Racing 1st day of period?

[RoadRaven]

I have ridden every day... my main problem is not cramps (heck, when it has been too bad I have taken pills - but I rarely do that now because I find the exercise actually helps reduce the cramp pain.

My main problem is the ammount I bleed on in about the second 24hours... Boy are those chamois absorbant!

[Trigress]

I think you should monitor the tendency a little more. Now I'm blessed with very little hassle from my periods myself, and my bad days are generally more linked to nutrition and sleep, so I think I would take these factors into consideration too before blaming it all on the period.

You didn't mention any other potentially influential factors, but could it have something to do with stress (crazy drivers while commuting, perhaps? ), several days of too little sleep or perhaps less than optimal nutrition either race day or the days before? I'm not saying that is has nothing to do with your period, and, having few period-related problems myself, I may have little understanding for how the menstrual cycle may influence athletic performance! However, my boyfriend's a long-distance triathlete, and he may be completely taken out by something like a bad night's sleep or too little food. If this race was on the border of what you're accustomed to I think there might be something like that is more influential. Monitoring things like this is really why one should have a training log, but personally I never manage to keep it up...

[lph]

yea, I'll have to monitor this a bit more closely to see a pattern. I could be a bit anemic, I don't take iron but have had good iron levels whenever this has been checked, even through pregnancy. But I haven't trained consistently this hard before, at least not endurance stuff.

Not that I'm really training that hard, but I'm training a lot more with other people, so I probably try harder to keep up instead of just slacking off if I have a bad day, and notice the bad days more clearly since I have someone to compare myself with.

Can't think of any other obvious factors. I'd been mostly off my bike for a week, in the mountains doing fieldwork and skiing. Fairly hard physical work (shoveling snow, toting heavy stuff and galumphing uphill) but with a few good rest days after with just a couple of easy commutes, so in theory I should have been mentally and physically raring to go. Ah well.

Have to get one of those wristbands

[Bron]

I read somewhere (I think it was in Gale Bernhardt's "Female cyclist") that most people need more calories in the week leading up to their period. That seems to be true for me, so if I have a race coming up and am at that time of the month I make extra sure that I am eating properly and am well hydrated.

I can sympathise about getting hot and cold - I certainly get hot and bothered very easily and often don't feel like training but once the start gun for a race has gone I'm usually ok (must be the adrenaline) - at least this has always been the case with rowing and ski races so far.

[Ana]

I've also found variations within my own cycle. My energy had been mostly unaffected during/before my period until a couple months ago. That particular month, I felt really fatigued (I almost thought I was coming down with something) and kind of depressed. I felt sleeping and listless

Oh yes, and on the occasions I did ride when I felt tired I loved the ride but had tired bouts throughout the ride and afterwards, felt completely drained.

That month, however, I also had many external factors (stress, less sleep, not eating optimally) so it's hard to say what the correlate was. I have had a few alternating cycles like the one I just described but for the most part, they have been very manageable since I've been monitoring my sleep, stress and diet more carefully.

Hope this helps!

[Andrea]

I used to feel the same way on my first day, and I'd pretty much just take a caffeine pill, some Aleve, and HTFU

However, since I started training a lot more, I quit having regular periods, so my doc put me on birth control to help keep me from having problems associated w/amenorrhea. The nice side effect is that I don't have any period now (when they started to go away, they'd just be really light & unpredictable).

[Geonz]

So last week I walk into my office thinking "I stink! Must wash up well" and there's a thread jus tstarted about B.O. This a.m. I've got worse-than-usual (which usually isn't bad) first-day symptoms and... here's the thread!

Personally, if I'm watching the calendar and something big is coming when I'm expecting my period, it's come afterwards! (but usually with a bit more cramping). I've gotten to expect it (tho' I still prepare). I thnk I'd boost the nutrition... Unfortunately, this month's little symptom is a bad case of the runs (which maybe was helped by that pomegranate martini last night?) ... which meant that I just ate teh bread and secreted away the chocolate from the birthday spread at work.

Oh, but when I am riding a lot... the periods are usually easier and lighter. (I don't race but I ride as if I do. I'm just not coordinated and don't like crashing.)

I bet in two weeks you'll be in top form