Running is Gross

I don't notice it much anymore, but when I talk to other people about it, I realize how gross long distance running is. I have done and/or considered doing a lot of things in the name of running that I never would have before.

Stop now if you really don't want TMI. But I think that most people that read my blog can handle it.

• Spitting - I used to think that people that spat outside, while working out or otherwise, were gross. I still don't like it when people spit directly on the sidewalk, leaving gross lugies just sitting there. But I've learned that if you try to swallow that stuff, it about makes you sick while running. So, I spit. I'm still not very good at it though, so I probably end up being even more gross than most, when it doesn't disconnect, or gets on the side of my face, etc.
• Farmer blows - Ok, I still consider this gross, but I have done it - once, when I was desperate. If there is ANYTHING to blow your nose with in the near vicinity, please use it. But sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.
• Sweating - I embrace sweating now. And as my physical fitness has increased, I actually value it, especially on hot days - if my sweating is slowing down or stops, I know I need more water. At the end of really long runs, you can also have that dried salty stuff crusted around your face... hot, I know. But it's also a good indicator that you need to replace sodium and electrolytes at the end of the run - because that's what's on your face!
• Blood - As this list progresses, it becomes more and more apparent that it's mostly about how running long distances can pretty much make you excrete things from your body. Gross, I know. The worst bleeding incident I had was when I was running and felt some pain in my toes, but it was mostly annoying, and not enough to make me stop. It eventually went away, or I ignored it successfully. When I was done, and taking my shoes off, I discover a sock covered in blood! Apparently one of my toenails was too long, and was rubbing into the side of another toe for the whole run. It was a tiny little cut, but since I kept running, it kept cutting... and bleeding.
• Tears - Yes, this is a blood, sweat and tears list... I have never cried during a run, but the wind at times has been so bad that tears stream down my face. I really hate running in that bad of wind!
• Blisters - After every substantially long run, I usually have a few small blisters. I've learned the hard way how to best take care of them (for me, anyway). I normally poke it in several places with a needle (rarely cleaning it - gross, I know), drain as much fluid as I can out of it, and then leave it alone. Works for me...
• Peeing - I have not wet myself on a run (yet), but I have become dangerously close. When I ran the 2011 Dam to Dam, it was super hot and humid, so I drank at every water stop on the course, which I am not used to doing. I must have overdone it, because by the end, I need to pee BADLY. I really didn't want to stop in the last two miles, and then I was at the point where there were no more porta-potties, so I figured I had three options: squat on the side of the course (which some people were doing), try to hold it to the end (which was pretty precarious), or just go. I had a friend that did that at the end of his first marathon, and he claimed he was so sweaty that he barely noticed anyway (I feel like I'd notice!). I opted for the second option, and BARELY made it. I had to go so bad at the end I was almost crying. At that point, wetting myself MIGHT have been an option. I'm just glad it didn't come to that.
• And finally... Pooping - I now appreciate the pre-run poop, if it can happen. And I swear, if you are constipated, just run 10 miles. Something will happen. There is always that panic when you are far away from home on a long run, and it hits you, and you have to make the decision - do you try to make it home, or do you have to find a place nearby, whether it be ditch, gas station, friend's house? How desperate are you? I have made mad dashes home, and I have also utilized a friend's house (thank you Goldsmiths!). No ditches.... yet. My running partner for the marathon and I have already shook hands on a deal for the race: if he has to poop, and if I "get stuck in a porta-potty for five minutes" (because according to him, girls don't poop), we have to wait for each other. I am accepting it right now as an inevitability that I will have to stop at some point to relieve myself in some fashion during the marathon, so I am very on board with this agreement.

So, like I said, running is gross. But worth it - most of the gross stuff is just what you have to deal with to complete your run successfully.

Who wants to go running with me?! ;)