Unscented

What's your favorite scent? Is it a certain fruit, like strawberry or melon? Is it a scene in nature such as summer mist? Or perhaps it's a something even less tangible, like morning clean.

One of my coworkers used to ask people what scent they would bottle and carry with her. I'm not sure how I would have responded if she surprised me with that question. There are certainly scents that I find pleasing but none that stand out heads and shoulders above the others.

And yet it seems important to have some sort of scent-identity. We are regularly asked to choose sides when it comes to scents. In buying kitchen cleaners, do you go with lemon or orange? Are you a fruit or nature person when it comes to body wash and candles? I won't even ask about bathroom aerosol sprays. I think we can all agree that anything is better than the alternative.

What I'm struck by is how rare it is to find a product that is 'unscented' and labeled as such. The first time I recall using an unscented project was when I borrowed my dad's Mitchum deodorant and it struck me immediately. Why would I choose to smell like something when I could instead smell like nothing? I had discovered that there are others out there who share my desire for smell neutrality.



I began seeking out unscented products but quickly came up short. Unscented is not an option for mainstream soaps or shampoos. You can certainly find an unscented candle but I have yet to lay eyes on an unscented cleaning product. Not long ago I was pleasantly surprised to notice an "Odor neutralizing" aerosol bathroom spray. Now we're talking.



In cleaning myself and my surroundings, I follow the "leave no trace" ideology. I don't want to leave a lingering scent, good or bad, when I exit a room. Rather if I do leave a scent, I don't want it to be my deodorant that lags behind. Earlier I posed the question of why you'd choose to smell like something when you could smell like nothing and I'd like to revisit that because I do see the value in smelling nice. Like all products for sale, there's an implication that if you don't buy the product you will be worse off. This is an especially compelling argument when it comes to scented items. Going out on a date? Are you sure that you smell good? No? Well you'd better make sure that you do! It's easy to see how scents came to dominate the marketplace. Smelling like nothing is okay, but are you certain that you really smell like nothing?!

It's nice to smell good and I realize this. I even own cologne. Cologne and perfume are exceptions because they serve the singular purpose of marking you with a scent. Unscented cologne is obviously ridiculous. That'd just be water. I can get on board with cologne and perfume but in order to do so, I have given up on all other scented items. Answer this: how can Polo cologne truly do its job when it has to compete with my 'chocolate mint'-scented hair, my 'morning clean'-scented armpits, and my 'honeydew'-scented body wash? It doesn't even stop there! Don't forget about 'fresh clean scent' clothing detergent and 'mountain'-scented dryer sheets. Even my clothes have competing smells!

It may seem that I am opposed to scents but the truth is that I am the only one who is giving scents a fair playing field on which to compete. If I could find unscented products for everything, I could allow my 'honeydew' body wash to own Mondays, my 'chocolate mint' hair to shine on Tuesdays, and so on and so forth. It would allow me to really find a scent that I can call my own instead of walking around like a scent medley all the time. While mixing all the fountain drink flavors into one cup can occasionally produce a successful concoction it can also be a recipe for disaster, leaving you wishing you hadn't been greedy and had just picked one flavor. Let's all just pick a flavor and go with it. I got dibs on 'fresh clean scent'.

Reflections: triathlons

Sometime over the past year or two I got it in my head that I would register for the 2011 Ironman Madison race. As you may know, I competed in this event in 2008 and had a great race. According to sources close to me (wife and parents) I didn't initially have aspirations to compete in the race again. It was a painful but satisfying race that would be hard to top.

I have enjoyed training for triathlons though and it was very hard for me to get the Ironman distance race out of my mind. For those of you unfamiliar, the Ironman distance race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. It's the longest triathlon distance and the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii are televised on one of the big three networks annually. I remember watching the Ironman race when I was in junior high and thinking that is just insane. I have grown up competing in multisport races. One of my favorite pictures of me and my dad is from a Champaign newspaper and it's a shot of me (about 13?) and dad running side-by-side to the finish. I enjoyed running cross country in college and ran the Chicago Marathon a year after college graduation. I got back into triathlons when my co-worker Bob Geraty encouraged me to register for the world's largest triathlon in Chicago. It was an Olympic distance, which is a .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run. As I was training for this race, I met a couple in Bloomington who were competing in the Ironman race in Madison that year. I drove up to watch them compete and was sold. I signed up for the following year's race the next day.

Ironman training provided a framework for that next year. My weeks were planned around training and workouts. I would typically plan to workout 10-12 hours per week. These workouts would include long bike rides, long runs, lifting, swimming, etc. The training also dictated what and when I would eat. I learned a lot that year about nutrition and really enjoyed that aspect of training. I've known that I'm someone who enjoys having structure in my day and this training schedule provided that.

There were parts that I did not enjoy though. I didn't enjoy the three solo 100+ mile bike rides that summer or the 5:30 am swim workouts although they did leave me with a sense of accomplishment. It wasn't very hard to stay motivated though because I was confident that if I neglected to put in this work, I would not even complete the Ironman. This would obviously be very disappointing and it would also be embarrassing given that a large cheering section of family, friends, and coworkers was beginning to make plans to be there on race day.

When race day came around I felt ready and excited. Laine drove up to Madison a couple days early for registration, relaxation and preparation prior to the race and I don't think I would have made it through those days without her there to keep me calm. My cheering section was awesome and so was the weather. I enjoyed my time out on the course and really enjoyed seeing pictures later of my family, friends, and coworkers all hanging out together during the event. With a wedding on the way I was happy to see that my closest friends had a chance to meet one another before the main event. I felt as good as I would have expected on the run and really benefited from fan support there. I wasn't feeling so hot the last 10-15 miles but my spirits stayed lifted knowing that I had cheering sections all along the route. The finish was thrilling and I was pleased with my time. 12:34:00. As someone who can't remember any of my best times, I think it was fate that this one time couldn't be any easier to remember.

I wanted to recap that so that I could remember what a fantastic day that was. I'm realizing now that I don't really have any reason to do the Ironman again – at least not now. I had already set a goal to break 12:00:00 next time around but if that's the only reason for me to train I don't think this time around will be very satisfying. I've always been someone who lives within extremes and many of the things I'm most proud of accomplishing were made possible by this mentality. It never occurred to me not to become an Eagle Scout once I knew that was the highest rank. I couldn't pass up bungee jumping at the first commercial bungee site in New Zealand even though it scared the heck out of me to think about it. I joined a college friend on a trip to Iceland to attend one of the best festivals in the world. I caddied at Bandon Dunes (the caddie Mecca) and, while there, read the biggest books I could find: Gravity's Rainbow, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Don Quixote, The People's History of the United States, etc. While I'm not a competitive person, I do seem to have a tendency to think that bigger is better.

I'm beginning to realize that just because a challenge presents itself doesn't mean that you're required to take it on, at least not at that exact moment. While I still plan to stay in shape and compete in triathlons, I'm looking forward to finding a more sustainable middle ground.