Okay, truth be told, I had never heard of Oiselle Running Clothes before.  But their name kept popping up on Twitter and I saw a couple of the people I follow were their Ambassadors.  I am shamelessly looking for sponsors so I checked out the Oiselle Ambassador Program.

I went to their website and realized Oiselle was a women’s running apparel company. From their website: “Oiselle was founded on the basic premise that running is more than a sport. It is a life philosophy that has the power to strengthen us – not just as athletes, but as people, teammates, leaders and women.”

Then I saw the Ambassadors and was completely intimidated.  Again, from their website: “The women who represent Oiselle are strong, resilient, inspiring runners whose healthy, pure love of the run can’t be ignored. Our team is a versatile group of women with different backgrounds, accomplishments and goals, all striving to run with all their strength, heart and talent.”

Hmmm. I struggle with the run but am learning to love it.  The website also says that Ambassadors are expected to use – you guessed it – Oiselle clothing and there is a savvy suggestion to think about this before applying.  Since I had never heard of the company, I figured I could purchase something and try it out before going through the application process.  I wouldn’t want to sign up to be an Ambassador for something I didn’t like.  In theory that sounded great, but then I remembered I promised my family no more spending on anything fitness related – equipment, races, blog or clothing!  My self-imposed budget for the year had already been allocated and by golly I was going to stick to it.

I wrote Kristin, Program Coordinator, an email explaining my dilemma and pretty much ruling myself out of contention.  Much to my surprise, I heard back from her that they are sending me an outfit to try out, wash, and try out again so that I can see if I like it or not.  Wow.  I was totally impressed.

I saw the shorts, called Distance Shortsand realized they were running shorts.  I tend to wear tight/lycra like shorts so I thought “I never wear running shorts, this is not going to be good.” The shirt I LOVED from the get go.  I love the color, that it says runrunrunrunrun and I love the cut.

So, I set out for my first trial run with some real running clothes.  Until this point, I don’t think I ever wore any running specific attire … EVER.   I set out for my track workout, totally four miles.  At first I was a little self conscious about the shorts but quickly got over it.  The shorts were cool, literally.  They come with underwear, pockets and a zipper on the back.  They stayed in place, they didn’t “ride up”, and I was pleasantly surprised.  The shirt felt soft like cotton, but when wet it didn’t stick like cotton.  However, I do live in Miami and it is hot.  This shirt’s material doesn’t help cooling things off and I thought if I get any hotter this thing is going to soak through and it is going to get heavy.

I washed the clothes and they came out looking and “sizing” exactly the same.   “That’s different” I thought.  So next up was my long run of ten miles.  I woke up to pouring rain so the run would have to be on a treadmill which I really do not enjoy.  The treadmill is in a tiny gym in my building, and it gets hot in there.I ran those ten miles pretty hard, and I was soaking wet.  Much to my surprise, the shirt did not get heavy and feel like a wet cotton shirt.  It did get drenched but did not glue to my body.  And the shorts … talk about love.  They were dripping wet, I mean, sweat was literally dripping from them, but they did not feel sticky at all. Both felt cool and the shorts dried up very quickly.

Shorts were almost dry by the time I got home! So what is my impression of Oiselle? What an awesome discovery!  The clothes fit great, felt great and stayed true even after washing.  Am I going to apply to be an Oiselle Ambassador having to use their clothing on my runs & run races? You bet!  Hopefully I get in, but even if I don’t, I definitely need to set budget aside next year for some more of this women’s running line.