Sweat Fashion

Left to right: Yellow shawl-collar hoody, $29.50, from American Eagle; Gray zip-up sweatshirt, $15, from Old Navy; Gray striped hoody, $19.50, from Wet Seal; Purple warm-up jacket, $22.50, from Sierra Trading Post; Orange Tigers sweatshirt (available in other teams), $54.40, from Victoria's Secret Pink.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I am a former lazybones non-athlete, who has, by sheer force of will, turned myself into a runner (and by "run" I mean "jog at a pace where I get passed by old men who are walking"). A year and a half ago, when I started running, I thought that it would be difficult to motivate myself for a while, but then I would get that "runner's high" I'd been hearing so much about, and I would become "addicted" to exercise. Let me be the first to tell you, people who tell you that stuff must be bathing swine, because that is all a bunch of hogwash. Sure, I feel better when I exercise than when I don't, but that doesn't mean I wake up every morning bursting with excitement to go get my running shoes on and get out the door. Left to right: Navy and green sports bra, $24.50, from American Eagle; Orange mesh bra, $15, from Old Navy; Violet sports bra, $17, from Sierra Trading Post; Pink racerback, $15, by Champion from Amazon.com; Black and tan sports bra, $29, from Athleta.

And now that I am training for a marathon, that means that every single day is a challenge in overcoming my own excuses and procrastinations and motivating myself. To that end, I need all the help I can get. One big motivator is self-bribery ("there's a frozen Milky Way in the fridge for you if you do six miles"), another is an iPod loaded with great tunes, and the third, and arguable the most important, is owning really, really cute workout cloths.Left to right: Blue floral V-neck, $28, from Project Red by Gap; Crossword tank, $11, from Forever 21; Red and white tie-dye tank, $4, from Walmart; Blue and white striped tank, $3, from Wet Seal; Yellow polka-dot tank, $9, from Charlotte Russe.

I'm not sure why otherwise-stylish people believe that it is perfectly acceptable to leave the house in ratty old shorts and their dad's old Notre Dame sweatshirt, eight sizes to big, just because they plan to sweat. You're going to all the trouble to stay in shape- you should look good while doing it. But there's no need to run up credit card debt to obtain cute exercise clothes- there are tons of really inexpensive, and really cute, options out there. Besides, chances are you're moving too fast for anyone to see your labels, anyway.Left to right: Gray yoga pants, $29.50, from American Eagle; Black running pants, $69, from Athleta; Royal blue fleece shorts, $10, from Old Navy; Black cut-away running shorts, $28, from Adidas.com; Light gray yoga pants, $14, from Charlotte Russe; Tight black running shorts, $28, from Road Runner Sports; Black shorts with yellow detail, $8, from Danskin Now at Walmart.

In addition the the usual suspects (Adidas, Nike, etc), check out these websites for other great options:
Amazon.com
Athleta
LuluLemon
Old Navy
American Eagle
Target
Victoria's Secret
ShopBop
Forever 21
Wet Seal
Charlotte Russe
Bluefly
The Gap
Sierra Trading Post
Road Runner Sports
Walmart