Taking care of your skin is crucial to staying moving, both in training and on the race course. So today we are hitting a crucial topic for multi-sport athletes: skin care! Craig DiGiovanni, one of the original founders of Medi-Dyne Healthcare Products, and Coach Jeff Raines talk through the typical skin ailments athletes face. Then Craig discusses how to thwart the negative impacts of unpleasant chafing, blisters, sweat and odors. At TriDot, we trust 2Toms to keep us moving! 2Toms provides revolutionary products to prevent issues from chafing, blisters, odors and sweat. To make the switch to 2Toms, head to Medi-Dyne.com and use the code “TRIDOT” to save 20 percent on your entire order. Register for the first ever "Ask Me Anything" with Mark Allen. Happening Thursday, July 28 from 8-9pm CT: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3169149177357310223
TriDot Podcast .148
Skincare For Triathletes: Conquering Chafing And Blisters
Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.
Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast! Episode 148, and it’s going to be a special one. Today we are hitting a crucial topic for multisport athletes: skincare. Specifically, how to thwart the negative impacts of unpleasant chafing, blisters, sweat, and odors. Before we approach any new topic like this, we always seek out the best voice to educate us on the topic, and today I truly believe we have that with our first guest. Joining us for the very first time is Craig DiGiovanni. Craig is one of the original founders of Medi-Dyne health care products, and is currently Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the company. Craig has been with Medi-Dyne for over 24 years, and as an avid runner, biker, and swimmer himself, he benefits first-hand from the company’s passion for keeping athletes moving. Craig has run five marathons, one half-IRONMAN, and many half-marathons as well as some shorter races. Craig, thanks so much for bringing your expertise to the show!
Craig DiGiovanni: I really appreciate you having me!
Andrew: Also joining us for this conversation is coach Jeff Raines. Jeff is a USAT Level II and IRONMAN U certified coach who has a Master’s of Science in exercise physiology and was a D1 collegiate runner. He has over 50 IRONMAN event finishes to his credit, and has coached hundreds of athletes to the IRONMAN finish line. Jeff Raines, welcome back to the show!
Jeff Raines: Glad to be back! I’ve definitely had some chafing in my tri journey, that’s for sure. And I’m sure Craig, you guys get all sorts of interesting picture content. I can’t wait to hear more about that. But I will say this to all the listeners, after chatting a little bit with Craig, he really is passionate about his products. He loves and stands behind them, and you can tell he has true passion for what he is doing, and truly wants to give back to not just the multisport community, but the athletic community and beyond. So I’m glad to be on this, and good to know you, Craig!
Andrew: I’m Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll approach the show like any other workout. We’ll roll through our warmup question, settle in for our main set conversation, and then wind things down with our cooldown.
Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.
Andrew: Shared experiences are powerful, and a very cool aspect of sharing the race course with hundreds of thousands of other athletes is that race day becomes a shared experience. You and the other athletes competing are the only people on the planet who experienced that race on that course on that day. Another event that creates a similar sense of the shared experience is going to a live music concert. Only you and the other attendees heard that set, performed at that venue, in that way, at that time. Jeff, Craig, to get us started with our warmup question today, what is the best live concert you have ever been to? Craig, it’s your first time on the show, so we’ll start this with you first.
Craig: You know, I got really lucky one time and I got to see Frank Sinatra live in a real quaint environment. Just got lucky – I went and stood in will-call, I got in and got a really good seat, and I was several feet from Frank Sinatra and got to watch him do his whole set live. It was really at the very tail end of his career, so I felt really fortunate to be able to be a part of that.
Andrew: That is not just a superstar, that is a legend in the music industry, obviously. And to be able to say that you saw him live – where was this, Craig?
Craig: I was in Vegas. He was performing a lot there at the end of his career, and my wife and I were there and she said, “Hey, let’s just go to will-call and see if we can get in,” and by the grace of god we got in. And I got to hand the maître d’ a little green thing with the numbers 2 and 0 on it, and he marched us straight down and got some really close seats. It was one of those venues you feel like it was just you and Frank there, so my wife and I got to experience that together in a really quaint environment. It was really special.
Andrew: That sounds like it, and not an answer I was expecting. It’s certainly better than my answer. Jeff Raines, what about you? Is Frank Sinatra better than your answer here?
Jeff: I think so, but I’ll let some of you guys be the judge here. No, I don’t think I can top that, but I haven’t been to a concert in a very long time. It’s probably having three young kiddos, Covid, and things like that. It’s rare that I even get to see a movie in the theater. But I went to a few in high school and college. I used to like Gavin McGraw in high school. But I guess my main answer is, in college I saw David Crowder. He came and played in the Palo Duro Canyon, up in the panhandle of Texas, and the stage out there is carved into the canyon, out in this cool desert venue. It’s pretty cool. It started at sunset and it went into the night, and it was outdoors and all these cool things.
Andrew: Yeah, still noteworthy for sure. When I worked in television, I met David Crowder a handful of times. Just a great guy, real down-to-earth, real chill. I really struggled with this one on who to go with, because I’ve gone to some that I’ve really liked. But the one that I just kept coming back to in my mind – I am not the best country music fan, that’s definitely not my favorite genre. There’s a few artists that I enjoy, but my wife and I when we were dating, we went and saw Brad Paisley at FC Dallas soccer stadium. It was just a classic Texas summer night, beautiful night, nice warm Texas summer air, outdoor concert. We were down on the soccer field listening to Brad Paisley play, and there was just something about him as an entertainer. He had some good songs that I really liked for sure, but what I didn’t realize was how good of a guitar player he is, because he’s playing lead guitar in all of his own songs. Then in between his songs – it was almost like John Mayer jazzy-type stuff – he was just kind of riffing on the guitar while he was talking to the audience. And you just kind of felt like – almost like you talked about with Frank Sinatra – you felt like you were there in the room with him. You felt like you were just out, at this outdoor venue, hearing Brad Paisley shoot the breeze with you as he’s just laying down some sick, slick jazz grooves on his guitar. So that night, while we were dating, was a really cool night with Brad Paisley, and it’s raised my enjoyment of his music even more since seeing him in person. So that’s the answer for me. I definitely think the most iconic person mentioned here is, no doubt, Frank Sinatra, so if there was a winner here it’s Craig DiGiovanni.
