Run like a dirty geezer!

At the beginning of 2010, Mrs Notthat and I started getting more serious about doing trail races. We also started to get serious about hating to stop and dig trail debris such as pebbles, sticks, and small critters out of our shoes.

A visit to our local Zombie Runner store fixed that problem. At the time they carried a nice selection of Running Funky gaiters. While Mrs Notthat opted for black (yawn), I chose these.

The colors were much perkier when new. They really set off my eyes.

These things were fantastic at keeping things from getting into my shoes, plus they kept the mud and various prickly things from turning my shoelaces into a fussy mess.

But it turns out that you can wear out your gaiters, and these needed to be retired. Unfortunately, Zombie Runner stopped carrying any but the most basic colors (black), and I despaired. Weird Haired Mom found a bunch on clearance at a RoadRunner store, so I ended up with a pair of bright blue (which went with nothing I had) and pink camouflage (which also went with nothing I had, but made it harder for others to see my feet and work out how slow they really moved).

Earlier this year WHM and the grandkids surprised Mrs Notthat and I with some custom gaiters.

I loved these and wore them a lot, but then the paint she used started to have issues, and so I stopped wearing them since I wanted to keep them whole.

So now I was back to wearing my uninspiring ones. If I wanted a bit of style, I would have to order my next pair online. Eirrac (not her real name) had told me about Dirty Girl gaiters, so I took a chance and Googled them (you can get a lot of, ummmm, interesting hits if you type this a bit wrong).

A cool thing is that they turn the profits back into the running community. A cooler thing is that they have a great selection of styles available, and a number of them were on sale.

A sad thing was that I was unable to place an order - every time I tried I kept getting told I had left out something important. So I sent them an email on Saturday the 22nd explaining the issue, and on Sunday morning I got a response that their webmaster goddess was being naughty and that the issue had been fixed (mostly their words, not mine). Included in the email was a coupon code I could use for my trouble.

And on Sunday evening I placed the order and all was well. I thanked them for the coupon code but didn't use it since it wasn't really that much trouble and I liked that the profits were being used for noble purposes. (PLEASE don't tell Mrs Notthat about this. She has never met a coupon code she didn't like and would be horrified to hear that I did this, noble or not.)

On Monday the 24th I got a shipment notice. I had high hopes of getting these in time for my race on Saturday the 29th, but had doubts due to the holidays.

Mrs Notthat didn't want any at first, but then she saw the blue lightening ones and picked them. The other two pair are mine. They seem like nice neutral colors that will go with any shoes.

On Wednesday the 26th they arrived! And they were stunning! (And included enough velcro to outfit a small army of shoes, which Mrs Notthat and I seem to have.) There was also an iron-on patch that Mrs is going to attach to her backpack. (I love the tagline "Run like a dirty girl!" More appropriate for me would be "Run like a dirty geezer!")

And then I got a notice that they had applied my coupon code anyway, and I was getting a refund. (Mrs Notthat - you can stop muttering rude things under your breath now.)

I've already managed to get one pair covered in mud, and will likely get the second pair even more muddy on Saturday. These things are great, and I can't stress enough how valuable they are when running on trails (unless you like the break you get when you have to stop and dig stuff out of your shoes).

And who can't use a bit of fashion on the trails? Thanks to Dirty Girl Gaiters I will be starting the new year if fine style!

That's it - move along…