Why I Work Out in Race Shirts

I was wearing my shirt from the Nike Human Race 10K when I tried the 30/60/90 class last night. I was feeling pretty nervous about being the new kid in the class at my new gym, but then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and smiled. At myself. (Awkward?) 

Sure, I’d never done this class. But I ran a marathon two weeks ago. I usually run at least a race a month. If I could suffer through 4 hours and 59 minutes of a marathon in intense heat, I can make it through some silly class at the gym.

I wear race shirts to work out in because…

They’re usually sweat-wicking. They’re usually pretty damn nice. Nike especially makes awesome tech tees. My only gripe is that they pill kinda easily.

They bring back great memories. I have finished every single race I have started, so even the races that didn’t go that well I can still look back at and be proud that I finished.

I feel badass. The longer the distance I had to run, the more badass I feel. (Duh.) Or, the faster I ran, the more badass I feel. Sadly, the times I’ve been the most most proud of have come with cotton t-shirts, not tech tees, though.

They give me confidence. Sometimes, I am working out and I feel slow or sluggish or like every limb weighs 50 pounds. I remind myself of what I’ve done and what I can do. 

Camraderie. I love seeing someone out running in the same t-shirt as me. In my head, we smile knowingly at each other, but in reality, I just curl up the sides of my lips in what is probably a pretty awkward little smile. All the same, I still love seeing someone in the same race shirt.

Competition: If the distance on my race short is longer than the distance on your race shirt, I win.

[Shirts from:  Top Row: Nike Human Race, Army Ten-Miler, Chicago Marathon!

Bottom Row: Disney Half-Marathon, NYC Marathon Tune-Up, National Press Club 2007 5k—my second 5K ever!]