Craig: But Palo Duro Canyon though with David Crowder is pretty good. I mean, I think Jeff wins the venue award for sure.
Jeff: We’ll give Craig beginner’s luck on this one.
Andrew: Guys, we’re going to throw this question out to you our audience as we always do. Make sure that you are part of the I AM TriDot Facebook group. Every single Monday when the new show comes out, we post this question to you our audience. I’m very curious to hear what you have to say. We’ve had some music-related warmup questions before. I know you guys are very passionate about your music listening, especially with as much working out as we do, and it’s a great way to entertain yourself. So from all the concerts that you have ever been to, those shared experiences you have had, what was the number one tip-top concert you’ve ever been to?
Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…
Andrew: Thrilled to have Craig from Medi-Dyne on the show today. The product line from Medi-Dyne that you have to check out first, especially with our topic today, is 2Toms. 2Toms is always working on revolutionary new products designed to prevent chafing, blisters, odors, and sweat. Their passion is to keep you moving. As triathletes, we can certainly have our training and racing thrown off by not taking care of our skin. So when the folks at 2Toms, Craig himself, told us that they had just the best chafing and blister protection products on the market, we had to give them a try. In fact, we took a huge goody bag of 2Toms anti-chafing towelettes with us to our last TriDot Ambassador camp, and we asked for just the honest and candid feedback from our athletes there. The reviews from those 70‑plus TriDot athletes were just immensely positive. Many folks placed orders right there that day and made the switch to 2Toms. Ever since, I’ve been using SportShield in my own training, and have great results with happy skin in all the right places. 2Toms has SportShield, BlisterShield, ButtShield, FootShield, and StinkFree odor-removing spray and detergent. So whoever you are and whatever skin protection that you need, 2Toms has you covered. 2Toms is in the Medi-Dyne family of brands, so go to medi-dyne.com to pick up your 2Toms today. And when you do, use promo code TRIDOT for 20% off your order.
So Craig, as we get into the topic today, tell us how Medi-Dyne got started, and what makes you so passionate about our health as triathletes?
Craig: About 25 years ago we acquired a brand of foot-care products, Tuli’s foot care products, that a podiatrist had developed. They are sold in 70 countries even today. They’re unique products that we felt performed better than anything else out on the market for taking away pain and supporting the foot in unique ways.That led us on a journey for the last 24 years of continuing to find products that help keep people moving. That’s our company moniker, “keep people moving”, and really doing what they love to do. We focus on finding these products that solve a lot of the common ailments that people experience in their life and prevent them from doing what they love to do. So we’re really passionate about developing and finding products to add to our product portfolio to enable people to really keep doing what they love to do. That’s really how we found 2Toms. Now we’ve continued to add to that product line, because 2Toms products really address some major issues that people deal with in all walks of life, Things like chafing and blisters and sweat and odor happen in all walks of life, especially athletes. So 2Toms was a product line that I was passionate about from the very beginning and still am passionate about. We just get so many stories every week from people who have experienced the products, and it’s really made a difference in their life. That’s what we really live for, we live to hear those type of stories and experiences from people.
Jeff: You guys talk about helping keep people moving, and you’re passionate about that. Well, one of our core values in TriDot is we are passionate about helping people improve and succeed, on and off the field. I think all of this lines up very well together. I love that kind of philosophy you guys stand by.
Andrew: I remember our very first call with Craig and Mariana, your marketing director. We were talking about the product line, the different things you guys offer, and just exploring if this is a good fit for a partnership. Matt Bach, who was on the call with me, opened up your website and saw that you carry Tuli’s – he had been a longtime user of Tuli’s – and was very excited to see that product line there. Dr. BJ Leeper, who our audience is very familiar with – he comes on the show, he’s our in‑house expert on physical therapy – he’s a huge believer in the Addaday recovery products, foam rolling products, a lot of different things there. He was very excited to see this partnership happen, because he believes in that entire product line. So Craig, it’s been very cool to know that we were going to be able to have you come on the show as our subject area expert on how these products work, how they’re designed, and how we’re supposed to use them. So I want to hear from both of you: in your own athletic endeavors over the years, have you ever had some form of skin irritation affect your performance? Craig, let’s hear it.
Craig: Absolutely. I think if you haven’t and you’re a serious athlete, or even a semi-serious athlete, you should feel pretty blessed. Because it’s ones of those things that you don’t really think about until it happens, and when it happens, it lights a fire and you don’t forget it.
Andrew: It shuts you down! Just the smallest hot spot in the wrong spot can shut you down.
Craig: Yeah, it’s like the thorn in a lion’s paw, it totally disables him. Same thing with a person’s skin. It’s all you can think about.
Andrew: Absolutely. I know for me, like most cyclists, there’s the saddle sores and trying to keep those at bay. I don’t get a ton of blisters thankfully. The one that gets me, and it’s so weird, is the chafed nipples from running. I’ll just break the ice and be the first person to say “nipples” on this episode. There are certain days you expect, “Okay I’ve got a long run today, I’ve got to get in a 1:20 run. It’s chilly outside, it’s windy, I might have some issues.” You expect to have some issues in that part of your body on that kind of a day. But there’s probably two or three times a year where I go for a run on a day where weather-wise I am not expecting to have nipple issues, and halfway through the run I’m like, “Why are my nipples starting to feel a little sensitive?This is really weird, I wasn’t expecting that today.” That one always catches me off guard, and all of a sudden you’ve got sore nipples for two or three days on a day you didn’t expect. It probably happens to me two or three times a year. Jeff, what about you? What is your story of a time that you had some sort of skin irritation flare up?
