It's one of the many reasons why I'm so particular about the skin care products I use and why I trust Brave Soldier skin care. Protecting my skin from damage is even more important because any damage that I may experience could trigger a psoriasis outbreak. Not to mention most skin care products (shampoo, body wash, anything really) can cause irritation as well. 

But I found something that has finally helped cure my lesions (or at least send them into remission). It's ultraviolet phototherapy. I've been using an at-home phototherapy wand for the past few weeks and it's been very effective at making my lesions completely disappear in places where I've had them for several years. 

Even though I've been using the phototherapy wand responsibly and as directed, the wand does the following to the areas of my skin I treat; it makes the lesions blister, the blisters heal, the psoriasis blister is gone after it heals. 

It's relatively painful as I get through the blistering phase into healing, but the ends justify the means considering I've been self conscious about some of these spots for a long time now. 

But now for the part that I'm truly embarrassed about. I also have some lesions on my genitals. 

CLEARLY I can't provide photos of that nonsense on this blog (or in general), but suffice it to say, the blistering portion of this process has NOT been very fun. My nether region has some very painful and unfortunate blisters that I know will heal eventually into unaffected skin. 

So why am I telling you all this? Because one of the products that I have been swearing by (ESPECIALLY now) to not only numb the pain of the blistering and to speed up the healing process has been Antiseptic Healing Ointment. It's been a true godsend and I have been slathering my crotch in this product to resume some sense of normalcy or wearing appropriate attire (working from home for the win!) as well as pain-free running in compression shorts. 

Of course I can. We at Brave Soldier care about proper skin care AND endurance athletics. So you can imagine my frustration as someone who religiously uses Brave Soldier products experienced one of the most dreaded skin afflictions to endurance runners; chapped and chafing nipples. 

Stuff happens. Sometimes we can forget to apply Friction Zone to prevent chafing and blisters. Sometimes we can forget to apply Lip Defender to lock in our lips' moisture and protect us from the sun's UVA/UVB radiation with SPF 15 protection. Sometimes you're just REALLY in a time crunch and opt to skip it. 

Lo and behold, today on my prescribed 67 min endurance run from my coach, I woke myself up early and made my way to the gym to log this run on a treadmill (gag) because our running trails are still covered in snow and ice. I just threw on an older t-shirt to run in and managed to find a treadmill under a large ceiling fan. 

Thirty minutes into my run, chapped/chafing nipples and immediate regrets. I felt so foolish. Not because I was experiencing chapped nipples (I think every runner has encountered this at least once in their life), but because it was COMPLETELY avoidable. So as I was pulling my shirt off my chest to afford my nipples brief moments of relief during the remaining 37 minutes of agony, I longed for the soothing comfort of Antiseptic Healing Ointment. 

Thank goodness I keep a tube in my gym bag and I could immediately apply it as soon as I concluded my training run. And thank goodness for the lidocaine which immediately numbed the burning/stinging sensation and kickstarted the healing process. 

And I think that's the moral of this story. Stuff happens. But when stuff *does* happen, our skin care products will be there to help you mend faster and get on to the next day's training. 

I’ve been using Brave Soldier since about June and it’s the only antiseptic ointment I ever want to use!! I do a lot of trail running (and falling) and have gotten some gnarly road rash and cuts in the process. Using Brave Soldier Antiseptic Healing Ointment healed them all up in double time so I can get back to what I love doing, sprinting down mountains! Thank you for having such incredible products that truly speak for themselves! I am a forever user!

-Kristina Halvorsen

@kae25____

Thanks again for submitting your testimonial, Kristina! And thank you for trusting us with your skin!

It was a terrible, avoidable mistake. Running in cold temperatures without proper protection results in chapped lips. It's because the skin on your lips is thinner than the skin on other parts of your body. So when you're running outside, your lips are getting assaulted by cold, dry air while still being exposed to the wind and sun. This is a recipe for chapped lips. 

Applying a thin layer of Lip Defender protects your lips from the elements in the winter months, while also locking in your lips' natural moisture with siliconized bees wax and SPF protection. 

