The perpetual motion of ultrarunning often creates a state of euphoric calm that unleashes a wondering mind. Outside of any concern about pain, there is plenty of time to gather one’s thoughts and ponder some of life’s more important questions.
As I turn over the miles and the world fades to a silhouette, I find my mind grasping at ultrarunning’s most fraught conundrum: “What am I going to wear for the 2015/16 season?”
Personally, I can’t help but feel that next year is all about taking it back to the old school: our shorts should be shorter and a socks should be taller. Now that we’ve all come to realise that calf guards serve no practical purpose other than helping evade the odd stinging nettle, we can forget about this new-age witchcraftery. So get yourself a really cool pair of calf-high gym socks. This is perhaps tentatively stealing from the cycling world but with Anton Krupicka leading the movement, there’s no better stocking filler than a pair of mini stockings!
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Quite simply, your shorts aren’t short enough. I know this because they can never be too short. Next season is all about ultrarunners doing for split-shorts what Jessica Simpson did for denim shorts. In days of old the short-short was the preserve of the track or XC athlete and somewhere along (the ever lowering hem-)line the knee-length short seems to have reared its ugly head. In fact, I think the phrase ‘rule of thumb’ was probably created for this exact reason: if the split in your short is longer than your thumb, you’re not doing it right. It’s also important to remember that this isnt Crossfit, so board and booty shorts are best saved for your paleo-bazooka-muscle-toe-to-bar-amrap.
Brooks do a great 2” inch split short that will do the job nicely: http://www.brooksrunning.com
Ultrarunning might well be a sport where metaphorically it’s all between the ears, but physically it’s certainly more between the legs! Chaffing is that little gift that you never really wanted in the first place but you smile and say thank you for anyway. Other than having legs that glide gracefully a full two or three inches apart, chaffing is often unavoidable. If it is a big problem for you, then seamless underwear is probably the best place to start. If nothing else it will certainly make the “go on then, put them on and give us a look” moment a lot more interesting.
Your gateway to chaffless running: http://www.runderwear.co.uk
