Happy Wednesday y’all!  This week isn’t going as fast as the last, but the weekend is in sight, so I’m not complaining.  It’s been a pretty good week thus far full of lots of training and lots of enjoying this beautiful weather.  I’m definitely loving it after a weekend spent inside not feeling well.  Perfect change of pace.

An even better change of pace has been getting back into my half marathon training full force after being sidelined on Saturday.  It’s only Wednesday and I’ve accrued 22 miles since Friday, so my legs have been feeling it.  My half marathon training has been a little haphazard.  Haphazard as in I am not really following a plan, more listening to my body and getting in one long tempo-ish run, one speed workout, and two easier runs in per week.  What day I do it on hasn’t really remained all that consistent due to my travel schedule, but I’m still logging those miles.

Take Monday for example.  I went in to the run aiming for a light 5 just to start off the week with a solid base.  Well that 5 very quickly and smoothly turned into 10 and next thing I knew I was a sweaty mess of exhaustion, but I felt amazing.

By the time I got home from the gym though, my little legs were burning.  So I turned to a couple of my favorite post-workout recovery methods to ease the pain.

Enter my trifecta of running/workout goodness.  I don’t use all three of these things every single day, but when I have a particularly difficult workout or run coming up, you best believe these bad boys are involved.

• Good Day Chocolate: I wish I loved coffee, I really and truly do, I just don’t.  There are some mornings that I need an extra push in the energy department, so I was so stoked when I stumbled upon these bad boys at Whole Foods.  Essentially, they’re little energy chocolates and they are a) delicious b) effective.  There is a notable change in my energy levels (and speed workouts) when I take these before my runs.  Also, caffeine has been shown to be extremely effective during endurance workouts, so count me in.  Chocolate + energy + better athletic performance=100% yep these are great
• Sport Legs: Ah, Sport Legs.  I first heard about these bad boys on one of my favorite blogs Hungry Runner Girl.  I only use these when I’m doing a particularly long run (long for me anyway) aka anything considerably over an hour.  Unsure if it’s the placebo effect or if these actually are the thing of gods, but I feel like my legs stay fresher for longer when I take them.  I got them off of Amazon, they’re competition legal (NCAA, IOC, WADA, USADA, and UCI approved) and they came highly recommended, so they’re in the rotation.
• Compression Socks:  My loving boyfriend got these for me for my birthday and to say they have changed my recovery game is an understatement.  What they do is basically stimulate blood flow in your legs helping you to recover more quickly.  There’s a lot more science that goes into it, but a quick google search will give you all you need.  I honestly notice a huge difference in my legs ability to recover for a solid workout the next day if I wear these after a long run.

Of course these three things are not the only things I consider my secret weapons, but they definitely help.  I also love to foam roll, ice my legs, and stretch, stretch, stretch in the evenings after a particularly hard day.  Shout outs to Yoga with Adriene and doyogawithme.com for giving me something to put on during the Real Housewives that forces me to stretch.  You’re the real MVP.

And finally for a little Boo action.  This nugget was giving me all kinds of side-eye when we went on a walk through the preserve the other day.  So immeasurably happy that the weather is picking up so we can do this again!

• Are there any “secret weapons” you swear by?
• What’s your favorite way to recover after a tough workout?  I think mine is eat everything, but that’s just me

-sj