Laundry

I swear I have never done so much laundry in my life as I have in the last eight months since I took up Triathlon training.

When you're working out once or twice a day, every day of the week, you gotta keep up. I often come home from a workout, stand in front of the washer and strip naked, feeding my stuff right in.

Even if you have six sets of workout clothes for each sport (which I don't, although I have to admit I have incrementally "added" to my collection of compression shorts, technical T's, "really nice" running socks, running tights, warming sleeves and so forth) you simply can not leave a pile of sweaty stuff on the bedroom floor. Whether you're married or not, that will come back to bite you. And I know you wouldn't dream
of letting your running shorts, or bike shorts just air dry after a workout, and wear them again without washing... right?

I tried hand-washing stuff for a while. That was not going to last - took too much time.

In any case, I am now a small-load and technical-wear laundry specialist. When I step up to the washing machine, unlike mere mortals, I grasp the controls firmly. "Small load" or "Tiny Load", hmm, let me see - I make the call. "Warm" or "Hot" - a topic for careful consideration. 12-minute or 9-minute cycle? I've got it dialed-in. Just how much of this concentrated detergent do I need? After having read the container label (most of this stuff is highly concentrated even though it comes party-size), I know to use just a little bit - usually half of what they recommend. Your stuff is usually just sweaty, or maybe it has a little road dirt in it - you need only the smallest bit of detergent.

Needless to say if you've read the garment labels, once washed, none of the technical, synthetic stuff goes in the dryer. This stuff will last a really, really long time, as long as you keep it out of the dryer. Again, if you're married, do yourself a favor and find a place to hang it where it will not be annoying. You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, laundry is kind of like stretching. You gotta do it. It's part of the whole routine. And unlike my chauvinistic prior life, your wife is not going to do it.