Trail running, monkey-butt, tape, and miscellaneous philosophical musings.

[W I S N E R !]

1. I did a trail running marathon about two weeks ago and suffered pretty good from the beloved "monkey butt" and some groin chafing because I forgot to put anything on.
I just ran another 27.5 miles of trail this Saturday…I applied a thin coat of Desitin diaper rash cream (10% zinc oxide) and ran like a champ without a single issue, during or after.
Even cheaper is straight zinc oxide- a 2 oz. tube is about $2.00.
Compare that to Body Glide- all hype I think.

2. Also just found that Zombierunner.com has a continuous supply of Leukotape P for $8.95 a roll (it's always out of stock here).

3. I've really begun to realize the power of mental toughness in longer distances. Not that training doesn't play a role, but…
Don't think you can run 28 miles? Pick a route that takes you 14 miles into the woods AWAY from home, make plans, and promise everyone you'll be back for lunch. Get up at 4 A.M., start running, and don't look back. Now you have to run 28.
Don't give yourself any outs, physical or otherwise

4. I don't think this distance/ultra thing is well suited for anything but going solo. The more I run alone, the more I begin to feel I couldn't do it with anyone else (not that this is an issue, just thinking aloud). In many ways I think company would screw with my head, my pace, and the overall vibe.
I'm looking at doing an upcoming "official" 50K, but I'm seriously a little psyched out by the thought of all the people. It's not a competition/pace thing; I'm simply afraid it'll keep me from getting into my proper headspace. I really like the idea of unsupported long runs.
I'm beginning to question if I should bother with anything "official". Why run "official" when I can put on a pack and go it alone? Recognition? Competetion? Do I need it?

Why do you do it?

Funny…the other day a student of mine (I teach high school) asked what I run for. As in, what charity. I told her I run alone.
She seemed disappointed.

At one point on my run this weekend I came to a peak and the sky felt really big and I felt like a speck in a vast wilderness and everything was beautiful.
I thought about her question and realized that I run because one day I'm going to die.
That's the best answer I can come up with so far.

Cheers.

[George Phoenix]

1. Good to know about the Desitin.

2. I just got my roll of Leukotape P yesterday from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H94TAQ
$10.03 shipped.

4. As with "Hike your own hike", "Run your own run".

[Angela Zukowski]

I'm not going to touch upon the monkey butt (ew!)…

but I run alone. Always. I have a few friends who want to trail run with me this spring and I am feeling mildly anxious about it. I've only run one race ever. And it was on snowshoes. No need for official. No need for accurate times or splits or rankings. I'm definitely a lackadaisical purist when it comes to that stuff.

I run for those brief moments where you stop hurting, stop sucking wind and feel more alive than you would ever think possible – no thoughts, completely unfocused… yet 100% conscious of how alive you are. Best feeling in the world.

So I guess I run to feel free. Even though it only lasts about ten seconds before I crash back into the hurting!

Also don't know about shipping and have yet to buy it but leukotape is a buck cheaper here: http://www.wisdomking.com/product12127.html

and the same site also sells a leukotape "equivalent" for much less or you can scope out ebay I've seen it on there a few times for very cheap.

[Joe Kuster]

I've had good luck with the higher zinc concentrations for healing chaffing, but not so much for preventing it. For that, it needed more lubrication.

[M G]

I ran/fast hiked 15 miles in a short amount of time in Shenandoah last Friday and I had the same chaffing issue on both inner thighs. I don't normally have this problem. Not sure why this time, was it my pace, my underwear/pant combo?? Any thoughts on prevention?

That night I applied some hand healing cream I use for rock climbing (climb on) which is miraculous. The next morning I was still a bit sore and I used the aformentioned body-glide product to prevent any more rubbing while out and about doing errands that day. Normally I've used body glide to prevent nipple abrasion while running. By Sunday all was better, but if I had needed to run back another 15 miles I would of really been sore and uncomfortable.

Craig, good job. I really like running alone in the woods. I can't imagine doing it with others. I like hiking with friends but not running. No music, just me and my interior voice reminding me to relax the shoulder blades, drop them and maintain good posture. What kind of elevation and vertical change were you running.

[Laurence Beck]

I once came down with a severe case of trail rash and, in desperation, I rubbed it down with triple antibiotic ointment (aka: Neosporin). It really did not make it feel better immediately but in the morning it was clear as a baby's butt! Now I rub a tiny bit of Neosporin in the aforementioned areas every morning on the trail before getting dressed. I have not suffered from trail rash since.

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