Transitional weather, what do I wear?

Let's face it, when the forecast looks like it's on an automated loop week after week in summer, or winter, it is fairly easy to know what to wear when you run. 

Spring and autumn, they are more than a little tricky and require a lot more thought. 

In my area, we've had the strangest transition to the 'cooler' months I can recall in over two decades. Even though this July and August were two of the coolest on record and this September has had some near record highs already. 

The distance as well as the planned effort play into what I wear, but even if I plan on a very sweaty and hot 14 mile run, the first few miles I need something to keep my body warm as I start out, cramps from the cold are something I avoid. I used to wear a short sleeve shirt with a long sleeve shirt over it that I could pull off mid-run and a pair of pants that I was cursing by the time I hit mile 6 or 7 because I did not want to have cramping cold legs, but half my run overly hot was not what I wanted, either. I still do the two shirt method, but have found a better solution for my lower half!

Doing some research and trying on many different pants, capris and shorts I found what has been the best solution for me and I hope you'll like this, too!

Laser cut capri!  Mine came from Athleta and wow, I don't think I could love them more!  I initially wore them as part of an over 200 mile relay race where I, like most of my team, had one run in the middle of the night and at higher elevations where it was cooler, but also my toughest of the three legs I was running. I chose these capris because the 'lattice cut' design on the sides of the legs allowed air flow and a feeling of cooling, but still kept my legs covered and let's face it, the compression of a longer pant feels so nice on a long run, too! After several washes they have held up very well, I was quite concerned about the laser cuts unraveling or stretching out. Has not been the case at all. They look brand new each time I put them on. I have a 15K early on Sunday morning, I'll be wearing them in that race and plan to wear them in the Feb and March in Wilmington and Roanoke. Hope you'll join me for those races and give the laser cut capris a try as well!