Thursday, June 2, 2011

Marathon Mad

If you are contemplating your first marathon - beware.
No, go for it. Isn't this what bucket lists are for?


But be prepared to do uncharacteristically destructive things.


Exhibit A - oooohh.


Like treat yourself to a beautiful, new, expensive  (even on sale) pair of 2XU running tights.

Going back a coupla years, just wearing a pair of any tights in public would have been uncharacteristically (self) destructive - but pah -  I'm over that one.





Exhibit B - cause a woman can never
have enough accessories.


Like treat yourself to a hydration belt to wear over your lovely, new, expensive (did I mention?) tights.






And then realise that the said (financially challenging, for something different) running tights and the handy hydration belt don't gel. They hated each other at first rub. In fact they were doing everything in their power to get as far away from one another as possible.


Seeing as the tights were pretty much stuck to my legs, the hydration belt shimmied it's way up over my hips, around my waist and then ventured as far up my torso as it could manage.


So I pulled the belt back down to it's possy on my hips. Ran a hundred metres or so and the tights/belt feud and subsequent walk out began again.

Run, pull belt, run, pull belt, run, swear, pull belt....


I have a blister on my thumb from continuously pushing and pulling the belt back into position for three hours last weekend. (Whilst simultaneously counselling the two to make this belt / tights relationship work).


So, maybe I should have given up on the belt idea, or the tights.
But I love them both. And I don't see why they can't love each other. If they just got to know each other, you know? I've thought about taking them out for a drink, to loosen up, get them talking...

 Anyway, so this week after considering a number of idiotic (velcro) and even idioticer (rubber) ideas I have spent 80c (hey, big spender) on some 12mm black elastic.


The plan was to create loops very much like belt loops on my beloved tights.
Yep, I took my brand new 2XU tights and hand sewed elastic onto them - along the seam lines to try to minimise the damage from my uncoordinated, pudgy fingers. It looked ridiculous and ugly.
Exhibit C. Tea pot pants.
But, whatayaknow, by Jobe it damn well worked!
About five minutes into my run on Sunday, I realised I hadn't touched my hydration belt once. Two and a half hours later the thing was still in place. I didn't take it off until I was literally home and hosed - including the car ride.

A win for me. And a giant leap for tense tight/hydration belt relationships the world over!

I'm available for comfort minded alterations anytime. Drop me a line.

Also - it seems that a 'mob run' as I referred to here is in fact simply a run with a mob of people. Runners, not gangsters. There was fair amount of handshaking going down after the run though and many of us were walking as though we were certainly 'packing' something.


Shar :-)



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