The Bro Bra

Early on when I started reading blogs and forums about endurance sports, I read somewhere that it's OK to talk freely about certain things with other endurance athletes. You know, like peeing in your wetsuit or what kind of chamois butter is the best to liberally apply to your butt. Well, hopefully this is true because I'm about to do it.

Lately, I've been having this little problem while running. My nipples are getting really chafed by my running shirt. And because it's warmer out and I'm drenched in sweat within 15-20 minutes of starting, my nipples get really irritated and sting like crazy. This has been known to continue for hours after my run, despite showering. Obviously this is really annoying.

At first I tried using Body Glide, but this didn't help at all. It just melted away and made a huge oily mess.


Then I tried band-aids, but that didn't work out too well either. The band-aids where not a problem during running, they actually did a good job. It was taking them off afterwards that totally sucked.

So today I went out and bought myself what I like to call a bro bra.

You might be asking why I don't just call this what it actually is, a compression tank-top. In response, I offer two distinctions contrary to it's intended use to support my position. First, regardless of the fact it is a full shirt, I'll be wearing it for the sole purpose of protecting my chest. And second, while wearing skin tight clothes during a race is fine, I have no desire to look like a cape-less superhero while training. The bro bra is intended as a base layer. A courtesy shirt is appropriate at all times unless you have a bib and a timing chip on.

As I walked into Sports Chalet ready to find the best bro bra money could buy, I had a laundry list of requirements -

- It had to fit really tight. There was no point in adding a garment just to keep getting chaffed.

- The fabric had to be really thin so I could comfortably layer without overheating.

- The length of the body had to be long enough to tuck into my compression shorts. Otherwise I was concerned the shirt would ride up my torso and create an equally annoying alternate problem.

After reviewing all my options, I chose one from Under Armour. It was thin, and even the size down from what I normally wear was long enough to tuck in. I bought the smaller size to insure the tightest fit possible.

I took it out for a run tonight. It worked fine. It was especially warm today and even a bit humid, so finished the run completely soaked. But I had no problems, no pain, no anything. The bro bra came through with plenty of support.

I am pleased to have found a solution to my problem and am happy to pass this tidbit of insider info on to others who may be currently suffering.