Running tops

[mrstea301]

Hello all, looking for some help! I am plus size (18-20) and have committed to a charity thing with work, so will be running outside more often. My WORST thing about exercise is worrying that people are staring at me, and it's made a million times worse by wearing tops to exercise that creep up because of my belly.

Can anyone recommend anything that they like for this? I have a karrimor long sleeve top that's quite good but would like an idea of some other brands etc that might be good to try? Thanks in advance!

As it's getting colder, I would wear one top tucked in to your tights/leggings, then a larger vest/tshirt over the top
I have to tuck in my tops as they creep up otherwise. I normally have a dog lead tied round my waist or a belt with a stretchy lead for DDog depending on where we go

But the main thing is to remember you are the only one really noticing what you wear. Assuming you aren't in day-glo colours wearing a Jamie Lee Curtis style thong leotard, no one really looks at you. I appreciate that is really a bad thing to say but it is true.
Inpolife on Instagram is a good one to follow for running inspiration - check out what she wears

Check out Contra. They are designed to be looser and longer than many running tops. They are pricey because made in the UK, but profits I think get fed back into Parkrun, which is a great community thing (at least it will be again once this frikkin virus abates).

Would a men's top help, should be longer?

I find vest tops tend to be longer that t shirt style tops so maybe try a vest top over a normal top?

Mens t-shirts, women's are always fitted and 3 inches too short. Or really long vest tops, but you never know until you've started if they're going to stay put or not!

dress for the weather.
get something waterproof as outer layer for shit weather.

I wear: bra, t-shirt (whichever is top in the drawer atm, a sports one in summer), from about 15 degrees a fleece on top and a thin waterproof thingy if it rains a lot.

decathlon is great for inexpensivd good quality stuff. h&m have some nice stuff as well, but their leggings come up very small/tight.

good luck!

I got a 2 pack of long sleeve sports T-shirt's from Tesco the other week which are fantastic, heading back tomorrow to hopefully pick up more.

Long enough to cover to bottom of bum (I'm 5'8") and they have the thumb holes in the cuff to keep wrists warm.

I sympathise - women's running clothes are cut short and tight. There's not many loose running tops out there, however my hubs bought me an excellent Nike one last year for my birthday and I can see it is still available and on sale:

www.runnersneed.com/p/nike-women-s-crew-top-K2214094.html?colour=124

It's ever so slightly fleecy on the inside, nice and loose so you can wear another top underneath if you wanted and tight ribbed cuffs with thumb holes.

Other than that i would say get yourself down to decathlon and try some stuff on - mens tops are a good shout.

Go Outdoors have good base layer long sleeve tops for about a tenner, up to size 18. They come up nice and long and don’t seem to ride up at all. I wear two or three depending on the temperature.

These are all great!! Thank you so much for coming back to me, will definitely be on the hunt this week to get some of these options and try them out!! (I'm definitely not in a Jamie lee Curtis leotard lol) I know it's such a mental thing - literally no one cares if I'm running, but I feel so self conscious about it and just trying to cut down on that aspect of it! Thanks again 🥰🥰🥰