Skirt Culture

When I first joked about running the Bolder Boulder in a SkirtSports pink Holiday Dress, I didn't realize stepping out the front door would give me such butterflies in my stomach. I'm used to causing a bit of a scene and getting noticed, but it took some serious balls to wear a dress in public.

As I jogged to the starting area with my roommate and a friend, all the nervous energy turned to contagious laughter. The smiles, laughs, pictures, pointing kids put a huge cheeky grin on my face.

With this race being more of a hard workout rather than a race, it was easy to relax and just laugh. How can you take yourself serious when you're cross dressing? Many of my friends took the time to remind me how much of a goober I am, and I loved it!

As the gun went off, I set out at a comfortable pace trying not to push to hard for the first mile. As I cruised along, I was quite surprised how comfortable the dress was. It didn't fly up or bunch at all. It just stayed right in place. As comfortable in my masculinity as I am, I must also say it felt incredibly smooth, soft, and breathable against my freshly shaven legs.

I think one of my favorite parts of the day was the looks on the guys' faces as I began to bring them back. I heard more than one grumble under the breath "oh man..." They seemed a bit disheartened to be passed by a guy in a pink dress with a pink mohawk while running 5:45 miles. I loved it! The more reactions I got, the more I feed off of it. Flashing guys drinking on their front porches, high five'n little kids, blowing kisses to photographers, hooting and hollering at the aid stations volunteers. It kept a huge smile on my face for the entire race.

I crossed the line in 36:30, after being out sprinted by a couple of guys who "weren't gonna be beat by a guy in a pink dress." It didn't matter to me. I ran a decent time, had tons of laughs and was apparently talked about on the radio and tv broadcasts later that day.

All and all it was the most fun Bolder Boulders I have every participated in (by far the silliest). If cross dressing was always this much fun and applauded, I might think of doing it more often, but for now I'll stick to causing a scene because of the funny little stripe of hair down the middle of my head.

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Will Kelsay is a Professional Xterra Triathlete and SkirtSports Shipper

May 4th, 2008 Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

My First Marathon was a euphoric experience from the get go. I wore the Footloose Running Dress with the new mesh shorties, all pink, of course. I have never ran a marathon so I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I did all my training, but when I got the start line I thought, am I ready for this? I don't even remember running enough except for that random day I ran to the Skirt Office for a long training run, which ended up being a stupid 23 mile jaunt down the Colorado highways. (of course in an all pink ToughGirl, so the color must be good luck).

The gun went off 15 minutes late due to a Fire on the course causing an extended detour. As if I was not nervous enough, waiting only those extra few minutes caused a quick run to the bushes, again, thank god for the dress and the fact runners make pit stops in front of anyone. I certainly looked the cutest, but hidden the least being so bright in the green bushes.

I took off like a bat out of hell thinking if I stay ahead of the pace groups I have room to slack and make a Boston qualifying time. What??? I never cared about Boston before the race started, what I am thinking about! I quickly shook that idea and remember the best running advice given to me the night before from my running idol and secret crush, Bart Yasso, who has watched me race a few times - he said, this course needs your even effort. Even Effort. After mile one I thought, well, looks like I have 25 more miles of this pace so I better keep moving and not change anything. Plus I am looking flipping hot, so I have nothing to lose than a few extra compliments!

At mile 3 and 5 my parents scared the life out of me popping out of no where on the sidelines. Supporters have no idea of their value. I counted over 60 comments on my running outfit. Yes, seriously 60 and they were all Good!

"Look at her Dress, LOVE IT, She is so cute, look at her go IN a dress, I love your pink dress, how is she running a marathon in dress?, GO DRESS CUTIE!" The men were even better to run beside in the Footloose, especially the ones that thought I could not hear them 2 steps in front of, "let's just keep watching the dress, I should have worn pink today to get all the feel- good attention, that looks like a comfortable outfit (I am sure that is what they were really thinking).

Seriously, hearing such positive comments made me smile and completely not focus on the hard times of the race, but on how unbelievably great I felt physically hearing I looked good.

I am still fooled and amazed that feeling good about yourself makes your performance improve and sets you on cloud nine. I must have hit an athletic high not having to worry about my clothing and stayed in cruise control. The Shorties can hold a solid 2 gels in each leg pocket. It looked like I was pulling out secret running ammo when I grabbed my gels from under the dress! My finish felt like I was cheered into winning a Gold medal out kicking 4 men - all in a dress. It will be a long time until my next marathon, but the experience is one to be cherished forever.

The Footloose Dress endured the Marathon Test and earned A+ performance. No discomfort, no chaffing, great support, and made for a good time - in more than one way :)

Always believe in yourself and treat your training with fun, enjoyment, and respect. Your Attitude will Determine the Outcome of every Situation - KellyB

Chip Time: 3:18:35 | Gender Place: 12 out of 2,006 | Division Place: 4 out of 354 | Pace: 7:31

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Kelly Bassett is in charge of Customer Care and is our Warehouse Manager

The last time I blogged about Vegas, I wrote about hate and love. Love and hate. Today, after competing in my first Olympic distance triathlon, the Aflac Iron Girl at Lake Las Vegas, I feel the same way. Except now, despite my blistered and burned covered feet, from a not-so-friendly desert hell trail run after a steep and windy ride, I feel a little more love for the city. I've never seen such inspiring women at one time, all out for the same cause, perhaps for different reasons.

