Give your race the best shot…. don’t let preventable chafing and blisters slow or stop you!
Once chafing and blisters irritate you, they don’t improve, in fact they always get worse, and your race performance will only decrease. I know it personally from 30 years of racing this incredible event. They’re totally preventable problems.
Peeing in the kayak & on the bike
Yup, it’s normal to pee in your kayak, (it’s a long way to hang on!)
And on the bike, when you’re in a bunch you definitely don’t want to stop to pee coz’ you’ll lose the aerodynamic bunch advantage. Peeing yer pants is nothing a wash won’t fix, ….
But it’s the uncomfortable rash and chafing from urine which will slow you down!
Use GurneyGoo to prevent this rash by rubbing in a moderate coating around your crotch and inner thighs the morning of the race.
GurneyGoo will not only waterproof the area from the urine, but it also contains natural antiseptic, Tea-Tree Oil to prevent rash and infection. (smells good too!)
The Mountain Run
With multiple river crossings your feet will be wet the entire run, which leaves the skin soft and wrinkled, … susceptible to tearing and blisters.
Use GurneyGoo to waterproof your feet by rubbing a moderate coating over your entire foot the morning of the race.
If you want extra protection, rub in an extra layer the night before the race.
Before the race, make sure you get all the grit out from inside your shoes and under your insoles.
Kayaking chafing from the seat & the sprayskirt
I’ve seen some chafing so bad it bleeds, caused by kayak seats or spray skirts rubbing. (Crickey!... how painful is it in the shower afterwards!)
Whilst it’s best to prevent by customising your seat, sometimes it’s inevitable in the rush of race day that the spray deck torso is slightly twisted or a piece of clothing is trapped.
This can be prevented by rubbing GurneyGoo onto areas prone to this chafing the morning of the race, or get your crew to slap some on in the transition, or even better, rub a layer of GurneyGoo on the protruding edges of your seat and spray deck torso before the race.
Kayaking hand blisters
Whilst training for the long paddles should toughen your hands to prevent blisters, we often get blisters from the extra power and pace of race day.
A simple way to prevent this is to rub GurneyGoo into your hands a few hours before the race. Don’t rub it in just before paddling as the shaft will be too slippery. Giving it a few hours to soak into the our skin layers will be enough to waterproof the skin and to provide just the right amount of slip.
Personally I rub in a layer the night before and then 2 hours before in the morning of the race.
Packstraps, bra straps & those race bibs
There’s a rule to “never try anything new on race day” but we can never test the race bib. The bibs are a great design but ya just never know if it’s gonna chafe under your arms or around the neck. So rub some GurneyGoo around the seams of your bib the morning of the race.
Any straps from packs or bras can cause some really annoying rubs. Simply rub in GurneyGoo to those places that traditionally rub or are at risk of rubbing.
Race day pace is subtly different to training and this can occasionally produce different rub patterns with gear, so add an extra smear to areas that could potentially rub.
Of course the same goes for your crotch on the bike.
"Energy flows where attention goes"
Make sure all of your attention is going to the fun and powerful parts of racing, not to annoying and distracting chafing and blisters! It’s preventable.
You’ve invested months of effort, litres of sweat, tons of tin into you new bike and boat, risked your relationships, …. don’t put it on the line with preventable chafing and blisters.
All the best for your race from the team at GurneyGoo.
Further, faster, easier!