Bad-ish News

Okay, so I scored ONE goal last night . . . and came really darn close to another when I sent a rocket past the keeper--unfortunately, the wind kicked up at the last second and the ball ended up hitting the far goalpost. Bummer. It would have been the winning goal! Oh well. I guess I'll take the 2-2 tie, considering it's not a loss (but we were WAY better than the other team).

The "bad-ish news" is that I suffered a deep thigh bruise towards the end of the game. I went one-on-one with the other team's keeper in my attempt to win a 50/50 ball and hopefully score . . . and the keeper (legally) stuck her knee up in the air to protect herself. My thigh, of course, crashed directly into her knee at about a billion miles per hour. Ugh. I could tell my quad was pretty pissed off by the way it was swelling and spasming last night (and still throughout the day today). It was reminiscent of when I tore the hamstring last year (shudder!). Luckily, I can walk without TOO much pain, so I don't think it's going to set me back all that far (whew!) . . . but it looks like I'm going to have to do nothing but rest for the next several days. That means no soccer tonight . . . and once again, no running. Ha, I think I'm starting to learn that 4 soccer leagues and marathon training really don't mix! Yikes . . .

Moving on. I have to ask you all your opinion on something that's been a rather hot topic for a while now: running skirts. Growing up as a very competitive athlete, I was always trying to prove to myself and others that I could play with the boys--which honestly--I could. In grade school/junior high gym classes, I was forced to play with the boys in pretty much any sport we covered . . . because our gym teacher insisted it was "unfair" for me to compete against the not-so-athletically-gifted girls in our class. Still today, when I play in co-ed soccer leagues, I find myself sizing up my male opponents and comparing their skill-levels to my own. As a result of this silly need to be on an equal playing field with male athletes, I have never wanted to do anything that might bring attention to the fact that I am-gasp!-a woman. Thus, I have never bought into the feminization of sports gear.

BUT. After the August issue of Runners World focused so much on the "Rise of the Skirt Culture," I have to admit, I am a little intrigued. After all, if Runners World is touting cutesy running skirts, surely it doesn't make me any less of a runner if I take the plunge and don one myself. Right? (Please note: I do not look at other women in running skirts and think they are "not runners"--this is actually just a personal issue I seem to have). Despite my personal prejudice against them, I still feel like there is a part of me that would embrace running skirts were it given the chance to do so. After all, I like to consider myself a stylish chick . . . and I do like to look my best. Oh, and have I mentioned that I HATE running shorts? So um . . . I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I want a running skirt! AH!

If any of you running skirt experts out there have any advice for what works best or what to look for in a running skirt, I would love to hear it!