Girl Power
It's no secret that I'm a big supporter of chicks doing endurance sports! I coach more ladies than men (love my men, I do), but the girls always have a special spot in my heart. Triathlon has come a long way when it comes to CHICKS in the last few years, not just in performance, but also in the industry, in starting companies and being major players in the field. I thought I might write a post about some of the lovely ladies that are rocking the house right now.
Coeur
www.coeursports.com @coeursports
Kebby is the mastermind behind Coeur. It's built for the ladies, and focuses on fit and form for women. This clothing company is designing for women only and there are swim bike and run lines this year. They have a simple and clean look, it almost reminds me of East Coast Posh in it's colors and patterns. I hear the fit can not be beat. I'm most excited to pick up some sports bras because I hear that they have a pocket in the them...and not a small pocket....but like a "fits everything"pocket.
Betty Designs
www.bettydesigns.com @bettydesigns
Holy Cow. Kristin has really set the stage here. The skulls and butterflies are the perfect emblem for us rough and rugged girls who still like to feel cute....without losing the Grrr. Her kits and swim suits are seen on bad ass chicks all over this planet, and at all the big races. I just ordered some knee warmers and a cute hat that is to die for. I love using her pink water bottles when I'm headed out for a really hard ride. It's just provides that extra bit of motivation.
SmashFestQueen
smashfestqueen.com @smashfestqueen
Hillary has been kicking butt as an athlete for a long long long time. She just won Ultraman and was 2nd overall and pretty much sealed the deal as the queen of ULTRA tri in my book. She's done about 8,000 Ironmans (I kid, sorta) and yet she's girly and paints her nails too. She teamed up with business partner Michele and started designing some BOSS kits. They are the color schemes I LOVE, LOTS OF COLOR, and really with a women's eye in mind. She also included some casual clothing to her line and it's comfy yet cute. Everytime I see her kits, I Purrr.
SOAS
www.soasracing.com @soas_racing
No list of womens tri clothing options would be complete without SOAS, they were really one of the first to hit the womens tri market. I'm not as familiar with the inter workings behind this brand, but I know that I see it all over the race courses, everywhere. It's a women only line, and the arm warmers have a thumb hole. We women love warm hands.
When it comes to clothing choices, bike kit choices, and tri kit choices we ladies have OPTIONS! Such a huge thank you to the gutsy women who decided to start these clothing lines. No longer are we limited to the "pink it and shrink it" mentality that runs most large sports companies clothing decisions. We finally have stuff that fits to us, that is built to last, and in colors that give us options!
OSMO
osmonutrition.com @osmonutrition
Umm wow. Osmo is sponsoring me for next year, so you can assume I am bias here. There are so many reasons to love Osmo I could go on and on here. First off, Stacy Sims. I have spoken about her before. She helped me get my nutrition locked and loaded this past year and did it out of the kindness of her heart, for free. Yes, a woman with a PhD and a growing business, who has very little free time, exchanged a million emails with me to make sure my nutrition was dialed. I have read LOTS of books on the subject but what she was telling me was so different, and when I implemented it, it worked!
So, for a long time she has known that women need different nutrition than men. She knows that because we have a strong hormone phase with our 28 day cycle and our bodies use nutrition differently than men depending on the time of the month. The fact that she designed a nutrition line just for women is beyond awesome, but what excites me, is that I get the feeling that she did this for us because she knew we needed it. I hope and pray that it is a successful venture for her, but I know that she just had to put it out there so we ladies had a solution. Feed them and they will come!
She's a pioneer in our sport, and there are a lot of men in the nutrition business. I applaud Stacey for stepping out on a limb and designing a line that is built for us.
(Oh, and I really want to have a shirt made and wear it around that says "Men are not large women"....at least it would make me laugh)
Lastly, I really want to highlight the rise of women coaches in the sport. It seems that more and more women are dabbling in coaching, sharing their expertise and helping athletes get faster or remain fit. We still have very few Elite women coaches (by that I mean women coaching lots of pro triathletes), Siri Lindley and Melissa Mantak are the two that come to my mind, but I see a lot of up and comers in the ranks. Women like Mary Eggers, Kim Schwabenbauer, Jen Harrison, Susan Williams, Marni Sumbal, Michelle Ford, Kathy Alfino, Michelle Simmons, Kelly Covert, Trista Francis, Carol Sharpless, Nicole Drummer, Elizabeth Waterstraat, Tawnee Prazak, Amari Holmes, Wendy Mader, Beth Walsh, and Angela Bancroft. I've missed many more, that I am sure of. It's great to see women gaining the confidence to lead others in sport.
There are also some womens bike shops around the nation, but I'll save that for another post. Feel free to add additional chick power companies to the comments.
This blog post could keep going and going. I haven't even highlighted the wonderful pro women out there putting their nose to the grindstone day in and day out to keep us all inspired. Maybe I'll save that one for another day as well.
I just wanted to send a small Thank You out to all the women who are charting new waters in the triathlon industry, who are trying to break through some previous barriers, you all inspire me and make me want to be more of service to my community!