My husband came up with a solution to the bra rash. I have to tell you that it is so severe for me that the other day after running only three miles, I was in so much pain that it kept me awake most of the night. So all you sports bra manufacturers out there, I don’t want a bra that reduces chaffing, I want it eliminated. Anyway, like usual, I could not even put on a normal bra, it was that raw. So my husband said put on a tank top and your bra over it. Well, I tried it and it was bearable! Today when I went on my 8 mile run, I put a lot of Vaseline on the area, I put on my tank top, my sports bra, and then my running shirt. I survived my run, without any extra chaffing! There was no whisking of moisture going on but my skin did not have new rashes! YAY!
6 miles – Silvia July 21, 2008
This morning I woke up not wanting to do anything except drink coffee and look at our garden which is overflowing with blossoms. It looks like an artist took his paint colors and strewed them over our backyard. Alas, Yoga starts at 8:15 and I need the stretching. It felt good to stretch, difficult but good. It’s like my body was saying thank you, thank you. I remember when I was in middle school, I could have done all the poses easily, but now, I feel like an 80 year old woman trying to contort her body into simple poses like downward and upward dog. My favorite part is the end, the last five minutes are spent in the Savasana pose, which is a fancy yoga word for lying down on your back with your eyes closed just breathing. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Bliss.
After that I did my “Power Flex” workout, which is 45 minutes of strength training using barbells and weights. I read that strength training is important for runners. I have been doing it since April, and I like it. Probably because there’s loud music and an instructor telling me what to do. I love not being alone with my thoughts. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. I don’t like relying on me. I am too weak.
After that I was done. I was at the gym two hours already and wanted just to go shopping for my mom (I am going to Canada to visit and there’s stuff here she can’t buy as cheaply over there. For example, there’s a tube of toothpaste at Trader Joe’s for 1.99 here and in Canada, it’s close to 6.00. No kidding. Keep in mind the dollar is basically at par. So there is no reason for the prices to be so much higher, but they are. I digress.) So, I figure I would go shopping, go home and grout. (The stupid stairs are still not done! I figured out the secret to tiling stairs; pay someone to do it!) Then later this evening I would go back and run my six miles. I leave the gym, go shopping and was about to go on the highway headed for home, when I thought, who am I kidding. I won’t go back to the gym. I will get sidetracked for sure, and progressively more lazy as the day wears on. So, like a good girl, I went back to the gym, hopped on the treadmill and began slogging the long, slow, six miles. I actually did 6.2, so it’s like a 10K.
Unlike, Meghan, I did not feel I could do more. I think that her body is just more conditioned. She has a great base with being a regular 5 mile runner. I am still in the process of building up my base. There is a reason that ‘they’ say that you should have been running for 8-10 weeks before you start training. I feel that I am not conditioned enough to make the training easy.
Today’s problem was sweat. Yes, I was in AC but I was soaked. I sweat a lot. I don’t perspire, or have a healthy glow. I sweat like a monsoon after the dry season in the Serengeti. That’s just me. I always have, even as a kid. I start sweating on my nose and then every other place that there is a pore in my body. I think that’s why I can’t keep those ear phones in my ear, the sweat slides them out. I sweat so much that when I run the marathon in Arizona I bet the desert will turn into a tropical rain forest. Anyway, what happened was that I began to sweat in my feet. I felt them get hot and sweaty. Then my toes began to rub together. You know what that causes. Blisters. Ouch. My feet burned. I just kept thinking, run through the pain, run through the pain. If I can’t run 6, how will I run 26.2? (Don’t forget the 0.2, that 0.2 will be so annoying by the end of the race, I just know it!)
Then my shirt got soaked. I mean soaked. So, you guessed it more rubbing. This time it was the bottom of my bra strap and my skin. I felt it rubbing back and forth. I even tucked in my T-shirt into the strap ( I didn’t care what I looked like, one look at my tomato red face tells anyone that I am not here to win any beauty contests) to provide a buffer, but the T-shirt kept coming out. At last, after 58 minutes and 55 seconds, it was over. After my cool down walk, I got off the treadmill and couldn’t even walk properly on my feet they hurt so much. I had to walk on the sides of my feet. And my drenched shirt was just clinging to me. Luckily, I had sandals in the car and took my shoes and socks off to let my feet breathe. I wish I had those toe separators like when you get a pedicure.
