Ok, this post is going to have some straight shooting talk. We're going to need to approach a topic you don't often engage in. We're going downtown, we're talking underwear. More specifically: running underwear. Everything else you wear for running is specialized: your shirt, your shoes, your shorts and tights, your socks, even your hat and your sunglasses, but what about your underwear? Everything deserves that high level of attention. Everything.
What do you have for me and the boys?
(Image courtesy of https://www.aerodaks.com/about)
Ground level
I want to start by laying out the ground level for me. For starters, I'm traditionally a boxer briefs guy, in my daily life and for running. I use athletic ones for running, but nothing actually design for or by runners. Second, I'm a bigger guy. I'm not your "traditional" runner build. I'm not saying I'm huge, but I'm not saying I'm in shape and just not a "normal" runner. I'm need to (and am working on) losing weight. But I am who I am. My body type just does play into testing something such as this product more than other products. I felt important to set this understanding first.
How do they feel?
While I'm not going to be switching away from my daily boxer briefs, trying these running briefs on were comfortable. They're very lightweight and breathable with a comfy fit. All the marketing about the fabric and the design holds up in the fit. Even being on the top end of the sizes the offer, they still fit me comfortably.
For my running, I actually had two different results. First, I ran with them in a more traditional outfit, under my running shorts. On that run, the underwear themselves performed well. They were comfortable, kept everything in place, and breathed well. While the underwear performed well, things weren't all perfect. Unfortunately, something you often have to deal with as a bigger runner is rubbing, and then the possibility of chafing. However, my thighs were not so lucky. I wear some looser shorts, so with just the briefs, there was some rubbing of my legs together. Now, it didn't get to the level of chafing, but had that potential. Now, just to reiterate, where the underwear was concerned, zero chafing.
This was a little bit of a let down, because the product themselves worked well, but in this case, they just didn't seem to work for me. As fate out have it, some cooler weather presented me with another option to test out, which i hadn't fully thought of on my own. On another run, I wore my AERODAKS running briefs in conjunction with my 2XU Elite MCS Compression Tights. You see, one of my pain points when wearing tights is that the boxer briefs are a little uncomfortable underneath. It's always chore to get them on without bunching at the bottom a little and other small annoyances. However, while I can acknowledge that going commando in tights is a legitimate option, I just can't bring myself to do so. Enter the AERODAKS. When paired with my tights on the run, I had an all around good experience. The underwear breathe, move with me, and keep everything where it should be. With the tights covering the areas outside the realm of the underwear, there was no other friction to cause discomfort, for an all around great feeling run. I found the way in which these underwear would work for me.
For my running, I actually had two different results. First, I ran with them in a more traditional outfit, under my running shorts. On that run, the underwear themselves performed well. They were comfortable, kept everything in place, and breathed well. While the underwear performed well, things weren't all perfect. Unfortunately, something you often have to deal with as a bigger runner is rubbing, and then the possibility of chafing. However, my thighs were not so lucky. I wear some looser shorts, so with just the briefs, there was some rubbing of my legs together. Now, it didn't get to the level of chafing, but had that potential. Now, just to reiterate, where the underwear was concerned, zero chafing.
This was a little bit of a let down, because the product themselves worked well, but in this case, they just didn't seem to work for me. As fate out have it, some cooler weather presented me with another option to test out, which i hadn't fully thought of on my own. On another run, I wore my AERODAKS running briefs in conjunction with my 2XU Elite MCS Compression Tights. You see, one of my pain points when wearing tights is that the boxer briefs are a little uncomfortable underneath. It's always chore to get them on without bunching at the bottom a little and other small annoyances. However, while I can acknowledge that going commando in tights is a legitimate option, I just can't bring myself to do so. Enter the AERODAKS. When paired with my tights on the run, I had an all around good experience. The underwear breathe, move with me, and keep everything where it should be. With the tights covering the areas outside the realm of the underwear, there was no other friction to cause discomfort, for an all around great feeling run. I found the way in which these underwear would work for me.
The Takeaway
I can say that I'm on who's never put much thought into my running underwear. I thought enough to pick some "athletic underwear" from the store, and it worked well enough so I just went with it. My experience with these running briefs shows me the value in paying attention here as well. Sure, when you are just out on a random Tuesday run, any "tech" shirt will do, but when you're running 13.1 miles on race day, you pick your high quality gear. Why doesn't a very important are get that same attention? While the briefs are not for me all the time, these will be getting a lot of use (with washes in between of course) all winter when I run in my compression and thermal tights. I do prefer these over my boxer briefs in this case and solves an annoyance I already had but never addressed. Despite being a big guy, the briefs still worked out for me. I would like to see what they could do if they put their attention to making some boxer briefs, but their story was about solving their need, which in turn solved one of mine. Don't over look this area any longer when it comes to gearing up.
#bibchat
This week's #bibchat will of course feature AERODAKS. Stop by on Tuesday, November 29th at 9pm EST to join in the good times that is bibchat. Interact with the team, with other BibRavePros, and all the other like minded runners that participate each week. You can plan on a giveaway as we always do, so there's always that added bonus for showing up.
Do you have special runderwear? What do you wear?
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Ok, I tried to be mature, but all post I fought back using Austin Powers euphemisms, so I have to at least leave you with a gif (AERODAKS NOT pictured below)
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