One of the products I made good use of all month has been my Zensah Leg Sleeves, which Erin bought for me for Christmas in 2008. I’ve been using them after they proved so effective at helping me recover from my first 50 miler about a week later.

I contacted Jonathon at Zensah to see if they would like to sponsor a contest for the challenge, and they are offering up a long sleeve seamless compression shirt!

The shirts are thermo-regulated to keep you warm and the compression will increase blood flow keeping your upper body muscles fresh.

Entry into this contest is a little different; rather than leaving a comment, you need to make a tweet.

Just click here and then press update to send the following tweet on twitter to be entered into the contest:

@runtowin @zensah contest entry

1 person will be randomly chosen to win a free shirt, although everybody wins since I’ve gotten Zensah to provide a 10% off coupon for everybody on both the men’s shirt and women’s shirt. Just reference coupon runtowin10 when checking out.

Send your tweets by Wednesday afternoon (11/27) at 6:00 PM EST to qualify!

Final Contest – Win a Long Sleeve Zensah Compression Shirt is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

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I went to bed last night with my right knee aching a bit. I woke up this morning with it aching a bit more, especially when I walked around.

This had me worried some, but I decided that it was worth giving the knee a 10 minute test. If I could get out and run for 10 minutes and it doesn’t hurt any more (or at the very least isn’t acutely painful) then I’d keep going, otherwise I’d go back home and stop.

I didn’t quite make it 10 minutes before turning around. The knee certainly didn’t feel any better but it didn’t really get any worse, either, except when my leg was sliding at a weird angle.

And therein lie the problem. Because it had been raining all night and I thought temperatures had been just over freezing, I didn’t bother putting on screw shoes. However, in between the pockets of slush were pockets of black ice, and I kept slipping around enough that it was bugging my knee and I was worried I was going to fall.

So, I decided to turn around and finish my 10 minute test in the direction of the house so that I could at least change into screw shoes.

On the way home, I passed 2 people stuck in their driveways despite the lack of snow, one of which was a mini-van spinning its tires in a perfectly flat driveway and the other a car that had a driveway with a hill but had driven off the driveway and into the snowbank next to it.

I decided that I don’t really want to get hit by a car again, especially given the poor visibility with the fog, so I didn’t even make it 2 miles total. As I was writing this, a plow went by as well and I definitely don’t trust them.

This evening, my knee was aching enough that I decided it wasn’t worth continuing. It didn’t hurt enough that I’d have stopped in a race or done much more than note it, but I had over 20 miles to run on it tonight and more than that tomorrow.

I’m doubly glad I made this decision before running most of my miles until the gym kicked me out. Visibility on my way home was bad enough that I wouldn’t have gone back outside; I almost drove into a mailbox on my own street. I don’t trust my body to traffic enough to run in conditions like that.

On the plus side, I chose the winners for the recovery socks. Watch the video above to find out who won.

Going forward, I’m going to give my knee a couple days to recover and will see how it feels on Thursday evening with the group I coach at Maine Running Company. Hopefully, I can still do the full 50k on Sunday, and am going to plan on doing at least the first loop.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 25 Miles (325 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 1.66 & 1.33 for 2.99 miles today (311.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 15:50 & 10:01 for 25:51 Today (48:37:18 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2½ Pounds Total)

Day #25 – I didn’t Make the Mileage – But I Awarded the Recovery Socks is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

I’ve been a fan of compression sleeves for the past year, ever since I ran my first 50 miler about a year ago.

I’m excited to announce that the folks over at Arcosox (the US distributors of Recovery Socks) agreed to sponsor this week’s contest, and even sent a test pair to me last week to evaluate them for myself. I’ve been wearing them most evenings since I got them, and even wore them to bed the past couple of days, and I’ve been very happy with them.

From their website, Recovery Socks are designed to:

• Stimulate blood circulation
• Improve oxygen delivery to the muscles
• Reduce lactic acide production
• Relieve cramps
• Boost performance

Recovery Socks are made from a patented antibacterial fiber and is used by many world-class athletes in their training.

For myself, I’m far from world class, and I’m not doing any high intensity running right now. Instead, I’m just running a lot, going further each day, with most of my mileage in the snow.

So far, I haven’t had any calf tightness at all. My lower legs have felt pretty good, and I’m planning on continuing to use them for the rest of the month to help get me through this challenge. I will admit that they look a bit silly, but then I’ve never felt a need to wear knee high socks before and I’m not wearing them to make a fashion statement.

