The Gear. Oh, the gear.

Confession: I hate shopping.

Specifically clothes shopping.  I hate it.  I mean, I like wearing clothes, and I like clothes that look good, but I hate the process of going to buy clothes.  I helped Mary Beth’s husband buy a suit a few weeks back (it’s a long story involving a wedding and a dry cleaners and she tells it better than I do) and I was jealous of how easy the process was.  Quick measure, okay, try this suit, looks good, let’s get those pants hemmed, done.  Unfair.

However, I love shopping for workout gear.  Possibly because it’s comfy, possibly because it’s often stretchy so it’s easier to fit.  My drawer of workout gear has exploded into a second drawer, plus some plastic drawers in the closet.  Given that I workout a minimum of five days a week and avoid laundry at all costs, this collection serves me well.

I love going to race expos.  I love seeing all the gear for sale – the stuff branded by the race and the stuff sold by the other vendors.  I’ve discovered a lot of great products that way.  It’s possibly the only form of shopping I enjoy.

My workout gear is getting a bit out of hand though.  First off, there are the race shirts.  While not all races give out shirts as part of your registration, they’re pretty common.  A local running group has branched out and did pants for a race this year and a hat for another race.

Unfortunately, I can’t yet completely outfit myself in race gear, so there is some shopping that must be done..  I discovered SparkleSkirts a year or so ago and they remain my favorite running bottoms.  Seriously, the shorts don’t budge.  But I only own three SparkleSkirts (so far) and one I like to save for races, so I generally only wear them on my long training runs.  I’ve got some older pairs of shorts for mid-week treadmill runs.

Then there’s the cold weather gear.  I have all manner of cold weather gear, from capri pants to long pants to running tights.  I have lightweight long-sleeved shirts, hooded shirts, and fleece-lined shirts.  I have hats and ear warmers and gloves.  I know it sounds crazy, but I really enjoy running in the cold weather.  I think it’s because I feel like I can run faster.  When it’s hot, I’m slowing down to cool off but when it’s cold, I speed up to keep warm!  Magic!

I won’t even get into my bike gear here.  I only own a few things though, all for warm weather biking.  I fear what I will end up buying.  And then there are triathlons…

I probably rotate the same 15-20 items for work throughout most of the year because I hate clothes shopping so much.  But if I could wear running gear to work, I wonder how long I could go without doing laundry.