Underwear...skivvies...undies...briefs...

...none of those names strike fear in you, do they? After all, you just grab the next pair in your drawer and throw them on without a thought. I mean, it's underwear right?

Not anymore. As of yesterday, I am going to be putting a bit more thought into what I wear under my shorts. I don't want to suffer what I went through yesterday ever again.

Instead of intervals, I decided to try 2 miles of steady-state cardio. After my abysmal attempt at running last week, I figured it was time to add in a regular run here and there. I hopped on the treadmill and set it for a comfortable 6.5 MPH pace (7.5 killed me last week). My goal was to just finish the 2 miles without stopping.

That sounded simple enough and when I started, it felt like it would be simple too. And for the first 1.5 miles it was a relatively easy run.

But then, I started to feel a slight burning sensation on the inside of my left thigh. It started off as a minor annoyance, but in that last half-mile, it became a serious pain. For some reason, the boxer briefs I was wearing that day had chaffed the skin on my inner-thigh and it STUNG like heck.

When I reached my 2 miles I stopped the treadmill, skipping the cool down. I had to stand there for a few minutes, not moving a muscle, before the searing pain was bearable again.

The walk to the lockers and my shower were pure hell. The stinging was incredible. This hurt a lot more than when I chopped my finger tip off. All because of my underwear!

I suffered through the rest of the day, walking very gingerly. When I got home I decided to try some lotion on the irritated skin, wanting to sooth it. I grabbed some Aloe Vera lotion and slathered it on. WRONG THING TO DO!

That made the stinging 100x worse, good God how that hurt! I had to wipe the stuff off but it still stung for a good 5 minutes more. Lesson learned, don't use Aloe Vera sunburn lotion for chaffed skin.

My thigh felt better this morning. Not perfect, but better. Chris said I should skip the workout, but I wasn't going to let some irritated skin stop me. Instead of swimming (I'll stay out of the pool for a week), I did some intervals followed-up with a 1.5 mile run at 6.5 MPH.

This time though, I wore compression shorts under my regular shorts. That is probably what I should have been wearing all along, but I had to learn my lesson the hard way.

So from now on, I'll pay a bit more attention to what I put on under my shorts. I don't ever want to suffer that type of searing pain again.