Hi all,

Happy Labor Day. Hope you are all enjoying the day off. Well I did it! I completed my 5 days straight of running to complete my peak training for the Center of the Nation Series. Yesterday my schedule called for 16, my running friends were scheduled for 20 and I ended up meeting in the middle at 18.3 I thought I would just do all 20 but honestly I was falling apart around mile 17 and didn’t want to die trying.

day4

18 is Enough! Get it? (Anyone remember the TV show 8 is Enough??)

Highlights of the run:

1. Friends to share the pain fun with! We even stopped at mile 13 for iced coffee!)

2. Lots of lovely views of the Williamsburg Bridge—before running over it—and during running over it.

williamsburg-bridge

Graffiti galore on the Williamsburg Bridge.

3. Bumping into our friend Christi unexpectedly on the West Side Highway. She was also on a training run.

Lowlights:

1. Chafing!

2. Chafing some more!

3. More Chafing! With a dew point of 72 we were soaked with sweat that couldn’t evaporate leaving major chafing. I really did Sweat Out The Small Stuff!

chafing

Today, I procrastinated until the weatherman on the news said there was a storm 45 minutes away. I figured i’d try and log 3 relaxed recovery miles before the storm.

day5

I actually felt pretty good. I ran with compression socks for the first time and wonder if that helped. Somehow I just always feel self conscious and chicken out before making it out the door with my dorkey socks but I figured most people were still sleeping on this holiday Monday. LOL! I want to be an official convert but how on earth can I figure out how to not look like a cheeseball with them on?!  I hate the chub that pops out at the top of the sock by my knee.

cheesy

Just one more reason to look forward to the colder weather. I can hide the socks under long pants. 

Question: How do you pull off wearing compression socks? How do you prevent chafing or relieve the pain from chafing after it’s happened?