You can learn more about Recovery Socks at their website: http://www.RecoverySocks.com

How to Win A Pair

If you’d like to try them out yourself, then I am going to be giving away 1 pair each to 2 people (supplied directly from Arcosox) that leave a comment below by end of day Sunday, January 24^th.

Winners will be chosen at random, so if you want to make fun of my hideous carpet in the picture above then I will not hold it against you and it will not affect your chances of winning!

Win A Free Pair of Recovery Socks is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Today was difficult.

We got 8 inches of snow overnight, and it continued snowing all day. Thankfully, my wife did almost all the shoveling, so I only had to be out there for half an hour to help clear enough of the driveway to get one of the cars out.

I’d called a few local gyms and Family Fitness offered a day pass to come in and check them out, so they got my 5 miles of treadmill running this morning. I think they got themselves a new customer, I liked their setup and the folks seemed pretty easy going.

I got a bit over a mile jogging to Papa’s Place for lunch today from work, but that was just no fun since I was wearing boots and a winter jacket, it was snowing and hard to see, and there was a lot of traffic and no shoulder or sidewalks.

Neither run was as bad as tonight’s run though. It was nice enough out, but the trails weren’t that packed down and it was way too much work to try running on them so after a few miles I abandoned the trails and finished up on the roads.

I got in all 18 miles, though, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I’ve been starving since I finished running. I had a ProGrade Workout Smoothie with blueberries (plus a multivitamin), a ProGrade Craver and a banana and my stomach is still growling.

I chose the winners from last week’s contest, and will contact them for their address to send the Ice Spikes to tomorrow. I’ll get this week’s contest up on the site tomorrow morning; I’m way too tired tonight since I didn’t get done running until almost 10:00 and it’s getting close to midnight now.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 18 Miles (171 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5 & 1.38 & 1.64 Miles for 18.02 Miles Today (178.9 Miles Total)
Duration: 34:04 & 13:49 & 1:39:53 for 2:27:46 Today (29:52:00 Total)
Net Weight Change: +2 Pounds (+3½ Pounds Total)

Day #18 – Today it Got Hard (and last week’s winners) is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Running through snow can be similar to running through loose sand, making it difficult to get a solid foot plant and causing you to slip and slide if there is any sort of incline or decline.

Running on ice can be slick, and if you aren’t careful you can slip and fall and hurt yourself. It’s even worse if you slip on ice on a road, where you’ll always have a hard landing and traffic is never far away due to a lack of a shoulder from all of the snow piled at the edge of the road.

So how do you keep yourself upright without impacting your running gait, which can lead to it’s own injuries?

There are two basic concerns.

Running Form

The first thing you should concentrate on is your running form. Learning to run with good form is especially helpful when running in slick conditions because it will allow you to keep your balance and some semblance of control without too much effort.

First, keep your feet under your center of balance. If your feet are hitting the ground way in front of your body then you won’t be able to recover your balance if you slide at all and you’ll slip onto your butt.

If your feet are landing off to your side, then they’ll slip right out from under you and you’ll land on your hip or stomach when you slide.

If your feet land directly beneath your body, then all of the force is concentrated down towards the ground and not out to any angle, which will allow you to stay on your feet and keep moving.

Next, try to strike the ground with your feet in as neutral of a position as possible. If you are a heel striker, this is going to be especially difficult. When only a portion of your foot hits the ground, then everything is concentrated into a small surface area which means that if you hit a slick spot then you’ll slide. If you are using a larger surface area under your feet, then you are more likely to find some sort of purchase and will be able to maintain your balance.

Shoe Accessories

As I mentioned in last week’s tip on winter running apparel for your feet, “improving” your shoes to give you a better grip in icy conditions can also make a big difference.

Using a product such as Yak Trax in snowy conditions or Stabilicers in icy conditions can improve your footing, but they are expensive, bulky, can break or fall off while you are using them, and can negatively impact your running gait.

My preferred method of adding traction to my shoes is to create screw shoes, by drilling sheet metal screws into the soles of the shoes. They are cheap, effective, and don’t impact your running form, although I’m discovering with all of this trail running that I’m doing that they don’t last very long.

This Week’s Contest

That leads us to this week’s contest. I’ve recently discovered a new product called IceSpike, which are like sheet metal screws on steroids.