Jeff: Gosh, I’ve seen it all. I’ve made the mistake of no sunscreen before a race and been destroyed by sunburns, unfortunately. Also we all have maybe made that rookie mistake of not closing the Velcro properly on the wetsuit and having those horrible neck hickeys, the wetsuit hickeys, right?
Andrew: Right! Jeff, I like that you mentioned the wetsuit hickeys, because the very first open-water race I did, I bought an entry-level wetsuit. I went out and did it, and I had that wetsuit hickey my very first time swimming in a wetsuit, and I just thought that was part of being a triathlete. I just thought that was something that happens whenever you have to do a race in a wetsuit. I didn’t know you could prevent that. I’ve since learned, obviously, you do the clasp right on the Velcro, but then you also use your 2Toms towelette and rub it on the back of your neck, and even if you don’t nail the way the Velcro is supposed to be snapped, that is just enough to keep that friction at bay and keep that spot healthy. So Jeff, for you as a coach, as you coach your athletes day-in and day-out, I know there are a lot of conversations that you have where you teach them how to do their wetsuit correctly and how to apply their 2Toms to those correct spots of the body. Does anti-chafing, blister protection, all this skin stuff come up along the way between you and your athletes?
Jeff: Absolutely. I’ve seen it all, I’ve experienced it all. I definitely have my remedies, my prevention so to speak. Really, saddle sores is kind of a big one. Craig, you alluded to one little thing – one little bitty irritant, or one even little bitty blister maybe between the toes or something – like that lion, it can take you out of the whole race. When you’re late into a long-course triathlon or any endeavor, your mind starts playing games with you, and these little negative birdies can come into your mind. You might be having a decent day, but that one little blister really just can ruin the day. Saddle sores are a big one. We don’t want to have to play that mind game in the middle of the race and then ruin that success. But you know what’s really crazy that I’ve seen a lot, we’ve all seen it on social media, when people post pictures of that foot blister or entire heel is ripping off. An athlete will send you a picture or post it on social media, and man, I just get shivers down my spine. Ouch and gross at the same time.
Andrew: Yeah, and those are the extreme example. Craig will talk to us a little about how to prevent blisters and prevent those. The more minor example, Jeff, is you’re talking about saddle sores. If you get a saddle sore in just the right spot early on in an IRONMAN training cycle, you’re miserable the rest of the training cycle. You have to keep training, you have to keep applying pressure to that spot, so the best thing is to try to prevent them in the first place. So Craig, we have a lot of skin. Our whole body, our epidermis, it’s out there. There’s a lot of different ways our body has to move in our training, as we train and race. So biologically, Craig, what actually causes that skin irritation in the first place that leads to these kind of skin problems.
Craig: The three key ingredients are friction, heat, and moisture. When you mix those three ingredients together, you’re bound to have chafing and/or blisters. So if you can take one, two, or even all three of those elements away, you prevent those things from happening in the first place. Prevention is one of those things. People don’t like to invest in prevention until it’s too late, but you get one experience where it ruins a long training day or even a race, you don’t forget it. It’s one of those things that, unfortunately, sometimes we learn a little bit the hard way. But we’re passionate about products that work to prevent those things from happening. We even have some products that help you heal once they do happen, but primarily it’s the prevention game.
Andrew: Knowing there’s three things we’re trying to eliminate, there’s no reason – when it’s so simple as just taking a 2Toms towelette, using SportShield, using the roll-on, whatever form of it you enjoy using – there’s no reason to not take that step of eliminating the friction in the spots where you know you get them. It’s so easy. You're in your pain cave, you’re ready to get on the bike, you mount up on the bike and then it hits you, “Oh man, I didn’t put anything on.” It’s a hassle to get off the bike, unclip, go find your roll-on SportShield, but I always regret it when I don’t take the time to get off the bike and go put it on. For me that’s normally what it is. Most of the time, when I get some sort of skin irritation, it is on the sit bones, and primarily from indoor rides. We actually just did a podcast episode with a bike fitter, and he was explaining to us when you ride indoors, your body is moving with the movement of your legs, but that bike is not moving, so it’s so much easier to get a saddle sore riding on an indoor trainer than it is to go outside. That’s the problem for me. I have to make myself, no matter what, go grab my 2Toms and apply it before an indoor ride. But Craig, for the rest of the endurance sports population, what are the other common problem spots for people to have skin issues?
Craig: You guys mentioned the swim hickey, the nipples, the chest, a lot of times around the waist, when people especially are wearing different belts and stuff on their runs to carry their nutrition or whatever.
Andrew: Yeah, good point.
Craig: In between the thighs is a big one. In the “sensitive areas” we’ll call them in between the legs definitely. Then of course different hot spots on the foot, the heel, and sometimes bunions or even balls of the feet. If you really think about it, it’s wherever you’re creating that friction or have the potential to create that friction. Sometimes you can be wearing the same clothes you normally wear, but the environment’s just different. Let’s say you have more moisture and the temperature changes, it changes the dynamics. So you’ve always got to be prepared. And you mentioned something that’s really important. It’s really not just the formula of our products that I think is special, it’s the delivery of our products. One of the things that we pride ourselves on, we are the only blister and chafing and odor-prevention products that come in individual packages that you can carry with you anywhere you go. I always have ButtShield on my bike. They don’t weigh anything, they don’t take up any space. When I go on long runs, I’m always carrying a SportShield with me. I always have a BlisterShield packet with me. They’re great to travel with. So we’re a product that we feel not only works better, lasts longer, but is always available, and I think that’s really important. It’s kind of like a little insurance package.
