Till It Bleeds

I think I crossed into new and unexplored levels of disgusting this morning. After a lackluster performance in the pool I ran 5.5 miles – decent time considering it was post swimming. Normally we just call that Wednesday, but instead of running on the dreadmill I ran outside. As much as I’m ready for spring, I love the cool weather for running and want to take advantage of as much of it as I can. I wore a tank top, which was a mistake for a couple of reasons. The first is that it was cold and the wind was blowing along the river. The second is the inspiration for this post. I got road rash in an interesting place. Don’t worry, it’s PG. The shirt I was wearing is almost four years old. It’s strictly a workout shirt. I imagine I wear (wore) this shirt once every ten days. That adds up over four years. It’s held up great, especially considering that it’s an Old Navy shirt that cost $9.99. The problem is that it may have held up too well. After four years of sweat drenching, washing, and drying, the arm pit area has acquired the texture of steel wool. I won’t get into the nicotine stain yellow discoloration that I ignore. After about 4 ½ miles I started to feel a burning on my side just below my armpit and the inside of my arm. I thought it was my iPod armband and I kept adjusting it during the last mile of my run. It wasn’t until I got back to the Y and took my shirt off that I figured out what was scraping off my skin. I couldn’t believe how gross that was. My horror was only intensified when I saw that I was bleeding. I think I have to retire the shirt and head back to Old Navy. As much of a cheap bastard as I am, I have to accept that getting four years out of a $10 shirt is a bargain.