I Would've Bought So Much Overpriced Maternity Running Gear
But no one sells any!!!!
Not long ago, I didn’t care about running clothes. I had a few pairs of Nike Tempo shorts and a drawerful of giveaway tees from races, and that was pretty much it. Why spend money on something that’s just going to get sweaty?
I hear people make that same comment now and I’m like … okay! More for me, then!
Turns out buying overpriced running stuff is so much fun. I realized this for the first time in 2021, when I started dating a runner — our first date was a run. I wore the only nice pieces of running gear I owned: a gray long-sleeved Lululemon Run Swiftly tee I’d had since 2012 and a pair of spring green tights I’d gotten in a StitchFix box. It was way too warm for a sunny April morning, but, again: It was the only cute stuff I had! We kept dating, and kept going on run dates, and I knew things were getting serious when I went to Lululemon a few weeks later and dropped nearly $300.
At the same time, I was getting more serious about running, too, and these two forces combined meant I ended up amassing an impressive/insane collection of expensive running gear. (A tip: If you want to justify spending serious cash on running clothes, start exclusively calling it running gear.) If you are reading this, you probably know me, which means you know I ended up marrying that runner, and late last summer, I got pregnant.
Suddenly, running around in form-fitting athleticwear was a problem. (I wasn’t ready to share my pregnancy at least until we’d crossed that second trimester mark.) At first, I wore the few running clothes I owned that weren’t skin tight, like this Nike long-sleeve (it looks great in black but, alas, seems to be no longer available in that color). When those clothes got too small, I sized up; I now own that Nike shirt in small, medium and large. I started wearing Adam’s clothes, too, most often a PPTC windbreaker made by Bakline, until that didn’t fit anymore, either.
Which was fine — at that point, I was getting more comfortable with wearing form-fitting clothes once again, so I thought, hey, time to buy some maternity running clothes (I mean, GEAR). I half-heartedly searched the Outdoor Voices website but wasn’t that surprised when I didn’t find anything; their target consumer demo seems to skew younger. I love Tracksmith, but obviously didn’t even bother looking for mat clothes on their site — there’s no way a brand that posts snobbishly about “jogging” would cater to moms, barf.
I really did expect, though, to find some options at Lululemon — isn’t the Lululemon mom a cliche at this point? I tried and I couldn’t believe it — they have nothing. If you type “maternity” into their search bar, you get what seems like every item of their Align clothing. I’m not sure if Lulu started marketing Align as pregnancy-friendly or if e-commerce writers did that for them, but the internet seems to largely agree that the best maternity leggings are the Align super-high rise. They’re often sold out, but I got a pair on Poshmark (one size up from my usual size) and it’s true; they’re great and I basically lived in them during my third trimester.
But they suck for running!!!
To be fair, Lululemon would agree. They’re made for low-intensity activities like yoga, and while they’re stretchy and lightweight, they’re not particularly supportive or sweat-wicking. I tried running in them a few times, anyway, but the sweat thing was too annoying.
I also tried Athleta, which is not my favorite activewear brand, but, honestly, they are so normie mall-coded to me that I thought for sure they’d carry a maternity line. (Also, I bought decent maternity stuff at Gap and Old Navy, Athleta’s sister stores.) But Athleta has nothing specifically for pregnant runners either!
I never did find anything at the stores I usually go to for athletic wear. But the other day, a newly pregnant member of my running club posted a plea to Discord, looking for recs, and I realized I did have a few.
Nike (M) One Women's High-Waisted 7/8 Leggings with Pockets (Maternity)
Just a great pair of running tights. These look nice, and they feel great — $60 isn’t cheap, but they look and feel much more high-end than that. Side pockets for your phone and keys, and when I was pregnant and actually filled out the giant high-waist panel, they didn’t slide down.
I like these so much that I’m still determinedly wearing them, even though they absolutely no longer fit.
Buy your pre-pregnancy Nike size. (I think Nike always runs a little small! In most brands, my pre-pregnancy size was a 4/6 or a small, but in Nike I was a 8/10 or a medium. I ordered medium in the maternity tights and they fit great.)
Price: $60 at Nike
Note: They’re available in shorts, too — which fit great and are functional for running, but 8-inch shorts are a little dorky for my taste.
Maternity Tek Gear® Ultrastretch 7/8 Leggings
These are from Kohl’s, randomly! My husband’s very sweet Midwest friend recommended these, and she’s a pretty serious (and fast as hell) runner when not pregnant, so I listened. They fit great (in my pre-pregnancy size). They never did the annoying slide-down thing so many cheap running tights do.
And they’re so cheap! Though I feel like I can pretty solidly justify spending $$$ on running gear normally — because that stuff lasts for years, and if I’m wearing it for a multi-hour run I need it to not drive me insane — it makes no sense to spend a lot of money on something that’s only going to fit for a few months, max. (And a few months of easy running at that.)
Also, one of my cooler running friends, who’s always running around in Alo or other expensive brands, mistook these for Lululemon, so.
Price: $25.49 on sale at Kohl’s
p.s. Late into my third trimester, Rabbit — the running brand that caters toward trail and ultra running — released a couple of maternity pieces, which I’m curious about!