Oiselle Volée

Sometime in late 2013 or early 2014, I heard about a women's running clothes brand called Oiselle. I can't even remember exactly how I heard about it but I think it was through the #RunChat community. In any case, when they introduced the Oiselle Flock in July 2014, I wanted in! I didn't get in the first group but I did get in the second time around, officially joining The Flock in September 2014. To join The Flock, I paid $100 for free shipping on all online orders, an awesome team singlet, $20 off a pair of running bottoms, $25 towards Oiselle's Emerging Athlete Fund, and other offers throughout the year. More than worth it!

In order to facilitate communication with each other, Oiselle created Facebook groups by region. Now, I know a whole bunch of women throughout the Midwest (and around the country) who run. I have a group of experts to ask questions from "What are the best running shorts?" to "What training plan works best for you?" There's a place to share awesome and not-so-awesome races with people who get you...instead of clogging up the News Feeds of your non-running friends...ha!

The first activity I participated in was last December's Secret Santa. It was fun to be paired with another Flock member from a different part of the country. And it was awesome to receive a sweet surprise gift!

I randomly met a Flock member in real life at the Maggie Daley Run the Ribbon Mile Race in June. We knew each other's faces from Facebook but it was cool to meet in person. We even ran in the same heat.

Ali and I are on the far left

In July, Oiselle decided to merge The Flock with the existing Haute Volée (elite team) under the united team name Volée. As part of this change, existing Flock members were able to renew their membership for free for the next year.

Then, in September, I was finally able to participate in a real meet-up in conjunction with the Magnificent Mile Women's Half Marathon & 5K. A handful of us met up by Buckingham Fountain after the race and then proceeded to Starbucks, where Lauren Fleshman, Collier Lawrence, and Sarah OUaL (not her real last name) joined us. It. Was. Awesome. I cannot tell you how down-to-earth and fun they all are. I was seriously beaming the whole rest of the day! Thanks, Oiselle!

With Lauren Fleshman at the finish line! Photo cred: @runrunmary

(I don't remember who this photo came from...sorry!)

At the bean! Photo cred: @SarahOUaL

Just this past weekend, I met even more birds. As part of the Chicago Marathon weekend, our Illinois group leaders organized a dinner on Friday night, a cheering station at Mile 17, and a post-race happy hour. The Friday night dinner was great. It was so fun to put real-life faces to Facebook profiles and Twitter handles. And, Oiselle sent along bags of free clothes to be handed out! I got an awesome new pair of arm warmers!

Friday night dinner at Spacca Napoli Pizzeria

Cheering at Mile 17 today! Photo cred: @mellebeth

Cheering for the marathon today was great...though it really made me want to run another one. (Come on, fertility treatments, work already!)

Thanks for an awesome weekend, birds! I'm so thankful to be a part of such an awesome women's running community.

*FYI: Birds is another term for Oiselle team members...or anyone who wears Oiselle...I'm not really sure! :)