Funki Steeplechase leggings

This is my first time running in less than tropical conditions, so when Melissa posted about a sale at Funkifabrics a couple a weeks ago, I thought it was time to give them a try.  I bought a metre of FL0134 fracture purple printed titan and made it up into a full length pair of steeplechase leggings.

Melissa did a great review of funkifabrics technical fabrics, but the temperatures that she considers warm (15 - 17°C) are temperatures that I find cold.  Up until now, most of my running has been done at 25° to 32°C.  Once, I ran in Brisbane, at 12°C, and my ears hurt, my hands hurt and I wore 2 t-shirts.  Call me soft :)  So anyway, last weekend we had a cool moment of only 12°C when I started my weekly longer, slower run and seeing as I had made these leggings just the day before, it was perfect timing to test them out.

First up, I didn't know whether to wear my knee guard inside or outside of the leggings.  I have never worn full length leggings to run in, and I thought if I put it under, I would not be able to access it if I wanted to adjust it, but if I put it on the outside, it might slip around on the lycra.  I chose outside.  Big mistake.  Even when it was done up so tight it was cutting off my circulation, it still slipped down and I fussed with it the whole run.  I don't have to wear it.  My current physio is not convinced the braces help (her words...they are like "farting against thunder"), but I wasn't wearing it in the months leading up to my current need for physio, so I have decided to go back to it.  I am allergic to tape.

Apart from that, how did the fabric go?  Well, at the 1.5 km mark my legs started feeling warm.  Not enough to bother me, but enough for me to notice.  At the 5 - 6 km mark, I was running in the rising sun by the waterfront, and I would have happily swapped my leggings for a pair of shorts.  I ran 10 km in total, and whilst I was "warm", it wasn't like that feeling when I wear synthetic clothing and I start to sweat and prickle and get irritated.  10 minutes after I stopped running, I went in search of a jumper as the day was still cold.  When I took off my knee brace, the area under the brace was wet, which means that the fabric must have been wicking moisture away from everywhere else, the brace just stopped the water escaping.

I did buy this same fabric in another print, but I think I will use it for a capri version, to eliminate the knee brace issue.  I have taken up cycling, on the recommendation of my physio, so might save these full length ones for that (and hello...duathlons and surf-to-summit...nothing like needing to sew new clothes for a new hobby!)

Now, some notes about the pattern, as a record for next time.
- I started with my test version of the pattern, as it was already cut out
- I shortened the upper leg by 3cm.  This gave me the right length, but I should have checked that my marks for each side of the leg still matched up before I cut it out.  I didn't, and the pieces didn't match so I had to ease the legs together at the back.  This had made the back thigh area a bit loose, as you can see in the photo below (well, maybe you can't see, if you don't know where to look...the unusual seaming on this pattern combined with the graphic print might make it a tad hard to spot) .  For my own reference, I have corrected this on my pattern for next time.

- I lowered the front rise by 3 cm
- I used 4 cm wide elastic instead of 2 cm.  I have a long torso, so Melissa's pattern don't reach anywhere near my natural waist.  I don't know if it is my long torso, or the having had 3 babies thing, but I prefer to wear my pants under my belly.  The combination of lowered front rise and wider elastic put these in the perfect place for me.
- it is hard to stick the back pocket in the right place with the waistband this low...it runs into the yoke seam, so I left it off.

I did feel a bit self conscious running in such bright clothing, but my kids are fighting for the scraps!