Running gear - disappointed

[Akallover]

Hi everyone. Seeing the posts about running gear from Decathlon I went to my local branch today hoping to get a few tops and maybe a running jacket. I have some lovely Nike & Adidas tops in my "keep fit" drawer but sadly they were bought when I was a lot younger and lighter. I won't chuck them out though as they are still in good nick and I aim to get back into them some day. Anyway, when I got to the shop I was quite disappointed. I looked at the women's running section and saw a nice pink rain-jacket with hood but even in Extra Large I could not zip it up. I am a size 18 in regular clothes (having once been size 22 but on the other hand having once been size 10 but hey ho!) and was a bit miffed that their biggest female size was too tight. The same went for another long-sleeved top - fitted it where it touched and made me look like a couple of ferrets were trying to escape. There was stuff in the men's section but it was all grey and black and did not appeal.

Anyway, week 2 run 1 tomorrow - once I put the holes in the bin liner I'll be well away

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

It’s irritating that sportswear companies tend to assume we are all athletic looking and both size and cut according to this assumption... we don’t start out as athletes! Do they do other sizes online? Maybe they were just out.

Contra movement was set up by parkrun’s founder and one of their missions is to supply gear for all body shapes and sizes... they’re non-profit too with all profits going into parkrun. contra-movement.com/ could be worth a look.

[MuddledGardener Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

I was going to suggest Contra, too. 😊

[ChoosingHappy Graduate]

I found decathalon weren't very generous with their sizes too, especially the sports bras - I was almost trapped in their apparent XXL when I'm a 16!

Sainsbury's have a clothes sale at the moment and I picked up a few vests pretty cheap. I've also managed to find a few bits in charity shop - I enjoy having a new search purpose in those now! 😄

[Akallover in reply to ChoosingHappy]

thank you ChoosingHappy; I will pop into Aldi and Lidl as suggested by others but will also look at Sainsbury's as I have got some Nectar points I could use up wisely, rather than waste on stuff I don't need. Problem is so many shops have shut and dinosaur that I am, I do not do online clothes shopping. I have got a John Lewis voucher from when I left work so may have a look in their sports section

[Onewomanscrusade Graduate]

It’s really disheartening when that happens. I went into h and m recently and all the shorts I liked only went to size 14!

The sports shop should really know better tho ☹️

[ArthurJG Graduate]

Another vote for Contra from me. It’s a new enterprise so the range of styles and colours isn’t the widest but they do have a wide range of sizes. I have a couple of their running T shirts - one with long sleeves and one with short - and find them really comfortable.

[davelinks Graduate]

Contra are good, but don't do a rain jacket (yet) Lidl & Aldi sometimes do running gear at reasonable prices, may have a rain jacket there, or then there's the reputable high st running shops, runners need, up & running, Sweatshop, or Mountain warehouse or Black's shops may have a breathable light weight rain jacket.

[Akallover in reply to davelinks]

thank you davelinks; I have seen some newspaper ads for Lidl and Aldi before I started Couchto5K so will have a look in there.

[MuddledGardener Graduate]

I got my rain jacket from Karrimor. Really decent price, and very roomy.

[MuddledGardener Graduate]

Mountain Warehouse also do good cheap tops. 😊

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to MuddledGardener]

Yes: good hillwalking gear needs to be lightweight, breathable, wicking and quick-drying. Just like running gear! I often wear hillwalking polo shirts for running.

[2718281 Graduate]

Hi, I'm sorry you had that experience at decathlon, it's really frustrating! I buy online, they don't do it for all the models but some of them they have 2 and 3 XL, the last T-Shirt I got was 2XL and equivalent to a 20UK. But I've noticed that different models in the same size can be very different...

[Akallover in reply to 2718281]

thank you. Yes the one I bought had a label saying size 20 GB. It was £6.99 though they had some cheaper than that. I will wear it for my run tomorrow and see if it makes me go any quicker lol

[2718281 Graduate in reply to Akallover]

You'll be faster than ever