6 miles barefoot this morning. Where are the females on this thread? I need some moral support! I was unreasonably exhausted last night, went to bed a bit early, was discouraged to feel so tired, only to discover this morning that my "time of life" is screwing with my hormonal cycles. Two weeks. I tried to keep my run this morning relaxed. I thought I would feel better with a slow run than not at all. The pace didn't end up too bad in spite of the fatigue and mild cramps. This could really make marathon training a challenge...
6 miles barefoot this morning. Where are the females on this thread? I need some moral support! I was unreasonably exhausted last night, went to bed a bit early, was discouraged to feel so tired, only to discover this morning that my "time of life" is screwing with my hormonal cycles. Two weeks. I tried to keep my run this morning relaxed. I thought I would feel better with a slow run than not at all. The pace didn't end up too bad in spite of the fatigue and mild cramps. This could really make marathon training a challenge...
Here I am! I'm not on oral contraceptives, and I am in pre-menopause (not peri, which is the two years before menopause) and my period likes to come whenever it wants, within about a 7 day time span, and sometimes it likes to play tricks on me and drag on forever and ever. Sometimes the cramps almost kill me, other times not so much. The energy thing is a definite factor - and on "that day" - I just crawl into bed and do nothing. The SUCKIEST part of all, is women's cycles actually SHORTEN throughout menopause. I always assumed they lengthened. Yikes. Mine is doing exactly that, it used to be a four week cycle, it is now a three-ISH week cycle. One time a couple of years ago, it started doing something my ND called "fore-shortening". It was four weeks one month, the next month three weeks, the next month two weeks -at which time I went to my ND and said -WTF? I don't want to be having a period EVERY day for the rest of my life, which is right where I was headed. He was also an acupunturist and did one treatment on me that reset the whole thing back to a four week cycle, and that held for quite a long time. Unfortunately he died.
No acupuncturist has been able to do that since. Thank god it has never gone back to fore-shortening, yet...
Like those in menopause, the biggest problem is, knowing where I am REALLY at in my cycle. But there ARE ways to know, using various body measurements, similar to what women measure in what was formerly called the "rhythm method" and what people who have irregular cycles use, to get pregnant. I am too lazy to do them now, but when I get serious about training, and especially as I get older and my body becomes more irregular, it will become a MUST to take these measurements daily and chart them.
As of late, I have begun to research exercise plans that revolve around one's cycle and have found that there is a lot of useful information out there, but I have not had a chance to sort through credible vs. non-credible sources, yet. I "thought" I knew what bodily changes occur throughout ones' cycle pretty well, but I was WRONG - I only understood them in relation to pregnancy. Understanding these changes in relation to exercise is turning out to be WAY more complex than I thought it was. Most surprising (and annoying) is that it is necessary to follow a plan that alters EVERY SINGLE WEEK throughout the cycle -and this includes exercise AND diet. But, it is necessary to do this to reap the biggest rewards and achieve your training goals.
As I research this, I will let you know what I find.
I HAVE learned one EXTREMELY important bit of information that I tell all my female running friends about - and it is the hormone Relaxin and it's role on the "weakening" of ligaments, during ones' cycle. Here is an article about it - skip down a couple paragraphs to see what I am talking about:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-relaxin.htm
I had one friend run her first marathon while menstruating and she incurred hip injuries that it took her literally years to recover from - and I am convinced that is why. She is re-training now and I "reminded" her about this - and like lots of highly competitive females, she said, "I'm not going to pass on a race that I spent four months training for, just because my period started", to which I "gently" reminded her that the cost of forfeiting a race, is far less expensive than dealing with an injury that you will likely pay for, for the rest of your life." To which, she blew me off again, attempting ridiculous justifications such as, "you are more likely to incur damage from dehydration during a race than from your hormones" -this is assanine and she knows it!
There IS a compromise to this dilemma - which I told her about. You sign up for TWO marathons one or two weeks apart from each other. People are always desperate to get into large competitive races -especially marathons- so you will most likely recoup the extra money you paid. And if you don't - you still only have one body...it's a small price to pay in the bigger picture.
When I run my first ultra, some time before I die, I AM going to sign up for two. Problem solved.