Monday, June 10, 2013

Rag-nar: First Run... The Real Story

I'm writing this story first so it gets tucked into the rest of the stories because it's embarrassing. I've thought about simply ignoring this part of the experience; however, if I've learned one thing from blogging (and existing in general), it's that the harder a thing is to talk about, the more it will help other people when you say it out loud. So here it goes:

My period started on Tuesday before the race on Friday. I assumed that by Friday it wouldn't be a factor in the race. So when the 6.5 mile run started my brain wasn't thinking, "Am I wearing enough protection to deal with the worse-case-scenario?" The answer to that question was a loud, resounding, "NO!"

About 2 miles into the run I started feeling that familiar feeling that things are not dry. And when that feeling started coming faster and more often, I started to get worried that I wasn't prepared for this. I was in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing to do about it. I started to actually hope that I was really peeing myself, instead of bleeding. You know, because at least urine is clear.

Yep, folks. That's about as bad as it could get. When I got back to the van I grabbed a towel (white, of course) and sat on it until we reached the next exchange. I hurried out and grabbed as many baby wipes as I could, and a fresh set of clothes. Indeed, I was having an obvious problem.

So there is my cautionary tale. Always be prepared. Be over-prepared. Because you do NOT want to be that runner. Trust me.

3 comments:

Ali K. said...

That is the worst! I'm sorry that happened!

Annie Crow said...

Uff. Thanks for the warning. I have more than once hoped that what I was feeling was pee/sweat rather than period (usually while at the gym)... so far I've been lucky.

... said...

Stephan insists it wasn't noticeable. I even thought about trying to find some leaves or grass or something to wipe off with... but it was barren dirt-farmland. I'm SO glad that part is over.