Compression socks enter the scene! All the cool athletes are wearing them! You may ask yourself – do they really do anything, or is this just a placebo? I may ask you, does it really matter if you feel better when you wear them?
I happen to love compression socks. They serve a dual purpose for me. First, they keep my legs warm on those iffy days when I think it might be too warm for tights, but not quite warm enough for shorts. Secondly, I swear they keep my legs in tact (as opposed to disintegrating) when I run and I recover better. But, don’t listen to me. Here are some other perceived benefits from those who wear compression and some other miscellaneous reasons to own a pair:
- Decrease in muscle soreness and fatigue
- Increase in blood flow
- Faster recovery
- Reduction in swelling (good idea to wear them for your 12 hours shifts at Wal-mart)
- Meb wore them when he won Boston this year
- On trails, dirt gets on your socks, not your legs
- When you have to pee/poop and go in the bushes, you get fewer scratches (and maybe less poison ivy)
- Bright colors scare off mountain lions – very important on trail runs like the one I took today that had this encouraging sign:
I actually think that cool cat (pussy?) above looks very friendly and not at all ready to eat a runner.
Anyway, PRO Compression sent me some socks to try out (I already have a pair of theirs and love them, but I thought the blue ones might feel different).
I wore them out on my 10 mile run today in anticipation of a LONG training weekend coming up.
With all of the Ironman training volume I am experiencing right now, I will take all the help I can get with performance and recovery. So, I wear these babies while training (even on my long bike rides sometimes), then I keep them on most of the day after a long workout. I hate ice baths, so this is like my ice bath substitute, which is probably erroneous thinking, but so what?
Want a pair? There are three ways to enter below. The winner will get a code to pick a pair of socks or sleeves from PRO Compression. Giveaway ends on May 14th. US addresses only please.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don’t want to wait to win the giveaway? Go buy your socks NOW here because when you enter the “SHUT” promo code at checkout, you will get 40% off and free shipping. A seriously good deal if you ask me.
Have a swell weekend!
SUAR
PS: PRO Compression sent me these socks free of charge and provided the giveaway item. As always, all opinions are my own.
