So I had a great long run today. Perfect weather, felt fine after a long ride yesterday, and was in good spirits as I got back to the parking lot of the park. I took my shirt off, as it was completely soaked through with sweat, and as I was stretching, I noticed my nipples were bleeding pretty bad. I had definitely felt them chaffing, but was just lost in the run and they didn’t feel that sore that I thought they were bloody. I unrolled my shirt, and sure enough I had a fist sized blood stain on one nipple, and a golf ball sized one on the other. I passed a lot of people heading in the opposite direction, and I’m sure I looked insane running around bleeding. No problem, I thought. I’ll just change shirts and drive home…
…then I realized I locked my keys in my truck. The key I took off the chain was my girlfriends car key, not mine. So now I was stuck outside with no phone or anything, bleeding profusely from my nipples. I had to ask a stranger in the parking lot to borrow their phone to call my girlfriend to bring my spare key, to which they replied “are you sure you don’t want to call for an ambulance or something?”
Not my finest moment. I’m sure there are others here with far worse though, and I’d love to hear your stories.
Oh, and by the way, the shower when I got home was the most painful thing I’ve ever endured.
A couple of times I have had to take my top off, to prevent said nipple chaffing, when the nips got too sore.
Mine wasn’t all that bad. Forgot to pack my shorts for my afternoon run, didn’t want to can the session, so ran in my boxers. Fortunately the button didn’t come undone.
I have some lovely finishers pics from the Philly marathon a couple years ago featuring a long streak of blood from my right nipple down to my waist on my white team shirt. Ouch. I used band-aids and everything but they slipped off. And all the stuff you mentioned is bad enough but more so than the embarrassment is how much you know it is going to hurt when you get in the shower.
I was .1 miles from my house. Checking GPS and running past a pack of high schoolers. Hit ice and landed on face. Super awkward.
About ~20 years ago I was doing a long run on a 2-lane country road, so pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I probably hadn’t seen 2 cars since I started. Just as a carload of teenagers in a convertible are approaching facing me, I deftly slip my foot into the lace loop of the other shoe. Now my feet are suddenly tied together and I unceremoniously slam to the ground. My audience is now laughing hysterically and all I can do is laugh with them as I untangle my feet and complete the run covered in dirt and blood. (Now as primarily a trail runner, this is a common state.)
Planned to do a bike/run brick at Rice University. Bike at the 1/3 mile bike track in the parking lot, then run the 3 mile dirt/gravel trail around campus, very popular running route.
Realized I forgot to bring any kind of shoe. so I ran barefoot.
Many stares.
Also blisters.
Do not recommend.
It seems like I run alone on pretty much every run. Except on those occasions where Mother Nature applies GI pressure with a vengeance. Then, there’s a woman walking her dog. The bike club’s 40+ pace line. The guy and gal out for their own run. And me with the panicked face of someone in a full body clench as I desperately look for that place to use the natural squatty potty.
Then there are embarrassing moments while racing . . . like Saturday at the Tour of California for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=222z_KAKc64
I was out for a 5 hour ride and about an hour in I got a flat. Fixed flat on gravel shoulder of rode that was quite soft and muddy from morning rain. When the flat was fixed I had a hard time getting my cleats in the pedals because they were muddy. Finally got started and rode for about another hour when I had to come to a complete stop at a very busy intersection. I couldn’t get my shoes off the pedals because the dirt in the cleats had become hard light cement. Fell over with my shoes attached to cleats, cars driving by and people staring. I had to take feet out of shoes to get the bike off of me. Nothing hurt except my pride.