I've heard it said that distance running is 90% mental, and the rest is in your head. While I don't quite agree with those numbers (if you don't put in the miles, you're not going to have any success), I do agree that a big part of it is mental- you can have all the fitness in the world, but if you aren't mentally tough, you're going to have any awfully hard time pushing through when things get hard (which they will).
Because of the mental aspect, I'll take any advantage I can get to give myself an edge. If the title of this post makes it sound like I'm against racing flats and compression socks, that couldn't be further from the truth. I do all my road racing in my Newton Distance shoes, and for anything with a distance of 1/2 Marathon or longer, I don't feel quite right unless I have my compression calf sleeves on. When I show up at the starting line in my bright yellow Newtons, I know it's time to go fast, and when I have the calf sleeves on, I have a nice bit of assurance that my calves won't cramp on me.
Whether or not that's the case, I don't care. Perhaps I could run my next marathon just as fast in my plain looking Altras, and perhaps my calves wouldn't cramp at all if I just wore my ankle socks and left my calves bare, but why should I try? If what I'm doing now works for me, why change? Maybe my bright yellow shoes and my calf compression sleeves are of no more use than Dumbo's magic feather, but you can be sure when I toe the starting line of my next marathon, I'll have both of them on.
Because of the mental aspect, I'll take any advantage I can get to give myself an edge. If the title of this post makes it sound like I'm against racing flats and compression socks, that couldn't be further from the truth. I do all my road racing in my Newton Distance shoes, and for anything with a distance of 1/2 Marathon or longer, I don't feel quite right unless I have my compression calf sleeves on. When I show up at the starting line in my bright yellow Newtons, I know it's time to go fast, and when I have the calf sleeves on, I have a nice bit of assurance that my calves won't cramp on me.
Whether or not that's the case, I don't care. Perhaps I could run my next marathon just as fast in my plain looking Altras, and perhaps my calves wouldn't cramp at all if I just wore my ankle socks and left my calves bare, but why should I try? If what I'm doing now works for me, why change? Maybe my bright yellow shoes and my calf compression sleeves are of no more use than Dumbo's magic feather, but you can be sure when I toe the starting line of my next marathon, I'll have both of them on.