Andrew: I like that you bring it up specifically about the towelettes. Because you do have a roll-on version, you have a couple different versions to suit folks’ preferences, but the towelettes are amazing. Because one, you open one up and you can wipe it on every part of your body where you want to apply it. You don’t just apply it in one spot and then move on, it’s got a significant amount of the lubrication on there. But two, they are so easy to travel with. At the time we’re recording this podcast, my wife and I just vacationed in Banff National Park in Canada. We did a lot of hiking while we were up there. I haven’t hiked in years. So before that trip, I bought both of us a new pair of Solomon hiking shoes, and new hiking shoes usually take a little time to break in. So guess what was the savior of my ankles and my heels that entire trip? My 2Toms towelettes! Because I could toss them in our backpack, they weighed next to nothing, and once or twice a hike we could apply it at the beginning, apply it if I felt some hotspots coming on. And we came home from that trip with totally happy feet, even though we were using brand-new hiking shoes that entire trip. So hats off to you and the team, Craig, because they are fantastic. I did have one TriDot athlete ask me about the price point, which is a little bit higher per product. But the way I view it is, I am a user of daily contacts as opposed to the contacts you wear in your eyes for two weeks and then throw them away and start with a new pair. Because I like the convenience of being able to travel with the individual ones, throw the packaging away, and have a fresh pair of contacts every single day, and I’m willing to pay a little more for that convenience. With the 2Toms towelettes it’s the same thing. You are paying for the convenience of tossing a few in your bag, having them exactly when you need them, and being able to apply that towelette to all the right places when you need it. So that’s my positive rant about the towelette there, my favorite 2Toms product, the SportShield towelettes. Jeff Raines, kicking over to you, I’m curious to hear: Craig mentioned a lot of the common problem spots that he’s seen in the industry. Coaching your athletes, TriDot athletes specifically, what are the problems when they are, “Coach Jeff, I’ve got to cut a workout short because my such-and-such is irritated!” What are those problem spots that you see in your athletes?
Jeff: Another one really is blisters. And I just wanted to throw out, and I say this to my athletes, cotton socks are a no-no for running. Cotton absorbs more heat, more friction, it stretches out and stays stretched out, and then that heat and friction causes blisters. So go for more of a synthetic blend, something with Lycra that’s going to stay wrapped around your foot but also wick out that sweat. Now you don’t want to just dowse your foot in 2Toms or Vaseline, because you don’t want to slide around in your shoe. But get a 2Toms towelette and maybe just rub it in between your toes or on the end of your toes, even real quick off the bike or out of the water before you get on the bike or in T2 when you start that run.
Andrew: Craig, working with different clients with 2Toms, do you find that skin irritation susceptibility is pretty consistent across all peoples, or are some folks more prone to chafing and blisters than other folks?
Craig: I don’t have a scientific answer to this, but I can tell you it just seems like some people are more prone than others. I think generally people that sweat more, people that are in hotter environments tend to chafe more. It kind of depends on the person, but we’ve had people of all walks of life experience our products in a positive way. This is one of my favorite stories: I was talking to an owner of a running store up in Michigan. He was telling me this lady came in one day asking about anti-chafing products for her brother. And he’s like, “This is the product that I recommend, and this is what I think you should get him to try.” And she says, “Well, he’s overweight, and trying to get up to walking more.” So she took it, and then she came back and bought six more bottles, and told him that her brother, who was severely overweight and trying to get healthy, trying to walk to lose the weight, his biggest inhibitor was the chafing that was caused by him being overweight. This product, the SportShield, was the one thing that worked for him and allowed him to get on the path to a healthier lifestyle. So she was coming in to buy six more bottles. Eventually I think he met this guy, and he just talked about what a difference that made in his walk.
Andrew: Yeah, no kidding!
Craig: Again, that’s not a world-class super triathlete, that’s not an endurance runner, ultra-marathoner or anything like that, that’s just a common, everyday person. It just depends. Going back to your question, it really does depend on the individual and the environment, but we see it in people of all walks of life. You just never know. You may not be susceptible now, but in the wrong circumstance, or the wrong new piece of clothing or shoes, the environment happens. I got an email just this week from a lady who was out hiking. She got done with her hike and she didn’t realize how wet her shoes were, and when she took her shoes off her socks had gotten wet. But she had had BlisterShield on, and she said it was remarkable that, “My shoes were wet, my socks were wet, my feet were dry because of BlisterShield.” Again, you just never know when you're going to need this stuff.
Andrew: That’s incredible. It’s amazing when a product does what it’s supposed to do, and we get so excited about it, right?
Craig: It does take some forethought, but you can always be prepared with the packets. An ounce of prevention is worth a lot for us.
Andrew: Yeah. When I go back to my personal classic example of the case of saddle sores on my sit bones – which could be the title of a triathlon-themed country song by the way – it seems like it’s mostly just friction between my body and the saddle that goes on to cause the sore. Craig, you mentioned conditions. Jeff, you were talking about salt and salt water potentially playing a factor. Is it really just a friction game, or are there more things that we can try to prevent to keep ourselves happy?
Craig: Well, sweat. You keep your skin hydrated. Hydration is obviously important, you want to stay hydrated and keep your skin healthy, but sweat is a key ingredient. The nice thing about our BlisterShield, SportShield, ButtShield, those products are sweat-proof. They’re waterproof. So they will stand the test of time. You talk about saddle sores, this is one of my favorite stories I tell often: I did the “Hotter Than Hell” ride, I’m sure you guys have heard about it.
Andrew: Every Texas cyclist is at least aware of Hotter Than Hell if they haven’t done it themselves. It’s a hundred-mile ride in August, in Texas. It is literally hotter than hell.
Jeff: I literally signed up for this year’s, this week. The irony, yeah.
