Hey guys! Welcome to today’s “Fit Friday” post! I hope you’ve been enjoying this little mini series. It’s been so fun to include you guys on my half marathon training journey! So I’m a bit late on this post seeing that I’m posting on Saturday and not Friday. I don’t really have a good excuse except…life. Haha. Most of you know this, but when I started my blog I made a promise to my family that family would always, always come first. So, that means if something family or kid related comes up it takes precedent. And, this week, that’s exactly what happened. But, better late than never, right?
So before we get into today’s topic – padded socks, I wanted to share a quick update on my training. We are about 6 weeks away from race day and so far so good. Our long run this weekend will be 9 miles and I think we’re both ready for it. Having a great place to run really helps for long runs, and we’re fortunate to live by a lake. Both Travis and I do our long runs on White Rock Lake Trail. This weekend will be great because we’ll get to run the whole lake since it’s just a little over 9 miles around.
If you follow along on instastories, you know that although Travis and I are both running the Dallas marathon, we run separately. Travis runs about an 8.5 minutes mile and I run about a 9.45/10 minute mile. Training for him has been going great – no bumps of any sort. For me, I’ve had to baby my IT band a bit, but it’s actually going better than expected. For the most part, my short runs during the week (3 mile average) go great. All I have to do is use the foam roller after my runs and I’m good to go. My long runs however are a bit more involved.
Thanks to experience and advice from friends, I’ve developed a little routine that seems to work. First and foremost, being well hydrated really effects how well my long runs go. Secondly, the aftercare is huge. After each long run a spend a good amount of time rolling out my muscles with my foam roller. After that I take an epsom salt bath (rec from Kami of The Kalon Life), and it relieves so much joint pain. But, one of the biggest keys to a successful long run for me is my socks. Yes, you read that right. My socks make such a massive difference!
When I was training for my 3rd half marathon a friend told me to invest in Thorlo socks. Thorlo socks are padded socks that help to soften the blow on your joints. Thorlo socks work to manage the moisture your foot produces, reduce the pressure, impact and shearing forces which in turn reduces fatigue, and helps you to run longer (in less pain). If you want to read more information about them, you can check out their website here. It’s kind of crazy, but padded socks have made such a huge difference on my long runs and they’re simple something I won’t go without if running over 3 miles.
It really does sound crazy, but having that extra padding on your heel and under the ball of your foot makes a massive difference. They can be a bit pricey, ranging from $10-$14 per pair, but they are for sure a worthy investment. I’ve had mine for over 2 years and they’ve held up great! Anyway, just wanted to share this little nugget of info because I feel like when you’re training for a half or full, you can never have enough tips and tricks!
Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
If you missed the last couple of posts, check out How to Train for a Full Versus a Half and Training Inspiration from Kami.