When I finally got home, I struggled to take off my clothes. You know how hard it is to take off clothes after they are wet. I felt like I went swimming in salt water. When I had a looksie at where my bra was there was a huge red rash – like a rug burn. OUCH! The shower was painful. It burned when it hit my rash. After I couldn’t even put on a regular bra, so I had to hang free all day. Not comfortable at all for someone like me, I am not a woman of the Borneo rainforest. As I am typing this, it is still painful.
Nonetheless, week two is done. Hallelujah!
5 miler…Week One is OVER! – Silvia July 13, 2008
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- The Beginning
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- Kirsten and Silvia Ready to Start the 5 miler
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- I just finished 5 miles! Yippee!
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- The Finish
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- Well worth running 5 miles for!
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- We thought our faces weren’t red!
I woke up at 3:47am this morning with insomnia. I was upset because I knew that at 8 am I was running a 5 mile race with Kirsten. I lay in bed awake, trying to force myself to relax. But we all know trying to force yourself to sleep only leads to more anxiety…two hours later I got up and made coffee. Ohhh I love that smell. I made Decaf because I thought that caffeinated coffee would make me have to go during the race. I have a bladder control problem. I will be running and I will have the sudden urge, and there is nothing worse than running and holding it. Having to go the bathroom becomes all consuming. Those are the moments I wish I was a dog and could just lift my leg and let nature take its course.
At 7:03 I picked up Kirsten and away we went to the 5 miler. It began to rain and although I had misgivings about wearing a white T-shirt in the rain, I did have on my trusty new under armor so I knew nothing would show too bad. It was a good run. The rain kept us cool and the puddles were a welcome relief to our hot feet. The trail went 2 miles through the MetroParks so it was interesting…we had to dodge some horse poop along the bridle path but that was kind of fun – like an obstacle course. We both finished third in our respective age groups and more importantly got pizza after the race!
On the way home we both agreed that our bodies are willing but our minds are weak. Running is a mental sport. The problem with “slow” runners like us is that we take longer so it actually requires more mental stamina to keep you from being bored to death from listening to your own thoughts. Everyone has their own mental demons to conquer. I remember having a half-mile or so to go today and I just wanted to stop; I thought about my students and how I always tell them that they have to do the work, they have to think, I showed them how but it’s up to them to do the work. I know how to run, one foot in front of the other , over and over again. I know how to do it. Now I just have to do it. Nike’s slogan is so apt…Just do it! Easier said than done. But it is that simple.
By the way I love my new sports bra. I felt supported and comfortable. Absolutely no chaffing. It’s a Champion Maia brand. Well worth the price.
Under Armor – Silvia July 13, 2008
Yesterday I went sports bra shopping. This is a necessary evil if you are bouncing your girls on a regular basis. I am endowed with size D breasts. Before you become envious of my hooters, keep in mind that these are not the perky Barbie Doll breasts, like the ones that had guys drooling when they watched the Baywatch lifeguards run along the beach. Mine are more like the National Geographic kind. You know what I am talking about. The kind that hang to your knees. Yup, my boobs hang low and they wobble to and fro and I can tie them in knot and I can tie them in bow and when I run I wish I could throw them over my shoulder. Oh, not so jealous now are we?
So, I am in the running section at Dick’s Sporting Goods and I look at the colorful cute tank tops made from fabric that wisks away mositure to keep you dry and fresh. Some, even have built in support. OK – false advertising there, there’s barely enough “support” to support my nipples. I move away and gander over to the colorful sports bras. The kind you see women runners wear during races and on the streets nowadays. These are the closest things that women have to going shirtless. They are so cute – colorful patterns, sporty colors, racer backs. I remember when Brandi Chastain took her shirt off after the win in soccer to reveal her sports bra and the controversy it caused. We’ve come a long way baby. Now, Women wear them everywhere in athletic events. I tried one of those kind once. I looked like I stuck an extra large Chipotle Burrito on my chest. I move away reluctantly to the ugly bra section.
Bras for women like me are not pretty. They come in white, black, or pink. No sporty colors or designs that make you feel like an athlete. They look like maternity bras. They have huge wide straps and built in wires and seams everywhere. The bonus is that that seams are covered with extra padding to prevent chaffing. Oh joy, oh bliss. I pick out my size and buy it. A young guy is at the checkout counter and I see him struggle as he lifts the huge bra and puts it into the bag. When I get home I try it on (I know you should do that at the store, but I don’t). I strap myself into the armor and feel like I am ready for a jousting battle not a nimble foot race. Nonetheless, my girls feel supported. I put on my baggy cotton T-shirt ( I can’t wear the thin breathable shirts because all the wires and seams of my bra show through) and no one is the wiser. Don’t worry world, I won’t be pulling a Brandi after a race.
