A Hair "Milestone," and Question for Runners!

[dorothea-brooke]

So the other day I was out for run, and I had a "hair milestone" moment: my braid is now long and heavy enough that the end bit hurts when it slaps against my back. :rolleyes:

I know we've had threads on this topic in the past, but thought I'd start a new permutation: what do you all do with your hair when exercising, and I mean specifically things that involve lots of running and hair swinging from side to side (jogging, soccer, tennis, etc.)?

cheers
dorothea

[Islandgrrl]

I braid it. If one braid is too heavy, try two braids.

[MsBubbles]

Big congrats on the milestone! I'm at 24" too :cheese:. (I hope I used the dancing cheese correctly :)).

I do inline speedskating (outdoors on the roads, i.e. hilly roads), and when skating along flatland I'm not (supposed to be) bobbing around, but my braid/ponytail goes all over the place if I'm trying to haul myself up a steep hill. However, I have a helmet on all the time so I am able to tuck the end of my braid up into the plastic bit in the back of my helmet. I pretty much have given up on plain ol' ponytails now though, because I'm verging on mixing-in-with-armpit/deodorant territory. Have you tried two braids? They'd be less heavy perhaps.

I think if I were jogging and the braid end was slapping me I'd try to find a braided updo that was pretty easy/quick. Otherwise I'd maybe use a jawclip small enough to hold it all tight in a twisted peacock type updo.

I'd be interested to see what works for you!

[freznow]

I'm still working on this. My hair is longer, when it wasn't so long I kinda just got used to it. Now it's verging on strangling me, and it doesn't like to be a folded up braid, so I'm still figuring this out...

[nutsenmai]

I bun mine. Buns don't move! I don't like all that hair swinging around, plus it gets too hot on my neck and back if it's down in any way. The only drawback of a bun is if it's not high enough and you want to do something on your back, like sit-ups or whatnot, you have to turn your head to the side. :p

[dorothea-brooke]

I bun mine. Buns don't move! I don't like all that hair swinging around, plus it gets too hot on my neck and back if it's down in any way. The only drawback of a bun is if it's not high enough and you want to do something on your back, like sit-ups or whatnot, you have to turn your head to the side. :p

Yes, this is the perpetual problem. I've worked out that for yoga/stretchy things, a braid is best (flat to the head), but maybe I'll try a bun for running! The problem is when you want to do both, as you pointed out.... :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone -- keep 'em coming! I'm going to try something new tomorrow....

dorothea

[Kleis]

My hair won't stay up in a bun when I'm running unless I get an amazing, lucky hold. I've lately been wearing it in a banded ponytail. I go back and forth between that and a braid, but I've been feeling like the braid ends up with a harder undo than the banded pony.

[ole gray mare]

Biking: braid
Running: braid.

I happen to like to be braid-slapped. ;)

[aisling]

Yes, this is the perpetual problem. I've worked out that for yoga/stretchy things, a braid is best (flat to the head), but maybe I'll try a bun for running! The problem is when you want to do both, as you pointed out.... :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone -- keep 'em coming! I'm going to try something new tomorrow....

dorothea

That's why I make a braided bun or a folded up braid held with a Ficcare. It's up and away while running and a Ficcare (Maximas or Ficcarissimo) works very well for me. Then, after running, when stretching or so, it's easy to take out the Ficcare and get a flat and comfy braid.

[dorothea-brooke]

I happen to like to be braid-slapped. ;)

Hee hee! :eyebrows:

And thanks, aisling, for the fab suggestion!

dorothea

[Periwinkle]

I do gymnastics on a very casual basis, and I either ponytail or braid my hair.

However, when doing things in the house that require lots of head-yanking, I use what I have termed 'that silly thing I got from Claire's'. It's a plastic French twist comb with an elastic attached. The idea is that you twist your hair, put the comb in behind it and then stretch the elastic across. I've never managed to get it to look good (you're supposed to use it for peacock twists but my hair looks really bad in them) but I have come up with a hundred different ways of twisting my hair to put it in and believe me, it doesn't move. At all. Ever.

[Haith]

I prefer the crown braid. It's secure, out of the way, and fairly flat on the back of my head (unlike a bun). I wear it regularly when I'm working-- either at my job, or out in the garden. It also makes it easy to put a hat on overtop if it starts to get too warm or sunny.

[dor3girl]

Have you tried a 4-strand braid? It shortens the overall length, but you end up with a thicker looking braid.

[DotDotDot]

You could put it in a ponytail and then put hairties down every couple inches of the length.

[trolleypup]

Vigorous activity...I usually go with a pony scrub...hair is both out of the way, as well as protected.

[dorothea-brooke]

Oh, boy, thanks for all the fab suggestions! :flower: I'm going to try them all until I see which one works best for me. :)

First Morning Run Report: Today I did a regular braid, folded it and scrunchied it all together. It seemed to work well, but I had to cut my run short cause of a calf strain :rolleyes:, so it remains to be seen if it will last for a full hour-long run.

The experimentation continues!

cheers
dorothea

[winter]

I put it in a bun and hold with a Ficcare if I do something that don't involve lying on my back, like ab excercises. It works the best if I manage to secure it enough. When I climb I just have to remember not to use my large Ficcare because it got caught in the rope.

[nicolezoie]

Running: Bunned, and covered. Lately, it's been with a "wave cap" thing that looks more or less like the foot portion of a pair of pantyhose. Basically, ponytail around ear height, tightly coil-bun (beebutt like) length, pull the wave cap over my entire head so it pulls tightly over the bun, put a hair tie around the bun so it's secured tightly inside the wave cap, then I pull the wave cap off the top of my head, and wrap that around the bun as well, then secure THAT with another hair tie. Pretty extreme, but it stays put REALLY well - no bouncing or wiggling if I do it right.

Biking: I can do the above as well, but usually it's in my home-made hair sleeve, rolled around my cellphone, and stuffed into one of the pockets of my cycling jersey.

[Sunshine69]

wrap it around your neck a few times like Jackie Chan did in "Shanghai Noon" :)

I like the suggestion of wrapping the braid into a low bun.

[dorothea-brooke]

wrap it around your neck a few times like Jackie Chan did in "Shanghai Noon" :)

:laugh:

Somehow it always ends up like this at night.... With a cat's paw embedded in it....

dorothea