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Jonni said:

> > > > The best advice _I_ ever got about keeping my undies from chafing
came
from an ultramarathoner who had never seen a horse closer than in the
Rose Parade.<<<<

> But kat, what was his advice???
Since I have had a number of people ask me this same question, I guess I
will respond; however, I suspect that people are going to find the
answer rather unsatisfying.

Let me preface the advice he gave me with the circumstances and
conversation that led up to it:

Last year, in a moment of foolishness I decided to try my hand at doing
the 75 mile Ride & Tie at Swanton.  And since I had never previously
undertaken to do anything near as much as a physical challenge (more on
that later), I quizzed a work colleague of mine who is an
ultramarathoner (all the way down to having a personal trainer and a
running coach, etc.) about her experience with what unique challenges I
might face during the ~37 1/2 miles that I would be on the ground for
the effort.

In addition to the assortment of tips she gave me with regards to
fuelling and hydration (electrolyte replacement, etc.) she also gave me
some clothing tips telling me about all the things I would have to do to
minimize the blistering and chafing that I was sure to encounter, along
with a reference to a couple of local running specialty shops that sell
some products that help ultra runners with just this issue, what they
are and how some people use them (and some people use others of
them...more on that later too).

Never having had these types of problems before, either on my shorter
Ride & Ties or my longer endurance rides, I was concerned about what I
might be letting myself in for. So I trotted down to the local running
specialty shop and quizzed the resident ultramarathoner there about what
I should do about the chafing problem that I had been warned that I was
sure to encounter.  At which time he asked me what problems I was
currently having.  To which I responded, "none."  And then he asked me
the extent of my efforts so far "some ~25 mile Ride & Ties, a lot of
multi-day endurance rides, and some almost 100 mile endurance rides."

His advice to me after that was, "Well....since you haven't had any
problems so far, you must be doing something right.  I wouldn't worry
too much about it."

And then he told me some of the things that other runners do who do have
problems with it.  But different people do different things (some people
use vasaline/Desitin, or greasy lubricants; some people use baby
powder/corn starch or dry lubricants, etc.) and they decide on what to
use after they have a problem that they have to address.

The other advice he gave me was "be prepared to make changes if you
start to have problems."

So that is what I did.  I brought 4 pairs of shoes, multiple changes of
socks, underwear, shirts, breeches and sent them to the assorted vet
checks along the trail along with baby powder, corn starch, vasaline,
and Corona Ointment....just in case.

It turns out that I didn't have to change anything.  I threw some baby
powder in my socks before I put them on in the morning, that was it. I
never even retied my shoe laces, except after I took my shoe off once to
remove a small rock that had gotten in on the side of my heel at about
mile 70.  It turns out that I didn't take that rock out quite soon
enough, so I had a small blister (about the size of a pea) on the side
of my achiles tendon the following morning, but by then I HAD changed my
shoes, so it didn't bother me (at least, not as much as the over all
general muscle soreness that had set in over night :)).  But I was
PREPARED to make changes if things started to rub.

I must confess; however, that I wasn't entirely truthful with the guy at
the shop.  I HAD had problems with chafing, but it was a long time ago.
When I did my first LD ride in blue jeans, the double inseam chafed the
hell out of my knee.  At the next two LD rides I wore loose fitting,
100% cotton sweats with no inseam and that chafing problem at the knee
went away.

Using the same strategy for my first 50 mile ride, I chafed the hell out
of my inner calf, even on that soft cotton, by about mile 45 at which
time I told myself that what I needed was something made out of cotton,
that fit pretty tightly, had no inseam, and had something at the knee to
provide protection and a bit of grip....and what do you know, I had a
pair of show breeches just like that.  Which I have worn ever since.
All that was more than a decade ago.

If anybody cares, ALL of my underwear (under shirt, under pants, socks)
are made of 100% cotton along with anything else that touches my skin
(i.e. shirts, men's dress shirts, and breeches, except for the 4-6%
lycra to make them "tight fitting").  My under pants also come down to
about mid-thigh (so they don't ride up into my crotch).

And since this strategy has worked for me for thousands of miles of
endurance as well as a 75 mile RAT, with nary a rub anywhere, I figure I
will take the advice of that ultra marathoner at the specialty shop and
"not worry about it." :).

However, I have also heard other people say that they can't stand things
made out of cotton, I am not going to be so foolish as to say that the
same strategy will work for everybody; but that is the same advice that
I got from the ultra marathoner when he said, "Different things work for
different people.  And some things that are perfect for one person are
the worst thing in the world for another."

But, I can also give the same advice that was given to me by my
colleague at work.  Go to a specialty running shop and there will be
somebody there who will be able to tell you about all the strategies
that different people use, and they will have every type of clothing in
virtually every type of material and every type of lubricant on the
planet so you can probably find SOMETHING that might help.

What I can't tell you is why it has never been a problem for me....thick
skinned maybe :).

kat
Orange County, Calif.




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