Female Training Issues

I've always preferred working with male coaches.  I don't know why.  In softball, my favorite coaches were men, my favorite personal trainers were men, my swim coach is a man, trainers at the police academy were men, etc.  I had a female personal trainer once; she wasn't bad, but I like the way male trainers/coaches work.  They seem to encourage pushing through fatigue, push limits, strive for higher achievement just a little bit better.  They weren't nurturing, that's for sure.

I grew up a hardcore tomboy most of my childhood and part of my adulthood.  Dave even called me "Hardass" as a nickname for a time when we first started dating.  I am not nurturing.  As an orchestra director, I push my kids hard and work them hard to improve.  I set the bar pretty high, but not impossible.  My students will be the first to say that I live by the philosophy of "tough love" and that I am definitely not "nurturing."  Maybe that's why I feel so much more comfortable with male coaches/trainers.

As a woman, there is a downside to always working with men...  I can't get advice on how to train during the week when my cycle hits.  I feel like a lazy ass if I don't do anything, but there are days where I feel absolutely awful.

Sunday was a rest day for me.  I planned it that way.  I then planned on going to the pool for a long technical swim on Monday.  Then the cramps hit me all day Monday.  I didn't do any training.  So I did the swim today and I'm about to go lift weights for a short bit.  I still don't feel all that great, but I can't just.... not train.  I just have typical female symptoms -- no flu, no cold, no sinus infection (for once), no allergies.  After I finish lifting weights, maybe I'll do some research on the subject...