Fight to the Finish (of this Blog Post)

Friday was "Finisher Shirt Friday."

That's a rather confusing name without context. There are a lot of things that can get finished. Is this a day to celebrate dining companions who ask "Are you going to finish those?" as they are reaching for your sweet potato fries (no that does NOT sound like anyone I know).

Running pride in my cube

While I would be all for a day to honor food—and drink—finishing friends (hey, some of us are helpers) "Finisher Shirt Friday" actually means "Wear a Shirt That You Got for Finishing a Race" day. Now I can REALLY get behind that, and having a reason/excuse to wear one of my race shirts. My collection of race t-shirts has built up surprisingly fast, and I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love getting them and always feels pretty proud that I've earned one, but it's pretty hard to wear them on a regular basis. They are usually ill-fitting and not that flattering, and don't work well with the rest of my wardrobe, not even jeans. They usually don't even work all that well as workout or running shirts for me (even though that is what they are intended to be).

There have been some notable exceptions. I love the hoodie that I got for finishing the Summit Race challenge last year. The shirt we got for Louisville's Urban Bourbon Half Marathon is also a favorite because of its awesome color. But neither of these seemed right for work (hoodie too hot, and proclaiming "bourbon" across my chest probably violates some work dress code).

But I was determined to celebrate this Facebook holiday so settled on last year's Get in Gear Half Marathon t-shirt. I love the bright orange color, and this year's Get in Gear is only days away and I'm anxiously waiting to find out what my newest shirt will look like. Plus, my employer encourages us to participate in it, so it seemed like a reasonable choice (although it does fit solidly in the "non-flattering" category). 

If I had any clothing design ability, I would create a line of finisher shirts that would have at least one desirable quality (comfortable/sexy/professional/useful). Or perhaps a magical line of skirts that one could wear with finisher shirts that would bring out one of these qualities in them? I actually thought I saw a cute, casual skirt that might work with different finisher shirts a week ago at a locally owned NE clothing store. I was so intrigued I actually went back to buy it even though it wasn't on sale, but there was no trace of it. Did I dream it?

At least there's one day set aside to celebrate and wear finisher shirts, but I'm really out of luck with race medals. And again, I love getting medals. They make me feel awesome and it's fun to see what they look like. But where in the world am I going to put all of them, much less wear them? Besides when attending the official post-race party or bar-hoping immediately after the race, there's no place I can think of to wear a race medal.

Thank heavens for Facebook so I can at least post photos of all my race bling. What did runners do before social media?