Rest, Recovery, and Relaxation

It has certainly been awhile since I have posted.  Although I can't completely say it's been because I have been overwhelmed... I want to say it's more because of the research that I have been doing.  Since last time that I posted, I have made some significant purchases, discoveries while traveling, and research into the world of training and recovery.  Since there are a lot of gimmicks on the market, I definitely want to mention that I am only backing up the usefulness of these recovery aids by personal experience and do not endorse any one thing.  I think that a lot has to do with listening to one's own body and figuring out what's best that way.  Anyway here goes:

So, if you know me, then you know that for a few years I have sworn by my compression tights.  I LOVE them!  I usually would sneak them on after any race or hard training regime and wear them for the next 6-8 hrs.  I had vaguely heard of compression boots about a year ago, but ditched the thought because of the price.  Well, since the price (and the medical prescription) came majorly down in the last year, I started taking a closer look at them.  There are a few pro athletes that absolutely love them, and they too had been wearing the compression wear for awhile and said the boots took recovery to the next level.  So, imagine a blood pressure cuff that inflates and deflates (and you can set for how high it inflates) and slowly works all the lactic acid and forces the blood to work through your legs.  Here's a picture of me sitting perfectly content with these suckers.  I like to think that the Michelin man attacked my legs (it sort of reminds me of that).

In other good news, I saw an acupuncturist for my neck issues (and in general health).  This was in Colorado.  She was phenomenal.  I wish I could have taken her with me back to Hawaii.  But at least I took her good pointers for eating (adding more iron into my diet) and certain Chinese herbs back.  The funny thing is though, so far, I have had zero luck in finding these Chinese fruits back here in Hawaii.  Apparently (because wikipedia is so useful!) they are actually really hard to find and even on the rare fruits list!  But a very helpful person at a health food store recommended some supplements that were similar to the properties of the fruits that she had recommended.  I couldn't really tell you if I feel a difference, but supposedly these are good for my internal health. 

On that note, I am now making other riders around me suffer with the smell of tiger balm.  It might be my only hope for reliving some of the neck pain and my new jar of fun in my back jersey pocket!  Honestly, it smells like Vicks Vaporub but about 10x as powerful.  And boy does it do miracles.  At first, I scoffed at it.  The jar is like the width of a 1 dollar coin and is only about in inch tall.  But just a tiny amount goes a long way so apparently this tiny jar packs a punch and will last me at least 3 weeks.  

Raspberry Tiramisu

So now onto that relaxation part!  When I took that trip to Colorado I promised my coach that I would run but I really snuggled up under blankets by a fireplace and read.  I knew that I would have 6 months of intense training ahead and traded in 3 days of skiing from sun up to sundown for running.  Since being back in Hawaii, the training has slowly increased and my waistline has slowly decreased.  I keep making tiramisu each week in an effort to have calories at hand (and I am a sweets fanatic!).  One example of my raspberry tiramisu is to the right... although this is just my middle layer.  The top layer had blackberries too! Delicious! For relaxing moments, I keep reading here and trying to salvage my veggie and herb garden.  Clearly, I only got a semi-green thumb because I can grow plants through the first harvest and then they die off.  Hmmm... something to think about in my time on the trainer. 

The Gardening Project!