I broke down and finally bought tri and bicycle shorts

gee, if I am just going for a run I wear my aevero tri shorts.. I am their number one fanboy !

Be sure you have tri shorts.  The bike shorts will have a large pad.  The tri shorts will have a very thin one. If they are the right size the pad in the tri shorts should not bother you.  If you try to run in regular bike shorts I feel your pain. 

Yeah I hear ya I am breaking down left and right.... Love my Aevero tri shorts, just bought a pair of Zoot tri shorts off ebay, also ebay rewarded me with some cycling shoes, Aerobars, new saddle, cycling jersey (2), bar tape, ugh the list keeps growing and growing.... Good thing I can hide a lot of it from the fiancee haha

The BT tri shorts are very comfy as well.  They are not heavily padded like the cycling shorts.  These adn my Izumi tri shorts are my favorites.  I'm not comfy in my bike shorts, even when I'm on the bike.

My latest score on ebay is a set of   new integrated Aerus  C4TT bars for $43. 
Can't wait for it to get here.   They should make my Quintana Roo proud.

I just bought my first pair of Tri-shorts (Nike) yesterday.  They didn't come with a pad, was I suppose to get one?  Do you recommend the pad or stick with no pad? 

If they are tri shorts there should be some evidence of padding.  The bicycle shorts I have have more padding sewed in them than there is padding on my bike saddle.   If there is padding you should notice the moment you put them on.

Tri shorts have either a very thin piece of padding or in some styles (such as some brands 'sprint' styles) a little cloth or material section in sensitive areas to allow for comfort and avoid chafing. (and no seams in sensitive areas)

If you feel a bit like you are wearing a nappy... you probably have bike shorts... I have been running in mine but its not the MOST comfortable thing... makes me feel like Im waddling But on the bike... oh boy.... I love em!

I am still up in air with this...

I know that for a sprint tri (that's all I am planning on doing in 2010 season), my bike saddle feels fine for a 20K ride with no padding (I routinely do these and bike/run bricks with running shorts with no butt discomfort).  I suspect that if I ever get into a HIM, I might need some padding there, but for sprint or olympic distance, I think that the saddle will be able to provide all the padding I need...

(now if they made a short that one can swim in and either does not kill one's thighs or does not feel like it weighs 10lbs and would fall off, while running, it would be a different story...)

Bike shorts, yeah running in those could be a pain.  Another issue would be getting out of the water and that heavier pad being full of water.  Tri shorts have thinner pads that hold less water if much at all.  My Aevero tri shorts do not fit me that great in the crotch.  I did run a 5K in them to see how they would feel in running race scenario... they were fine in spite of not fitting as good as I'd like. 

My Pearl Izumi's on the other hand fit like a glove and are much more comfortable.  I've run and raced in both, but prefer the PI's because they fit me better.  So it might be that the shorts aren't the most ideal for you or that you just need to get used to them.  I wear jammers for swimming and sometimes I feel like I'm running around naked... they feel like you're wearing nothing.  So pretty much anything in comparison to that is going to feel a bit more substantial.   

Wow.. that gave me a flashback to the movie, "Hollywood Knights."  The main character asked some old ladies if they heard about the man with 5 penises.... his pants fit like a glove.