Why did I stop wearing the Cotton while running

I know we all do that. We wear the cotton T shirts and shorts while we are starting out as runners.

So, when I started, I had no idea about the kind of running gear I was supposed to have. And whatever video I saw on the YouTube failed to impress me and turn me into a Pro.

As you can understand, getting into the habit of running counts more than what all one is supposed to wear. So, I did not pay much attention to my running gear initially.

As time progressed, I started to feel somewhat uncomfortable running in my usual cotton Ts. Reason: Many.

Here is the list of my findings on running in cotton made t shirts and shorts.

You sweat a lot while you run

When we run, our body starts to heat up. To maintain the body temperature, the body response system activates the process of perspiration.

Perspiration is a process whereby your body starts to release the salts from the body in fluid form. These salts come out of the pores that our skin has and start the counter – ops to check the body temperature against rising.

Cotton Ts don’t wick out the sweat from the body as efficiently

When you sweat, your body gets fully drenched in the salt fluids. And your cotton T starts to get sticky.

Thanks to its inability to remove the moisture from the body as fast as the sweat is formed. The pace of perspiration is much higher than the pace at which the cotton can wick it out.

And that creates the concentration of excess sweat in the shirts and shorts.

Chafing happens

While you get drenched and your body Fibre, the cotton, is unable to wick off the salts and the moisture, the skin starts to face friction against the cotton due to stickiness in the body.

This friction of the skin against the cotton results in reddishness, bruises and sometimes, even the blood starts to bleed from the sensitive skin portions.

I remember feeling the pinch several times until I discovered it’s trie cause. And I remember how my skin would feel the bruises all day long. And I also remember how I would remove my Ts on several occasions and run on a naked upper body.

Naked upper body felt so coooool! (the only reason I avoided running with naked upper self in public was that I was still bulky and had ungainly tummy!)

This process by which your body gets infected by cotton fabric is called chafing. The pricess of chafing could be disastrous for those who have a very sensitive skin.

Conclusion

So, broadly speaking : Unpleasant outcomes while running in cotton Ts.

And this is why I started to look for the options for cotton. I realised 2 things in those first 6 months of my running journey.

1. My natural inclination towards running. And

2. If I wanted to truly enjoy my running and not get bruised and irritated, I gotta start looking for proper fabrics to replace the cotton.

Both the realizations were marvellous as I had taken the first few giant steps towards the world of running!

And so, I started to look for detailed information and literature on what kind of fabrics are available out there. Soon, I realised the logic behind having sports fabric as a different class altogether. And from there on, my journey into researching and finding the best fabric for running began..

The exploration for new fabrics had begun.

(to be continued).