DD Review: Moving Comfort Fiona Bra

We haven't talked boobage for a while and this baby has been getting a fair amount of use lately so I thought it might be time to talk about the Moving Comfort Fiona Bra. Though truthfully I'm not 100% sure this is what it is, I'm about 95% sure and my last remaining doubts come from the fact that I can't find anywhere that sells it in the colour I have (grey and black). Anyway, let's assume this is what it is.

I think this bra would make an incredible bra for nursing athletes, as the straps go through a little hole on the front and velcro in. I always worry about them coming undone, but they never do. Actually for a really long time this kept me from wearing it in the high impact activities it purports to be designed for, and I relegated it to a 'yoga bra'. Then one day every other decent bra I owned was too dirty to wear, and I decided to brave the bounce.

Except that the bounce was, well not non-existant, but not too much more than any of my other bras, which is to say tolerable. And so Fiona has stayed in rotation. I won't wear it in the parts of the month when I'm a little tender, but other than that it gets a fair amount of use.

I can't remember what I paid, but Moving Comfort, Athleta, and Title Nine all list it in the $44/$45 range today.

Which brings me to: suppliers. Athleta has been recently bought out by the Gap family. I like that I can make my order when I order new jeans (curvilicous with a big booty is not a shape Gap UK carries so I'm reduced to ordering when one of us is going back to the US) but I don't like that their models seem to have started coming from the same place as the Gap models instead of the more athletic-looking 'real' women Athleta used to feature. Title Nine is still going strong, but their prices just seem to go up and up and up. Moving Comfort is a new one in my supply list. They too have a bra-finder thing and feature bras for women of all sizes. They also have MCW for women who wear 'plus' sizes (I really hate that designation). I'm definitely going to have to try them out.

A slightly better run report

I'm not cool like JogBlog so I haven't got any fancy sunglasses to review but I nevertheless dutifully put on capris, decent bra, tank top, socks, shoes, and hat. I put my sunglasses on the brim of my hat while I get the Garmin and my iPod all ready. I go outside, wait (and wait, and wait) for the Garmin to find a signal after all these months of not running and finally get going. I do my 60 seconds on, 90 seconds off thing. The goal this time around on Couch to 5k is to end up being able to run a sub-30min 5k at the end of it, so I try to do approx 10-min-miles in the running bits, which actually turned out to be a bit faster but we'll see how that goes when the time extends. I do 10 minutes, am feeling good, contemplate adding an extra 5 minutes today, decide not to because I have been so slack lately and don't want to overdo it the first day out but agree with myself to do 20 min Mondays, 25 min Wednesdays, and 30 min Fridays this week and next while everything is building up, then re-evaluate, so I turn around. Still feeling good after another 10 minutes when I'm back at the park near my house. I go to do the test for 100 pushups and 200 situps, and DISCOVER MY SUNGLASSES STILL ON THE BRIM OF MY HAT. I am a moron, or else London isn't really sunny enough for sunglasses yet. At least I didn't lose them as I did a little Metallica-headbanging-running-thing.

I know you're supposed to train for distance, and the speed will come, but as I said part of my problem doing longer distances (which I enjoy) is that it takes so bloody long to train for them when you are as slow as I am. So I'm doing a short-distance training to get myself used to running this kind of recreational distance at a not-embarassing pace, then planning to up the distances according to an as-yet-undetermined (Hal Higdon? FIRST? your thoughts?) plan based on my success in this revamed C25k. The first time I did C25k, I counted my warmup walk and cooldown walk in my distances, so I can't compare given that I didn't do any warmup or cooldown bits on this run, but back then I did an overall 13-ish minute mile and way back when I started doing marathon training I did 3 miles, jogging (I think) the whole thing at a 12:39 pace, and today I did rather less than 2 miles at an 11:59 pace of walking more than I was running. So I'm off to a better start.

I'm on Twitter, as many of you are. My running-tweets are predictably listed under @RunFrom30. I have a personal one too of course but my RL friends probably don't want to know how many (girly-style) pushups I've done. That's what I have you guys for.

Finally, check out the TopHeavyRunner, another well-endowed lady with suggestions about good bras for large-breasted ladies. I'm planning to try some of the bras she's reviewed, and I hope she'll do the same for me.

Double D Review: Sports Bra Round-up, part 1

Noelle asked if I'd ever found a sports bra with no bounce whatsoever. Unfortunately, I can't say that I have. But I have tried a lot, and have some thoughts for you.

First of all, I'm American by background. So most of what I know are American stores. (If any of my large-breasted English friends have suggestions, I'm all ears...or eyes...or whatever.)

I buy most of my sports bras from two places: Title Nine and Athleta. They carry some of the same styles. Title Nine annoyingly names theirs differently than the brand names.

