3 Articles I Have Found so Far

So I have found three articles regarding female athletes and menstrual cycles.  I found a good number of links, but I skipped the ones that didn't look like great sources.  The first article was pretty scientific.  Now I consider myself to be a smart chick, but I found myself rereading most of this article to make sure I caught a gist.

How Menstruation Affects Your Running

So the main gist of this article that I managed to pull from it is that there are two phases: follicular & luteal phases.  During the luteal phase (day 15-28) the body's metabolism changes and so does body temperature.  The body holds on to glycogen which can be a problem for long distance endurance athletes.  Doctors and researchers recommend increasing the carbs/hour from 40 grams to 50-60 grams.

I got a little confused when it began talking about plasma volume (sorry -- it's the musician in me).  I have bookmarked the article for future reference.  I hope one day to understand it better. I believe it was referring to actually increasing sodium levels before training during the luteal phase and increasing fluid intake.  Funny because us women usually feel bloated (which the article addresses).

Last major point I got from it was that there is ongoing research regarding women's iron levels.  The never-ending argument whether women become anemic each month or just simply have low iron levels for a time.

The Challenging Periods for Women in Training

 I liked this article.  It was a little more down to earth -- so to speak.  A common theme between all the articles is that there is scientific proof that women perform poorer during any particular phase of the menstrual cycle (unless she experiences severe symptoms).  Interesting....

The article says that a common comment made by women is an increased awareness of how the body feels while on day 1-5 of the cycle.  Personally, I find that many of my senses are heightened during the first five days of my cycle: sight, hearing, smelling, touch.  My sense of taste doesn't seem to change much.

Basically it says to listen to what your body tells you and follow it.  Big surprise there.  We should be doing this anyway.

Exercise and Your Menstrual Cycle: What Your Period Means for Your Workout Schedule

Now... I'm not a huge fan of "Shape" magazine.  It just has never set well with me.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  However, I thought the article was interesting in one major way.

For the most part, it restates the same information that the other articles said.  But one piece of information was different: A woman's cycle can make her more prone to injury -- specifically the ACL. Evidently, we (women) have poorer motor control during menstruation than ovulation.  We can overcompensate by letting the knee fall inward too much, letting the quads absorb the impact in the knees instead of hamstrings & glutes, etc.

I'll probably look more into this.  Why would "Shape" magazine mention this and not Runners Times?

My swim and weight training today went awesome which was nice compared to yesterday's awful feeling all day.  I guess I'll just stick to the adage: "Go with how the body feels."  Yesterday, most movement increased the cramps.  Today, I felt like I could go on forever.  Let's see what tomorrow brings...