Now, if that weren't enough, my highlight came, when ten minutes before I was supposed to start (sorry Nicole, I should have been warming up!), I realized I didn't know what the hell I was going to do with my hair. For those of you who don't know me, I may have the most unique, wild, dramatic, uncontrollable weave that has ever ponied the earth. In fact, most bike helmets don't fit, and after 17 years of competitive swimming, I still need help with my swim cap. So, what did I do? I didn't panic, I simply turned to my spectator/bike technician/savior/super-fan boyfriend and said, "you wouldn't happen to know how to French braid hair would ya?" He said, "yes, of course I do! I don't know how I know, but I know. Is that weird?"

Without haste, he quickly unzipped my wet suit, pulled off my cap, and said, "now, the key to French braiding is forming three perfect separations of hair, and making sure each is equal." And in an instant, my hair was perfectly braided and out of the way, and I was ready for the cold water just as the "Aflac!" start led us out with a huge smile on my face. Nothing like finding out minutes before your race that your man may be more of an "Iron Girl" than you are!! It made my day, and helped me keep a smile on my face throughout the race.

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Meg Gill is the Marketing Manager for SkirtSports

I bet every mom can relate to me! I had plans to head to Tempe this weekend for our SkirtChaser 5k www.SkirtChaser5k.com but put off buying the plane tickets. I had to make sure my kids were not sick, how could I leave them for a long weekend if they were? The past 4 weeks have been filled with many sleepless nights, only leaving the house for trips to the doctor and pharmacy. All four of my kids had strep throat at the same time, 2 of them also got ear infections and the other 2 had pink eye. What would I do without my kids!?! They also diagnosed me with walking pneumonia and it was hard for me to exert much energy. I was going crazy and really needed to get away. My life in '08 had consisted of cold Chicago winter weather, being stuck in the house with sick kids and not being able to go to the health club. But I just couldn't do it! How could I leave my kids knowing that they didn't feel good? I am a mom first and foremost! I am just so disappointed that I had to miss such an amazing opportunity as being involved with the 5k! I am looking forward to getting to Raleigh and then making the Chicago race the best one yet!!! I finally did get in my first run of the year outside today wearing my toughgirl skirt and baselayer top. I just couldn't wear my new gymgirl ultra and 9 to 5 hoodie as it was still a tad bit too chilly (I am a wimp). The outfit was perfect for our weather which was finally in the 40s :) And I ran 30 minutes so I felt like I had in fact done the 5k anyway.

Secondly, even though I am done having my babies, I know there are many moms-to-be out there wanting some maternity SkirtSports apparel. As my youngest is now 16 months old I have gone from a size medium to xxl and now back down to a medium with my pregnancy and post baby. I would love to hear from you on what your favorite necessities would be from skirts to tops to bras. Email me directly at green@skirtsports.com with your comments. I have already received some pregnancy and nursing suggestions, but we want more. We realize that us mommies need to stay in shape during pregnancy as well as after having those little bundles of joy! Like I said at the beginning, where would I be without my kids? I guess in I would have been in Tempe!

Can't wait for the next race!!!

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In addition to being Nic's sister, Michele Green also provides fantastic customer service for SkirtSports.

I've officially had it. I'm done. I'd like to redeem all remaining Get Out of Sick-Jail Free Cards.

In my past life, I took pleasure in bragging about how I "never got sick" for all those years of racing professionally (please don't ask about how I never got injured either, that will be tomorrow's blog...). And for the most part, it's true. For six years, I was rarely struck down by Mr. Nasty Flu-Bug.

Well, I guess karma has reared its not-so-pretty head. I have since learned to NEVER BRAG ABOUT NOT GETTING SICK. Not only will you most definitely get sick soon (seemingly within hours of said-bragging), but it'll also happen frequently.

I was talking to a friend who suggested that when I was racing I actually got healthy amounts of sleep, ate food that was good for my body and mind, and took care of my body by resting when I was not training. When I'm sick, this is not the type of conversation I enjoy having (this being a conversation I can't win). In fact, I don't really enjoy having any conversations (see next paragraph).

Now, I'm not sure about you, but I am what is known as a "bad sick person". I generally make a lot of moaning noises and shuffle myself around the house, holding out my hand so someone (namely Tim) will fill it with glasses of water or hot tea, reading my mind and anticipating my every need. Conversations with me are not very stimulating during this time.

I am also someone who tends to avoid traditional medicine and doctor visits. This can be attributed to part laziness, part skepticism and part confusion as to how much of my visit will actually be covered by my health plan. Some may say this mindset tends to prolong my illness. I say that I'm just not thinking straight when I'm sick.

So this current cold/ flu/ general malaise has been a particularly nasty little visitor. That is until Tim announced that he had had enough of my night sweats, coughing and sniveling (or is that sniffling?) and he was going to bring out the big guns. Yes, there is an actual remedy. It is called Nyquil*. It comes in two flavors: yummy Cherry and disgusting Green. The hardest part is choosing the flavor (you can see how hard that is), because once down the hatch, it takes about 30 minutes and wha-lah... Everything becomes... better.

The most important thing is to learn your lesson and keep a spare bottle of Nyquil handy. You never know when you may need it.

Hey, did I ever tell you that when I was racing, I never got sick...?