Every runner knows the pains that come with distance running. And every runner knows the worst of those pains: chaffed raw skin in the shower.

Recently, Abandoned Bread was on business travel and neglected to pack anti-chafe goop. Abandoned Bread proudly uses Bag Balm (thanks for the tip, Mom), but doesn’t receive any kick-back from them (more’s the pity).

With that week’s long run done, AB hopped into the shower with the running shorts so as to rinse them off while still wearing them, ready and braced for the searing pain that was sure to come.  Surprisingly, the raw red patches left on thighs and personal bits from 16 sweaty miles, … didn’t sting a bit.  To be clear: there was definitely rub-rash, but there was no pain or screaming when the hot water hit, normally an inevitability after a lube-free long run.

As often happens in the shower, an interesting idea began to form:  Why, when so many other post-trot cleanups had gone howlingly wrong, was this one so benign?  Could wearing shorts into the shower be the answer, the golden key of pain prevention so long sought by distance runners?

Perhaps this phenomenon was due to the gradual introduction of water to the offended skin, or perhaps it was because the raw patches hadn’t had time to dry between the scraping and the cleaning.  There is no way to know.  Just understand, Abandoned Bread is not going to intentionally experiment on this again, unless the goop gets forgotten.

-AB