Tell me you’re about to get your period without telling me your about to get your period.

I’ve been waking up involuntarily at 4am these past few days while also feeling a mix of anxious, sad + irritable which means my period is coming. Since I’m a 43 year old woman who’s maybe/maybe not perimenopausal, this means it could come tomorrow or in 2 weeks when I leave for a few days of peace, quiet + sun in Mexico. The last time we had a warm weather vacation scheduled my period came 8 days late, arriving the day before we departed. Perhaps I should take bets so at least it’s interesting.

If you’ve ever chatted with me in person, you know I have opinions. I’m an Aquarius, it’s not my fault. We’re creative, passionate people who don’t like following the status quo. The eternal skeptic, I’ve been in this industry for over 2 decades (i’m old wise) and there are a few things that have gotten under my skin. If you don’t want to read about them that’s fine - I’ll have a fun ‘what runner’s wear’ post coming later this week that has literally been sitting in my notes app since May. Maybe my period will also hit your inbox.

Rant #1 : Running’s Sustainability Problem.

I think we can all agree that there’s a need + opportunity to make running more sustainable. I’ve seen articles + presentations heralding ways to make races low to zero waste, requiring participants bring their own hydration, reusable cups, etc. I carry 2 running shoes that utilize plant based or petroleum free materials and nearly every running brand utilizes recycled fabrics within their line up.

All of this is great, however, the one thing i don’t see anyone talk about is all the free shit that has inundated running culture, fueled by all the free shit brands give out. This is probably going to make me sound like a complete asshole because who complains about getting stuff for free? I own a store full of stuff I’ve curated that I’ve either wanted to buy or have bought for myself and to me this is important. If I wouldn’t spend my own money on something, why would i expect someone else to? It would be incredibly hypocritical of me to sing the praises of a brand who’s gifted me products while asking someone else to use their hard earned cash to buy.

Niche example aside, I think the running industry has conditioned people to think they get free shit just for showing up. Sign up for a race? What size t-shirt do you want? Come to a shakeout run sponsored by a brand? Here’s a tote bag + if you show up early you might also get a pair of shoes! or a mug! I get brand visibility = marketing opportunity. The more you see someone wearing a specific brand of shoes on your runs the more you’re curious about whether or not they’re great. Case in point : Adidas Evo SL.1

Last year on the first day of The Running Event (TRE), I met up with the founder of Circle for a coffee before heading over to pick up our badges. Circle was founded in 2020 on a platform of sustainability - they utilize recycled materials, manufacture in Europe + their supernatural trainer (which we carry) is 75% plant based. TRE is essentially a marathon expo on steroids where running retailers + influencers come to see all the latest + greatest regarding run + outdoor products. I’ll be attending again this year + begrudgingly giving my hard earned dollars to a state that hates me, mostly just to see friends + brands I don’t get to see everyday.2

Upon picking up our badges, we were shown to a table full of backpacks, each backpack full of samples ranging from shoe laces to leggings to hydration. I took one to be polite, because as defiant and opinionated as I am, I am also a polite Midwesterner. I left it in the hotel room hoping the cleaning people might find some of the products useful but all I could think about was how not great it is for the environment that I was given a backpack full of shit I didn’t want (or ask for). Again, I’m sure it’s a great marketing opportunity as I am not a traditional running retailer nor do I sell gadgets + gizmos galore so I’m clearly not their target market. Shoe laces that don’t come untied while running? No thanks but how about some cute gingham ones that come with charms.

This culture of freebies has conditioned an entire generation of runners to expect free shit. I’m flabbergasted how many people reach out asking me for stuff despite my transparency around being a bootstrapped business, meaning we funded the business ourselves + have no external investors. (That said, anyone with cash to burn + want to invest? DM me!) Product sponsorships for events seem to be the norm, which I have yet to take advantage of because honestly the thought never crossed my mind. Maybe I’m an idiot who’s bad at business, but I pay for all the croissants at our runs, all the waters we give out. I have someone who shows up to our events just to drink Topo Chicos from the fridge which is fine, but I don’t think they realize that I’ve used my own cash to purchase them. We don’t have a partnership with Coca Cola (unless someone knows someone who can hook us up with a Topo Chico fridge + endless supply of free sparkling water. Hypocrite? I don’t know her, just my addiction to the best sparkling water on the market.) I view my buying products as support for the community - my money is going to support our favorite coffee shop (literally called CoffeeShop) + if i’m willing to buy Something + Nothing waters for run club it’s because I think they’re worth it - not because it’s a brand that was willing to give me something for free.

