LADIES TOPIC (DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU)

Ok, this is a bit of a personal post, but I feel like I have to write about it as part of my journey.

So, guaranteed every month, I couldn't cycle for 2 days because of my period.

(via www.dreamstime.com)

This was not me.

Mainly for 3 reasons:

1. Period Pain
2. Muscle looseness - hard to explain, but I feel like I can't engage my muscles properly.  Which is annoying when you're trying to do an exercise where you specifically engage your muscles properly..
3. Pads - they can be uncomfortable and feel insecure and since you don't wear underpants under the shorts, I was worried others would be able to see it sticking out (since in a bunch ride, people's faces are literally 1m away from your ass).

But the 2 days of non cycling was bringing me down because I am enjoying and putting a lot of energy into cycling 6 days a week.

Plus the weather starting to get rainier, I'm already losing days, making it trickier to maintain a routine.
(I still commute in the rain, but am not comfortable going out on the road bike in the wet).

1.  Pain I can manage with pain killers.  And exercise makes it better - despite that feeling really counter-intuitive.

2.  Muscle looseness - I go a bit easier on myself and let myself get away with a slower, shorter ride.  :)

3.  Pads.

I was speaking to the doctor about a range of issues and she suggested using tampons.

Which I suppose I am late to the party - even with all my dancing - I think most people use tampons, but it always seemed scary and foreign.

But I did it and it was amazingly freeing.

I kind of wish I hadn't been so scared of Toxic Shock Syndrome (which is still a risk).

But I googled lots of information about it so I felt like it wasn't really as difficult as I thought it was.

I think it's definitely much better now with the internet.  When I was a teenager it was really embarrassing to find information by asking people and there wasn't that much information around so it was hard to feel comfortable about your knowledge with a topic.

And I guess I never really thought about it / could be bothered doing anything about it.

So yeah, I didn't immediately go out horse riding on a beach, but I did run up and down the apartment stairs kicking my legs around.

(via www.thelifestyledblog.com)

It just goes to show at any age, you never run out of things to learn and try, even if you thought you couldn't do them before.

Apparently though, moon cups / diva cups are pretty good for cycling, but baby steps..