Purging
Rereading Mark Remy’s January/February Runner’s World column “Beware Wardrobe Fat”* was a nice reminder to go through some of the boxes of clothing I have in the basement which I haven’t completely unpacked since we moved last February. Sure, I’ve gone through them searching for a specific item, but those boxes were full.
Were full. As in, full no more.
In the column**, Remy is inspired by Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up book to declutter and simplify. He doesn’t consider himself a hoarder, but as he goes through his things, he realizes he has multiples (upon multiples) of stuff he is not using – running gloves, shorts, shirts, etc. He actually compares it to mindless eating:
It’s sneaky, like mindless eating. Gradually, steadily, you consume a bit here and a bit there – tech shirts, hats, tights, vests – until one day you wake up and realize your closet is 50 pounds overweight.
He vows to be more mindful and stop accepting things because it’s free or because he can. But to still hold on to a few sentimental things, and continue to buy socks on two for one sales, ha ha.
It amazes me with how many times I have gone through my clothing that I still have stuff to donate (or throw out). Seriously. We went through all our stuff before we moved out of our townhome, and got rid of a TON. When we lived in a rental house and couldn’t get all our things out, I realized what little I need. And at our new home, I don’t have the closet space I did before, hence some things still living in boxes in the basement. Now I’ve gone almost a year, and through all the seasons, and there are things down there I forgot I had.
So I said goodbye to a lot of unused race shirts and old stuff that I just don’t wear anymore. I have a pretty set preference on workout clothing and quite a bit of what I had didn’t work for me anymore. I held on to a few sentimental things, which I am sure, I will be going through again in the future, and purging from there. And I am holding on to all my skirts and dresses, because frequency of use doesn’t really say if I should keep those or not.
Like Remy, I will continue to be mindful of this in the future, as I have in the past few years. I’ll only keep race shirts if they’re a good quality shirt that I will use, or have some extremely high sentimental value. I won’t buy too much outside of replacing my staples or building my staples (like with swimming stuff). I’ll be mindful of what I actually use! And maybe I’ll start purging after every season (ha, although, in the midwest, our seasons are all over the place)!
*I’ll link to it once it’s available online
**He opens the column with asking how many pairs of running shoes you have. Which I definitely do hoard. When they go on sale, I buy a few pairs. I currently am running in four – six pairs (the speed and trail shoes don’t get used much) and have EIGHT unopened pairs in the basement. Yeah, probably something I shouldn’t have so many of. I go through them fast (about ten pairs a year), but I don’t need to stock that many.
Themocracy
I don’t really have a whole load of regular clothes but my workout wardrobe is a bit fat! I can’t bring myself to throw race shirts out tho :p
Do you use them, or just like to look at them? I am that way with my medals – I love looking at them! I think it’s cool people donate theirs, but I am not at that point!
I use them. However, I do have a lot of long sleeved ones that get used for maybe a month out of the year that I should prob get rid of but then you never know when they might come in handy!
But when you use them… will you need them all? I have duplicates of somethings so I don’t have to do laundry all the time, but realized I didn’t need a ton of short sleeved shirts, etc.!
I’m in purging mode, too, because we’re moving to a new apartment. I just filled up four trash bags of clothes that I don’t wear anymore. Good for you for decluttering your clothes!
Awesome! I hope you don’t have to purge again when you unpack! 🙂
I am getting better at culling my running clothes – sometimes, I’ll even bring home a race shirt and deposit it directly into the Goodwill bag because I know I won’t wear it. I hate letting go of my technical shirts, but there are some I’ve had for years and worn only a few times, while there are others that are constantly worn. I guess that tells me what I already know – the others need to go.
Now, running gloves – I must have 10 pairs, between my Target cheapies and my expensive “real” warm gloves. I’m not letting go of any of them!
I have 1 pair of actual running gloves. It amuses me that you, in Texas, have so many more 🙂
I do the same thing with race shirts. I just need to stop taking them, lol! And it’s interesting to see what we actually use compared to what we thought we would use, right?
I have lots of gloves too, and actually use them all.
Mike and I were just talking about how we need to schedule a spring cleaning weekend to get rid of a bunch of stuff. It’s crazy how quickly things accumulate.
Do it! You’ll feel so good that you did!
I did some serious closet purging at the end of last week, and it feels so good to get rid of clutter! My half of the closet was overflowing, which was stressing me out. I even had a few storage bins in the closet full of stuff I haven’t worn in a few years – why am I hanging on to that?!
