Shopping!

I don't remember if I mentioned that I went shopping for some basic tri gear and I am too lazy to go back and look at my previous posts, lol! Nothing too major - I don't want to invest too much into this sport until I determine if I even like it. Ya know?

Last week, I went to Tri On The Run twice, because it's not too far from where I work and they seem to carry several different brands of tri gear. The folks at TOTR are very helpful. The guy there suggested I try on each of the brands, since everyone likes something different. They had 5 brands – Zoot, Orca, Craft, TYR and Louis Garneau. They only appeared to have men’s stuff in TYR, so that’s the only brand I didn’t get to try on. Apparently, the more expensive stuff is made better and some shorts have the compression fitting. The guy who was helping me laughed when I told him I was still using my $10 Speedo goggles from Target. Time to upgrade! I went twice, because I wanted to check out the sizing 1st and see if I found some comparable stuff on-line at a better price - bad, I know but when your monthly childcare costs are almost the size your mortgage payment, you gotta do what you gotta do!!! LOL!

Here’s my review of each brand:

Zoot – tends to run a little small. I needed the large tri shorts and I was somewhere between a Med and Large for the tri top. The large felt a little big in the back between my shoulder blades, but I felt like a stuffed sausage in the medium. What I liked about that top was that it offered some support for “the girls”, if ya know what I mean! I actually liked the Zoot $40 tri shorts the best. The $100 tri shorts fit great, but they have the compression fitting and they made the flab on my inner thighs stick out like balloons - can we say SCARY?

Orca – tends to run big. I could wear a medium in the shorts. The medium top felt too big, but they didn’t have a small in the same style, so I’m not sure if it would have fit. The shorts were super comfy though and very flattering. This tri top also offered some support, which was nice.

Craft – Shorts were comfy in a large, but the stitching was not very flattering at all. When I turned around to check out the backside, I was mortified at how much they accentuate the cellulite. I think it’s because they have some super-gripper rubber on the shorts, which is probably good because they won’t ride up, but OMG does it grip! The tri top they had in stock was cute, but I just didn’t like the cut (also a large). The top also didn’t seem to have any built in support.

Louis Garneau – This was the last brand I tried on. The shorts fit well in a medium, but TOTR only had them in a bright, royal blue. Trust me, my lower half does not need to be bright blue! The only women’s top they had in stock seemed a little short and barely made it to the top of my tri shorts…I don’t wanna expose my midsection if I don’t have to!

So here's what I ended up with:

And, I did end up buying it at TOTR. Their prices are pretty comparable to what I found on the web and of course I'd rather give my money to a local business if I can.

Unfortunately, that isn't my body in these pictures and I do not look anything remotely close. Think sausage, or as my SIL would say chorizo! Lumpy chorizo at that, lol! This stuff does absolutely nothing from one's body image. Although it did inspire me to start following my healthy eating plan more closely. :-)