Compression socks: help debunk the myth

This is a call to all runners in the San Francisco area, to join a study aiming at clarifying the efficiency of compression socks. I was referred to this study by a friend but the logistic requires several visits in San Francisco and I couldn't fit all of them in my schedule. However, I am interested in the result: personally, I'm a big believer in compression socks which I wear on every flight, especially after hearing about several blood clot incidents among my ultra running friends. I'm on blood thinner now, because of last March's TIA, but still, it can't hurt, and my heart rate frequently goes below 40 at rest, so better keep the blood flowing. However, for running, I'm not convinced that the benefits on limiting leg fatigue and formation of lactic acid overweigh the lack of aesthetic. But I can see it works super well for Michael Wardian and his ultra loaded racing regimen.

Anyway, if you live or work in San Francisco, please consider contacting Brittany Steers (bsteers....mail.....sfsu....edu -- I let you reconstruct the right email address if you aren't a robot or bot. You can also connect with her on Faceook, she is a personal trainer in San Mateo). Brittany works on her Masters of Science in Kinesiology and need more participants to make her study and sample meaningful.

And if you can't make it yourself, please consider referring your running friends to this article and call for participation.

A few details on the study:

• Requires to have been running for the past 18 months
• The time commitment for most participants so far has been ~3 hours, and includes 4 visits to the San Francisco State University Exercise Physiology Lab. 
• Visits 1 and 2 are 48 hours apart.
• Two weeks later you will come in for Visit 3.
• Visit 4 is 48 hours after Visit 3.
• Brittany provides all the compression and placebo socks for the study. She is looking for any runners or multisport athletes that have been running for at least 18 months. They will be filling out an exercise history questionnaire during their first visit so that she knows what type of athletes she is getting in this study.
• Additionally, pre-test instructions before visits 1 and 3:
• Not to complete any race effort workouts or time trials the week before each experimental procedure
• Not to exercise, consume alcohol, or take any NSAIDs for at least 24 hours before experimental procedure (Bushra & Aslam, 2010)
• Not to consume caffeine for 3 hours before the experiment
• To have a normal diet the day of test
• To drink at least 500mL of water the day of test
• The lab is on the San Francisco State University campus, near Lake Merced, at 1600 Holloway Avenue in San Francisco.

If you live or work in San Francisco or close by, hope you will consider contributing to science, and help establishing the truth to this fundamental question: "Are compression socks worth it?"

PS: both pictures provided by Brittany. And NFI in this study, just the genuine interest and curiosity of an ultra runner.

I've Been Moved part 1: bye bye Alviso!

If you stay at IBM for a while, you are certain to experience another meaning of the International Business Machine acronym: I've Been Moved, as we say when changing either location or organization... ;-)

In this case, my office is moving from the North San Jose site we had in Alviso, to our Silicon Valley Lab on Bailey Avenue, South of Santa Teresa. And, with that, I'm saying good bye to the Alviso County Park where I ran 806 training miles these past 7 years!

Since I came to the US, this is my 5th work location in the Bay Area: three with ILOG (two in Mountain View and one in Sunnyvale), two with IBM, respectively at the North and South outskirt of San Jose. Twice as many miles of commute but now against the traffic.

Of course the Alviso Marina Park remains open but it won't be as convenient so I ran the full 9-mile loop once more last week.

Here are few pictures for you to see what I will be missing: the views, the birds, running along the water, ... As a matter of fact, I only had my iPhone with me which isn't the best way to capture the abundant wildlife enjoying this very quiet place in the middle of the Bay Area. It actually feel amazing to be so close to such a busy and crazy place, yet experiencing the outdoor and quietness of this preserve.

By the way, on your way to the Marina, please make sure to drive around the few blocks of the Alviso neighborhood. The City of Alviso was incorporated in 1852 and is name after Corporal Alviso, a member of the de Anza expedition which reached San Francisco in 1777. Alviso remained independent until it joined San Jose as a neighborhood in 1968. It even has a Yacht Club which can host a handful of boats and has access to the Bay via the Guadalupe River (read more about Alviso on Wikipedia).

Next to Alviso Marina County Park is the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge which I highlighted in a post in 2014. Yes, we are so blessed to live in such an area full of amazing outdoors opportunities!

More pictures...

 First time I see paddle boards on the Guadalupe River!

And it was a busy morning on that usually quiet and desert river, with this boat hauling construction material.

 Super soft ground on the levee (the dirt gets very sticky after heavy rain).

A sort of jackdaw (Steve Patt will surely correct me in the comment section below) and a vulture.

 Grey heron?

 Yes, this is the home of WWW (the Wide Wild West), you have to fight for your food to survive! ;-)

 Toward Fremont/Mission Peak

 On the Bay Trail

 A trail of Hope and Change... Quite a symbol and good reminder: life is all about keeping moving...! ;-)