Awesome (that it made you feel good, not that you were stressed, lol). I seriously think we forget about all the stuff we have. Out of sight out of mind, right? My closest was bigger at the last house so I didn’t purge these things cause I saw them every day!
This is actually the biggest closet I’ve ever had, so the fact that it was jam-packed with stuff was not so great! Although yeah, in the past I’ve had things in bins in several rooms, basements, garages, etc., so it was at least easier to go through things!
This is right on time for me 🙂 I spent the last week at home going through my closet purging. I get very overwhelmed doing clean up things like this so I am slow but I got a huge amount whittled down. I missed you while I was away, but if I stop to read blogs it’ll never get done lol
I also went through clothes that I have been hanging onto because I have lost and gained a lot of weight over the years. I let go of 6 big bags of stuff and I feel better. I realized this morning as I put on a top to wear to work and then took it off because I don’t love how it fits… I really need to go back and do a second round and let go of the things like that. It is a process!! but it is so freeing when you can organize your things.
Good for you! And good for you for realizing this morning that you still have more stuff you could get rid of. I am totally the same way. It’s definitely an on-going process to declutter!
I’ve been rolling my running stuff a la Marie Kondo for about 6 months now. Even though I’ve been better about purging stuff I don’t like/use I still have too much. It’s a work in progress, right?
It’s totally a work in progress! That’s probably why I write this post each year (or a few times a year?)! Ha!
I read that article (Runner’s world = airplane literature) too! Like you, with recent moves, I’ve managed to shrink what can grow to be an insurmountable pile. I still have a few sentimental items, but I really cycle through most of my gear and clothing and like what I use (and use what I like).
I also like the option at some races where you can “opt out” of the race t-shirt. As much as I like the race swag, some t-shirts are terrible!
Ha! I first read it on an airplane too! LOL. Actually, I was surprised to go to through the ENTIRE issue on one flight. I miss Running Times – less fluff. Anyway.
I am getting to that point too – I like what I use and use what I like. And if I need to replace those items, I do. I feel bad then when people get me stuff I know I won’t use! 🙁
I love it when races have that option!
Apparently it was a good issue for travel! On a random note, and probably the reason that I got the issue, my sport doc’s fiancé is profiled in it!
Oh cool! Which page is that? I will have to reread it before I recycle it!
There is a nice trend here with race shirts: the last few races I’ve signed up for ask you if you want to purchase the race day shirt or not, and then it’s a bit extra on your registration. So it’s your own choice. Given that I already have plenty of workout tops that I like, I don’t buy the race shirts anymore.
And decluttering rocks! Such a great feeling to get superfluous stuff out the door!
I love it when races have that option!
I am going to go through everything come March. Its hard now that I am pregnant so i can’t try on things. But I usually do this at least twice a year. PLus my race shirts get gross and smelly so I try to get rid of the old ones. This pregnancy I really realized I didn’t have many shirts to wear that fit because I threw so many of my big ones out (which is good, but also bad as I only have about three t-shirts/tech shirts to wear!)
One of my goals for this year is to get rid of at least 50 things, and I know running clothes are going to have to be a part of that 50 (heck, they probably could be the entire 50 and I’d STILL have too much! Haha.). I’ve been so hesitant to get rid of race shirts in particular, but man, I’ve run over 50 races in my life at this point, and I plan to run plenty more in the future. There are so many race shirts I have that I don’t even like and therefore never wear, which is a complete waste of space and makes it difficult to store the clothes I DO like and wear! I haven’t read Remy’s column yet (I’m so far behind on RW. I haven’t even gotten through the December issue yet >.< ), but I have a feeling it's really going to hit home!
I bet it will hit home! And will help you get rid of those race shirts! I even got rid of some cute ones that I just never wear!
I try to deal with the battle of “stuff” when it comes to clothing by going secondhand as much as possible. I use LeTote to “rent” normal clothes, keep only the stuff I absolutely love, and send back the rest. And I go to every clothing swap I hear about, although it’s as much about getting rid of stuff as getting new stuff, but I tell myself whatever I take home and don’t wear before the next one goes to the next one. But I think I need to be more ruthless in what I get rid of.
Renting the clothes (if you can afford it) sounds like a perfect way to handle this, so you never really own too much! 🙂
For the past few months I’ve been running in tanks so my tshirts no longer get any love from me. I want to throw or give away but I am holding on to them because they have a sentimental value/memories. Currently I have two rains of shoes I use for running but I am waiting for the Saucony Kinvara 7 to go on sale so I can stock up.