in the past with certain temperatures for me. I had actually been planning to run in the tee of my local running store, but it was too cold. The Champion USA top has a lot of stretch so I knew I could pull the sleeves up and down during the race comfortably and I wouldn’t need to worry about arm sleeves with it. It’s always been a go-to top for me with specifically because of the stretch ability of the arms. I don’t know why more manufacturers don’t make a stretchier fabric? I have so many long sleeve running tops, yet the arms aren’t comfortable to push up if you warm up.