Statistics show that girls are 1.5X more likely than boys to drop out of sports by age 14 and that goes up to 2X by age 17. All of the reasons cited here are valid. But, come on, can we please talk about the elephant in the room? Um, hello! Did anyone think it might have to do with the start of periods and breast development? Regardless of emotional changes from the new influx of hormones, periods and boobs are a lot for a girl to manage, they are a lot for me to manage and I am 46! In fact, a lot of training in girls’ sports tries to keep girls from getting their periods and, thus, stunting their breast development. As my title suggests, this is about boobs. (Ooh, I might have to tackle the periods in another post.) My hope is to help guide other female athletes on how to run with boobs.

Thanks to my paternal grandmother, I have been blessed (cursed?) with big boobs. And, these big boobs entered my life by age 13. One of my first memories of this change, while trying to be a young athlete, was in the spring of 1989. I was in 8th grade. About six or eight of us (all girls) played a season combined softball, lacrosse and track and field after school. Either sports bras didn’t exist or we just didn’t know about them. During one of our track and field practices we had to run back and forth on the field, first toward our coach and then back to my teammates, one at a time. When I returned from my run, my teammates all told me that our male coach was staring at my boobs. (Remember, I was 13!) As I am sure you can imagine, I was MORTIFIED and, it was at that moment that running became one of my least favorite activities. I did continue in sports for a few years after that, but always played defense (known then as the position for non-runners) and eventually dropped athletics later in high school. I blame the absence of a good sports bra.

Fast forward over 30 years and post babies and I am cursed (blessed?) with 32E jugs and a new love for endurance running. These are my discoveries:

• Invest in a good sports bra - There are a number of factors that come into play for your preferred sports bra. I have probably tried them all and what works for me may not work for you. So I am not going to review bras. My (almost) perfect sports bra is the High Intensity Sports Bra from Sweaty Betty. This bra was NOT AT ALL my favorite for a long time. But I found after trying them all, that I really preferred the style over any other sports bra. It is more high cut and works more to flatten my chest therefore holds the ladies in place. It also has the upper hook on the back to provide for even less bounce, which is non-negotiable for me. The not perfect part of this bra is that the bottom band causes terrible chafing on my upper abdomen when I go the longer distances. (See #3 for ways to manage.) I have not found a bra that does not do this and I’ll take it over the on boob chafing which is some scary shit.

• When you find your (almost) perfect sports bra, buy 4, or more! - and NEVER dry them in the dryer. These two actions just make them last a lot longer.

• Figure out how to manage your bras faults - I have come to terms with the fact that no bra is perfect. There are lots of anti-chafe cream that you can apply to the spot that gets irritated. This works to a certain point but, if you are out there for the long miles, the sweat will eventually wash it off. For the really long runs I put a strip of K-tape on the healed (this is important) chafe wound. I also do this with old blisters.

• Discover your Multifidus - One of the 5 inner, or primary, core muscles is your multifidus. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I had not. Coupled with my own bodywork with a Pilates instructor and my subsequent studying for my endurance training course, I discovered this all too important muscle structure. The multifidus is a series of muscles that attach to both sides of your spine The deeper segments of this muscle group provide spinal stabilization. Strengthening this muscle has been shown to help with lower back pain. I have seen that focusing on strengthening this core muscle helps tremendously when you are a bit top-heavy. As soon as I became aware of its existence, I was able to activate and, in turn, strengthen it. One of the easiest ways to start activating this muscle group is to add Bird Dogs to your core strengthening routine. To make sure you are doing them right, place a yoga block or book on your lower spine and while focusing on those muscles all up and down your spine, don’t let the block fall.

• Stop slouching-This one is the hardest! At first, I found it was actually painful to stand up straight, but as discussed in #4, core strengthening has really helped with that. Standing up straight means more showing what you got—taking me all the way back to that dumb coach looking at my tatas at the ripe age of 13. (EWE, gross!) Reclaiming my power from idiots like that has taught me to lead with my heart, literally.

I hope this helps someone out there. When I think of the typical runner’s body, big cans are not typically what first pops into my head. So it can be hard to find help with this question. I am not going to say that I “love” my boobs, maybe, just maybe, I like them. Oh, and let’s all buy a young girl a sports bra.