Craig: I’ve done it twice, and the first time I did it I wore our ButtShield, I applied it right before the race. I rode the race, did it in five hours, which I actually was pretty proud of, I learned the value of pelotons in that race really well. Then I got in the car and drove two hours home, and I got in the shower and I still had to wash off my ButtShield. That tells you the power of that product. Again, you can hear me talk about it, but I challenge people to experience it. Put it to the test. Because we’ve got story after story of people biking, running 100, 150 miles, and the product was still on when you get done.
Andrew: Jeff, we can joke on a podcast about a marathoner getting chafed nipples, or a cyclist waddling after a ride because of saddle sores. And sure, sometimes those minor skin problems can be just a little bit funny, depending on where they’re at and how bad it is. There was an episode of the Office that is a testament to that. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. But the truth, Jeff, is that we can have a whole training cycle – or even worse, a whole race day – ruined by a bad blister, or a saddle sore in the wrong spot at the wrong time. These are things that can even require medical attention sometimes, and I think we’ve had a couple posts to the I AM TriDot Facebook group recently with some folks who had some really bad heel blisters mid‑race. Jeff, what should we do in your training if we didn’t apply our 2Toms beforehand and we feel a skin issue coming on strong?
Jeff: Yeah, definitely keep sunscreen and your 2Toms towelette in your bento box. It’s a tiny little bitty sheath, kind of like a hand-sanitizing towelette you’ll get on an airplane. They’re super tiny, they can fit in any race belt. I think we as triathletes – especially long course, IRONMAN race day – we might put it in personal needs, the halfway on the bike and halfway on the run. Some people put a tiny thing of Vaseline or whatever in personal needs. But I would take it a step further than that. Let’s keep those towelettes in your bento box. Put them in your back pocket. There’s so many pockets on our kits and stuff that we don’t even use, just slipping two or three of those in your back pocket isn’t going to affect your race, it’s not going to affect your swim. They’re so small but yet effective. So I would actually – this might be our answer right here – why don’t we permanently just keep a few of those in our flat tire kit? They don’t take up any more room in that bag, bottle, or however you’re storing that. They’re always on your bike, and then like you said, if you’re out in the elements and you forget it, it’s there where it doesn’t take up more space. We talk about UCAN being that insurance policy, that slow-burn, always being there on the back-end. Well let’s have an insurance policy of always keeping those 2Toms towelettes in our bento box on our bike, in our tri bags, stuff like that. If you’re in the elements and you don’t have that, obviously you want to try to pull over, maybe dry off a little bit. Some people are saltier sweaters. If there’s a store, a Walgreens or something, maybe you stop and go in and buy something that you can apply, because you don’t want to it to ruin the day. If you’re getting a saddle sore or something like that, maybe you just want to shift around, get off the bike, do some leg swings, shift around your kit. Maybe it’s riding up a few inches and it’s kind of bunching up, so it might be good to get off the bike and take a break anyways. So if you’re feeling something come on, don’t just push through it. Definitely try to find a way to alleviate a more potential issue. I love what we were talking about earlier, it’s not just a symptom that we’re trying to cure, it’s a prevention. We want to prevent it from happening in the first place. It’s as simple as having a spare, dry pair of socks, more lube ready for the run off. Why don’t we just throw some of these towelettes in our bike stand next to our bike indoors? Put them in our bento box. Go to the Medi-Dyne website now and get you 20, 30, 40 of those towelettes and strategically put them in the glove box of your car and all these places. Do it one day, and you’re set for the whole season. We don’t have to worry about it, it’s that insurance policy.
Andrew: I do want to say, because Jeff and I keep going on and on about the towelettes: Craig did not ask us to promote and plug the towelettes a bunch in this episode. Craig came on just to educate us on skin care. Jeff and I are just that passionate about using the towelettes because they really are good. What I often do on those indoor rides that are over 90 minutes or over two hours, when you start getting into those longer rides where you’re prepping for a half-IRONMAN or an IRONMAN, I’ll get off at the 90‑minute mark and I will put on a dry pair of tri shorts. I will reapply some 2Toms, and then I will get back on the bike and keep going, because I’ve learned I will regret it if I don’t keep my skin happy throughout that long session. It’s worth interrupting your flow for just two minutes to get off the bike and reapply.
Jeff: I do feel like I’m leaning towards the towelette. That’s been a game-changer for me. There’s so many great products. I’ve had the deodorant sticks, and they dry out. Who wants to carry that on the bike? Or the cannister that you’re spraying, they’re big bottles. Even a bottle of Vaseline. These towelettes are just so convenient. For me, that was the game-changer.
Craig: You mention drying out – our product does not dry out. It doesn’t melt in the sun. It just stays the same under all those conditions, and it goes on nice and smooth and provides a nice, even layer. It doesn’t clump up, it doesn’t burn off with the friction and sweat. It just works. That’s the number one thing that we mandate for every product that we sell. We have to know it works. We put it through a lot of testing. We have medical professionals that design products for us and test it, and then athletes and so forth, but the number one thing is we have to know our products work. There’s three ingredients, and that’s number one. Number two, it has to be easy to use. If it's hard for people to use, if it’s inconvenient and everything else, they won’t use it. Hence the towelettes you guys are talking about. And even the roll-on application just makes it easier, especially if you’ve got any hair on your body, it’s not a problem with the roll-on. So you’ve got to know it works, it’s got to be easy to use, and it's got to be affordable. If it’s not affordable, people can’t afford it, they can’t use it. We mandate that every product we sell incorporates those three ingredients.
Andrew: I use the roll-on pretty regularly as well. I actually, years ago, tried a roll-on from a different brand, and as a guy with leg hair, it pulled my leg hair pretty bad, and yours does not do that in the slightest. Craig, something that I’m curious about, because there’s a lot of brands and different products out there – Jeff, you mentioned you used a deodorant stick before, we talked about the towelettes, roll-ons – a lot of people just like the old‑school, classic chamois cream where you scoop your fingers in and manually apply it to your downstairs. I could never really get behind that mentally myself, but some people like that, those euro-style creams. So I’m just curious, Craig, from a product development standpoint, when you go into developing a product, what considerations had to go into the final product, and what does it take for a skin-care product to take care of us?
