Dear goddesses of menopause and menstruation,

I have to admit I wasn't too impressed this spring when I started bleeding like an 18-year-old in the middle of our Italian vacation, which was the first period I'd had in months.

So you can't blame me for being a little apprehensive last week when my body started acting like another period was 1-3 weeks away. With my first 5K coming up a week from Saturday and all.

But now it's here, it'll be gone before then, and I'll have had a nice healthy dose of youthful hormones to keep me going in the race.

Thanks.