This one goes out to the ladies (mostly)

For a Puerto Rican woman, I'm pretty much a tomboy. Just ask my long-suffering mother who really wanted a girl who wore frilly dresses and bows in her hair (or who at least combed it!), not one who played football and at one point was training for her black belt in tae kwon do.

Even so, I typically follow the unwritten rule of never leaving home without a tube of lipstick in your purse and earrings in your ear lobes.

I have to say, I don't remember ever running with makeup on. Part of my getting-ready-to-go-run routine involves wiping my face down, including the ever-present lipstick. I just don't think that the raccoon-eye look is "in" this season. Or any season for that matter.

But every so often, I'll see a fellow runner chica with full-face makeup and wonder what gives?

Maybe it's those finish-line photos. They're notorious for making us look like we just ran a bunch of miles. Oh. Wait. Never mind. Honey, no amount of make up is going to make that photo look good.

So maybe it's trying to get to the road even faster. Nope. There's something called face wipes. Takes two seconds.

It's gotta be vanity. Maybe trying to look good for the opposite sex. Um. Sweat. Smells. Pasted-on hair. Never mind.

Then it hit me. Maybe it's the idea that us chicas are going to do everything we can to just feel good about being out there. Whether it's wearing coordinating outfits, running skirts or, yes, lipstick.

And, why not? I can't leave the house for a run without what my daughter calls my "fanny pack," but every runner knows to be a high-tech running belt. It's got water-bottle holders and a pocket, which I've filled to the max with ChapStick, tissues, a tiny tube of Body Glide, SportBeans and a $20 bill in case I feel like buying 20 bottles of water at once.

And who'd be crazy enough to leave home for a run without her fully charged smartphone (for the Pandora and Nike-Plus apps, of course!) and YurBuds headphones?

So, make-up on, my fellow runner girls. This chica isn't going to question -- or judge you -- any longer. Wear that make up if that's one more thing that motivates you to get out there and move.

Now pass me that Mary Kay lipstick in Toffee. Maybe that'll make up for the ballet lessons I quit after about five minutes.

Source: Disney

Do you run with makeup on? What else motivates you to get out there and run?