Ragamuffin here. Live from a hot bath at my family home in Winchester. Who takes a bath in the middle of a weekday may you ask? A 23 year old professional soccer player during her offseason. I'm struggling to cope with the multiple outfits a day needed to keep up with my workout schedule. In theory, I should wear one for my strength and conditioning workout, and pack one for my technical session and another clean one for my after-workout lunch outing. I figured with all my new Adidas training gear, I could get away with doing laundry only every ten days or so.

For the purpose of this article and for future general reference, I feel like I should let you guys know this is my first full year of doing my own laundry. I went to college in Boston and would come home once a week for dinner and to have my mom do my laundry. I'm a lazy degenerate, I know, but come on- there's very few people who would turn that down. However, I miscalculated how MUCH laundry would build up in those ten days. Needless to say I found out quickly when after 5 days my hamper was overflowing with dirty clothes. I'm not talking about shirts you wore for the day shopping that are a bit stale and could maybe wear again with some perfume and deodorant. I'm talking about a MOUNTAIN of wet filth. Shirts, tights, shorts, quarter zips, underwear, and bras that were wrinkled and soaking wet. It was a massacre. Everywhere within a four foot radius of my laundry bin may has well have been a pig trough.

So what does a normal person do? Come to terms with the fact they have to do a load of athletic laundry every two or three days. What does a ragamuffin do? Everything humanly possible to avoid doing laundry more than once a week- even if it means suffer through the post-training lunch in wet clothing. So back to "why I am blogging from a hot bath?" Because I shivered through lunch and a coffee in downtown Winchester after kicking around, while Kristie and Sam sat there in their clean/dry change of clothes basking in their glory. While we were wrapping up I texted my mom and asked her to turn on the bath so I could dive in head first as soon as I got home.

So without further ado, here's the inaugural post in the official SPORTING CHIC Ragamuffin vs. Barbie Series: coping with the laundry and hygiene demands of being a high level athlete. The following is a description of how Kristie and I get through our daily routine in each of those arenas and the results.

Sample Daily routine:

930 AM: Strength and conditioning at IPF

12 PM: Technical session in Winchester with Sam

1-2 PM: Lunch/ coffee in downtown winchester with Sporting Chic Team

230 PM: Shower, change into clean clothes for rest of day

RAGAMUFFIN'S ROUTINE:

For a real germaphobe, the schedule above could add up to almost FOUR full outfits a day. Because, the reality is, even if you change into a clean outfit for lunch, it's gonna soak up a bit of residual stink from our field session. You can't put it back on after your shower. Four outfits of laundry, five days a week adds a monumental amount of chores that I feel will significantly impact my quality of life. So, here's a look at the gym bag items and changing schedule I came up with to solve this problem.

Initial Outfit: Running shorts (built in underwear is KEY here,) sports bra, t-shirt, tight sweatpants, Adidas Clima-Warm sweatshirt, socks

Packed in gym bag: sports bra, underwear (if available,) water, cleats, protein shake.

It's not rocket science. I get to the gym. I remove my sweatshirt and sweatpants. I do my strength and conditioning in the bare bones: shorts, sports bra, t-shirt, and socks. Not because I want to, but because I have to. This isn't college or your professional team where you have your own laundry loop you can abandon your stink on. This is the offseason people. Here is why the built in underwear is VITAL. Underwear in the current phase of my adult life is a luxury, a delicacy. You can't go using two pairs of clean underwear a day. I know myself, and for me, that would be a death sentence. I'd have to start showing up in social events commando and ashamed. So boom. I work out in the basics, and post workout, the genius comes in.

So I go into the bathroom with my clean underwear/sports bra and sweatshirt/sweatpants I wore to the gym. I take all my dirty stuff off, and put on everything else. So my soccer outfit is underwear, sweatpants, sports bra, and sweatshirt. I planned in advance and had no choice but to make the t-shirt my sacrificial lamb in this case. At first it kind of sucked and I was a little cold, but like anything, you get used to it. It doesn't suck as bad as doing laundry every other day.

After soccer its lunchtime, and here's where the suffering begins. You try to ignore it, but you're wet, you're cold, and your sandwich doesn't taste as good because of it. But you know what? Deal with it. My sweaty/cold lunches build character. I'm starting to like it. It's like a new challenge or sport for me. And on top of it, it makes getting into the hot shower (or at home bath filled by your prepared by your mother) that much more glorious. Call me crazy, call me dirty. But I'll be on the couch this weekend, writing and brainstorming, just absolutely bleeding for this company, since I won't have to waste time with household chores. Before you call me a pig and choose Kristie's path, remember this: blogs don't write themselves people.

RAGAMUFFIN FINAL DIRTY TALLY: 2 bras, one underwear (sans emergency days,) t-shirt, shorts, sweatpants, sweatshirt...7 items.

KRISTIE'S ROUTINE

Barbie here. Let me pump her tires a bit and say that Steph is a driven, ambitious, and motivated friend. But, with that out of the way, when it comes to do with daytime hygiene and laundry, she is an absolute pig. I don't know how she does it. It's so fascinating because she literally does not care about the organization of her belongings or aesthetics. It's so absurd that I actually kind of admire it, because if I lived like that, I'd be dead in two weeks. There are many things that Steph is extremely passionate about, but cleanliness just isn't one of them. By no means is she a gross human being. She probably sweats a quarter of what Sam and I do. It's just her tendency to constantly look disheveled and the opposite of put together. We are polar opposites in that department.

I am a psycho diva. I pack three outfits a day. I put a workout outfit on when I wake up. Usually spandex and a tank top with a cute Adidas sweatshirt over it. I usually put on my Sweat Cosmetics foundation, bronzer, and illuminator just to piss Steph off. I put mascara on too if I'm really trying to get under her skin. Its not my fault Steph chooses to look like she fell out of a dump truck during workout. I have a change of clothes for after my workout that I can wear to the field and then another one for after that to get lunch or drive home in. I change everything each time. Sports Bra, underwear, shirt, pants, even socks. I also have face wipes. KEY. Steph makes fun of me but then she wonders why she has pimples on Fridays.

As you probably guessed, yes, my laundry schedule sucks. I come home with a gross bag of wet dump everyday. But I don't mind doing laundry if it means I get to feel put together, organized, and like a functioning member of society. I am not going to torture myself like Steph. I don't like to be sweaty and cold when I'm outside or sitting at lunch. Who in their right mind wouldn't take the extra 5 MINUTES a day to pack some extra clothes? It's not that hard. Oh wait, even if she wanted to, she couldn't, because all of her clothes are in a ball on the floor of her room. Maybe that's why. And no matter how many times I ask, "Steph, why don't you pack an extra outfit today?" she always comes back at me with "It's not worth it." She cackles and makes fun of me when I'm lugging my laundry to my room from the dryer. But I am always the one laughing at lunch when she's rubbing her coffee on her arms for warmth. I'm sittin' pretty slugging an iced double shot of expresso comfortably in my so fresh, so clean leggings and a beanie. Sucks to suck.

BARBIE FINAL DAILY TALLY: 3 underwears, 3 sports bras, 3 socks, 2 leggings, one shorts, one sweatpants, 2 long sleeve tees, one t-shirt, one sweatshirt...17 items.

Whose side are you on? Comment Below.