Leggings Love and Warm Arms for Long Runs

My favorite gear for transitional weather

*Required disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this; I am a member of the Oiselle Volee running team, but I bought the gear and this is my honest opinion. In addition, this post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my links I get a small (at no cost to you!) commission. I promise to only link products that I'd recommend and use myself. I strongly encourage you to first consider shopping small and locally, even if it means I don't get the referral commission. Otherwise I really appreciate your support.

I am not a leggings kinda person. I'll wear them for climbing and yoga, and that's it. Even when it's horribly cold I'm the person who lounges around in shorts and goes running in shorts. It's partly because it's never quite that cold in North Carolina to necessitate getting really bundled up, and partly because it's just not that comfortable to me - leggings ride up awkwardly, they cling in places I want a little more room, and they chafe on long runs.

So the other day when I was browsing gear at one of my local running stores I picked up a pair of leggings to try on - mostly out of a little self-Schadenfreude (but also because of their crazy rad print). And - shocking! - they fit in all the right places! I couldn't believe it!

"Take my money!" I cried and those bright geometric print beauties* were mine.

When I showed up on Saturday for the ten mile long run in my new Oiselle KC leggings* all my running buddies gasped, "Liz! You're wearing leggings!" Yep, and stupidly or bravely I was willing to give them a try for the first time on a long run. (Do as I say and not as I do; don't try new gear on long runs - you don't want to find out on mile 3 that somethings rubs you wrong and you've got 7 more miles to go!) But I lucked out: they held up well throughout the long run and throughout the morning, picking up compliments on the running trail and at the coffeeshop after the run.

And with the NC weather being so fickle this month, leggings are actually a good idea considering my alternatives are shorts or fleece-lined pants.

Even better for this fickle weather? Arm warmers! These Oiselle arm warmers* that I picked up with the leggings are made of the softest wicking material and look pretty snazzy, though they started cutting into my biceps after a while (on the other hand, they're nice and snug and won't fall down! Hopefully I'll wear them in and they won't be so tight).

The arm warmers were great for variable weather though - at the beginning of the long run temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and the arm warmers kept me warm while on mile 8 temperatures creeped into the mid-50s and I felt a little too toasty so I just shoved the arm warmers down my arms. Worked like a charm! NC weather with its crazy mood swings between freezing and balmy within just a few hours has met its match!

Now I just need to get the rest of my training runs done for my spring half marathon!

Got any new gear you've been enjoying lately? How do you handle mood swing weather?