Bras

I've talked about the importance of a sports bra in the past. Unfortunately, many stores only carry larger cup sizes with larger band sizes and smaller cup sizes with smaller bands. This does not help the small-framed runner with big boobs. (aka me) Or the large-framed runner with smaller boobs. It is an issue I have with images of runners everywhere. The women portrayed as runners are tall, thin and small busted. Every week I run with women of ALL sizes. Some of them are fast and some are slow, but they're all runners and all need a good bra.

I have routinely encountered waif-like helpers at the running store who suggest that you can go up a band size and down a cup size and that will work just fine. Their idea may work a little bit, especially if you're small busted, but it's not the best idea out there for the rest of us. It will usually lead to quad boob, chafing and too much bounce.

You should get a bra that is your exact size, not a close approximation of it. This is true for all bras, but so much more important for sports bras. If you don't know your correct size, keep trying them on until you figure out the correct band size and the correct cup size. (I would suggest using the sizing guides available online, but they're all outdated and inaccurate. Except this one.) The store you're at may not actually carry one that fits, but if the 34D fits around your rib cage, but you're spilling out of the cup, you can safely determine that you're a 34DD or 34DDD, depending on how undersized the D-cup was. For more specific trouble-shooting on bra size, watch the video. It will change your life. :)

I was trying to look online to find bra options and was hitting bad search results and dead ends everywhere. I was really getting frustrated when I found Bare Necessities. It's like heaven. Unlike other stores that had one bra that might fit, they had 30 that should fit. And those are just the sports bras. They even have cute ones in my size. I have never seen a cute sports bra in my size before. They carry sizes like 28DD, 40AA and 42A. If you've had a hard time finding your size because it's not a 36C, I'm sure you'll marvel at their selection, too. I will be ordering a bra or two this afternoon and will fill you in on them when they arrive.