In the beginning of the year I decided to give running a go. Now, I must point out that I get told multiple times a day by various people that I was not built to run. With that in mind, I decided to cross off one of the many things I have on my bucket list. Right below ‘make a wedding cake’ sits ‘run a marathon’.

After reading Alison Senti’s Run CanGirl Run post, I decided to follow her tips. I set my goals: I was to sign up for three half marathons during the year and commit to the Melbourne Marathon in October. Now that is a lot of kilometres for a 5 foot 2, Brazilian booty owner… but I thought, ‘if not now, when?’

The first sign of trouble

While in training for the first two half marathons earlier this year, at the Australian Running Festival and the YMCA half, I literally ran into my first trouble. Every time I ran more than 10 kilometres, I would experience the most painful thing EVER. Because of my ‘not built to run body,’ I was getting huge cuts underneath my breasts – not chafing, cuts – like if Wolverine and I were getting to second base if you know what I mean.

Taking a hot shower and having Radox bath was meant to be a treat for soreness, but in my case was more like a very painful torture. I tried different bras, multiple bras, I tried Vaseline (once the cuts became scars), I tried a sports bra WITH a top that had an inbuilt bra in, I read running magazines and spent a fortune on whatever bra they said was the best, and got NOWHERE.

I had to give my breasts a break and decided no more long distance running. But how was I going to reach my goal of running a marathon? I was close to giving up…I thought, ‘if I put my two half marathon medals together that equals a full marathon, right?’ And so for about two months, I didn’t run more than 10 kilometres. But then, I found a bra…haaaa (this is a relief ‘haaaa’ not to be confused with the Haaa Bra, which did nothing for me).

The Ta Ta Tamer

lululemon in the Canberra Centre was my knight in shining armour – after trying pretty much every single bra they had, I came across the “Ta Ta Tamer II.”  The name says it all, it is made (not just claims to be, like some of the other bras) for high-impact sports like running.

Material wise, it is made with luxtreme® a hardworking, inherently wicking, quick dry, silky smooth, lightweight, with four way stretch and LYCRA® for shape retention. Can you tell I am in LOVE? The bra tames from B to DD cup sizes, with wide comfortable adjustable straps that didn’t dig into my shoulders and allowed me to customise fit, and chafe-resistant flat seams. Now, using my husband’s words, I must warn you that this bra has a purpose and therefore is not going to win you a ‘cute sports gear competition’ anytime soon – maybe it is something the awesome guys at lululemon can think about when perhaps putting out a III version?

I need a friend!

Now with my kit sorted, I could concentrate on my second trouble. Canberra is an excellent place to run – you can pretty much find any distance and any incline you so desire. However, if you are anything like me, you probably can find any excuse under the sun not to go outside during the dreaded Canberra winter, and need the motivation of someone waiting for you to get you out form under the doona.

I had oodles of running buddies up until two months ago. I begged and pleaded with every single one of my friends, and even people I have just met, to meet me around Lake BG at 6am. Who wants to run in the -2 degree weather? Not me. I don’t even like running… Who wrote run a marathon on MY bucket list?

I knew I had hit desperation point when I looked on gumtree for running buddies – and, believe it or not, I actually found a few. The majority of them were a little weird, and a lot older than me, and I decided to not pursue their ads, just in case… Solution? I stopped trying to convince my friends that running a marathon was on THEIR bucket lists and found someone who has actually signed up for the same race already and is equally committed as I am. My new running peeps are a bit older than me and got me thinking: How come the majority of people running are in their 40’s or older? Can we add marathons to the huge list of things the Gen Y doesn’t participate in? Now, by no means am I complaining – this group might be doing double my age but they are surely doing double my speed as well.

Goal? Check! Right Kit? Check! Buddy? Check!

I love eating, I love baking, and I love going out to eat! Because of that, it can sometimes be really hard to eat right, especially when you are doing crazy distances – you feel constantly hungry! Because of all my bra issues, I decided I needed to lose some weight; actually, I just wanted to loose some boob, you know how it is, those who have it never want it.

So I did some research and came across a juicing program – not a diet, a program, as the books point out over and over again. I did the program for three weeks and I had absolutely nothing other than juices for every single one of my meals. I don’t believe I was nutrient deprived at all, the extra supplement that goes into the juices surely made up for any other food I was not having.

In three weeks I lost two bra sizes. Now until my race I will have to exercise extreme self control, made hard by having a public service job where everyone seems to bring bake goods into work everyday, and a hubby who eats and eats and then has seconds just because he can burn it off just by looking at the weights. It is even harder due to the fact that I eat clean Monday to Friday, then comes the weekend and I can’t wait to try out one of the latest restaurants HerCanberra has reviewed. Again, how did this marathon make its way to my bucket list? I’m sure it’s written in a different handwriting than mine.

Celebrate successes

One thing I do know how to do is celebrate my milestones. My running app informed me the other day that I had done my fastest five kilometres. What did I do? I treated myself to a running top and a Bubble Tea, thanks to one of the HerCanberra writers (not naming any names, Michelle!) who has gotten me hooked.

What is your running story? How are you overcoming your running troubles? How do you keep yourself from giving up your goals?