Today I offer a little insight to something I’ve learned the hard way. Pretty much every runner gets some sort of chafing issue eventually. There are numerous ways to deal with it. One of the most popular items on the market today is body glide. http://www.bodyglide.com . Body glide is available in pretty much every running shop I’ve been in. You can get it online as well. I’ve not yet seen it in grocery stores or wal-mart.
But that’s not the part I’ve learned the hard way. What the body glide people don’t tell you is how to clean things up. See, it leaves a residue on clothes. That residue will eventually collect sweat, dirt, and other grime advertising to the world where you apply your glide. It’s terrible on whites…
The body glide support folks say to simply put your glide covered clothes in the wash machine on hot and it’ll be taken care of. That usually works if you catch it early enough. If you have one of the new fangled washers with the “whitest whites” setting, or a “Sanitize” setting, that should be even better.
But here some other pointers:
– Don’t let it dry out. If you aren’t headed straight to the laundry after a work out, consider putting the glide covered clothes in a zip lock bag to keep it from drying out. Yes, it will stink when you open it. (That’s just the smell of hard work and you should be proud of that.)
– If you let it dry out, consider boiling your clothes before washing. You know, on the stove. Just don’t melt your expensive advanced fabrics.
– Consider showering in your clothes. If you aren’t heading straight to where you can do laundry adding more moisture to the clothes will make it easier to clean later. And you just might get some of the grime washed off early.
The body glide folks have assured me that their product is pretty much just a vegetable based oil-like product. So, when doing laundry, treat it like you’re working on a cooking oil stain.
The take-away here is – don’t be afraid to use the body glide or any of the other competitive products. The pain and possible infection caused by chafing simply isn’t worth it. I’ve used it on my feet with great results. The other sensitive body parts that get the treatment will not be mentioned by name since this is a family forum, but lets just say there’s a picture of me after a race with two red streaks down my chest…. When applied early enough the body glide is highly effective. If there’s a “wound” from previous days running, the glide will help, but there’s a good chance it will get re-opened during the run. So apply early and apply often.
And until next time, don’t let the fat man catch you.
myinnerfatman 