GET COMPRESSED TO ATTAIN YOUR NEXT ENDURANCE PR...
...i did!
...i did!
click to enlarge and you'll see i'm wearing compression garments from heel to shoulder from Zoot®; socks, knickers, and arm warmers. my product review of these high-tech garments below. photo at the finish of September 11's Imogene Pass Run; the Grand-daddy of Colorado Trail races by HP Yogin Logan Noonan.***
usually, ilg is coaching you
toward varying degree's of expansion. expansion of physiologic capacities, expansion of suppleness, expansion of equanimity and wholeness within our lifestyle and life choices.
today however, i'd like to conclude my Imogene '10 Chronicles in the opposite direction; compression.
enter Melissa Van Sant,
a most noble HP Yogini of mine here in Durango.
she trains with me weekly during my HP Yoga® offering which is, as many of you have come to know, might just well be the ultimate kaleidoscope of purification through compassionate pain of which most will ever regularly partake.
HP Yogini MVS during one of our IPR Training Runs, Jones Creek. photo by ilg. Yogini Van Sant
whose dancing blond hair during her runs is very nearly a Durango landmark, is an experienced local mountain runner and no stranger to podiums. two weekends ago at IPR, she finished 4th in the 55-59 Age Group.
we've been running some high country runs together in our prep for IPR. early in our training, she immediately turned me onto something of which i've hearing about and reading about for several years; compression fabric for sport performance and recovery.
ilg was, as Little Bear would say, interested.
fortunately, Yogini MVS is an owner of a fantastic Durango fitness clothing store called Rose Pedals, so when it comes to sport performance and fabrics, my Most Treasured Yogini MVS knows a thing or two about a thing or two. She's gotten her husband, daughter, and several World Class Durango females deeply addicted to this notion of compression fabric for training, racing, and recovery such as Kristin McGrath and HP Yogini Marissa Asplund, both of whom have been profiled here in iDL.
you can now add ilg to her list of addicts of compression garments.
if, by the time you finish reading this entry, you are interested in getting some compression fabric? please keep it in the WF Tribe and call Melissa at (970) 385-6989 here in Durango. tell her, "Coach Ilg sent me!"
my array of compression fabric
from ZOOT® absolutely, undoubtedly saved my race, my right calf, my left calf, and my biceps during IPR. so impressed am i with this compression thing, that i have talked to John Jett, Race Director of Imogene Pass Run, to change the name of Colorado's most historic race to "Compression Saturday." just kidding.
there are other compression garment manufacturers. however, Yogini MVS was uh, VERY adamant about her preference of ZOOT over all others. i see why.
ZOOT® Compression Mechanics
over this summer i thoroughly tested the follow Zoot® compression garments:• Arm Warmers
• Knickers
• Socks
the basic notion of Compression Mechanics through fabrics is to direct and continuously re-direct blood flow (thus, oxygen/nutrients) to working musculature during racing, and then, for recovery, from fatigued musculature toward the heart. simple philosophy. simple things work.
according to ZOOT® literature, there is scientific proof of a:
• 29% Decrease in Lactic Acid Build-up
• 25% Reduction in Perceived Effort
derived from wearing ZOOT® Compression fabrics.
ilg is Here Now to affirm those sterile statistics into vibrant life...
ZOOT® Experiential Instances
perhaps mhy highest standout ZOOT experience of these past months actually came at mile 10.5 during the Imogene Pass Run....this is the single longest and steepest uninterrupted descent gradient on the race course (900 ft. vertical in 0.95 mile; 950 ft./mi or 17.9% gradient). With legs accustomed to moving constantly upward, it is easy to lose control in this first downgrade with its steep grade and treacherous footing. Most injury falls in the race occur in this stretch and i was flying...no, ilg was F-L-Y-I-N-G down this high hazard section perhaps in part due to the 25% reduced perceived effort afforded to me by my ZOOT garb?! or, maybe i was just soooo thankful that my spine injury was nowhere in my kinesthetic awareness and i released out of Fear and into Flow!??
regardless, i was passing people that had beaten me on the ascent left and right, literally. in this instance, on this section, i was attempting to pass a girl. if i am passing a girl at this point in this race, you can bet she is a top woman runner...the LAST thing ilg wants is to somehow hurt her best performance, so i lost precious time in a conscious effort to be....well...polite. if it were another guy as i was passing? hec, i'd shoulder him into the gully or off and into the yawning abyss wish him well among the other Tomboy Mine ghosts...
with ever growing seconds ticking by, i chose a very hard line off and into a near-vertical seabed of fist-sized rocks precariously perched upon a rain-etched gully as i forced my pass, allowing the girl to maintain her safe line.
that's when my right ankle turned and my right calf cramped in a hideously hurtful charlie horse from the high-velocity change in direction on this roller-coaster steep, loose section where many have twisted, or sprain their ankles...still a lifetime high above the finish line in Telluride.
