So we're about 10 days into the start of the new semester and half marathon training. Here are some initial thoughts on both.

School

• I'm taking two classes this semester: Organizational Leadership and Change and Strategic Analysis in the Competitive Environment.


• One of my classes seems awesome. Ones seems terrifyingly hard.


• I've only had one minor panic attack about how I'm going to balance everything this semester. Said freak out was yesterday at work, while I thought about all the huge work projects I have coming up there too.


• In the leadership class we took a personality survey thing (similar to Meyers-Briggs/Strengthsfinders, etc for those familiar with them). I always enjoy those because I find them to be creepily accurate for the most part.


• I scored off-the-charts high on extraversion. I'm sure this surprises no one.

Half Marathon Training

• Following a less intense plan was definitely the way to go this time around.


• Last week, we had a bunch of really humid days, which made even short runs miserable.


• This week, the humidity has taken a vacation and running in the mornings has been pretty pleasant.


• I've been doing my shorter weekday runs without my Garmin. It's nice not to worry about how fast or slow I'm going.
  I still wear Garmin for my weekend long runs though.


• Last weekend's long run was six miles. I should have eaten beforehand since I had a really early dinner the night before. That was a fail, and I went sloooooow as a result.


• When football season starts in 10 days, I'm going to have to figure out a different time to do my long runs since Saturdays will be occupied with tailgating. TBD on when that will be.

So that's what I've got going on now. Other than that quick freak out yesterday, things actually seem pretty manageable at the moment. I know my one class is going to get a lot more time-intensive later in the semester, and that definitely makes me nervous, but right now, I'm still managing to keep everything in check.

You know what's a bad idea for a runner? Walking in to a City Sports after a long run all hopped up on endorphins and realizing there's a sale going on.

So bad for my wallet.

But really good given the fact that I was pretty desperately in the need of new sports bras. Definitely hadn't replaced mine in like two years.

I've been wearing Champion sports bras my entire life. No joke since I started needing them when I was playing basketball and softball in middle school. Champions were the first I ever bought (correction, first my mom ever bought me) and I've been loyal since.

I've alway worn one of two styles. Either the simple pull over your head kind evidenced here:



Now a days these are reserved for rec league sports (like softball) that don't require as much support. Also for slip n slide.

Or these with way more support for running:

   

More support in general means things stay in place better on runs.

But to my dismay and utter sadness, Champion stopped making these bras. They've phased in some new styles that I'm not a major fan of (too many seams = too many possibilities for chafing). As a result, I haven't bought a new sports bra since...uhhh...2013?

Yea I know, that's really bad since sports bras definitely do not keep their support that long. (Most experts recommend replacing them every six months...sorry boobs!)

So this weekend when City Sports was having a nice sale on sports bras, I figured I'd take the time to look around. Well-endowed runner friends and running bloggers tend to swear by the Moving Comfort brand for their extreme support, and since those happened to be on sale, I decided to try a few on.

I tried on a few different styles: Maia, Juno and Rebound Racer.

The Maia was a no-go from the start for me. Underwire in a sports bra is just not my jam.

I tried on the Juno next and pretty much fell in love (once I was actually able to get it on and clasped). It took some weird circus theatrics to get it over my head and then hooked in back, but once it was all set, I could tell why people raved about this bra. So much support, so little movement, no matter how much I jumped up and down in the dressing room.

   

I actually wore it on my run this morning and it was awesome, except the tag rubbed weird in the back, so I'll have to figure something out with that.

The last one I tried on was the Rebound Racer. This one was easier to put on (thank goodness), but still seemed to have pretty awesome support and held up well to me jumping all over the dressing room. I haven't taken it out on a run yet, but I plan to later this week.

   



So in total I left City Sports with the two sports bras, a pair of shorts and new head bands, since my old ones were finally too stretched out, all for $105. Considering a good sports bra usually runs like $60, I consider this a major win.

Ladies, do you have a favorite sports bra? What is it? 

As of Monday night, I can officially hang my softball cleats up until next season.



My work league ended with a loss in the second round of the playoffs (by two to the only undefeated team in the league) and my alumni league wrapped up on Saturday.



Our Maryland team had a great run. We unfortunately lost in the semi-finals to Pitt in a game where we just played like crap all around. We couldn't hit, we couldn't field, it wasn't our usual brand of Maryland softball.

It was a bummer of a way to go out, but if we're looking on the bright side, it was the first time we'd made a run that deep in the tournament since 2009.

Part of me is really sad to see softball season go. I've had tournaments three straight weekends in August, and they're some of my favorite weekends of the year.

But another part of me is OK to slide into the off-season. My MBA classes started up again on Monday, and training for the Baltimore Half started this week too, so not having to work around softball schedules will probably be good for my sanity.

I know summer isn't officially over yet, but man with softball season wrapping up and classes getting underway, it sure feels like it is.