My 2010 Racing Shirt - OK, I'm spending too much time on this
Posted March 19th, 2010 by Rambling Dave
For the past couple of years I have had a seasonal Racing Shirt. I am not fast – I am a participant, not a competitor – but it makes me feel good to have a shirt that I set aside for race day.
For this year I set out to find something really off the wall. Really different. After some searching I was forced to conclude that runners are just a very conservative bunch. It’s really hard to find a wacky running shirt. And, what wacky ones you can find typically have a decal which would be horrible because it wouldn’t breathe at all. After a bunch of internet searching I learned that it is possible to tie-dye polyester. I ordered special dyes. I had Brainsport bring me in an all white Sugoi running shirt. And, last night I made my attempts. I did two shirts.
This is shirt #1 – It’s an Adidas running shirt with black sides. I wasn’t sure what would happen with the black part of the shirt. Because of the black sides I thought some sort of tie-dye stripe would be the way to go (as opposed to a swirly pattern).
This is shirt #2 – It’s a Sugoi all white running shirt. On this one I intended to try the traditional tie-dye spiral. Much thanks to Ian at Brainsport for finding this one for me.
The internet has LOTS Of advice on tie-dying but I had to be a little creative with these shirts because polyester has to be simmered for one hour in a dye-bath (unlike a cotton t-shirt that can be dyed in minute by simply squirting the dye right on the dry shirt).
I tied the shirts in what I thought would be decent patterns and I started with purple – I did the top half of the Adidas in purple and one half of the Sugoi. You can see in this picture that I had to rig a method to keep one half of the Sugoi shirt out of the dye-bath. I suspended it from the pot handles.
The final results turned out to be WAY better than I hoped.
Shirt #1 – The Adidas. I call this one “Purple Rain.”
Shirt #2 – The Sugoi. I call this one “Iron Spiral.”
When I cross the finish line I will try and have a cooler look on my face that I have in this photo.
Which one do you like best - Purple Rain or Iron Spiral?
Hating both of them is a perfectly valid point of view.
_____
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Purple Rain all the way
Purple Rain all the way
Best shirt
We voted at work and it looks like purple rain is everyones #1 pick.
tie dye results
this is a tough one! they both turned out much better than i thought they would!
Purple Rain, Pros - looks kind of like the desert or something, and the adidas logo looks like the sun because of the camera flash, which is pretty cool. I also really like the color saturation. Cons - I feel like the actual 'tie dye' aspect is lacking - it's just a few stripes across the middle (and you know they say that horizontal stripes make you look wider - you should have done vertical).
Iron Spiral, Pros - It looks like authentic, old school tie dye. I also like that the shirt was all white to begin with, so that the stripes down the side don't detract from your efforts. Cons - Not enough color, a little too much blank space in the purple showing through.
My verdict - Rotate.
Funny thing is that I
Funny thing is that I thought I WAS doing vertical stripes.
Heh.
tie-dye
I like purple rain- this brings back memories of my tie-dying attempt form the 1970's when I did pillow cases, sheets, shirts and whatever else I could get my hands on.
Also- I think you are an inspiration to all residents of this fair city to set a goal and strive for it. Is it true that you have registerd for the Ironman Canada?? Keep on -run on.
Goal setting
Everyone is different when it comes to goals. I set them or else I don't do the work. Knowing I have the Sask Marathon in 10 weeks and then Ironman Canada 13 weeks after that motivates me to get out the door and get moving. After that it's Las Vegas Marathon and Boston Marathon. Then I don't know... got any ideas? I know I want to stop running LONG distances.
ANd, thanks for your kind words. As my lovely wife Heather likes to remind me I once said, "I can't imagine exercising just for exercise sake. It seems so boring." I am not really sure where the current version of me came from? I am far from a person who loves running or is addicted to it or whatever. But, I like the way I feel day to day. It's a shame that exercise doesn't show immediate results because if it did, everyone would do more of it. One has to stick to it for a few weeks to see results and, for me, those results are very motivating. At this point it had become about the Bucket List...
ist one forsure,, more diff.
ist one forsure,, more diff. & the 2nd one looks like just an old regular tye dye shirt...........
wow
Both are great Dave.. but my vote is with purple rain!
1st one Dave!!!
1st one Dave!!!
Well...
I have to say that the Iron Spiral is my fave! You came up with some neat patterns!
- Josh
Purple rain, not close.
Purple rain, not close.
1 vs 2
In pic # 1 you like a guy who just won a race in a really cool looking t. In pic # 2 you like some madman in a tie-dye. I say go for 1...or 2 would be fine if you are going for that madman look...but purple rain is way more cool!
I love the Iron Spiral.
I love the Iron Spiral.
Purple rain is more
Purple rain is more sophisticated!
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