I could imagine myself twisting my ankle. I could imagine myself pulling a hamstring. I could even imagine myself falling and hurting my wrist or hand somehow. However, the one “injury” I would have never thought I would have to deal with is… the bloody nipple.

Yeah, I am putting it out there. My nips have been bleeding from running. I can say with confidence… it hurts too. I started to notice a change about a six weeks ago when my runs crossed over the 4 mile per session threshold. My nipples would be extra sensitive, enlarged and hurt to the touch. No – no, not me touching and caressing my own nipples. But just anything rubbing against them – i.e – my t-shirt.

When I signed up for this 10K training group at Fleet Feet, we were encouraged to get the following:

• running shoes – to make sure we were properly fitted to prevent injury (sure, you are a retail store – you want to sell more shoes).
• socks – for added comfort and sweat resistance (sure, you are a retail store – you want to sell more socks).
• water bottles – for uh… water (sure, you are a retail store – you want to sell every accessory you can).
• energy gels and other nutrition – to ensure we are fueling our bodies to hold up for performance (sure, you are a retail store – you want to sell us overpriced supplements).
• technical apparel – to wick moisture away from your skin (sure, you are a retail store – you want to sell us expensive t-shirts).

And you thought all you needed to start running was a pair of sneakers.

Now I have always been a fan of wearing both Nike and Under Armour tees because I like the way the technical fabric feels versus cotton. And yes, on a hot day they do keep the sweat moving, minimizing your shirt stick directly to your back. But little did I know that a dry fit t-shirt could prevent my nips from being on fire.

I made the mistake of actually running in a shirt that I received from entering a race. Shouldn’t a shirt you get from a running event be appropriate to run in? The cotton rubbing against me created big red circles on my chest. I was thankful most of the run took place in the dark. And now to top it off I can’t even wear white. Not because it’s after labor day, but because I’ll look like I just came off the operating table after running for an hour.

I don’t want to look like this guy!

One of my favorite episodes of The Office is when Michael Scott organizes a charity run – to find a “cure” for rabies; yeah, there already is a cure. Anyways, the Nard Dog gets prepped for the run by placing cotton balls over his nips.

Evidently that is one of the preventions for this “injury”. Some others are Vaseline or Body Glide (no thanks), Nip Guards (I’d rather buy tampons at the store) or Band Aids (it’s going to hurt yanking them off the forest on my chest).

After further research it’s mentioned that this is a common issue for men, but women have the extra layer provided by a sports bra (non cotton) to prevent any rubbing.

Could this be my answer? Perhaps Kramer was onto something years ago. Maybe I should be running wearing a “bro”… I mean, a manzier!

*** An update – I started this post a couple weeks ago.  My injury has since subsided and my nips have returned to their normal state – hopefully forever.  Now please go on with your day without worrying about my tender nipples ***