A leisurely 1500 yards

I got back in the pool for laps today, without the kids even, which I've been avoiding since I recognized the poolwater has been giving me severe nasal issues.

I went in the cooler of the two pools at our Y (presumably with less nasty stuff in the water), wore my new Speedo noseclip, and did 1500 yards at a comfortable pace, using open turns, and stopping a few times to adjust the noseclip (ouch!) or goggles or stretch my crampy feet, etc.

Time? About 41 minutes - close to what I've swum in some races.

Sheesh! I must be swimming in circles in races or stopping completely to sight every 6 strokes or something!

Anyway, it's 3 hours post-swim and my nose is running like a faucet. Obviously we have not found the optimal solution yet. I've got a few more ideas yet to try, though.

Swimmer's nose

Skip this post if you don't want Too Much Information about my nose, but - I may have the nose issue nearly fixed! I brought 3 things with me to the pool today to test:

• Vaseline
• Plastic swimmer's nose clip
• Bottle of nasal saline

Before swimming I put Vaseline up my nose, which is gross but better than having a 3-day "cold" from nasal irritation.

Then I put on the noseclip just before I started swimming, being sure to wipe off the excess Vaseline off the outside of my nose so it didn't slip around! Well, the nose clip didn't work so well. It hurt and my nose was running out through the clip. More ewwww. So I stuck it out for about five laps and then tried to adjust it and just ended up breaking the nose clip. Oh well, I have another metal one somewhere. I continued swimming without it.

The rest of the swim was pretty normal, I was doing a lot of work on keeping my elbows high and paddling like I'm on a surfboard, and that seemed to help my speed a little.

Then 5 or 10 minutes in the sauna after the swim like always, and then off to the showers.

I hid inside the shower and sprayed the insides of both nostrils with large amounts of saline and got all the Bad Stuff rinsed out.

Now, about 6 hours post-swim, I have some congestion but it's approximately cut in half from what I would usually get. If I can breathe tonight we're approaching a solution. If I can swim routinely without a noseclip, I would definitely prefer that!

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Update: FAIL. Everything was okay until I went to bed, and then I stopped breathing. Well, at least breathing through my nose. Next up (I'll try one change at a time to see what is actually effective):

• Find the other nose clip for my next swim
• Swim only in the cooler pool
• Get drugs

At last: Help for runners' chafing!

This marathon I actually SOLVED a couple long-term chafing issues I've had! I'm so proud of myself!

OK, guys, just move along now because this post is for the girls.

I have a couple spots that my jogbras *always* chafe me in long events. I've tried all kinds of lubricants, etc., and they reduce it but never solved the problem.

This time I cleaned the areas (this probably only works for hairless flat skin areas cleaned free from oils, btw) and put a big 3"x2" piece of Tegaderm there.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/SH/SkinHealth/brands/tegaderm/

I thought it would rub off during the race, but it didn't - it stayed put perfectly and worked like a charm!

Another tool in my long-distance arsenal!!! Not sure if it will stay on during a swim, though, but it's worth a test-swim. . . .