Tall Tara

This is Day 8 of a 21-Day Salute ™, an attempt to deprive myself of sleep and to express my gratitude for living where I do. I saw these series of posts on The Communicatrix (my very first blog crush) and when I asked, she encouraged me to copy her. Here are 21 days of my favorite products made in Boulder…or at least started here*…

Skirt Sports has been a godsend for women’s running. Before Skirt Sports, there were running shorts but to be honest, they were never that appealing. It seemed most of the gear I had was designed by a man for a woman and how it looked was of minimal concern. Times have changed…I can now wear a cute running skirt for a long training workout or wear my one-piece marathon dress on raceday.

Rocking the running dress on an attempt to summit Mt. Huron

Nicole DeBoom is the woman behind Skirt Sports and she has a good story. She grew tired of not finding any running gear that looked good on her. (Sound familiar?) So instead of getting frustrated, she got creative and created her own line of female fitness gear.

I love that despite the fact that she used to be a professional triathlete, she’s also a woman. And she wants her butt to look good while racing. Nothing wrong with that.

My first skirt was a triathlon transition skirt that I pulled on after the swim, for the bike and running portions of the race. It provided exactly what I needed and I was indeed hooked after that first test of the skirt.

My only complaint was that the skirt kept turning to the side...but that might have been user error.

Soon, I had skirts for the gym, skirts for running and skirts for races. Besides being comfortable, they’re cute and they make me feel better while running. Just because I’m out there working hard doesn’t mean I have to look like it. (I also think the skirts make me faster, but that claim is still under investigation.)

Boulder Backroads Half-Marathon 2006

I’m simply a big fan of the Skirt Sports brand and products. They’re all the rage around town, but I still notice that when I’m running in different parts of the country, there aren’t many other skirts out there. I get lots of questions and am always an evangelist for the brand because I think every woman deserves to look good while she’s running.

Running shorts and I broke up a long time ago. And I’m never going back.

*The skirts are not made in Boulder, but I feel like including them in this series because the company and the idea for the running skirts were.