I may have broken by back carrying down that GINORMOUS load of laundry to be washed. Am I the only person who waits until there is an Everest of sweaty running clothes, stanky socks, and other clothing to do a load? I was almost going to take a picture because my leaning tower of filth was comical, how I had been strategically placing shorts and tanks just so to avoid an avalanche. But I didn’t because it is kinda gross and I didn’t want an undie or something to peek out.
When I was growing up I was spoiled and my mom would do all the laundry…I miss you Mommy-O. If I had my own washer/dryer in my apartment I would be much better, it’s just really that I’m lazy and don’t like to go down all the flights of stairs (all two of them…lol), plus I never seem to have an abundance of quarters.
So guys, when you DO get that clean laundry all nice and done do you 1) go straight for your favorite shorts and shirts right off the bat (you know, the running shorts that DON’T ride at all, the top that makes your arms look oh so good) or 2) save them until the end of your laundry cycle, sort of like saving dessert for the last bit of your meal? I tend to go the saving it until the end route. When I know I’m in my fav staples I know it’s almost time to break my back carrying down dirty clothes mountain.
Enough of this because it’s boring. Being that I’ve also got a nice blister taking over the greater part of my right big toe, no better time to bring this up. Blisters, we all get ’em, some more than others. I’m pretty lucky and don’t get heinous ones all too often, and a part of that is because I make sure to always wear a GOOD pair of socks when I’m running and working out. Also, I don’t usually wear the kind of shoes in regular day life that cause blisters (read: I’m not a ‘shoe girl’…probably more because I’m fashionably defunked and thus never look cute enough in a pair of shoes to merit a blister).
But for people that DO get tons of blisters, those suckers can at times be H-E-Double hockey stick. Couple tips there:
*Avoidance: Like most things preventative measures are best here…you want a pair of running or workout specific socks. Chugging out some miles in a pair of K-Mart 6-pack count on discount isn’t a smart move. Plunk down the change for the real deal; I’m a little biased, but really like the Nike line, the Nike Cushion Noshows or Dri-Fit Noshows. I’ve also had good experiences with the Balga Line, and I know Asics and plenty other shoe lines have their counterparts out there. Double layer socks are one suggestions if you are really prone to getting blisters easily, the two layers rub against each other so that friction isn’t between your feet and the socks. Try a few, test them out, find a pair that works best for you.
*Shoe Savvy. Some shoes are going to give you blisters more than others; flip-flops, strappy sandals, basically the better it looks the more apt it is to give your feet trouble. There are products that you can buy to strategically pad the areas on your feet where the shoe will rub. Moleskin may sound old school but it works, and there are TONS of other new ‘techier’ materials out there. There are also blister blocking gels and glides.
*Pop goes the weasel. Some people are vehemently against popping a blister, they say it’ll lead to infection…yada yada yada. They can let it fester if that’s their thang but to me it’s not worth suffering with a big@$$ blister. Pop the sucker right off the bat and drain it. It will usually fill right up again, keep on popping and draining. You can put a band-aid or something on it to apply pressure to help keep it from filling up again, but usually you have to re-pop a few times. Be smart and don’t pop it with a rusty nail…obviously.
*Callous time. If you listen to those no-pop people what can sometimes happen is a callous can form OVER you blister. Then you’re really in for the hurt. If you have a callous over your blister it makes it harder to pop and drain, plus at that point that sucker is getting pretty big. My advice is to take a needle and dig down to the blister and drain the fluid.
Blisters suck. There are also plenty of blister aide products, band-aids, soothing gels, etc. to apply once you’ve got them. So, hope some of this jabber has helped…as for me, I’m off to put the Everest pile in the dryer and I’ve got some more popping and draining to do. 🙂
1) Do you do laundry pretty often or when you’re down to your last pair of skivvies? Are you a ‘use the fav clothing right away’ or ‘saving it for later’ type of person?
2) Are you blister prone?
3) Blisters or a mad case of chaffing…you have to go with one or the other?
Hmmmm…probably the chaffing, but that first shower is a b****!!
