"How were you working out with the team without one to begin with???"
So that I wasn't laughed out of the meet, my mom and I went to the local running store and bought a black size S Champion sports bra. This was back in the dark ages of running when choices were simple: Black, White, or Blue? Champion or Nike? There were none of these boob-separating, padded, underwire, fancy pants choices of today.
I ran that season alternating two black and one blue sports bras. I always raced in the black one. It was good luck!
The black one? Close. The blue one. Just did my repeat miles in my vintage 1998 bra. (went ok...6:40, 6:35, 6:31, 6:25 TM 1% incline, 3 mins rest. Sounds good, but it's all hearsay until I perform at a race).
I've got other running items that I've had for several years too long as well. I race 50% of the time in these baggy adidas shorts I bought in college when I was a few lbs heavier. They aren't even running shorts I don't think. But they get the job done.
I know my sports gear hoarding goes against all advice. Especially the sports bra hoarding. For example, this random article on RW says replace three of them for every one pair of running shoes? Um no thanks. That's like a billion dollars a year.
I feel like these pieces of clothing are still getting the job done, contrary to what seems logical. The shorts are still staying on, and the sports bras are still uhh....strapping those puppies down. And that's really all I want.
And I love the history and memories associated with them. Black sports bra was with me when I broke 6 in the mile, when I ran my first marathon, and when I qualified for Boston. It was also there for every frustrating workout or bad run, and those are valuable memories too.
Is it time to say goodbye to some of this stuff? Yeah sure. But I'm not ready to, so as long as I'm feeling the ...uhhh...support....they are here to stay :).
Do you have any clothes or sports stuff you've had a billion years and still use?
Do you think I'm cray-cray to still be wearing this stuff?
My husband and I just had a talk about this recently. I have clothes that I still wear that are over 7 years old! He recently told me that I had too much outdated stuff and took me shopping so I guess it worked to my advantage :)
ReplyDeleteconfession...I'm a gym clothes hoarder! :) This post reminds me that I probably should purge my gym clothes and update some of my duds!! For me as long as it's comfortable and I don't chafe I'm good! I have workoout clothes that I've worn since high-school. I graduated in '94 so, just to give you an idea!! :)
ReplyDeleteThose are some speedy miles girl!!! "Good Job!!"
Have a great day!
I still have the first pair of shoes that I bought for "running". I put that in quotation marks because I had no clue what I needed and I bought them solely because I loved that they were black and hot pink Nikes. I'm pretty sure that they're way too small for running and don't do anything I need for a running shoe to do. But you better believe I still have those bad boys (they're currently on the floor in my bathroom looking incredibly, uh, tired, and taking up space). And I actually raced Warrior Dash in them this year - because I needed shoes that could get dirty. And I don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. :)
ReplyDeleteahhhhhhhh! i do the same thing with sports bras. every day i look in my drawer and there are a couple that I wonder how they have even made it this long. i go to throw them away and then realize...nahhh. I can throw them away another day. TERRIBLE. haha! But totally with you...they are still getting the job done and it saves me money :)
ReplyDeletePffft. I have sports bras that are a couple years old, but really no good for working out in. Only for being lazy at home in. Such are the hazards of being top-heavy.
ReplyDeleteBut, if they work, no sense in getting rid of them. Right?!
I don't think that's crazy at all! I still own several pairs of shorts from high school (circa 1998 I believe) that I still work out in. If they still look ok I say go for it! No sense in wasting money.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I am pretty sure most of my sports bras are seriously from middle school. I finally had to throw a few away because they had so many holes! I say keep wearing it until it falls apart.
ReplyDeleteMemories are important and I am totally superstitious.
I say if it still holds the girls in, why not keep wearing it? I only get get rid of sports clothing if a) things are moving around like Jell-O on a hot summer day, or b) the clothing has a sweaty stench that can't be removed even with thousands of washes and lots of praying from me.
ReplyDeleteNot crazy. I have very few items of running gear. If I could afford more I'd switch them out more often, but that's not happening anytime soon. I'm pretty sure everyone is sick of seeing me in the same stuff, but whatever. I have a blue hoodie that I love (and was discontinued) so I'm wearing it to death. You'll probably see it in August at HTC. My bra is a good couple years old - replace with shoes, really? Not for the cost of a lululemon bra... - but I'm so small it doesn't do much more than stop me from having headlights. And I have some Nike shirts that are so old they're from when Dri-fit was a new technology.
ReplyDeleteI still have the long-sleeved Sport Hill black (of course) shirt that I wore in the 1997 Houston Marathon. I think it's my only piece that old. I'll never get rid of it! Slightly less old is the green long-sleeved North Face shirt that I was wearing when my husband proposed on top of Mt. Flora in 2004. Won't ever get rid of that either.
ReplyDeleteIf you need new running stuff, I really like my champion sports bra from Target- cheap and comfy. I have a tiny chest, so I don't need/like the stuff to strangle me and it's a good fit. And good color choices.
ReplyDelete'sports gear hoarding' <--- i'm totally stealing that! oh man, forger RW and their little sports bra ratio thing (honestly this pancake chested girl barely warrants one to begin with...jk) i honestly can't remember ever actually tossing out an article of good running shorts/tops if they aren't somehow seriously marred. socks yes, but i'm picky about my shorts/tops/bras and the ones i like i plan to be buried in. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're not crazy but u r super crazy fast!! I can run 6's, NO WAY...
ReplyDeleteI meant I CAN'T run 6's.
ReplyDeleteAmen sista-friend! If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Okay, enough with those silly sayings... all I know is that I don't have much I need to work with so sports bras from ages ago still work for me!
ReplyDeleteThis must be why we are on the same team... my running bras (I need two) are at least nine years old. I just bought a new one the other day... but I am still using the golden oldies. I have workout stuff from the 80's... okay, I am pretty old... yes, I was already a grown up when I got that stuff. My go-to running pants are from 1989, my tank is from 1995 and my bras are from 2001 at the youngest. How refreshing to find some other people who wear old stuff, too.
ReplyDeleteNow if I could get super fast, too....
I have to say that mine don't last that long! Good Lord, 14 years and is in one piece and still holding things in place? Wow. The last one I threw out was falling apart - unraveling around the elastic - it was maybe 8 years old. And that was Moving Comfort, so, a decent brand.
ReplyDeleteI still have sports bras from when I was in high school 11 years ago so I definitely don't think you're crazy. As long as it's still doing the job, why get rid of it? Plus, I've tried on sports bras since and just can't find any better ones (without spending $60 on one bra, which I am not ready to do just yet).
ReplyDeleteI think that RW article is ridiculous - there's no way that sports bras wear out that fast!!
HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!! Wear your old clothes. As long as there is not a hole in an unsightly place, it's a go! Besides, you are getting it all sweaty anyway. Haha, or, maybe it is time for me to call What Not to Wear and they can do a workout gear edition!
ReplyDeleteI wear running gear until it literally falls apart, and then I'll probably wear it a few more times just to make sure I should throw it out.
ReplyDeleteI have sports bras from high school still. Everything of mine is pretty tattered, but it gets the job done!
PS I thought about you today as I compulsively purchased another running top from target. I need to stop buying so many workout clothes.....
ReplyDeleteI say if it still works and you are still using it, there is no problem with hoarding it. I have several sports bras that have been around for a decade, I still wear them. I also have a track t-shirt from 1992. Zoiks that made me feel old just typing it, I love that tshirt
ReplyDelete