Craig: Again, it’s the right formula, and the right application. That’s really important. It’s funny, because a lot of people ask, what does 2Toms mean? The number 2 in Toms.
Andrew: Great question!
Craig: 2Toms is actually two guys named Tom. One of them was an actual MIT scientist, that’s what he was. He and the other Tom, who is a businessman, were avid hiking partners. They hiked together up in New Hampshire all the time, and they constantly were experiencing blisters. Like you were talking about, buying new shoes you generally get blisters, or the conditions worsen, whatever. They tried a variety of different things, and could never find anything that worked. So the scientist went about developing a product that really worked. He experimented with a lot of different materials until he came up with the formula that we currently have today to keep blisters from happening. Because it takes away the friction, it repels moisture, and if you get the rid of the moisture and the friction and you get rid of the heat, you don’t get blisters. There’s a video on our website, but I encourage people to try this for themselves, it really helps demonstrate the effectiveness of the product. If you take the BlisterShield and you rub a little bit onto your hand, just spread it around, then take some water and pour a little bit on your hand, watch it just wiggle around on your hand. You dump it off, and it didn’t change the material at all. It’s still performing, because it wicks away moisture, it repels moisture. Then it’s got a little bit of slickness to it, so it gets rid of any friction. And it stays there. I’ve worn it for marathons, and you get done and then I gotta wash off my feet. It just stays there until you wash it off. But that’s the two Toms, the scientist who developed it, and the other Tom, the businessman who marketed it. Then they started adding products to the product line as they recognized other needs like chafing, sweat, odor, and developed the whole line of products. You had a scientist that really dives in to the chemistry of things, and you really get the best formula, then you figure how to deliver it the best way. You get the best combination, and ultimately we feel the best product.
Jeff: I don’t want to give away your secret sauce, and we can edit this later if we need to, but what is it about your formula that’s different from everyone else? Is it a blend of things, is it a petroleum-based hydrophobic, is it silicone-based? I mean, you don’t have to tell your secret formula, but what kind substance is it, that main thing that sets you guys apart, or that keeps it applied for longer without wearing off?
Craig: It’s kind of like what you’ve seen out in the marketplace now with food. What people have realized is that good, fresh, quality ingredients make for good quality food. It’s no different than our products. There’s other products that have similar ingredients and so forth. Baby powder is like our BlisterShield. It’s like it, but it’s not the same thing. It really comes down to the type and the quality of the ingredients that we put in there. The pandemic created some supply challenges for us, and sorry to say, one batch of products – we got a substitute material because we couldn’t get the normal material that we had specked out, we thought it was good and it wasn’t – we ended up having to throw the whole batch away. It cost us a lot of money. But an important part of this is not only finding the right materials, but the right quality of materials, and then not compromising. I think that’s a big part of that. And again, it’s the delivery of things. You go to Starbucks and you get a cup with a special lid that that delivers that coffee in a unique way. That’s not an accident, the way they’ve done that is important. It works, and it’s one of the experiences about that. There’s many other examples like that, but it’s just what came to mind. It’s the quality of the product, quality of the delivery, and not compromising that make it a special product.
Andrew: Another one of our amazing TriDot partners is Precision Fuel & Hydration. They specialize in hydration and carbohydrate products. As I was talking to Andy Blow, who is their founder – he’s been on the podcast a couple times now – he was telling me a story about how the competitive sheep-shearing community all started using their electrolyte products. Basically, there are a few sheep shearers – incredible story – who keep trying to one‑up each other to see who can shear the most sheep in something like an eight- or ten‑hour period or something like that. These sheep shearers found out that Precision Fuel & Hydration products are the best way for them to stay hydrated and fueled through that effort. So now that company has this cult-like following specifically from the competitive sheep-shearing community. Craig, have you found along the way any, shall we say, “unexpected” populations that are using 2Toms products? Because I know it’s more than just athletes.
Craig: I don’t get surprised in life much anymore. But we got surprised about a year and a half ago when we started getting all these inquiries, first domestically and then overseas, from pole fitness people. I’m like, “What is pole fitness?” It is a thing! There are studios all over the world.
Andrew: It’s trending!
Craig: It is, it’s a trending thing, and it’s actually really popular, especially overseas. Now that’s one of our best markets for our GripShield product, because they’re gripping on this pole, and you don’t want it too tacky, you don’t want it too slick. You want it just right. We worked really hard to get that formula right with our GripShield. And again, the ingredients in there are really important. We’ve used the wrong this-or-that and it totally messes up a batch, and we throw it away because we don’t want to compromise it. The ingredients, how it’s made, and how it’s dispensed is really important to that product, but it just works. If you can imagine, you couldn’t ask for a more challenging surface that you’re gripping on a steel pole, and putting as much pressure on it as you possibly can, all your body weight on. If our product can work there, it’ll work anywhere, and it does. That’s the answer to your question, that was one of those things. When I think pole fitness I don’t necessarily get the G‑rated images coming to mind, but it is a G‑rated thing, it’s actually really challenging, healthy, and a lot of times almost a very artistic activity. I enjoy watching it, because these people are serious athletes.
Andrew: Absolutely, the core strength and the muscle stability they have is unreal. It makes me wonder, Craig, because here you are invited to come on a triathlon podcast to talk about skin care for triathletes because of your expertise in your products. Have you been invited to a pole fitness podcast to talk about GripShield?
Craig: I have not. We did go to a pole fitness show. I didn’t personally go, but it is a worldwide industry.