in a spiritually mature expression
of my WF Practice, ilg breathed instantly into the calf cramp and micro-adjusted my foot strikes in whichever way lessened the charlie horse cramp now crimping with grizzly bear like strength and pain my right calf. and ilg tells you this; honest and true; the cramp dissolved 70% within 45 seconds, and 100%within 2 minutes! i couldn't believe it...i'm well familiar with high-velocity induced charlie horse cramps, however this riddance of cramping within 2 minutes bordered on the miraculous! i swear this cramp disappeared so fast due in large part to the compression factor of maintaining connective tissue integrity matched by voluminous blood, oxygen, and nutrient flow to the damaged tissue.
at the other notoriously difficult descent section at mile 14, the same scenario occurred; i had to pass another runner on a more harsh line and my left calf cramped, then disappeared within one minute!
also, the compression fabric of my Knickers kept my still-injured right hip (from a bike racing crash in the spring) bathed in warm nutrient flow and thus kept that synovial fluid supportive to the tangled mess of my battle-scarred lower back and hips.
at the Finish Park with HP Yogi and world-class boulderer, Zak Farmer from Flagstaff who nobly undertook the IPR Pilgrimage! I was fresh as a daisy after this ultra-marathon effort and spent the entire rest of the day with open hips playing with my 3 year-old daughter. this to me, was the ultimate Duathlon! photo by Ananda.then, at the end of my race?
that is where the wearing of the ZOOT 'suit' really came into heavenly grace as i am DEEPLY PLEASED to report to ALL NEW DADDY FITNESS WARRIORS that i was able to - after a top-20 AG finish in a 3 1/2 hour ultra marathon effort on one of the world's toughest races - i was able to do a full-lotus inspired yoga warm up routine, play with my 3 year-old for the rest of the day and woke up the next morning with NO BLISTERS, NO REAL LACTIC ACID SORENESS ANYWHERE in my body! i was able to teach yoga within 48 hours of the race with full expression throughout my hips and arms...something that i've never experienced in decades of doing IRP and other races like it. my biceps were so sore last year, for instance, that after IPR i could barely pick up Dewa...this year, though she is quite heavier, i was able to toss her about like usual and completely be a present and physical daddy for her which to me, is huge.
ilg TAFs that any nearly-50 year-old would be smiling at this report and take advantage of what ZOOT® compression fabrics have to offer.
the other high points in my ZOOT race came when i passed both a "CROSSFIT®" and a "TRIBE MULTISPORT" bro out on the race course; a sure sign that Wholistic Fitness® remains light years ahead of the other multi-disciplined paths of personal training. love it!
Other ZOOT® Notes:
• during my 6th place AG at the equally-if-not-more-harsh-than-IPR effort of Mt. Kendall Race, it was hot and high at over 12,000' during this half-marathon. i will say that wearing my Zoot Suit really showed that the enhanced cardiac blood flow ramps up core temperature and wearing them during hot events might spell real trouble.• chafing is an issue while wearing the Knickers. application of Aquaphor®, suggested to me by Yogini MVS, is a sure cure.
• wearing the Knickers during cycling compresses the abdominal cavity and doesn't feel right. i first bought a pair of Size 2's which according to ZOOT's info is about right for my 33-inch waist...however, after testing and investing in another pair of Size 3's, i found the 3's to be much easier to Abdominal Breathe in than the 2's. i now am wearing the 3's most of the time and find the default to a slightly 'looser' size beneficial in hunched-over sports such as cycling.
• i am REALLY stoked to test the Zoot suit during nordic skiing/snowshoeing; with the compression arm warmers, i really TAF that the enhanced blood flow to the shoulders/heart will help as well as the Knickers affording extra spring to the 'stems'! plus, the heat build-up from the compression might just allow me to ski shirtless throughout all winter! ;-)
• i have found the compression arm warmers valuable to wear during computing...reducing the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome.
• the compression socks are usually, according to Yogini MVS, reserved for Recovery. i have used them during short car drives up into the high country and back (about 100 miles roundtrip) and really like them! as noted above however, my intuitive wisdom told me to wear the socks (which come up to knee height and look dorky) during the IPR and well, you've already read how much they saved my race day! beneath the compression socks, i lathered my toes in Aquaphor, put on a pair of Injinji socks, then, pulled like a demon, the compression socks over the Injinji. the result is ZERO BLISTERS from IPR! that is a personal record by far! i, as well most, lose at least one big toenail after racing IPR. not so much a blister this year!
• downside to compression wearing:
plan on a hec of a finger workout and an extra 15 minutes to your Race Morning just trying to pull on the compression garments!
• there is an exquisite, delicious feeling of Warriorism which arises once you stuff and fold your skin and bones into these fancy new compression garments. wearing the Zoot suit MAKES you want to attack the battlefield...good thing too, this inner confidence cuz you're gonna look pretty ridiculous to the baggy clothes culture while you wear this stuff.
• cheating?
is wearing such an 'external ergonomic aid' cheating?
when i was 20? i'd probably say, "yes."
at nearly 50?
hell no!
get compressed and ROCK to a new PR like i did!
my 2010 IPR was my most 'youthful' race EVER, given my zero-pain and full spectrum movement after the race!
Cost:
not cheap. buckle up. worth it.
Knickers retail for around $130, arm warmers and socks around $60 each.
head bowed, coach ilg
