The Pacekeeper

My renewed commitment to running has given me the urge to update my running wardrobe, which consists mainly of sports bras circa 1999, various free, oversized t-shirts accumulated in college and egregiously short shorts. In addition to making me look kind of like a hobo, this array of cotton ensembles doesn’t do much to fend off the summer stickiness.

However, my quest for cool (literally and figuratively) gear is usually halted at the steep prices accompanying promises of “microfiber,” “wick-away” or “dry fit” material.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to paying full price. Check out a few I’ve found:

Shop It To Me Running: This site alerts you when your favorite brands go on sale online. When you sign up you indicate your brands of preference for clothes and shoes, your size and how frequently you’d like Shop it to Me to notify you about deals.  After you register, Shop it to Me will peruse popular sites, like Foot Locker, Finish Line and Sports Authority, for deals and email you a summary. While most experts probably wouldn’t recommend buying shoes online (you really need to try them out), if you know your size for shorts and tops, this is an efficient way to scan the internet for bargains. In my first alert I found shorts priced at $12 and tops for around $20. And, Chicagoans like myself will be grateful to circumvent the city’s hefty sales tax.

“Bargain Basement”-Type Stores: You probably already recognize stores like Filenes Basement, Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls and TJ Maxx (as well as countless others) for offering designer clothes at an affordable price, but you may not have realized that they also have a stock of name-brand active wear. Sometimes this means digging through cluttered displays and misplaced sizes, but a little patience can go a long way.  I found Adidas, Nike and Reebok running tops for about half of their original prices at Nordstrom Rack.

Outlets: Again, this is somewhere you’d normally turn for mark-downed clothes, and running apparel shouldn’t be an exception (after all, it doesn’t matter if your gear is “out of season”). Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Reebok are among some of the brands that have outlet or factory store locations throughout the U.S.