Race Day Ready 2: Saltstick Caps/Bodyglide Giveaway

A few weeks ago, I wrote this in response to someone's status update on facebook:

"If you want to get rid of negative energy, sweat. I mean gross pouring from everywhere down your arms from your pits, making your shirt stick to you, and pouring from your brow til the salt burns your eyes but you get used to it...glistening from your shoulders to your toes. Sweat til it stains your skin white with salt when it dries. Regularly. Quite cleansing. Nothing like it."

And I meant every word.

I don't know how it happened, but our culture seems turned off by sweat.  It is a normal, healthy, essential function, but we don't want to see it.  Well, not too much.  Glistening is nice.  But sweat soaked running shorts and droplets trickling down between your legs and making an audible pitter-patter sound when they hit the ground, well, not so much.  Dried salt flakes on your face and neck are not exactly what our culture considers to be sexy.


Part of me wants you all to chime in and say you can relate and ask that you provide photos to prove it.  Surely you have committed to a hot or a long run so much so that vanity goes clear out the window.  As you can see, we sure have...

Black shorts keep you from looking like you peed yourself, well sorta...

...unless they're made of a not-so-moisture wicking material...

No, really, it is sweat. 

Is there a fine line between hot and sexy and hot and sweaty?

Part of me suspects that some of you are grossed out and think that I am surely exaggerating, and that surely we doctored the above photos.  Nope.

But if you have never sweat like this, try it.  I urge you.  Your entire existence will thank you for it.

So while sweat can be cleansing, un-pretty, and rewarding, it can also be dangerous- especially if you do too much of it for too long.

My Marathon Maniacs qualifier could have killed me.

High heart rate + low blood pressure = not worth it.

My most popular blog entry (aside from the one that has a cash incentive for product reviewers) is Marathon Deaths- What on Earth is happening?  The tragedy of a good thing going horribly wrong is something we don't want to even imagine.  I love running, but I do not love it so much that I would literally DIE in order to do it.  Actually, in my opinion, there are no fitness related activities worth dying for.

So yeah... that was three marathons and somewhere around 1500 miles ago.  I found something that gives me the confidence to continue running.

SaltStick Caps created by Jonathan Toker, triathlete.

Saltstick Caps minimize muscle cramping, heat stress and fatigue due to unbalanced electrolyte blood levels.  How?  They are formulated to closely resemble the electrolyte profile lost during activity: sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.  I do not go out for a long run without these.  I sweat a lot more than the average person and my diet tends not to be high in sodium.  So SaltStick Caps are my safety net.  Prior to using these, I had many runs that caused me to be dizzy, disoriented, light headed.  I would have to stop, buy a gatorade, eat something, walk a bit and continue with caution.  Pocketing a few of these babies and taking them as recommended has changed my world.

Wanna try?  Perfect.  I have a bottle to give away.

.............and for good measure, I will throw in something else that is essential to my running success.  While I have not had any near-fatal experiences with rawness, chafing, or blisters, they are certainly things I can do without.  You might think you are exempt from these things (like I did) if you are a new runner who hasn't gone too far beyond running for more than one continuous hour.  Obviously, longer distance and higher temperatures totally change the game.

Bodyglide- the answer to not feeling like your skin is on fire.

If I'm going into the double digits in mileage, I will apply Bodyglide EVERYWHERE.  (ok, that's an exaggeration) But it certainly belongs in places where friction may occur (under my bra band, waist band, around my upper arm if I'm using my Armpocket) and in any places where sweat tends to kind of stay because wiping away and/or evaporation is just not happening.  (mainly, my butt crack, yeah... so?)  Additionally, without a little of this stuff on my feet, I can almost count on little blisters to form in a couple of specific areas.

Get race day ready and enter this giveaway!  All you have to do is like me (if you are on the fence don't worry, I don't mean in real life, on facebook, silly) and follow me if you can (again, not in person, on blogger and twitter!) and like SaltStick and Bodyglide and tell them I sent you.  Lastly, comment on this blog (or on my facebook page) and tell me what kind is an essential part of your race day readiness routine.  Do you have a particular outfit? Hat? Playlist?  Ritual?  Meal?  We can all learn a little from each other so tell me anything!!!