Finding a sports bra that actually works...

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For my male readers, if I have any... you can stop reading now as I don't believe this will apply to you.

Part of what I'm doing differently for marathon training this time around is trying to work out all the the things that gave me trouble the last time. Working out the kinks is especially going to be important in May/June since I'll have so many marathons so close together, recovery is going to be paramount.

Something that was a real problem happens to be a bit of an intimate subject. This is the post that inspired me to finally do something about it. A friend posted it on Facebook and I cannot thank her enough because boy do I feel a lot better!

For the past two years, I have been wearing a variety of sports bras and to be honest, they have pretty much all failed me. Many of my previous sports bras gave me some pretty serious chafing underneath my chest where the band sits. After the marathon, it was so bad that I had blisters there.

I think part of the reason I have waited so long to really research this topic is I knew that finding something that actually worked for me was going to cost more money than I'd like to pay for an undergarment. I've outlined the 3 bras I've used the most and the one that I've recently found and decided that I can't live without.

-Prices are in Canadian dollars-

1. The Lululemon Ta Ta Tamer $58.00
This bra goes up to a size DD which is why I thought it would work well for me. I like that it has nice wide straps so it has some stability, but it's the support underneath that is missing and unfortunately, I don't think the size was really working for me either... and then of course there's the chafing issue. And ahem... the price! If you're going to spend that much, you might as well invest in a real bra.

2. Handful Adjustable Bra $48.00
I actually really like this bra, just not for running. The idea behind this bra is to "flatter not flatten". I like to wear it around the house or to sleep in but it doesn't have enough support for me to run in. Handful is a great company but definitely more designed for a smaller-chested woman.

3. Lululemon All Sport Bra $52.00
This, I think has to be the worst one, especially now looking at the pictures... It is also very similar to the Nike sports bra I also wore for a while. Though, I probably have used it or others like it the most. I think it gave me the illusion of support because it was so tight that it held everything in place. However the band isn't really holding anything up and the so-called flat seams are what gave me those horrible blisters. After a while, it also gives you what I believe is referred to as "uni-boob", so NOT flattering...

4. The Panache Sport Bra $79.99
By far the most expensive bra, but so unbelievably worth it. For the amount of time I spend running, I can't believe I've walked around so uncomfortable for so long. I've always believed in having the right bra during my normal daily activities, so why should running be any different? I happened to find this bra 20% off last week and I loved it so much that I went back and bought a second one, the very last one they had actually. It has underwire, wide straps, and the ability to convert to a racerback. I wore it on my 14k run last Sunday and a few other short runs and I've had no chafing issues, everything stays secure and in the right place, and above all else, I feel a lot more comfortable. I didn't realize how uncomfortable I actually was before until I ran with this bra on.

And since, lets face it, I wear running clothes the majority of the time, I'm getting a lot of use out of it. Personally I think it looks pretty good too.

P.S. This is not a sponsored post, just sharing my thoughts/opinions. Believe it or not, I bought ALL of those sports bras... Also, I apologize for the terrible iPhone photos but it seemed a little strange to be taking the tripod and "good" camera out to take pictures of my bras... haha.

Race Review: Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon (Part 2)

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You can read about the expo and pre-race activities here.

So having a little more to drink than planned the night before, I woke up around 4:00AM and started drinking water, endless amounts of water, despite the fact that I felt a little green...

It must have helped because by the time we got on the road I already felt a lot better. I ate a power bar, not my favorite pre-race food but because we were living out of a suitcase at this point I had to live with it. The drive in to Vancouver went well. Finding parking proved to me more difficult so we ended up having to valet at a hotel. Mind you the cost was only $3 more than parking in the same area.

My mother in law, Cindy, who was with me has only run one other half marathon, the Tinkerbell half back in January. I was very excited that she had also caught the running bug and was ready for another one!

We headed into the convention center where surprisingly there was hardly a line for the rest room unlike outside for the port-a-potties...

We thankfully ran into Nikki and another friend without even having to look for each other! So after a potty break and some organizing our headphones etc. we headed off to the start line. It was really crazy with all the SeaWheeze plaid shorts everywhere, it was definitely the most colorful race I've ever been to.

The start line was pretty exciting. I think the race was much bigger than last year. There were even some fully nude spectators on the balconies of the apartments above. I love seeing all the spectators but maybe with more clothing?...

I think we started a little behind schedule but I wasn't disappointed. Still feeling the effects of "over-hydrating" the night before, I wasn't raring to go run 21.1k. Thankfully the weather was perfect! It was beautifully cool and slightly cloudy. I love the sun as much as the next runner but last year this run was just way TOO hot.

As we ran over the start line I felt good especially thinking about how far I've come from the race last year. A full year of running has left me a lot more confident and strong. We ran over to the viaduct and just like last year, there were these bicycles on stilts, weird but awesome at the same time!

Next, was china town and over to the false creek side of the sea wall. I love running this stretch because it reminds me of where it all began. When I lived in False Creek, that's when I started running, where I first lived with my husband, and when I went to university. Since that time, my life has completely evolved, and here we are moving again.

It was also during the False Creek stretch that we ran into a twitter friend, Kendall! We stopped for some quick sweaty hugs:

She was doing an awesome job volun-CHEERing! Next up, was an incline up to the Burrard bridge, I haven't been doing hill training at all so I felt like jelly all the way up the hill but thankfully these lovely ladies were at the top waiting for us!

