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June 5, 2007
Friction is Your Enemy
Sports Pickle ran a satirical article about a guy who got bloody nipples while running his first marathon. I've sawed off my nipples a few times with a variety of shirts while running and biking. Running specialty shops sell a product called "Nipple guards" that work absolutely fantastically. Band-aids also work, but the glue on them is not as strong as I've found the nipple guards' glue to be.
Showering with bloody nipples is quite painful. Salt gets crusted on your body and when you shower it gets washed into the wound. This can be more excrutiating than the event itself. Sunday I learned that blisters on your feet can be much the same. When I took my sock off, the skin peeled up, exposing raw skin. When I jumped in the shower, all the salt that crusted on my over 7 hours washed down my leg, and into the blister. It was pouring salt straight in. OUCH.
So, the morals of this story are:
1) Guys need to wear protection over their nipples to protect them from being sawed off.
2) Use a product like body glide to protect other friction points (where the arms rub, where your shoulder rubs your neck while swimming, etc)
3) Re-apply either of these treatments if the previous one wears off.
4) After your event, you might was to try sponging off the excess salt before jumping in the shower. This might help reduce your pain.
And one last tip - don't ever use someone else's body glide stick. There are a couple of friction points that are just a little toooooo personal and private!!!
Posted by Mike on June 5, 2007 10:00 AM