Running Fashion, then and now

When I ran my first race 4 years ago I wore cotton socks, a pair of pricey (or what I thought was pricey) Nike capri's, a Champion t-shirt from Target, a Champion sports bra, a FLEECE North Face 1/4 zip because it was cold and my Nike shocks that I had owned for LOTS of years.  Oh almost forgot a fleece beenie.

Not all bad.  I still wear and swear by the C9 sports bra.  On sale you can get them 2 for $20 at Costco.  I'm not even sure that they still carry them now though.  But I've been wearing the same ones for at least 3 years now.  I've since given away or retired almost all of the other stuff.  With the exception of the the North Face fleece, however I would never wear that running today.

After acquiring my first pair of "real" running shoes (I got lucky and ordered the Brooks Ravenna online without ever being fitted for them), and I still run in the Ravenna today.  I was however almost immediately coveting everything Lululemon.  I had started reading some running blogs and this Lululemon was what all the "cool kids" were wearing.  But I could not even begin to stomach the price tags attached to them.

After my first half marathon my gift to myself was a visit to the Lululemon store in Las Vegas with $200 in my hot hand!  At the time we didn't have stores here in Utah (we do now).  I could feel my BRF's thoughts as we walked through the store.  *Who would pay $119 for a pair of stretchy pants?*

MEEEEE .. I would.

And so it began.  I slowly started building a good collection of Lululemon attire.  But now, 3 years later, I know why so many people wear it.  It's good stuff.  Truly.  But it's not the only thing.  Today I run in only Lulu pretty much all the time for my staples (sports bra continues to be the exception).  I have never had to retire anything due to wear.  So I've got a good collection at this point and primarily shop the "We Made Too Much" section.

Exception:  I will buy a new skirt and tank to wear for a big race.  Totally breaking the don't wear new stuff on race day rule every single time.

So here's my list of what I personally think is worth the investment.  Starting from head to toe:

Warm Weather Tank

Lululemon Cool Racerback

Why I love the Cool Racerback:

The length is long.

It's got good compression (holding jiggle to a minimum).

No chafing.

They come in a million adorable prints.

Cooler Weather Top

Lululemon Run Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve

Why I love the Run Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve:

The length is long and perfect.

The weight is perfect.  Keeps me warm.

It's a snug fit, no flapping.

You have to be careful with the fabric, they can snag easy.

Thumb holes.  I have LONG arms and these are plenty long enough!

I 100% wear a cool racerback tank underneath all the time.

Plus it's light enough to tie around your waist should you get hot and take it off.

The Shorts

Lululemon Run Times

Shorts are in the above picture.  I love these in particular because they are the 4" length.  But what I don't love about Lululemon is that they discontinue styles QUICKLY.  They generally replace them with something similar but I've bought some that I DON'T love (Tracker Short).  The Speed Shorts are the only ones I've seen consistently over the years. But I have to be in TIP TOP shape to get away with wearing the shorter 2.5" inseam (currently NOT there).  The other thing worth noting when it comes to their shorts and skirts is 4 way stretch versus 2 way stretch.  The 4 way is the most comfortable but some of the cuter prints come in the 2 way.  

I do love their shorts though.  The waistband is the MOST attractive out there.  Really wide, doesn't dig in giving you muffin top.  I run ALL my training runs in these shorts.

The Capri's

Lululemon Run:  Inspire Crop II

I have no picture of these.  I rarely run in long tights anymore.  I pretty much pair these up with a pair of ProCompression socks and I'm covered.  I love that these are so compression y.  They again keep the jiggle to a minimum.  Somewhat high waisted so that stuff isn't hanging over the top.

The Skirts

Lululemon Run:  Pace Setter Skirt

Why I love the Pace Setter Skirt:

I feel "pretty" / "girly" in them.

Has the same wide waistband as their shorts (attractive).

The freedom of shorts with a little extra coverage.

Because sometimes my thighs like to eat my shorts.

Great colors.

I almost always race in these.

So there you have it.  But again I only wear this stuff to run in. I don't wear it to the gym really ever.  I want it to last as long as possible and I wear it for it's function more than the fashion.  I don't regret an ounce of my collection at all!

Winter Running

I have to say that am really falling in love with Winter running.  I am just coming up on my 1 year running anniversary and Winter was really a season that I was intimidated by.  I worried about slipping and falling.  But most of all I worried about the cold temperatures.  Now granted we have had a relatively mild Winter so far here in Salt Lake City.  But when I first moved out here from California about 17 years ago (that sounds like SO long), I digress.  When we first moved out here I had been running pretty regularly in California for awhile there.  It was September and I was forced to run in the early evening after work and school.  I don't know if it was the change in temperature or the altitude or a combination of the both, but frankly I felt like I was sucking air bad.  Quickly, as the temperatures continued to drop I dropped off with my running as well.  Since that was my only previous experience with Salt Lake Winter running I expected to really struggle as we rolled into the colder months. 

