So I am looking for a little insight here with my situation. Each time I go out and race I end up with TONS of runny snot all over my face. It starts on the bike and proceeds to run down my whole face over my mouth and around my chin for the duration of the bike. I occasionally try to wipe it off but with in minutes it is back and I’m covered. So then it continues on the run. It is so runny that simply trying to blow it out is not possible. I have tried Breathe Rights and they are good at helping in keeping my airways open, but the snot is still all over the place.
I am going as hard as I can when this is happening and it doesn’t occur that much when I train, except on my hard sets on the bike. This past weekend I finished a race and was all smiles until I got a look at myself in the mirror and realized I had dried mucus all over my face. Now I really don’t care what I look like, more importantly is that I feel like my breathing is being disrupted with all of this crap.
Does this happen to anyone else? Any thoughts or suggestions to help?
Blow into your hand and wipe it on your shorts. It’s common enough we used to have a paceline hand signal for “impending nature blow” so you could move over or at least close your mouth if you were in back. There’s a bunch of anti-allergy meds to take but most of them depress your immune system so I never take them.
You can actually use this opportunity to get some insight into the power of the airstream around your body! Fun with mucous!
To clear the left side, tilt the top of your head down while acting like you are a one-eyed parrot looking down with your good right eye at your left shoe. This positions your nostril to fire it’s load OVER your left shoulder. Plug the right side and blow. When you do it correctly, you can see the stream go over your shoulder into the air current and it gets swept back similar to the shape of your back. Repeat for the other side! Great for getting drafters off your tail, too!
yaquicarbo gets the second award for post of the day. solving 2 problems with one blow - drafting and snot!
I have some snot everywork usually in the beginning. I can spit across a 4 lane highway. when I race it’s like a damn facuet. thats after using an Allegra-D,
Of all the skills I’ve learned in triathlon, the “farmer blow” has served me best. I’m usually emptying my nose every 3-5 miles on the bike and every mile on the run. I used to try to ride/run with kleenex, but you figure even for a sprint distance that is 7 blows, at least. Too many kleenex to carry. Just turn your head, close one nostril and blow. You’ll get snot all over yourself once or twice, but it’s no worse then the pond scum drying on your elbow from the swim. And if you are on a training ride, and have bike gloves on, use the fuzzy part to wipe your nose after.
And you wonder why any guy finds triathlon girls attractive…
From your description, it sounds like a lot of this snot is not (snot). Given weather conditions, your body will condense the water vapor in the air into water inside your nostrils when you exhale, hence the unusual runny quality you describe. If this doesn’t occur when it is hot and dry, most likely water vapor in the air is to blame. The solution is to evacuate (the professional term). Carrying kleenexs for the volume I can produce on a cool day is the ultimate exercise in futility. Evacuating proficiently takes a little practice and seems to be harder for females than males, it is kind of uncouth. I think there is a funny column by one of the guest SlowTwitch writers on this topic. Practice practice practice…
actually, I have congestion issues, I’ve had prescriptions to several medications. Allegra has worked, and so has Flonase. On the other hand, I think Yaquicarbo is on to something. Maybe at the next race clinic…
I had an ENT tell me the exact cause of dripping, I forgot now but do remember that he cleared it up with me by prescribing about a month of a steriod nasal spray.
I also have chronic sinusitis/allergies and I blow my nose NONSTOP most of the time on the bike and run when I’m outdoors. It’s not too bad indoor training, though. I also use Allegra and Nasonex.
I’ve got it down so well that it is second nature. On more than one occasion I’ve been walking down the street or in a parking lot dressed up and done the “farmer blow” before I could realize it!
Thanks for all the great description of how to clear my nose. The thing is I do this ALL the time as it is. I just rarely do it when I am racing as I am trying to go as fast as I can and taking the time to blow every few minutes seems to slow me down. I have no problem with being uncouth though.
True story… One my very first date with my boyfriend we went for a bike ride and as we were riding he did the whole “one eyed parrot” act and I thought to myself, oh I’m in love.
So as you can see I have no fear of the farmer blow and I am quite good at it. I never really thought about allergies being the problem as I have never seemed to be affected by them in the past, perhaps something to look into. Not a big fan of taking tons of meds though, but perhaps I can just try to blow more often as I go.
I have the same problem to a lesser degree. It’s worse in cold weather and at higher speed (motorcycle). Your eyes water and it drains to your sinuses which drain to your face. Sunglasses almost make it worse because they create a vacumn behind the lenses that draw more air in.
I found some sunglasses that had a foam seal around the frame to keep the wind out. They definitely helped until I broke them.
I use a Claritin or Claritin D . They are non-prescription and neither will make you sleepy. The “D” version does have some Pseudoephidrine in it so it might hype you up some, but you may not need it if you aren’t congested. I’d try it in practice and see how it works for you.
Try talking to an ENT (Ear nose and throat) Dr. This is not normal and you shouldn’t have to continue this way. I too hate constant meds, so I was relieved to get my dripping problem cleared up with one round of nose spray. I think this is a fairly simple and routine problem that can be solved once and for all.