Jeff: I got a question for you, speaking of gripping poles, gripping gaming remotes. I will, on a long outdoor ride, wear biking gloves in order to grip my drop-downs or even my aerobars better. Is it worth us testing out GripShield maybe halfway through a ride, or personal needs on the bike, or maybe T1 in a tri? Should we apply a little bit on our hands to grip? When we start sweating we might slip off those drop-downs, maybe we don’t apply the brakes as well, and ultimately could end up in a wreck. Do you recommend triathletes use the anti-chafing as a preventative before these endeavors? During the endeavor we talked about reapplying, maybe try to get rid of some salty sweat, try to dry out before we reapply. But GripShield, is that worth us trying out mid‑ride or outdoor?
Craig: I absolutely recommend it. It instantly dries your hands and it keeps your hands dry. Then there’s a little bit of an element of enhanced grip, especially with gloves. You get out on a long ride and it’s hot out, you start sweating through those gloves, and then it starts getting a little bit slick even inside the glove. Why bother, when you can keep your hands dry, why wouldn’t you do that?
Jeff: What about before a race, putting GripShield on our aerobars and drop‑downs before the race even starts? When the bike’s hanging in transition race morning, should we apply GripShield to the actual bars, or not?
Craig: It’s made to work on the skin, so it wouldn’t work on the bars.
Andrew: Jeff is trying so hard to think of every possible way he can use 2Toms product. It’s almost like he’s auditioning to be the third Tom.
Craig: I’m going to dovetail off of that. What I do recommend is BlisterShield.So in transition, what you do is you sprinkle it in your shoes if you don’t wear socks, or you sprinkle it in your socks. Shake up your sock before the race starts, and all you have to do is slip it on, and it’s already on, and it instantly goes to your feet, and you’re ready to go. I always recommend that. You can do the same thing with your tri shorts: you can put it on before you swim, and this can stay on during your swim, bike, and run. Then if by chance you miss a spot, you got your wipe. All of those things, the BlisterShield, SportShield, ButtShield, I definitely recommend applications before the race.
Andrew: I love, Craig, those next-level insider tips right there, because you as an athlete have used all these products yourself. Earlier I shared the story of us taking 2Toms samples to our TriDot Ambassador camp, and the feedback like I said was just great. The samples were gone real quick. But Craig, what was really funny to me in the moment was I was telling all of our TriDot ambassadors about the 2Toms product line, and showing some of the products that we had that they could take samples of. There was an audible gasp in the room when I mentioned that 2Toms has a sports apparel detergent. Everyone was just pumped to try that product out. I know keeping our apparel clean can help our skin. I gave some examples of when I would change clothes during a workout because those clean, dry clothes just help my skin stay happy. Tell us about the StinkFree sports detergent and what makes that product so special, because people were pumped to try that out.
Craig: Again, going back to the MIT scientist. Normal detergents are made to work with traditional fabrics like cotton, they’re made to work with that type of material. When you use the tech materials like we use for working out, it actually starts to work in the reverse. It starts to actually clog those materials up, and residue starts to build up in those materials with traditional detergents and fabric softeners and all that stuff. 2Toms StinkFree detergent was made to work specifically with tech-type materials. It takes those materials and cleans them, and it’s unique in that you don’t even need agitation for it to work. It’s great for not just clothes. You can use it in any kind of washer, HE or otherwise, but you can also use it in a five-gallon bucket or a tub, or even in the sink when you're traveling. All you have to do is mix it up in the water really good, soak your clothes and/or your equipment, your shoes or whatever, and it’ll actually work in pulling that debris out of those tech materials. You will see the water turn a different color as it pulls all that stuff out, it’s actually kind of eerie. Then you just rinse them out and they’re ready to go. It’s a formula that actually is designed to work in those types of materials. That’s the short, scientific answer. Again, the ingredients in there are unique in that they work in a special way. The true test of that is my wife. She has a bionic nose. If I walk in during the day and I ate Mexican food somewhere, she can smell it across the room, “Where did you eat?” For her, sports bras and yoga pants tend to be a big problem for her. She’s tried everything with her yoga bras, getting that mildew-type smell she calls it out of them. And I said, “Just try this once. Just once.” “Okay, okay.” She couldn’t believe it, it worked. We sell a lot of that product to that industry in particular, just because those materials and those products tend to smell, especially for a sensitive nose. You don’t have to throw them away and buy new ones, you can actually get rid of the smell and continue using it. Smell’s a different sort of pain for people. No one likes the smell. No one likes to smell bad smells, it’s got its own kind of pain factor. But the StinkFree sports detergent really works. Of course we’ve got the sister product to it, the StinkFree spray, which is great for shoes and gloves in getting rid of that smell. I’ve got another story about that, but I won’t bore you with it right now. But those two products just work. They don’t mask the smell, they don’t put fragrance over the smell, they get rid of what’s causing the smell.
Andrew: What excites me the most about it, Craig, because I’m the opposite of your wife. My wife is like your wife, she can smell anything a mile away. I just don’t really pick up on smells at all. If a smell is pointed out to me, like if someone’s like, “Oh, it smells like barbecue in here!” I’ll be like, “Oh yeah, it does!” But I just don’t think about smells on my own. So what excited me about the detergent, since it doesn’t take agitation, is you can clean your tri kits, your nice cycling jerseys, your running hats that could get ruined in a washer and dryer cycle by getting tumbled around. You can prolong the life of all of those things by washing them with this instead of sending them through the washer and dryer. Even having your nice cycling jerseys or your nice race kits, I cringe. I try not to wear my nice TriDot race kit very often, because when I train in it, now I’ve got to wash it, and the more I wash it in the washer, the less long it’s going to last me. I’ve got to replace it because those fabrics will wear out in the washer and dryer. So I just like that now my precious tri gear, that I’m hesitant to put in the washer and dryer because I’m trying to hang on to the life of that material, I don’t have to worry about it anymore. I can just put it in the sink with some of the detergent and boom, it’s clean, without sending it through two tumble cycles in a washer and dryer.