And if you do forget to apply Lip Defender before your run, just warm the tube of Lip Defender up in your hand BEFORE you try to apply. Applying frozen Lip Defender on cold, chapped lips is a challenging (and mildly painful) task. 

Happy running this winter! 

Let's start off by saying that we have no clinical research that proves AHO helps treat or prevent eczema, but we do have anecdotal evidence from customers. We know that lots of products on the market claim to treat or prevent skin conditions and are unsuccessful in doing so. We also know that individuals with skin conditions have a tendency to spend lots of money on products in the hope that a new product will be the silver bullet for what ails them.

We're being responsible in our claims so we don't mislead individuals to give them false hope. 

AHO is specifically formulated with ingredients that combat and heal dry skin. Eczema is a skin condition where patches of skin become inflamed, itchy, cracked, and rough. AHO also soothes skin using a combination of jojoba seed and soybean oil (to moisturize and heal) as well as aloe leaf extract, vitamin C, and other natural ingredients which helps hydrate and protect skin. Not to mention lidocaine which is effective at relieving symptoms of burning and itching associated with eczema. So when you look at the symptoms of eczema and how Antiseptic Healing Ointment is formulated, it makes perfect sense to us that this product would be effective in treating this skin condition. 

If you use AHO for eczema, send us a message and let us know your personal experience! We'd love to feature your story here in the blog or on our Instagram!  

What made you want to tackle the Everesting record? 

Well honestly, I didn't really come up with the idea to do it until right before. I had seen two of my teammates do it earlier this summer and I saw how much support from the community on them. So I figured it would be cool to give it a go since I am always down for that type 2 fun!

How did you decide on the specific course you did? It was in Wintergreen, VA, correct? If it's the road I'm thinking of that goes up to the ski resort, that's an impressive feat! 

The first time I did my attempt in Wintergreen, VA. A section of road right next to it that goes up to the Blue ridge parkway. That was the steepest road I could think of at the time. For the second attempt I got a friend's suggestion to go out the harrisonburg VA to a road called tannersridge that also lead up to the parkway. It ended up being 15.5% for almost a mile!!!

You attempted for the world record twice, falling short of the world record once (still setting the US record) and nailing it a second time a short while thereafter. What things did you do to recover in the short window you had between attempts? 

Lots of eating! For the first week after I only did easy rides and used our team's Hyperice products religiously to help speed up the process. After that first week though I threw in a few longer tempo rides to keep the engine running and to remind the legs I had to do this thing again.

What kind of preparation did you put into both attempts? Training wise, did you do anything different leading up to your attempts to prepare for the elevation gain or did you rely on your aerobic base building up to that point? 

Well I was kind of unintentionally training for everesting all summer since I didn't know I was going to do the everest until just a few weeks ahead of time. With the lack of racing, I had really just been doing long rides all summer just to try to stay ready incase racing started up again. This was pretty conducive to a 7 hour time trial. But as far as hills, the longest climb I had was maybe 45 seconds long. I probably got more elevation gain in my everesting attempt than I did the entire summer combined. I really just concentrated on staying in my power zones instead. A few weeks out from the first attempt, I did a small training block that consisted of "everest pace" efforts. I would just head out for a 6 hour ride and try to include 3-4 hours at 320 watts which is that high tempo sweetspot zone I was looking to do in everest.

What nutrition did you include in both attempts? What weird items did you have on hand for a mental boost? Did you change anything between the first and second attempt to give you an extra push for the world record? Were you refueling on the descents?

So this was a huge difference each time. The first I made the mistake of trying to eat real food that I would normally eat on a training ride. I brought PBJ's, oreos, fig newtons, gummy bears and poptarts. The effort ended up being too hard to consume and chew that kind of stuff so I ended up underfueling and bonking pretty hard. For the second attempt, I started out with similar stuff like poptarts, cookies, and gummy bears, but I quickly transitioned to gels and gummies. The biggest help was a drink mix I used the whole time. I was really able to keep up on calories thanks to Skratch Labs new drink mix called Superfuel. It has 400 calories per bottle and really helped when I couldn't stomach any food late in the ride. I ended up drinking 7 bottles of that stuff!! I ended up consuming almost 900 grams of sugar which is probably why I want nothing sweet for the few days afterwards!