My mindset has since changed.  I have never paid SO much attention to weather forecasts in my life as I do now.  It's not just the temperature though, it's whether the wind is blowing.  Or whether it's cloudy versus sunny.  Because if it's 30 degrees and sunny I can actually expect to feel pretty warm. But 30 degrees and cloudy is a totally different story.  When it's windy I will grab my favorite Brooks jacket and I'm golden, because even if the wind drops I can peel it off and quickly roll it and then tie it around my waist.  All whilst not stopping my run.  I haven't yet had to test this jacket in any kind of wet weather, but thus far I LOVE it.  I run all my weekday runs right in the middle of the day on my lunch break.  So it's actually the warmed part of the day.  I'm always in capri's regardless of the temp, this includes when there's snow on the ground.  And I'm never cold.

Another item I have to be careful to choose is which hat I wear.  I have a great Saucony beanie that I go to when it's colder or windy.  But if I don't need the warmth then I go for my Brooks ball cap so that I can keep the sun out of my eyes.  I wear glasses and so it's important to not have to squint if I can help it.

It's all about finding the perfect balance of layers.  For the most part I usually get it right.  And that makes for a very happy runner.  Funny, because now that I'm loving Winter running so much I'm actually starting to stress about the Summer months!  I don't think my noontime jaunts are going to go down too well.  One thing I've thought about is maybe going slightly earlier, if I could get away with maybe a 10:30 lunch break.  Guess we'll have to wait and see .. but I'm thinking it won't be nearly as bad as I am expecting. 

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What's your favorite season to run in and why?

Experimenting with Fuel

As of a couple weeks ago I have begun experimenting with fuel.

It's kind of exciting knowing that I now need to do this.

Since that means that I'm running longer.

Which in turn means I'm logging more miles.

I know that I need to figure out what works and what doesn't before Vegas.

So I purchased an assortment of things to try.

By the way .. the size of these things would make for GREAT stocking stuffers.

Too bad my kids wouldn't like them.

So far I've tried the Nuun (Grape and Tropical), both were good.

The Clif Shot Bloks (Strawberry), YUM.

GU Chomps (Blueberry), good.

I'm very intimidated by the GU Energy Gels.

But I can't imagine not liking the Sport Beans.

Because really, who doesn't like Jelly Beans?

I've also been trying to get used to running with a handheld bottle.

I went with an Amphipod Hydraform Handheld, 20 oz bottle.

Before that I had tried a smaller bottle and I don't know whether it was the hot day,

the fact that it was the first time, or the style bottle .. but I hated it.

The Amphipod however is just fine.

I kind of would like to give an Amphipod fuel belt a try, but we'll see.

For now the experimenting is going well.  Nothing has been gross or upset my stomach.

Does anyone have anything extra good they would like to recommend?

Monkey Arms?

As the weather turns to cooler temperatures here in Salt Lake I'm looking to stock up on a few long sleeve shirts for those colder outdoor runs.  As such I picked up a couple this weekend.  Because here in Salt Lake we change seasons pretty much overnight.  So this week the temps are scheduled to drop and I wanted to be prepared. 

So what things does one look for in a long sleeve shirt?

Personally I like the idea of the longer sleeves with the little thumb holes.  The thought of my hands staying toasty warm is nice.  But well .. I guess I kind of have long arms.  Longer than average perhaps?  I've always struggled getting long sleeve shirts that are long enough for my arms.  I guess running gear is no exception.  I picked up this little fancy from Target. I really liked the color.  And the fabric was super soft too.

Can you kind of see where there's a little tension at the thumb joint area?

So I guess instead I won't have my thumb poked in that cute little hole where it will keep me all warm and toasty. Instead there will be this random hole where cool air comes in.  Not good.

Well, I also got another little three quarter zip from Costco.  It also has the cute thumb holes.  I purposefully bought the size large (I'm actually more of a medium) so that I could hopefully get a little more length in the arms.  For said .. MONKEY like arms.  The Costco one was FABULOUS!  Perfectly long enough.  To which I say, maybe my arms aren't monkey-like after all.  I plan to go back and get another color.  I got boring black because, well honestly, there was this older couple totally taking up all the space in front of the display. I reached in and just grabbed the first size L I could see.  I wanted to ask them to please make ROOM for other people who may also want to purchase the cute running shirts for people with MONKEY arms.  And this couple was seriously loading up their cart!

Anyway, I wore the Costco one today on my 4.5 mile lunch run, it was PERFECT.  Not too hot, not to cold.  No weird tension like feeling in my thumb joint.  And I had an AWESOME run.  I even had a lady stop me to ask if I wanted a kitten because she saw one up the trail a little ways.  Umm .. really ma'am I don't want a kitten #1, and #2 do you think I'm going to run with said kitten the 2.25 miles back to work?

Umm .. no .. not so much.  She was a nice old lady though. I wanted to tell her when I passed her on my way back that I never even saw the kitten, therefore we should assume that someone that DID want a kitten picked it up and took it home and gave it a nice warm dish of cream to drink.  The end.

Does anyone else have extra long arms?  Like those that could be compared to Apes?