*This photo is from an NY Times article featuring UnderArmour.

I just spent about 5 hours in my new Under Armour “Armour Bra.” You know what’s awesome about it? When I took it off, my skin wasn’t all a-mess and I didn’t have any chafing. My body could breathe through this thing. Reasons #1 and #2 that I love this bra so far.

I won’t lie to you. I have a couple of bras that were purchased about a decade ago. When you work out every day like me, you need a lot of sports bras. And…most of the ones I own aren’t so great so I usually need to wear two. I’m not huge but I’m not tiny either and as a runner, the bounce factor makes a big difference.

And UA informed me right off the bat that 7 or 10 women buy the wrong kind of sports bra — size, brand, whatever. We are doing ourselves a dis-service. I’m SO glad I’m finally getting a clue.

Here are a few of the benefits I found from trying out my new bra in the past week:

• Ultra-soft and sturdy fabric, made to feel super-smooth and comfortable against your skin
• Built for High-Impact support so you can concentrate on your moves and not on what’s moving
• Signature Moisture Transport System wicks sweat to keep you cool, dry, and light
• Strategic mesh venting in back for enhanced ventilation to keep you cooler & drier than ever
• Bonded seam-free construction helps eliminate painful rubbing and chafing
• Keyhole racer back design for extra ventilation and easy on/off

This ventilation stuff is no joke. I put my work out clothes on this morning around 8:45am. I did a few house chores, then ran a 1 mile on the treadmill and walked .7 miles in the hot sun to Crossfit. Crossfit is held in a pretty hot and sweaty garage-like building and you sweat your face off every time.

Hello love handles 🙂

Today’s Crossfit workout included the following:

• 800M Sandbag run
• 200M lunge walks
• 40 pull-ups (mine are assisted)
• 200M Farmers Carry
• 40 Burpees
• 40 Deadlifts

Normally I’d be done with my workout at this point but Rick decided to run today and I wanted to join him. I had nothing else going on and still felt pretty good. So after taking a 20-minute break — still wearing the bra — I knocked out 6 miles in the midday sun. By the time it was all said and done, it was close to 2 and I had worn these clothes out (and this body!)

Thanks to my custom Under Armour, my skin isn’t flaring up and I don’t have any nasty red, raw marks — or a sports bra “crust” (yeah, that sounds gross but it happens.) Also, see that plastic box above? I felt like I was getting an awesome gift when the bra arrive encased in it’s own fancy box with the “My Little Black Bra Book” enclosed. Thanks to Under Armour for providing this to me!

In Other News

Let’s talk about how excited I am that my tweet was featured in Shape Magazine’s print version this month:

Let’s also talk about how I signed up for the Philly Marathon with a bunch of my new BOMF friends. It’s going to be a great weekend! So now I have my two fall marathons lined up: Chicago on October 6th and Philly on November 18th. 

Plenty of recovery time in between and nothing like the hell I put myself through last year (only 12 days between my two marathons — don’t recommend it!)

What else is coming up? The North Face Endurance Challenge is the weekend of June 3rd. I’ll be running the 1/2 marathon — my first trail run! I’m totally unsure of how this will go though I have no doubt I’m fully capable. Back on My Feet is also running so I’ll be helping coordinate all that jazz and hopefully get a sweet North Face shirt out of the deal 🙂

This is the photo they use to promote the event, so it kind of looks like I’m in for a rough day:

Later this year, I’ll be running the Tough Mudder in Maryland and maybe the Ragnar Relay.  However, those two races are running mighty close to Chicago so it’s going to be a tough call. I’m already signed up for TM so we’ll see about Ragnar.

Congrats to all my friends & family who ran the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon this weekend! I wish I could have been there with you. Here’s a pic of my friend Megan — mother of three cute babes (ages 3, 2 and under 1!) She’s a rock star:

Lastly, you should most definitely hook with the new Under Armour Women Twitter handle. I noticed in a few weeks ago and immediately told them how awesome it was. Start following here.

While you are at it, go ahead and get them on Facebook too. It’s a great page — for women — and well, you really need to go see the pic of their new customized track spike shoes because they look so awesome I kind of want some for no reason.

Good bye! 🙂