Can We Talk About What You Are Wearing?

Or more importantly what I am wearing? 

It's springtime in Oklahoma, which in Oklahoma terms means it's similar to summer in other regions of the country.  Can I be straight with you?  I hate wearing shorts.  I'm not sure when this happened, but I do.

Don't get me wrong.  I am a runner.  {Although, I feel less and less like one lately, but I have issues.}  The issue here today is my issue with shorts.  But I am a runner, and in Oklahoma heat of spring, summer, and even fall, I wear shorts to run in.  All.  The.  Time. 



Fall Classic Duathlon 2009

I love this picture, and I am wearing shorts.  Although this is a duathlon and I would never wear shorts like these for a race like that again.  Tri shorts are the way to go. 
***Side Note: I have said this before but the best way to finish a race is to have someone hand you a beer in a souvenir glass.  I believe the beer I am holding here is the best beer I've ever had. ***

 Two pictures of me and my 2011 Partner In Crime, Abby.  After the Rock N Roll, I was sure wishing I weren't wearing shorts.  It was was a long cold walk to the train that day.  But we sure looked cute that day.

And then there was the OKC Memorial Marathon last year.  Yep, I wore shorts, what I really could have used was a wet suit.  My legs were so frozen after that race.  Don't get me started on how far you have to walk at the end of a marathon to get your food, beverage and finisher shirt; I think there should be a fleet of wheelchairs to wheel the marathoners through the finisher's area and back to your car.  A girl can dream, can't she?

Anyway, back to my original topic of shorts.  I don't understand how I can wear shorts whenever I'm going to go out to pound the pavement, but I shy away from them in my regular life.  Maybe running is my regular life.  I can wear my running shorts in my non-running life and feel perfectly comfortable in them, but other types of shorts make me uncomfortable and self conscious. 

When I wear non-running shorts I am always worried they are too short, or my legs are too white, or too skinny, or too whatever.  Maybe the real issue is that it can be such a bother to shave my legs?  I'm not even gonna go there.  Maybe I just feel like when I'm running my legs are moving too fast {in my mind they feel fast} to be judged. 

We bought Carson a pair of jean shorts last weekend.  The length of them scares the hell out of me.  I guess I need to be glad that she wants to wear them, and hope that she will grow up not having issues with her body that would prevent her from wearing something that looks really cute on her.

Women can be so hard on ourselves.  How do we get these altered images of ourselves in our heads?  How do we get them out?