We are trained to wipe from the day we are born. This creates a huge mental block against not wiping. Getting over this psychological hurdle is tough, but once conquered it’s really no big deal. There is certainly no physical requirement to wiping.
We are trained to wipe from the day we are born. This creates a huge mental block against not wiping. Getting over this psychological hurdle is tough, but once conquered it’s really no big deal. There is certainly no physical requirement to wiping.
I have a lot of experience on this subject, as running has always made me need to go. Here is the definitive ranking of items with which to wipe:
1. toilet paper - I always carry TP on my runs now (see below), just a few squares in a ziploc snack-size baggie along with my key. Fits in the pocket of any pair of running shorts.
2. snow - not too absorbent, so it takes a lot of it to get the job done...but usually if there's snow out, you have an endless supply. Plus it leaves you feeling fresh!
3. smooth rock - I have only used a rock once or twice in my life, but if you're running by a river there's plenty of clean ones, and you just chuck em in when you're done.
4. socks - soft and absorbent, but a bit expensive. Can't be throwing away an $8 pair more than a couple times a week.
5. shirt - I guess tearing the sleeves off your t-shirt in the summer isn't too bad an idea, unless someone knows what you were wearing when you left. Not really something I like answering a lot of questions about.
6. moss - about as absorbent as snow, so you always need more than you think. And one side is mud, so you need big pieces in order to not get dirty. I've heard great things about using moss to wipe, but I've never liked the experience. Maybe the moss where I live is different from the moss where you live, though.
7. underwear - for one thing, to take your underwear off, you need to take your shorts/pants off first, and put them back on after. And for that you get a thin elasticy mess of strips of polyester with hems in weird places. Not much sense in that unless it's all you're wearing except shorts and shoes.
8. bark - most bark is basically dense dirt. Not fun running with granules all up in ya. The other kind of bark is thin and hard. With that it might not even be considered "wiping" any more, but rather "scraping".
9. leaves - I once wiped with some leaves that were definitely not poison ivy. They must have been infected by some poison ivy somewhere else in the area, though, because I definitely got poisoned in and around where I'd wiped. It was a very painful few days. If you have to use leaves to wipe, get ones that are as high in the air as possible. Anything near the ground can be disaster.
10. stick - after my leaf incident, I started carrying toilet paper on my runs. One time I forgot it, and needed to wipe. "Not gonna use leaves again!" I thought. So smart. "I'll use a smooth stick." Exact same outcome as the leaves. Definitely wasn't a poison ivy plant, but that stick was definitely poisonous. Same painful few days. Never again.
I just use my running cap if it's a real emergency. I wash my hair and the cap as soon as I get home. No big deal - life goes on. ?
What about a piece of garbage. From a garbage can. Something like an old newspaper or hamburger wrapper. When you’re done you can just throw it back in the garbage.
Also, might be worthwhile wearing one of those old school headbands just in case.
This may only work in a very specific situation-if you spot a dog close by and you ate something recently that tastes like sausage, you can unload then call the dog over to clean up what’s still sticking to you.
I have tried not wiping after pooping on a run but it was very uncomfortable. After about a mile or so my hole was kind of burning and it was very unpleasant.
TinctureofSphincture wrote:
You can also not wipe and just clean up when you get home. I’d say this should only happen if you have less than 2 or 3 miles left on the run and if it’s not runny and going down your leg.
If i tried that and the remainder of the run was more than about a mile, i wouldn't be able to run for a while from the epic chafing that would result. I am very sensitive and chafe like crazy if my hygiene isn't perfect. I'm not sure if it is related to my massive hot sauce habit.
No way I’m using my regular username wrote:
We are trained to wipe from the day we are born. This creates a huge mental block against not wiping. Getting over this psychological hurdle is tough, but once conquered it’s really no big deal. There is certainly no physical requirement to wiping.
There are enzymes still in our feces. Have you see how bad diaper rash can get for babies? It can cause horrible bleeding blisters even despite best efforts of the parents to immediately clean it off. Granted, the skin of small children is more sensitive than adults, but it will definitely cause varying severities of issues to adults who dont wipe.
Wipe?
I never bother.
wormy dog method works on grass and maintains forward motion
I don't get it.... wrote:
I have been running for 20+ years and have never needed to crap on a run. What is up with you people? Are you the same guys that can't pee if someone is in the same room?
I have been running for just as long and almost never do not crap after the first half mile or mile. I either warm up on the treadmill (when in cities) or, more often, just find my spot outside. Nice to be regular!
Apples and oranges. With good cheek spread and proper angles there shouldn’t be much left behind, certainly not compared to a diaper poo. I’ve never gotten a rash or significant chaffage from going sans wipe.
Shaving around the exit site makes wiping hardly necessary.
No way I’m using my regular username wrote:
We are trained to wipe from the day we are born. This creates a huge mental block against not wiping. Getting over this psychological hurdle is tough, but once conquered it’s really no big deal. There is certainly no physical requirement to wiping.
If you're a girl you need to get that sh!t outta there. If it goes into your lady parts it can set off all sorts of unpleasant infections.
I don't get it.... wrote:
I have been running for 20+ years and have never needed to crap on a run. What is up with you people? Are you the same guys that can't pee if someone is in the same room?
Wow, I have been running for almost 40 years and would have to stop and take a dump almost every morning. Not very often during the afternoon run. Done it everywhere and anywhere, between parked cars in NYC, in the bushes of the Lincoln Memorial, up against the Capital building in DC, you name it, I have dumped there.
Sorebum wrote:
Hands down, the best is a smooth rock. Also a smooth branch or stick.
Leaves are considered the go-to object, but they are wrought with issues.
Also, one sock, which should be buried afterwards.
Hand if you’re by a river or water source to clean up.
Tree bark for lumps, but not great for finer cleaning.
I let my girlfriend carry a fire-extinguisher when on a run (she has to be at at least ten steps behind me) so she can hose me down whenever I feel the need to relieve myself.
i don't get it either wrote:
I don't get it.... wrote:
I have been running for 20+ years and have never needed to crap on a run. What is up with you people? Are you the same guys that can't pee if someone is in the same room?
Wow, I have been running for almost 40 years and would have to stop and take a dump almost every morning. Not very often during the afternoon run. Done it everywhere and anywhere, between parked cars in NYC, in the bushes of the Lincoln Memorial, up against the Capital building in DC, you name it, I have dumped there.
Me too. Always finding my niche. To my knowledge in thousands of stealth poops I have only been spotted once, and it was from a few hundred yards away -- someone knocked on a farmhouse window to signify I'd been seen. I avoid this in race by assiduous prerace clearance, cycling the portapotty lines.
What did you wipe with after dumping on the capitol building? One of those small copies of the constitution?
What did you wipe with between two cars? Road rocks? Road kill? Slide along one of the car bumpers?
Fascinating wrote:
What did you wipe with after dumping on the capitol building? One of those small copies of the constitution?
What did you wipe with between two cars? Road rocks? Road kill? Slide along one of the car bumpers?
Haha, I always carry TP with me, tuck it in my shorts, when nature calls I'm ready. But in times of need you use what you can, leaves, a snow wedge in the winter, whatever works.
Run n wrote:
No way I’m using my regular username wrote:
We are trained to wipe from the day we are born. This creates a huge mental block against not wiping. Getting over this psychological hurdle is tough, but once conquered it’s really no big deal. There is certainly no physical requirement to wiping.
If you're a girl you need to get that sh!t outta there. If it goes into your lady parts it can set off all sorts of unpleasant infections.
If your kitchen is large enough to house a treadmill, there is likely a bathroom very nearby.
Kidding, of course.