OK, got to go to work...post to be updated later, I promise.

Here we go again. All prices listed are for my size (38DD, if you must know) when prices differ by size. I generally start, when looking for new bras (I'm still in search of The One), by looking at the sizes of women they use to model them (if it's modeled by a B-cup, I'm moving on) and knowing that, no matter what, I always want the most supportive ones they have - that's why I like Title Nine.

First up, the Glamourise Sport Bra, known at Title Nine as the Having-It-All Bra ($39), not sold by Athleta. I wrote about this one before, so I won't rehash it here. I'll just generally say I like this one. If you've been doing your workouts in your daytime underwires, you'll actually probably get along with this bra, though it doesn't have an underwire. If you've been using drug store pull-overs (even double-bagged), this will probably feel a little weird and grandma-ish, but you'll be so happy to not be bouncing all over with your uniboob that it's probably ok. Still, I'd say this is not an easy first step for those just coming to grips with their ta tas.

The Hallelujah Bra ($42), also not sold by Athleta. This one looks intriguing in the online catelog. Actually looks kinda similar to the one above. On further looking, I think it is the same one, with a higher price. This makes me mad at Title Nine. If anyone from T9 reads this, could you let us know what the difference between these two is?

The Frog Bra ($32), exclusive to T9. This one used to be my favourite, back in the day. It's the most "regular-sports-bra" looking one, so I recommend it to people who are changing in front of people (like collegiate sports) and don't want to be embarassed by more supportive bras that generally seem to look like grandma bras. However, I think that, over the years, this one has gotten less supportive or else I've gotten more bouncy, because it doesn't seem to hold me in as well as it once did. Still, it's pretty chafe free for me and it's a good first big-breasted-girl bra.

The Enell ($64), known as the Last Resort ($60) at T9 (used to be sold at Athleta but doesn't seem to be listed today). The bra that Oprah made famous. I haven't quite been able to get myself to try this one yet. I probably should, though.

The Helena bra by Moving Comfort, known as the 3-Reasons Support Bra at T9 ($45) or maybe the Marvel Bra ($58) and available for $58 at Athleta. I like this one, and will write a more detailed review later. It's pretty comfortable and highly adjustable, which is good for those of us who go up and down in size throughout the cycle.

Even I'm bored by now, so I'll come back to this for part 2 sometime later. Let me know what you've tried, what you like, what you want to know about, what you'll send me to try for free (!), etc.

Double D Review: Glamourise Sport Bra

About a year ago, my sister and I did an Urban Dare together. (Side note - totally fun! Thanks to dad and Meg for help from home.) I was just getting into running and pretty out of shape, plus the format of the event is that there's a fair amount of stop-and-starting. Combined, this made for a sweaty me who would get cooled off and then start running again.

I have a couple of these bras. I always wondered why one fit more comfortably, while the other offered more control. I finally figured out that I bought them in 2 different sizes, so now I wear the more comfortable one for shorter runs or non-running activities and the smaller, tighter one to control the bounce on long runs - once I get going I don't tend to notice the feeling of constriction anyway!

All of this is a long-winded warm-up to my review of this bra. It's one of the most "regular bra"-like bras I run in on anything resembling a regular basis. The Urban Dare was my first foray into the world of chafing under the boobage, and still one of my worst experiences with it. I think something about the salt drying on my skin plus the movement of this bra (I was wearing the more comfortable one) contributed to the scars I still bear.

I find that this bra does leave some chafing, but it's really comfortable while I'm running and I don't generally notice until I'm in the shower. It's pretty good at reducing the bounce. There's no uniboob effect - an extra bonus if I'm doing anything other than running while in my running outfit (running errands, hashing, etc).

Pros: Considering its status as a "big breasted runner's bra", not too expensive. No uniboob. Hooks in the back - easy to get off when I'm all sweaty.
Cons: Chafing. Bounce not entirely banned.
Rating: 1 1/2 cups. I'll probably buy more but it isn't perfect.

Updated review: Bendon Sports Max

Here's a little something for all you Googlers who are looking for a review of the Bendon Sports Max bra I reviewed in my most popular post.

As I mentioned in that post, this bra quickly became my new favourite. It had a good squish/bounce-control factor but was still comfortable enough that I was willing to overlook the fact that I had to get help to get it off after every run. (Though that may say something more about my flexibility than about the bra itself.)

I bought this bra in mid-February. I washed it - and dried it - roughly once a week. I packed it for the marathon. I brought backups of just about everything else, but I was so confident in my choice of chin protector that I didn't bring a backup bra. The night before the marathon, I realised the underwire was poking out a bit, but it was easy enough to push it back into the casing and I didn't worry about it.