I had my "feed zone" at the top of the climb where I would take a bottle and a piece of food every lap and chew on the descent so I wasn't huffing and puffing while trying to down a poptart!

Another thing I changed was using sunscreen. I got roasted the first time so I made sure to lather up the second attempt. Luckily we have a great sponsor that gives us all the goods in that department ;)

Did you use a playlist for all that time you were on the bike? Or maybe a good podcast? 

I have never been much of a music or popcast guy on rides. I just like to be with my thoughts and let the mind wander. This ride was actually pretty mentally engaging which is contrary to what you would think going up a climb 52 times would be. The first half I really had to focus on not going too hard and pacing myself. I was always thinking about something really. Whether it was seeing if I was on pace, thinking about what fuel I needed to ask for the next lap, focusing on eating food descending at 60mph, or trying to do mental math of how far ahead/behind I was at each split.

I like to think of the mental strength it takes in terms of the analogy of ready and book. At the start it was the mental effort of reading an interesting novel, then progressing to reading a dictionary and then the final few laps were akin to reading an advanced calculus textbook in french.

Anything else you'd like to add for people reading this blog that maybe I didn't ask?

Overall a humbling experience and I highly advise everyone to do it. If you choose the right climb (not too steep) and gearing( as big as you got!) then it can be a really enjoyable experience. When I get back to do another attempt, I think I will try to concentrate a little more on the bike's weight. I used a stock Cannondale SuperSix evo which is one of the nicest road bikes in the biz. But I didn't do anything to modify it. I think I could pull down my time even more if I shaved a few grams off the bike if and WHEN I do it next!!

Overall Stats from my ride,

Repeats: 53

Calories burned: 9,000

Sugars consumed: 850 grams

Time spent climbing out of the saddle: 5 hours and 17 minutes

Max speed: 62mph

Times peed off the bike @ 60mph: 3

Squirrels almost hit @ 60mph: 5

Also essential? Not getting blisters. 

Too often people who are unfamiliar with hiking long distances have their aspirations cut short by blisters caused by either improperly fitting hiking boots, boot socks that are too thin, or just going to far too soon. 

In these instances, Friction Zone gel will keep your feet happy and won't stain your favorite pair of hiking boots. I mean, a good pair doesn't come cheap, so we understand wanting to protect your investment. You can trust your favorite gear (and your skin) with our products that are formulated by a dermatologist and with the performance athlete in mind! 

In 2003, two friends from Melbourne, Australia discussed how the mustache had disappeared from male fashion trends. That year they got a total of 30 men to take up the challenge of growing mustaches. Realizing what a conversation starter they had stumbled upon, the following year, they elected to once again grow their mustaches but also to create a website to encourage others to do the same and raise money for the Prostate Cancer Society of Australia. In this second year, a total of 480 individuals (called Mo Bros and Mo Sistas) agreed to participate and approximately $41,000 in donations were raised. 

In 2006, #Movember spreads to New Zealand, and the following year, the United States affiliate launched to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation. As of 2019, a total of 6.3 million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas have participated and supported the movement and funded over 1,250 men's projects since inception. 

If you're thinking of participating in #Movember this year, we'd love to see those mustaches! We know the team over at CS Velo Racing rock some amazing mustaches! If you're participating, feel free to send us pictures so we can feature them on our blog and Instagram! 

And when you're grooming the rest of your face, be sure to do so with Brave Shave! Protect your face from your razor while moisturizing your skin as you shave! 

Well, we're all human and sometimes accidents happen. As discussed previously on this blog, sometimes you can burn yourself and knives have been known to slip. With a lot more kitchen activity going on, it's smart to be prepared for the worst. Like when a potato knife slips and results in a nasty cut! 

That fate befell Leah Hensley, one of our ambassadors last night. She immediately treated the wound with Antiseptic Healing Ointment to numb the pain and start the rapid healing process people enjoy with this product. 

We get it, it sucks to hurt yourself doing something fairly routine. And no one wants to prepare for the worst, but sometimes stuff happens. And when that stuff does happen, our products are here for you to get you back to full strength in as little time as possible. Pick up some Antiseptic Healing Ointment today and have it "on hand", just in case.