If we want to *really* tackle the sustainability problem in running, let’s start by charging for race tees. I would also like to campaign for switching them all back to cotton, however, cotton is a notoriously bad crop for water consumption and the real issue at hand is the fact that literally thousands of free poly tees are being given out at every race. I don’t care if the price of the tee is already baked into the price of the race - make people know that if they want the tee it’s extra + lower the participation price for everyone else. Next step, let’s stop filling the packet pick up bags with free samples from race sponsors + if people really want to try out some random new hydration brand, let them go visit their booth at the expo, which could be a whole entire rant on its own.3

Rant #2 : Running Trends.

Can we all just stop talking about running like it’s a trend? I’m so tired of reading articles about the running fashion boom, the trend of running marathons, the blah blah blah all wondering when the ‘bubble is going to burst’ or ‘when will we reach the peak’. It feels as though instagram is pushing a new run brand my way weekly, and quite frankly I’m exhausted. I get it, this might sound hollow coming from someone that owns a shop full of niche instagram running brands, however, I’m really not trying to be an asshole. I also spent the majority of my career in mass market fashion, always on alert for the newest trend, conditioned to be paranoid that if I didn’t do my job correctly I’d miss the next biggest whatever and personally be responsible for being a year late to the trend. The word ‘trend’ creates a trauma response in my body + I’m not exaggerating.

Remember my aquarian nature? I don’t like wearing what everyone else wears + this push towards ‘running style’ puts an unnecessary emphasis on what one wears while running. Fueled by posts like ‘your running outfit looks like sh*t’ it implies that there is a right or a wrong way to assemble an outfit, a cool vs. not cool way of showing up to log some miles, esp if you’re going to log them with friends or where someone might see you running in your sh*tty outfit.

Even the fact that vintage running tees are now considered ‘trend’ as the anti-trend to the slicker more run bro brands, I can’t. And you know I love me a vintage tee more than anything in the world. We sell them at the store because it’s what i like to wear - vintage tee on the top, techy short on the bottom, bandit bra for the pockets. But let’s not call it a trend. Let’s just call it personal style. And the thing about where we’re at right now in running fashion is that there is literally a brand for everyone, no matter what your personal style might be. Instead of chasing trends, or calling out shitty running outfits (shitty is subjective, PS) can we not collectively just encourage people to find clothing that makes them feel good + gets them excited to get outside? I love brands like UNNA, Rytme, Pruzan etc because the clothing is so well designed it transcends running and can be worn mixed in with the rest of my closet. To me there’s value in this not because it’s considered ‘cool’ but because it feels like ‘me.’ The goal of the ‘running boom’ shouldn’t be to create a culture of run bro robots but to allow people the freedom of choosing what makes them feel good, to go + move their bodies in a way that also makes them feel good.

In the background of this ‘running boom’ is the idea the idea that a good running fit should be expensive and I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t. It’s easy to put together fashion forward fits if you have a lot of money and a lot of these fits influencers are shilling are expensive. Invest in the pieces you absolutely love + mix them in with the pieces you already own that you absolutely love. There is no right or wrong brand to wear, as long as it makes you feel good and doesn’t chafe the shit out of your thighs.

A Wrong : NikeSkims

I hate everything about this minus the athletes because Nike be Nike at least they got that part right. It feels dated and it feels like a cash grab from both Nike (who wants to appeal to women) and Skims (who wants to go public). The aesthetic screams 2015 Yeezy4 + I struggle with the military formation style photography in the year of the executive order when the National Guard is literally taking over major US cities. I also hate the tagline ‘Body Obsessed’ when Kris’s facelift has been covered by every major media outlet as if it’s the greatest invention of 2025. I’m not going to say she doesn’t look good nor am i going to say I’d never get it done but do we need to obsessively talk about how good she looks when she paid a lot of money to literally look that good?

A better tagline IMO would have been ‘performance obsessed’ because as a woman, this is what I want. As a female, I’ve been ‘body obsessed’ since I turned 13 and as I get older I still am but it’s less about how flat my stomach is (I’ve carried a child for 10 months - it will never again be flat) and more about how to I continue to perform + support my body as it changes. I want to continue to be active + run for a long time as well as a fun time and I want to invest in brands + clothes that support this. I’d like to be strong + fit when i’m 60 + I’m not talking about my jawline.