Before: what my drawer o’ spandex usually looks like.

 I do not pretend to be a neat person, at least when it comes to my clothing. Keeping my drawers neat is about 287th on my to-do list, which means it never gets done. Except maybe twice a year, usually when everything else feels out-of-control, and I crave some semblance of order. Then I’ll  fold.

Because I fold so infrequently, I try to edit my clothes as I go along. I rarely heed the if-you-haven’t-worn-it-in-a-year-toss-it rule with my “regular” clothes (read: tees and jeans). Fortunately, I don’t have to apply that rule to my workout garb since I do wear it all at least once a year. But that doesn’t mean some of it shouldn’t go.

So I dumped out the drawer on my bed and started folding. A few fave things definitely couldn’t go.

I got this at the 2007 Nike Women’s Marathon. Despite red being my least favorite color, I {{will always heart}} this shirt. I wear it to the gym on days I need to convince myself I am badass.

Two prereqs for tanks for me: must be long enough to cover my belly and must have a pocket in the back. This does both–and has been with me for four years.

And these shorts are also my besties. Bought these when I committed to 2007 marathon. (Note red trim: maybe I do subconsciously like red more than I pretend to.) And I love that these have a back pocket and are ultra lightweight.

But a few things could bite the dust.

This bra actually did well in Runner’s World testing last year–it’s great for people with larger or smaller than normal rib cages–but mine is a fairly standard size. So putting this on isn’t worth the sweat it takes.

These too-small socks have been flipping my toe the bird for 3 years. I kid you not.

I also tossed one pair of capris and one skirt; let’s just say the linings had seen much, much better days and leave it at that. No visual necessary.

So how did I organize? I won’t go all Real Simple on you, but I did do a few things:
1. I put tops that I only wear to yoga or Pilates with the pants I wear only to those things. They’re now in my closet. (Nutty, right?)
2. I took a cue from my very neat husband, and rolled all my bike shorts and capris like this:

Capris and bike shorts, all (relatively) compact. Don’t look too close, or you’ll spot dog hairs.

3. I decided that I couldn’t have all my bottoms in one drawer, even though I like everything in one drawer so when I go to lay out my clothes the night before a workout, my effort is minimal. So I put my bike shorts in their own drawer, a very stubborn one that requires both a delicate touch and patience to open. We’ll see how long that lasts.
4. The only true wild card? This lovely constellation of bra pads. I saved them, but they’re stacked up in my undies drawer right now. I’m still on the fence if they’re worth the effort.

I love that these pads hide the headlights, but I hate how they fall out in the wash. And how they require time and–again–a delicate touch to replace.

So the title of this post was a little misleading. I didn’t really tell how what to do with your clothes; I only tossed a few holey socks, a too-much-work bra, and some bottoms that no amount of detergent could save. (I’d advise you to do the same.) But I bet you innovative mother runners have some much better advice: How do you organize your running clothes?

Because at the end of all my work, my drawer looked like this.Fine, but not super crazy neat–and it’ll be a disaster again by Friday. Promise.