Humidity+Running+Your Hair

Alternate title:  Long hurr don't curr... what?  That's no longer relevant?  Ok, moving on.

It's so secret that I have super long hippie hair.  It's also no secret that I live in super swampy air for 3-4 months of the year.  The degree of rat's nests I've had to work through post-run in the past few years of running is innumerable.  I learned early on that a simple ponytail doesn't cut it.

Exhibit A)  This was a straight, long and flowing pony pre-race.  Mile 8 of 13.1--rat's nest.  Also, this is my single favorite race photo EVER.

Over time, I learned to double pony, braid, or twist the pony to cut down on craziness.  But then, that no longer worked either on particularly sweaty/humid runs as my ponytail braid/twist would swell up to 5-6x its normal girth (heh that's a funny word) and would again be impossible to get out post-run.

Pre-run.  No way it wasn't quadruple the size by the end of the run.  Fail.

Have you ever spent 45 minutes in the shower post-run with a widetooth comb and half a bottle of conditioner doing the condition, comb, rinse, comb, repeat combo?  It's not fun.  Promise.

I progressed to the twist/braid and bun option, which helped.  But I have so much hair that it's hard to get it to not move while running, and a boppin' bun is super annoying.  Plus it gets really heavy if you're running for a long while.

When I was in Dallas for the HM in December, Dominique and I were waiting in the line for the porta potty, and the gal in front of us had some crazy pony tail situation going on with her naturally curly hair.  I tapped her on the shoulder to ask if that combatted the hair swelling/knotting while running and she said it did.

Since being a sloth for the first few months of the year, combined with freezing cold temps, i didn't really have a need to test out the new hair trick.  I didn't have to wait too long, as the humidity showed up a few weeks ago.  I decided to give it a go.

The before:

4 ponies total.  Also, ZOMG shiny/fab hair day!

The after:

SUCCESS!

The how:  braid or twist your pony.  Add in ponytail holders about every inch and a half the whole way down the pony.  Revel in your much shorter post-run shower.

Option B)  Cut your damn hippie hair for God's sake.

OR if you live in the land of no humidity, revel in that awesomeness.  Colorado and Vegas, I'm looking at you.  I swear I didn't even look like I had ran after the Wild West Relay and RnR Vegas Marathon.  Le sigh.



(Considering AR and I went out for drinks at the hotel bar post-race after throwing on compression socks, that should tell you how little one sweats in the desert.  Awesome blossom.)