It’s the little things that drive you crazy on long runs.

These are things that you may not even notice in every day life but become infuriatingly bothersome after miles of pounding pavement.

The tip of your shoelace bumping your ankle with every step

A rough seam on your clothing rubbing your skin.

A wrinkle in your socks under your foot.

Shorts riding up your thighs.

Nipples rubbing on the fabric of your shirt.

I could go on.

Last weekend it was my spibelt.

I was sore after running 15 miles but I pretty much recovered within 24 hours, except for one thing - an abrasion on my stomach rubbed raw by my spibelt.

I’ve worn this belt on nearly every run since I bought it last November. It survived a half marathon and spring training that took me on runs as long as 19 miles. I have close to 1000 miles logged wearing this thing and it never gave me trouble – not once.

For some reason on Sunday it rubbed the flesh right off my stomach and I can’t figure out why. I felt for a rough spot or seam but couldn’t find any. I didn’t carry anything unusual, just a cell phone and the key fob for my car. I have adjusted it periodically as my waist has shrunk over time, so maybe it was just sitting on a new spot on my waist.

It isn’t a huge sore, just a couple of inches long but it’s like a nagging paper cut. It keeps getting rubbed by the waistline of my pants every time I move. It’s not like it’s actually painful, it’s just a nagging irritant that won’t go away, even after four days.

I love this belt. It is one of my favorite pieces of running gear. Like a magician’s hat, the little pouch has a miraculously large storage capacity and holds its contents snugly against your body without bouncing around. So I’m not giving up on it yet. I’ll adjust the tightness a bit and see if it will sit differently on my hips.

I suppose testing gear like this is one of the functions of a long training run. But that doesn’t make it any less maddening.

Post Script

On my next run I looked closely at where my Spibelt sits on my waist and figured out what happened. The belt was flipped inside out so that the zipper and a small label at the corner of the pouch were against my skin instead of facing out. It was the label that rubbed my skin. Since I never had to access the contents of the pouch and didn’t notice the chafing until after I finished running, it must have stayed that way for the entire 15 miles. I am 100% satisfied with my Spibelt and didn’t want anyone to think I was criticizing it because of my whining in the above post.