Sore Spot

I have managed to complete several long runs in the last couple of weeks, largely thanks to my training programme not being interrupted by snow or injury. After running twenty miles yesterday, I am in pain. In fact, sheer agony, but I am not injured.

It is not my feet or knees that hurt, but my inner thighs, which are extremely sore from my shorts rubbing against my skin for the last two hours of the run. The friction has more or less scraped off some skin on my legs. In my three years of running, I have never had a chafing anywhere near as bad as this. The pain was horrendous, and it felt like someone was taking a cheese grater to my legs, and looking at the rash on my legs now, it does look like someone has attempted to shave me with a cheese grater.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so hopefully this image will demonstrate the amount of pain that I am in:

Having a shower afterwards was pure torture and felt like I was washing my legs with sulphuric acid. Oddly though, given that it is a more common chafing complaint, my nipples are absolutely fine, no problems there.

My legs are still very sore and for most of today and last night, I have been walking slightly bow-legged. People will start to think I've got rickets or I've soiled myself. However, I'm prepared for next time as I went to the supermarket this morning and bought several tubs of Vaseline, ready to slather all over my legs and other sensitive areas.