Whole Foods! Who would have ever thought they'd be stocked there! I'm a city chick, so I'll trek on up on the way home tonight and hope to get a test run (literally... tonight is a long run) with my final day! Thanks, Instigator!

I got the Diva cup at the beginning of this year and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. It took some time to get used to putting in and removing, but I will never go back to anything else. For some reason, my time is always on race day (some weird conspiracy going on here, I'm sure of it!), so this removes all the worry about needing to change tampons, leaking, etc. during a race. I can just run my race and not worry about it. I've done Olympic and HIM's this year with it.

I noticed someone said something about having a problem with it swimming, and one thing I've learned is you can't - this is going to be TMI I'm sure - but you can't go pee in the water. There's something about how the muscles relax and then contract again that some of the water will end up in the cup, then you have leaking issues.

But, I've done all sports with it, yoga as well, long days at the office, etc. and it's the best thing. It has taken me from being very inconvenienced by my period to hardly even being affected by it.

Ha! During my IM I carried six tampons for the entire bike and run portions because I was several days overdue! When I was prepping for my finish line photo I almost tossed them but decided that since they'd spent 138.2 miles with me that they just HAD to cross the finish line too!

To the OP....it's been awhile since it happened to me on anything long enough to not last on one piece of equipment, but I think I would like to change it after the swim for sure then "as needed" the rest of the race. Of course, if it's light enough and an OWS, I would forgo the protection on the swim entirely...same thing as peeing in the water, right?

FWIW, a good acupuncturist can naturally shift your cycle by a few days (by either stimulating it or trying to delay it). So if it's looking like you are going to have poor timing and you figure it out a couple of months in advance of a big race you could always find an acupuncturist to hook you up!

That is great information. I will definitely check it out instead of BC pills. I'll try it this winter to see if it works for me. :D

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I have just finished my first tri- IMC '09!

I realize my screen name leads everyone to assume I'm female. I'm not, but too stubborn and too amused to change. However, I am married, and thus have a question on this topic...

How much is your performance affected? My wife recently did a race on the 2nd day of her period, and it didn't go nearly as well as she had hoped. Neither of us really know how much of that to attribute to, ahem, Auntie Flo.

Do you adjust you nutrition or hydration plans? Adjust your expectations or pacing strategy? Is your HR higher that normal?

Thanks. Sadly there's not a lot of available information on this, which is bizarre considering it's something 51% of the population deals with on a regular basis.

Funny now seeing this thread again cuz Aunt Flo showed up about 1hr into my ride on IMC. Bitch. Ended up changing at Bike Special needs and Run special needs. My poor poor saddle ;-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

interesting article on the front page mentioning PMS and Gina Fergueson (sp.) DNF due to it.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

ok, i has replied to this...don't know what happened, as it appeared just after i posted, but is now gone.

had read years ago that iron levels drop significantly during menses. low iron = low energy, so may want to increase iron intake around your cycle.

cheers!

-mistress k

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ill advised racing inc.

I remember reading her story on her blog right after Kona. A few years ago a friend had a terrible bike ride in Kona and she said had gotten her period that day and that she always has NO power in legs the first day of period. I was pretty skeptical about her explanation and even after reading about Gina Ferguson Crawford's Hawaii story this year. Two months ago my period showed up a week early. I went out for one of my last long bike rides. My legs had no power. When I looked back at my training, there's no reason my power should have been 25% less. I chalked it up to my period. I usually try to manipulate my period (by taking back to back pill packs, which BTW is how the pill was originally intended (taking the pill consistently for 3-4 months then a week off), but the general public thought that was unhealthy so the FDA sort of strong armed the pill manufacturers into adding the placebo week) because I don't want to deal with it race day, but this is another reason I will in the future, even for the shorter 2 hour races.

If you are going to try the DIVA cup the first time on a long run I'd recommend this:
-Insert cup per directions
-walk around the house to make sure it feels OK
- go out and run a mile or so including a hill to make sure it's still OK.

I went for a 5 mile run the first time I wore mine and it wasn't in properly, it started coming out on a hill.
That's been the only time it wasn't in right. I did a very hilly 14 mile trail run with it in last week and never once felt it!

If you're really worried about leakage during a race, AND looking for some method of birth control but can't/don't want to take the pills, the Mirena IUD causes either really (REALLY) light periods or no periods in most women. It releases progesterone-type hormone (levonorgestrel) at the site of the uterus so the systemic effects are much smaller, and doesn't release estrogen (the hormone believed to be responsible for the increased stroke risk). If you're considering ablation due to a heavy period, this might be an easier option to try. (oh and hello to you all as this is my first post on slowtwitch!)