I’ve gone through a few (let’s call them) phases in my running attire. Maybe I’ll just talk about bottoms for now, and do a separate “top side” rendition 🙂 When I first started, I had a lot of yoga clothes, and thought they would work fine for running. I learned quite quickly that some of my needs were not satisfied by that attire. I was a little self-conscious about wearing tight bottoms, so I found Skirt Sports and enjoyed their race skirt and mesh shorties for a while. I did try some of their other skort combos, but found the inner short too short in the inseam for my taste – I have curves and my thighs challenge shorts to stay down. Eventually, I decided that the shorties were just not quite compressive enough and I got tired of tugging them back down into place. I still love Skirt Sports though, and will get back to them in that promised “top side” post. Also, for colder weather, I still fall back to some of my beautiful all-in-one skirt/pants combos.
I moved on. I love love love Athleta, I have many (an embarrassing amount) of their items, though mostly for yoga and casual wear. They no longer seem to offer my favorite running compression shorts (I think they were called “Grace”? Apparently I can only see 6 months of order history now, so I can’t verify that), but these presto shorts look pretty similar – I learned that a 7 inch inseam and symmetrical pockets were important to me. Unless it’s pretty cold out (under 45-50F), I almost always wear mildly compressive shorts for my runs. My favorite long pants for colder weather came from Athleta as well, but I also can’t find them any longer, so I would probably buy the Runabout pant as a potential replacement.
Over time, I decided I needed a little more flash sometimes… enter SparkleSkirts. Seriously, ladies, these are fun to wear and they perform! I have just two of the SparkleTech with sequins, and I feel feminine and gorgeous when I wear them. I do need to handwash them, because of the sequins – so I save them for events instead of training runs. The shorts are just the right weight and inseam to suit me, with very spacious pockets on each leg (I can put my oversize e-gels in them), plus a waist pocket (you can wear it in front or behind) that holds my phone nicely.
Okay, enter my latest obsession – I think I first became aware of the InkNBurn brand from a facebook connection now called Manic Runday. Iris is lucky enough to have become an InkNBurn Ambassador, and began posting links to some of her favorite pieces. I was intrigued by their patterns, but hesitant at the price tags. Finally, I was just in lust with their lust capris, and convinced myself that they would be a great Valentine’s gift (ha! aren’t I tricksy). Of course, I could get free shipping if I ordered just a bit more… so I did (matching denim camisole and gorgeous multi-pattern headband). At this point, these are all relatively new to me, so I can’t yet tell you how they will hold up over time. I got my package on a Friday, tried on the capris and they were so comfortable! I wore them all weekend because I just didn’t want to put anything else on. Both the capris and the top look smoking hot, and feel great. I wore the capris for one of my most miserable race weather conditions ever in Morehead City, and they were excellent – wet often means chafing, but I had no issue at all. They stay in place, they don’t bunch or irritate and that is a hard thing to find. I placed another order and anxiously awaited an additional pair of capris, and decided to try their sport skort – though I wished that there was a specification of the short inseam listed on the site. Once my package arrived (very fast, love it), the capris were just as awesome as the first pair. As I suspected from the picture, the shorts for the skort are a bit on the short side for my taste. I haven’t decided whether I like this enough for casual wear to keep it around, but I am doubtful that I would wear this skort for a run of any significant length. If you have straight thin thighs, I’m sure you’d love this piece. I can’t emphasize enough how light-feeling, comfortable and just untroublesome both the capris and the tops are, no matter whether wet or dry.
I think these InkNBurn clothes are awesome and incredibly comfortable – so I’ve already placed yet another order so I can share the love with my male running partner. I’m hoping he enjoys them just as much as I do and I can report back to the fellas that might be thinking of giving InkNBurn a try that they should just go for it.
When I registered for this event in Iceland, I planned to do the full marathon. Summer training runs were just not going very well, and I decided (for the sake of my sanity) to enjoy the vacation and switch to the half instead! The expo was well organized & packet pickup went smoothly. The shirts were on the small side, but we were informed that we could trade sizes the morning of the race. I was interested to see the gear on offer for sale, but I didn’t see much that was very different from in the US. I did score a chocolate milk and some sort of yogurt protein drink that came in handy for breakfasts later in the trip.
Morning of the race was cool, damp, and windy. I headed to the race in my raincoat, unsure if I wanted to keep it on for the run or not. At the very last minute, I decided my arm warmers (skirt sports) and tank top (inkNburn) would be enough, and I didn’t want to deal with the raincoat. As it turned out, I was warm enough the whole time, so that worked out fine for me. 
The spectator support was great, particularly for the first 8 miles or so – lots of cheering, horns and drum banging. Aid stations were well organized and seemed well stocked. Near mile 10, there were supposed to be bananas offered, but I only saw peels on the ground (although there were still Mars candy bites available). The finish corral was not too crowded, with cups of water and sports drink available. I could see an area behind some fencing that had bananas, and couldn’t find a way to get over there. Later I realized that area must have been reserved for the full marathon finishers – I guess I didn’t get a banana for just a half. On my way out of the corral, we were offered some packets of chocolate covered raisins as well.
13 half-marathons in year 2013 
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