the privelage of the period

It's not easy being a girl. We've got stuff and issues and..... hormones. Any parent of a pre teen or teenage daughter knows this all too well. Those of us who have the ability to look back on our teenage years with the same reaction as fingernails scratching a chalkboard...... wish to god the same fate does not await us. I was horrible. I don't know how my parents survived. I really don't. Not only did they survive 2 teenage daughters but one with an eating disorder and a son..... well we don't need to even talk about him and his antics. At least not until Halloween.

Early on I had a swim coach who taught me to never allow anything to prevent me from doing what I dreamt of doing. She told me that when I first got my period at age 12. Yeah, 12. Not only that but I was already 5'10" in 6th grade and the first girl in a bra. More on that one Friday.

Lucky me, early bloomer, no one around me was going through the same thing. It was awkward, teenage years are awkward. At that age I was 2 full years into my EDO career so you can imagine I was .... oh just a little bit..... insane.

I remember standing on the pool deck and I was afraid to get into the water. What if I bled in the pool? I can't swim with my period! Oh my gawd! I was too mortified to ask my mother, and I actually wonder what she would have told me to do.

My swim coach ( a girl) told me that having my period was something I needed to learn to deal with. It's part of being a woman, that I should consider it a privilege and it is not something to be ashamed of. Now get in the water and swim.

So I did. And of all the things I took to heart, I took her advice.

Menstruation is different for every girl. My sister would be on the floor for days with cramps so bad she couldn't walk. Me, pretty easy. Heavy flow.... three days. Cramping? No.

Thank you god for giving me something that was easy. Fertility? not easy. The books? Not easy. College? Not easy? Being a triathlete? Not easy.

Marriage = easy. Period = easy. I will take those.

So I learned to deal with having my period. I danced with it, I swam with it, I swim and I bike and I run with it.

Last year I took on a wonderful new athlete who was doing the Ironman. One of her first questions to me was...... I don't want to have my period on the day of the Ironman.

Um..... God..... I might need some help on this one, I thought...... I can't control the period.

A few years ago when I visited my OB / GYN she informed me that women need to only have three periods a year, that by skipping the placebo row with your BCP's that you could have control over when you actually had your period.

As wonderful as that sounded, I was horrified. Tell a girl who has fertility issues to mess around with her body...... nice advice sister.

I did confirm with a few other physicians that this was a plausible idea.

I completely disagree with this practice. And that's just my opinion. I am not in favor of anything that messes around with the body like that. Especially especially if you plan on having children in the future.

If that's something that interests you... speak to your OB / GYN/. Maybe your period is so horrible that an option as that is like gold. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. I just plainly think there are better ways to deal with it than that.

According to several sources there is evidence to demonstrate that periods either slow down or stop when you are in water. Each and every person is different however and I am positive someone out there could tell me a horror story about how they bleed in water. Many athletes use tampons while swimming, just be sure to change it when you get out.

Know that I have seen 4 cases of Toxic Shock Syndrome. It is frightening. So change and change often. I know the box says every 6-8 hours, but I say change it sooner. These super absorbent ones...... be careful. Change it often. Bottom line.

So what do you do when training racing? Be prepared and know your body. In all honesty I seem to pretty well miss race day with my period. I recall one or two races where I had it.

In an Ironman I would honestly just wear nothing. As gross as that sounds the things your body goes through during that day..... I certainly wouldn't pop one in at 6am and take it out at 6pm. I wouldn't think to change it during the race either. But that's me, I have it easy.

If you do need to wear one in an Ironman I would change it post swim, and post bike. It takes 30 total seconds and if it's your comfort, if you know yourself then I think it is worth it.

Along with bleeding comes bloating, cramping and moodiness. There are medications like Midol out there which can help. However you know me..... I like au natural. In many cases manipulating your diet..... or cleaning it up...... can alleviate those symptoms better than a medication will, and minus the side effects.

By sticking to 4-5 nutrient dense fruit and vegetables per day you can give your body what it needs to self regulate. In many cases we use medications as band aids and we don't fix the underlying problem. It's like giving someone with high cholesterol a pill to bring it down and then they go eat bacon.

Now..... in my sister's case I don't think nutritional manipulation would have helped her. I don't know her that well and I don't know if she still has those problems, we live in different countries.
I just remember her crying on the floor of the bathroom. Because I am an asshole I will say she was just a wimp, although she probably was not :-).

So there are certainly cases where medications like ibuprofen, midol, or what have you will help. I'd still recommend doing what you can nutritionally to help take care of the root cause of the bloating and the cramping and the moodiness.

I would also recommend tracking your period and tracking your symptoms. If you have an iPhone there's a great tracking application called iPeriod. It's tremendously helpful in tracking patterns, predicting when your next period will come, and if you are trying to conceive it helps you plan your fertile days.

Tracking your period and what goes with it can then help you plan for it. If you know this week you have your period, with brings with it a 3 pound weight gain, and moodiness, plan for it. Maybe adjust your workouts, know that when you step on the scale you are just retaining water this week, the more you plan the better you can use that as an opportunity.

Like my swim coach told me years ago..... do not let your period stop you from doing anything. Anything. It takes understanding your body, knowing your body and it takes planning. I would never be in favor of changing the natural rhythm of your body, but I am for not looking at it as the enemy.

Look at it as a privilege. You get to have children. What better privilege in the world?