ICESPIKE™ is a simple, effective and lightweight solution to inadequate traction devices. ICESPIKE™ ends frustration with clumsy and cumbersome strap-on attachments. ICESPIKE™ ice spikes are easily installed on the sole of any shoe or boot. Each ice spike provides outstanding traction and is unsurpassed in hardness and durability. The ICESPIKE™ system includes thirty-two patented ice spikes and one precision ICESPIKE™ tool for installation. ICESPIKE™ is a semi-permanent non-slip grip shoe system that can’t fall off, break, get lost or left behind. Outfitted with ICESPIKE™, any footwear can be winterized into ice safety shoes or ice safety boots. Don’t be discouraged by winter ice and snow – with ICESPIKE™ you are always ready and able to navigate any conditions with confidence.

I haven’t tried them yet, but from what I have read, IceSpikes should last longer than screws and are more effective at cutting into the ice as you run, giving you an even better grip. A set of spikes should last around 500 miles, they clean themselves of loose snow automatically, and they are less likely to fall out than screws are.

IceSpikes come with a hand tool for putting them into your shoe and 32 spikes and retails for $24.99. You can get replacement bags of spikes for $14.99.

The folks at IceSpike were generous enough to sponsor this week’s contest, and are offering a set of IceSpikes to each of the 2 winners this week.

If you’d like to give IceSpikes a try, just leave a comment below. I will randomly choose 2 people next week as winners. Good luck!

How to Run in Slippery Conditions (Plus This Week’s Contest) is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Well, that is now remedied. You can visit original announcement post which has now been updated with the video update to see if you have won or not.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but it didn’t seem worth staying awake for some indeterminate time just to wait until YouTube finished doing their maintenance.

Contest Winner Announcement Update is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

The winners of last week’s contest have been decided! You can check the video above to see if you were one of the lucky ones chosen to win a digital copy, or if you were the closest guesser.

The random draw was actually very good odds…better than 1 out of every 5 commenters get a digital copy.

I haven’t 100% finalized this week’s contest yet, but I’m about 90% of the way there. I’ve also almost got next week’s contest finalized as well, I think you will all be very exciting to see what I’m giving away. I just need to figure out the logistics with the contest sponsors first.

In the meantime, today I needed to run 11 miles. I did it between 2 separate runs, first getting in a bit over 5 miles on the roads this morning, and then hitting the trails this evening for another 6 miles. All told I ran for about an hour and a half today.

I got a surprise donation today from my old college cross country coach. Giving him a call has been on my list of things to do that I just haven’t had time for, but he apparently found out about the challenge on his own and left a donation, which is great.

Here are today’s numbers:

Miles Projected: 11 Miles (66 Miles Total)
Miles Run: 5.32 and 6.08 Miles for 11.4 Miles Today (73.2 Miles Total)
Duration: 41:37 and 49:06 for 1:30:43 Today (13:44:23 Total)
Net Weight Change: +½ Pound (+2 Pounds Total)
Money Raised: $25 ($255 Total)

Day #11 – Contest Winners Announced! is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...

Last year, before his most recent fund raiser which brought in about $11,000, we conducted a coaching session that went through everything that he knows about raising money from A to Z.

And now…I want to give you a chance to win a copy of the CD.

There are two ways to win. I will choose 5 random commenters in this thread to award a digital copy of the coaching session. Just leave a comment below with a valid email address (which will not be visible on the website) and I will randomly choose 5 people to award.

I will also award 1 physical copy of the CD. In order to win the physical copy of the coaching CD, your comment needs to make a guess.

On Twitter, I have been offering a daily running quote for about a year and a half. Almost every weekday, I’ve put up a motivational or humorous quote.

The person who’s comment guesses the somebody to the number of quotes that I have offered in 2008 and 2009 will win a physical copy of the CD. If more than one person guesses the number of quotes that I have left, then I will randomly choose amongst those closest (or right on.)

So, to recap: I’m giving away 1 physical CD to anybody that guesses the closest to the number of quotes that I have published on Twitter, and I’m giving away 5 copies of the mp3 randomly amongst anybody that comments on this post, whether they guess or not.

So…who wants a free coaching session?

Update: I forgot to state how long the contest runs for…it’ll end on Sunday night at midnight (EST) leading into Monday morning…it’s a weekly contest so the goal will be to award the prizes for this contest and start the next one next Monday.

You Can Win a Free Coaching CD! is an update from the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge - Please visit the site for extra content that may not appear here such as video updates.

Click here to support Camp Sunshine and the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge...