The
female athlete conquers training, injuries, Mother Nature challenges, and
happily, trains/competes alongside male athletes, until, that
time of the month interrupts her smooth rhythm.
Athlete
Period Toolkit
Performing During Your
Period Days Mantra
I share my Favorite
Athlete Period Tool
First,
a Penis Envy Story,
(Lupe’s
new definition of Penis Envy, Period.)
Once Upon a Time, while running the Austin Marathon, I had to pee SO badly. I am not a pro-athlete (far from it), although, I do enjoy pushing myself. As a non-pro athlete, I still haven’t permitted myself to pee on myself during a race, unless, I’m in an open body of water. I’ll save the TO PEE or NOT to PEE topic for another time. Fast-forward to mile 11; I don’t recall the mile marker, but do remember it was in Downtown Austin, TX, near the Lady Bird Johnson Lake (Town Lake), no port-o-potty in sight, I turn to my right and what do I see, a row of male runners relieving themselves, standing, smiling, enjoying their penis freestyle moment. At that moment, I declared I was a tad jealous of the penis! I quickly scanned to see if I could squat and pee in the lake without falling in. Nope. I had to run. Run for my bladders’ sake! I ran until I found a port-o-potty and gained 1 or 2 minutes to my pace time (which felt like an hour). My new Penis Envy fueled me to run fast, hard, to not pee on myself and finish the race with grace. If I were competing for prize money, I am confident I would have peed on myself. That’s a Lupe Penis Envy fact.
Period Days Mantra
When
you arrive at your event and have set-up your equipment, sit in stillness
for 5 minutes.
Set
your timer (I use insight timer – it’s free)
Take
3 deep breaths to release tension and ground you.
Inhale
Love. Exhale Love.
Inhale
Love, Exhale Love.
Inhale
Love, Exhale Love.
Silently
repeat: My body is a gift. I Am beauty.
Once your timer goes off, sit in stillness for
a couple of seconds to savor this moment within. Caress your lower abdomen and
send it love.
Your cramps will soon dissipate.
You are now ready to compete.
Cramps or no cramps, you are a Strong, Beautiful
and Powerful Female Athlete.
Lupe’s
Favorite Period Tool
As a female athlete, we
are familiar with the dreaded monthly period buddy, that can’t seem to stay
away during practice or from important athletic events. I don’t want to
manipulate my period (as some athletes comfortably do) with birth control (due
to long term side effects and mood swings), so I embrace the period buddy with
arms wide open.
I said goodbye to tampons
and that little string, so long tampons!
I’ll never forget an
invitation to skinny dip with athlete friends, after a grueling triathlon (it
had rained hard during the bike ride), and as true Texas Summer storms, the
rain stopped once the race was over. So, we celebrated with good food, lake
fun, and great company. I wanted to skinny dip, but I couldn’t. I didn’t feel
comfortable knowing that “the tampon string” would be there. So silly and a tad
uptight, but that’s just who I am, a conservative skinny-dipping kind of
gal. We do exist!
That
