I have thick hair that currently go down to halfway down my back. I also love running, biking, and did a triathlon last summer, so my poor hair has dealt with a lot of sweat, chlorine, and friction damage. 

  
It is currently mega swampy where I live, so every time I do cardio, my hair gets drenched in sweat and there's really no avoiding washing it. I wash my hair about 4x per week. Even in the winter, if I'm training for something, I wash it a lot more than I'd like.

  
I'm listing out here the things I do to keep my hair healthy despite the torture I put it through, and I'm hoping to learn other methods from my fellow cardio freaks. Please share your tips and tricks!



Exercise 

* Hair goes in a french braid bun when I run. Basically I braid my hair, then loop it upwards, and capture the looped braid with a thick scrunchie. I pin down the ends on the top of my head, and wear a hat to help hold the ends in place. 
* Double french braids when I bike and swim. I always wet my hair before swimming to prevent chlorine damage, and wash it with a swimmer's shampoo right afterwards.
* If I didn't get too sweaty, I don't wash my hair, and instead give it a good brushing to distribute the oils.
* I try to offset my sweaty days so I'm running in the heat on a day when my hair already needed to be washed.



Drying/Styling

* I avoid heat damage as much as possible. Blow drying my hair can take half an hour so I avoid it out of laziness anyway. If I swim or run before work, I blow dry partially, then air dry and braid on the way into the office.
* I put leave-in conditioner and then oil on the bottoms of my hair, dry it in a head towel for a while, then let it hang down and finish air drying for a few hours. 
* I do heatless styling as much as possible- braids, twists, sock buns.
* I typically keep my hair in buns and braids during normal days to prevent random damage. 
* I sleep with my hair in a bun on the top of my head or a braid. The picture I posted is right after I woke up, with my hair having been in a loose bun overnight.

  
Athletes- what do you do to protect your hair?? I want to know! 

Where are my runners at?