#xracewear

[i-am-a-social-experiment]

5.29 mile trail run in the OCR-retired Inov-8 Xtalons and my X Racewear calf/arm sleeves (depending on the day😉). #trailrunning #run #running #marathontraining #tomtom #gps #fitstagram #fitness #ocr #dowork #inov8 #xracewear #coldweatherrunning #stayhungry #cantstopwontstop

[runnersbreakfast]

Product review: XRACEWEAR no safety pin tank top

Are you a runner who hates poking holes in your shirts to pin on race bibs? Can't get the bib belt to stop flapping? XRACEWEAR just might have your answer.

Enter: The no safety pin women's racer tank, complete with a pocket for your race bib.

I am always up for an entrepreneur with a unique solution, so I was pretty excited when XRACEWEAR sent me this tank top to review. It came just in time to give it a try in my 12K. I figured that'd be a great distance. 5K is too short to notice any problems. Half marathon is too long to deal with any problems. So the Dot US National Road Racing Championships 12K it was. 

Bib feature aside, this running tank is SO comfortable. Light weight, quick dry and so soft. Even if they made it without the bib pocket, I'd buy. 

So here were my concerns:

1. That the area around the pocket (which zips up top) would chafe my stomach on long races. Concern busted: No chafing or rubbing at all. Couldn't even feel it. The zipper is super light weight and very easy to zip.

2. That it would be hard to see my bib number through the mesh. I knew this wouldn't be a problem for timing, but I was worried for the races where you can search for your photos by bib number. Would the photographers be able to see my number in pictures? Yes. Concern busted: Number must have been easy to see because people were cheering on 270 (my bib number) from quite a bit away. The picture above doesn't quite do it justice. I blame Instagram.

I ran one ROC (Ridiculous Obstacle Course) race and the entire time I was horrified that one of my safety pins would come undone and jab me in the stomach. Two of them came undone throughout the race - luckily, thanks to my compulsive checking, I caught those pointy suckers before they got to me. For regular races, safety pins don't generally bother me, but anytime I run a ROC race or mudrud, this is definitely the shirt I'll wear. I can't even believe how much more enjoyable my experience would have been if I wasn't a safety-pin-anxiety mess.

These shirts retail on the XRACEWEAR website for $29.99 which is not far out of the range of other name-brand running tops. 

Things I wish:

1. That this tank came in other colors. Right now it only comes in black which can be hard to spot in a sea of runners on race day. I always go neon -- it's the closest thing to a "Hi Mom!" sign I can run in. Also, I would be concerned to run in the dark. The men's shirts come in an awesome red. 

2. That they would release the T-shirt and shorts for women. I lucked out that the weather for my race this weekend was warm. I have seen people layer these tanks on top of other shirts for mudruns. I'd definitely do that, for a mudrun, but not for a regular race. Can't do layers in a race. The good news is, these products are on their way out. For men, you've got a few more options on the site. 

WARNING: These run slim. If in doubt, go a size up.

A note on the company: These guys are awesome on social media. I am a sucker for a company that is awesome on social media. Here is their Facebook page and here is their Twitter.

Bottom line: Great product. I definitely recommend the tank and I plan to buy one of the shirts when they come out. I am curious to read reviews of the shorts, but based on reviews of the men's shorts, I have high hopes!

Have you tried XRACEWEAR products? What did you think?