Craig: We get these little one-ounce packets – again, the detergent comes in individual packets you can travel with. If you’re traveling, you don’t want to pack a bunch of clothes. All you gotta do is soak your clothes in the sink or in the tub for 20, 30 minutes in the StinkFree, rinse them out real good, hang them to air dry, and they’re ready to go the next day.
Andrew: Craig, the last question I wanted to ask you here in our main set about skin care and taking care of our skin: we’ve referenced a couple times ButtShield, BlisterShield, SportShield, the StinkFree spray. There’s a bunch of different products here and on the website. In my training so far I’ve been using the StinkFree spray, and the roll-on and towelette SportShields. But whenever I go to the website – because we have that 20% off coupon code – I look at, “Ooh, what else is on here?” Now I’m kind of intrigued by GripShield and BlisterShield, we’ve talked about those. But between all those products, there’s SportShield that is supposed to shield me from sports. There’s Chafe Defender, and I’m trying to defend from chafes because I’m a cyclist. There’s ButtShield, and that feels like I should be using that as a cyclist. What is the difference between each of these products, and which ones as triathletes should we be using?
Jeff: I was going to ask, too, can we use FootShield on our hands? Can we put ButtShield on our necks –
Andrew: Or on our face!
Jeff: – yeah, what’s the difference in those?
Craig: The GripShield’s meant for your hands, and we have a product called FootShield for the feet. It’s just slightly a little different formula, but the base is the same. Again, we want to make them perfect for each body part. So if you were trying to keep the hands dry, I’d recommend the GripShield, and if you’re trying to keep your feet dry, you can use the FootShield. You can actually use the FootShield, apply that let it dry, then have the BlisterShield, now you’ve got double protection against sweat. Those products are meant to prevent sweat. The SportShield is our all-purpose chafing protection product. You can also use it for preventing blisters and hot spots on the feet. I wouldn’t recommend coating your whole foot with it, because you will slip a little bit. If you have hotspots in the back of your heel, or I tend to get calluses on my big toe, so what I do before a run in the morning is I rub the SportShield on top of those calluses, and then it keeps them from hurting and even growing. So it’s kind of the all‑purpose product. The ButtShield has the same ingredients as the SportShield, plus it has four extra ingredients: it’s got some green tea extract, horsetail extract, calendula, and I’m missing one. But two of those ingredients are to help moisturize and keep the skin healthy, and the other two are natural antimicrobials. So for those sensitive areas where it would be good to have those types of things, that product was developed and has unique application to those areas. Could you use the ButtShield on your neck? Yes. It’s got a little different consistency than the SportShield because it’s got those four extra ingredients in it. They all have the Vitamin E and the aloe and the main ingredient, but those four extra ingredients just make it a tiny bit thicker, they add value. Some people like to use the ButtShield strictly for the groin area, and some people use the SportShield for all over. Some people use the product all over either way. It’ll work. Sometimes it’s just a personal preference, but they were developed for those reasons. The BlisterShield you can use on your feet, you can also use it on your hands if you’re in gardening and that kind of stuff where you’re wearing gloves. It’s great for putting inside your gloves to prevent blisters. Then of course the StinkFree spray we recommend a lot for the shoes and maybe gloves, but mainly people use that for the shoes because that’s a very toxic area for smell. StinkFree detergent obviously you can use on anything that you can fit in a tub. Each one’s got it’s application, but you can use it in different areas and it’s still going to provide benefit.
Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.
Andrew: As a marathoner, Craig not only knows quite a bit about keeping athletes moving, but he also knows how to compete in endurance sports himself. Craig, we cannot let you go today without hearing just a little bit about your own multisport endeavors. So for our cooldown today, could you share with us your favorite race experience so far, and one race-day lesson you learned along the way?
Craig: My favorite race experience was my first marathon. My wife and I decided to train and run the race together, so we did it side-by-side. We did the training side-by-side, and we did the actual race side-by-side. It was the Oklahoma City marathon, and it was our first one. That’s pretty special that I did it with my wife. She was one-and-done, but I caught the bug, and that led me on the endeavor to run other marathons and do the half-IRONMAN, half-marathons and 5Ks. I still run, and I love it. That was my favorite experience though. And Oklahoma City, you start right there by the memorial, downtown is really nice, it was a nice course, it was just a really great experience. My biggest lesson – we’ve talked about it, but when you’re in the middle of a race, or even on a long ride before, and you get that chafe in your groin area, then every push of the pedal is painful. It only takes one time for that to happen before you say, “I’m never going to allow that to happen again.” Another one, when I was training for the tri, I got the swim hickeys. Well we know what it is, but other people don’t necessarily know of it either. If you walk around with an open-collar shirt, you almost got to wear a little sign to say, “This is not a hickey.”
Andrew: You said you have five marathons under your belt, some half-marathons and other run races, and you have the one triathlon, the 70.3. Which one was it, and what did you think about tri compared to just doing a running-specific race?
Craig: It was 70.3 Austin. Boy, the run in that was pretty hilly, that was tough. To me, marathons are tough. Those triathlons are tough, but I love the three different elements, the swim, bike, and run. I just love the diversity in all three of those, the challenge. It was a great experience but boy, it was hard. I have a whole new level of respect, just to have three times more of the challenges.
Andrew: That’s it for today folks! I want to thank Craig DiGiovanni from 2Toms, and TriDot coach Jeff Raines for helping us defeat blisters and chafing. After using 2Toms SportShield just a few times, it was a no‑brainer for me to just fully switch my entire closet of products to 2Toms. As you heard today, they just provide revolutionary products to prevent issues from chafing, blisters, odors, and sweat. To pick up some 2Toms for yourself, head to Medi-Dyne.com and use the code TRIDOT to save 20% on your entire order. Enjoying the podcast? Have any triathlon questions or topics that you want to hear us talk about? Head to TriDot.com/podcast to let us know what you’re thinking. We’ll do it all again soon. Until then, happy training!
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