The Shirt I Hardly Wear...

I have a lot of race t shirts. More like a ton of them. there are some I wear on a regular basis and there are some I have never worn once. Some are great looking and some are horrible. Some fit me great and others don't, but there is one shirt that I really thought I would wear alot and I don't...

My Redman 140.6 Finisher shirt.

Mine is white with red letters

I bet you I have not worn that shirt more than 5 times since I completed the course. I started thinking about this the other day when I wore it to church on Sunday night. I really like the shirt and it fits well. I am also very proud of my finish, but for some reason, I just do not wear it often.

And I do not really know why. Every race I go to, I see IM finisher shirt, visors, jackets, you name it. Yes, even at kids triathlons. I wear other race shirts alot, but for me, this one is special I guess, or maybe it's not special. I don't really know. Many people have said that they like my shirt and want to get one, which I tell them this shirt was not given to me, but that I earned it. They can't just go pick one up!

Maybe it is something that I am treasuring and don't want to wear it out. It's weird and as I am sitting here in the ATL airport typing this, I am struggling to come up with a good answer or even figure out if there is an answer?

I think part of me thinks I know I could should have done better, maybe I am not happy with my time? Maybe next year when I go back to conquer Redman 2015, I will crush my old time and then I will wear that shirt with more pride.

Or maybe I need my plane to board so I can go to sleep!

Am I a Race T Shirt Bully?

The other night at church, my bride told me she saw several people wearing the 2012 St Jude Marathon race shirt while she was walking the halls. For some reason, I always think that there is some kindred bond that we have when I see someone wearing a shirt of a race that we ran together. A marathon shirt none the less is extra special, because I know the time, effort and pain that can go into a marathon.

So my question to my bride was "who was it? Did you know him?" She then proceeded to name a few guys I knew that ran the race, but then she said this, and I am going to paraphrase. There was one guy I asked about it and he said that he did not run the race, his dad works for the race and he got a lot of free shirts. Automatically, I immediately turn into these guys:



Yes, I turn into Cedric and Bob when I see some wearing a race shirt they did not run (unless it is a spouse, they put up with the other spouse training, so they get a pass) or if I see someone wearing the race shirt prior to finishing the race. Call me superstitious if you want, but you won't catch me in that position!

So, as we were leaving church the guy was walking out right in front of us. My bride nudged me and said "That's the guy, that's the guy who is wearing the shirt who did not run the race!" So I wanted to walk up to him and say in my best Hispanic accent:

 So, are you the guy who is wearing the shirt without running the race?  Are you going to run the race in order to wear the shirt? I wear the shirt and I ran the race. He ran the race and he is wearing the shirt, we are all wearing the shirts and we all ran the race, so why aren't you going to run the race? I guess we are just going to have to teach him to run the race if he wants to wear the shirt!

But, I didn't. I mean, Yeah, it does bug me to see people wearing race shirts they did not run, or to see people wearing the race shirt before they actually finish the race, but it is a personal hang up of mine. My bride gets on to me because I will not donate race shirts to the needy because they did not run the race and earn the shirts! Maybe this is something I will back off of one day, and maybe I am just kidding about all this!(Not really)  Honestly, I am getting so many that I try to give them to my wife to wear, because let's be real, after about 4-5 years of racing, most shirts do not mean as much to me, and I only wear certain ones. I do like to start up a conversation with people if I see they have the same shirt on though!

So, what is your stand on race shirts and people wearing them before a race or wearing them when they did not run the race? Are you a race t-shirt bully like me?