Marathon Weekly Update

Supporting the girls

I know that my grandparents probably don't want to read about the ins and outs of my fitness apparel and various chest support systems, but I feel that this is an important topic. Any woman who does any kind of high-impact exercise understands the importance of the proper sports bra. On Saturday I came to grips with the fact that I needed to replace mine.

I realized long ago that the sports bras I had weren't going to work. I kept pretending that I would develop calluses on my collarbones after a certain amount of chafing. Then I convinced myself that a thick layer of body glide in strategic areas would alleviate the problem. The final straw came on Saturday when I visited Sports Basement to pick up the final few things I would need for my training (read here cool new sunglasses and capri running tights with a cute cutout to emphasize my calves). The woman helping me pointed out that the sports bra that I was wearing was a cotton blend. The saying in the running world is "cotton is rotten." So, I sucked it up and took a handful of sports bras into the fitting room.

After many failed attempts I found one that I thought would work. As you may know, the best way to test out the support in a sports bra is to jump around and jog in the dressing room. This isn't quiet so embarrassing when you are in your own private cubby hopping around and checking the jiggle factor. At Sports Basement there are no private rooms - there are alcoves but no curtain to draw across for privacy. So, as I was jumping around and jogging in place in running shorts and a sports bra I got a few sidelong looks from the other women in the dressing room. I finally made a comment about this being the only way to test things out and the woman next to me said, "That's right. You gotta support the girls!"

I bought the bra and tested it this morning on my 3 mile run. I'm pleased to say that I felt fully supported.

posted by Heidi @ 9:58 AM