26.2 miles later. I have minor gouges on the sternum side of both breasts, presumably because the underwires escaped from the casing again or else were rubbing away even inside their casings. I have a moderate bit of chafing underneath where the band rubbed on my ribs. But the worst is the 2 spots on my back where the hooks and eyes are. These are scar-inducing chafages.

So, while we've had a good run, I think this bra may be relegated to the minor leagues of the short weekday run, and it won't be long before it will have to go to the big playground of the small-breasted in the sky.

Pros: Good while it lasted
Cons: See above
Updated rating: 1 cup.

Double D Review: Moving Comfort Micro Brief with DriLayer

Not too long ago, I did my longest marathon-prep run. Don't laugh. At the end, I was having some chafage in the nether regions. I searched high and low for a pair of dry layer drawers, and finally found one (1!) pair at the runner's shop in Grand Central, having been to Modell's, Jackrabbit, and any other place in NYC I could think of. I probably wouldn't have bought more than one pair, anyway, since I had never tried them out and the only size they had I thought would be maybe a little too small. I put them on and they fit great. I ran a moderate-length run on one of the warmest days yet. No chafing. Now if I can only get them clean in time for the weekend.
Pros: No chafing! Comfy.
Cons: Impossible to find. $$$$ [I can't remember precisely, but something nearing $15]
Double D Rating: 1.5 cups.

The Double D Review: Foam Roller

I think I'm the last runner on earth to get wise to the wisdom of the foam roller. I was always kind of intimidated by them since I had no idea what to do with them. It's not like a weight machine or treadmill where the thing to do can be relatively easily inferred from the structure of the thing. I kept reading all these people raving about them, but I didn't want to buy things. But I've been so sore lately, especially after the 11 miles that ended with me limping the last 2 block home, that I haven't run this week at all. With a marathon 8 weeks away as of Sunday, now is not the time to fall off the wagon. So on Tuesday, I went for it, and ordered one. It arrived yesterday (!) and I rolled basically my whole body last night. Afterwards, for the first time in 2 weeks, I didn't hurt. I wasn't walking around looking for something to stretch myself against. My only complaint is that the exercises and how-to guide that came with this one weren't extensive, but a friend is a personal trainer in the States and gave me a link to some more detailed instructions which I'll be using this weekend after I start running again!
Pros: Worked out all the crap in my muscles to let me back on the roads
Cons: Kind of unweildy piece of equipment to have lying around
Double D Review Product Rating: 2 cups

The Double D Review: Bendon Sport Max Out Sport Bra

I am what they call a "well-endowed woman." I don't run without at least one, sometimes 2, sports bras. These are not those cute, multicolored things you see super fit women in the gym running in with no top on. These are industrial strength, Grandma-style, major squasher over-the-shoulder boulder holders. Needless to say, I take my sports bras very seriously.
When I was packing for this trip, I sadly discovered that only my least favorite sports bra was clean. I have 2 of these, and for whatever reason one fits better than the other, so there's always the chafing one that sits around for desperate times. I often will wear it on a short run, but I'll wait 2 hours for a clean one before wearing it on a long run - normally. But I didn't really have that luxury since I was on my way out the door, so I'd resigned myself to major chafage and made sure the Body Glide was in the bag.

I stopped at City Sports (big sale!) to check out the running shoes, and I did something I never do - I bought a sports bra off the rack - no trying it on, no ordering from an internet site with bra support ratings, nothing. And I fell in love.

The new object of my affection is the Bendon Sport Max Out Sport Bra. ($55 - when you're built like me, you pay for quality. No $10 Target specials here.) It's got a racer back, with hooks below. This makes it a bit tricky to put on (and take off), and when I first put it on I thought I'd made a huge error - it was tight and there was no way I was going to get it over the boys, I thought. But once strapped in, it was seriously the most comfortable bra ever. About 5 miles into the run, I started feeling like it had come unhooked in the back, but the racer back was still holding things in. Turns out I should have hooked it a little tighter, was all - as I was moving it just wasn't against my back any more. But because of this, it started to slide down my rib cage a bit - there's a pretty good gouge in the shape of the underwire on one side. I'm pretty sure that's my fault, though. When I got home, I had a bit of a struggle getting the now soaking wet bra off due to the racer back, but my back doesn't hurt, my breasts don't ache, and I'm totally planning to add this to my rotation.

Pros: Available in a store! Great support. Racer back design will be great in summer. Wicking.
Cons: Difficult to put on/take off. If you don't get it hooked exactly right, slippage leading to chafage. Not cheap.
Double D ReviewSM Rating: 1 1/2 cups.

Update: If you've found this post via search engine, be sure to check out my updated review of this bra post-marathon.