 

The Burrard bridge is part of a lot of local races. I wasn't thrilled about having to run over it because it always seems to go on for forever but it wasn't so bad this time. Maybe because the sun wasn't beating down us. After the bridge was a big Lululemon cheer station and water station. With my hydration pack I really didn't need to stop at any water stations (I think I only stopped at one that came up during a walk break).

We ran into Cindy again at this point. She had run straight through and we were doing our usual 10/1 intervals. We continued on and lost her again somewhere around a potty break for Nikki. She told me to continue on but I chose to take a little break because this race for me was a training run and for fun.

And quite honestly, I was just tired.

We continued on knowing all that was left was the sea wall around Stanley Park and then we would be nearing the finish. Last year, this was where everything fell apart, the sea wall went on and on and on. But this year with the weather being cooler, and after having run around Stanley Park so many times in the past year during different races, it went just fine. When we started weaving our way out of the park I was worried we had missed another friend who was volunteering and then all of the sudden, there she was!

 



The stretch between here and the finish line was the hardest for me this time around. I was tired and ready to be done. Even though this race had the feel of "just a training run", the finish line still seemed to take forever. Though cooler, it was starting to get quite muggy so when we finally crossed I was ecstatic to see that cool cloths were waiting for us. There was also a sage aromatherapy set which they attached to our metals with a clip as well as a set of skull candy headphones.

The medals were wood and inside they have a little place for what looks like a photo, we asked around with the volunteers if they were taking photos to put in there but they didn't really know anything. I just found out the other day that there were photo booth's at the finish line! I wish I had known... :( Overall it seemed like the volunteers were uninformed.

The race went really well considering I was just using it as a training run. We came in at 2:25:59. I also got to run another race with Nikki and I'm hoping maybe Lululemon will be a tradition for us! There were minor issues this year with the race organization but I have to say it was much better than last year.

Race Review: Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon (Part 1)

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Last year Nikki and I ran this race together, it was in fact our very first race together. You can read here race report from last year here.

Nikki and I at last year's race.

Last year at the expo, package pickup went smoothly but when I saw the line for the SeaWheeze Showcase Store I knew there was no hope of getting through it in a reasonable time so I left. Nikki stayed only to find out everything had been gone since early morning where people who weren't even runners bought most of the stock and then resold it on Ebay.

This year, I thought if we were even going to try to get to the store we had to be there early. So we were on the road by 6:00am and arrived outside the Vancouver Convention Center just after 7:00am. When we first came up from the parking garage, there was a huge line and it didn't seem like the right place as a lot of people were in costume. Suddenly we realized it was the lineup for the Pokémon World Championship also happening the same weekend in Vancouver. We couldn't pass up a photo op like that:

When we arrived at the right wing of the convention center, there was already a line up half way around the building. We got in line and waited for them to open (at 8:00am) we chatted with people in line and even got some sneak peek photos and insider information from a volunteer inside!

It was a beautiful day and because it was early it wasn't too warm out. I was a little disappointed when I heard they had more entertainment for people in line later in the day but I suppose because we lined up before they were officially open, I can't complain.

Once the doors were open, it moved pretty quickly inside and package pickup was in sight!

I'd say we were through in 20 minutes and then we were on our way across the room towards the massive SeaWheeze Showcase store. I was very pleasantly surprised with the amount of product they had.

 



I had only planned on buying one thing, but that soon went out the window. I loved all the colors and most of the product was really nice. As a die-hard Lululemon CRB (cool racer back) fan I was a little disappointed that they were all made of a different material than the usual CRB (a thinner "luon" that feels nothing like the original). But there were definitely multiple styles of shirts to choose from.

 

When I finally took a moment to gather the things I wanted and review how much I was going to spend this is what I came out with (including some gifts for other people):

We hung around the store for quite a while so that we could get what we wanted in the right sizes as they were restocking stuff on a regular basis but just as fast as it went on the shelf it was gone. I was shocked by how much stuff people were grabbing. Last year there was a 15% discount for runners and this year a couple of the volunteers mentioned the same thing but when we went to check out, that certainly wasn't the case. As we left I noticed there were people everywhere with massive piles of clothing on the floor, easily thousands of $ each. I love Lululemon but I guess not that much! We heard later that by 9:30/10:00 AM it was quite picked over so I'm glad we went when we did but I feel bad for those that missed out like I did last year.

 

Once we had all our goodies we headed back towards home as I had to get ready to attend a friends wedding later that evening. They had nooner yoga, mani/pedi's, and other various activities throughout the day but alas I had other places to be.

 

I was excited but nervous about staying up late and having a few drinks before a hot and sweaty half marathon the next morning. We hardly ever dress up anymore so that was fun even though it was REALLY hot outside!

 



 

My plan was to only have a couple of drinks... I (mostly) stuck to that plan including pre-race hydration with these delicious twisted iced-teas!

 

The wedding was fabulous and went off without a hitch, well except for the bride and groom getting hitched of course (pardon my horrible joke ha ha). So happy for this gorgeous couple who jetted off to Paris for their honeymoon a couple days later!

To find out what happens when you hydrate for a half marathon with alcohol you'll have to tune in tomorrow for the rest of my race recap!

 

You can read Nikki's very poetic recap of the expo here