Woman Parts

I read one of my favorite blogs tonight and decided to respond to her, which I normally don't do since she gets 20-30 responses to each of her posts. I'm afraid of being lost in the shuffle, so I don't spend the time to write. She's having trouble with woman-parts on the bicycle, and I have residual issues with long bike rides from my Ironman training last year. Here's my response to her, in case you're one of those cycling challenged women:

I had similar experiences on my bi-cycle (I pronounce it "bye-psych-al, because it's clearly not the same cycling event everyone else experiences) while training for Ironman CDA last year. Skin off the crotch in several places, visits to the GYN who told me to deal with it or stop cycling, the bike male bike store seat expert (you can get your sit bone width MEASURED for a seat) who told me the pain I was experiencing was not normal...the list goes on. I was mostly miserable on rides longer than 30 miles, except one key ride...the actual race. I switched shorts at special needs because I have razor blades for inner thighs. My big-girl-thighs rip holes in all things spandex, so I got a hole in my shorts at mile 40. Anticipating this I had extra shorts in my SN bag and was comfortable in dry, new shorts for the remainder of the ride. I ONLY wear tri shorts because they're nice to my woman parts, and I ride the stock men's seat because it's also kinder than all the specialty stuff I've bought over the years.

I'm actually having a nice time on my bike now. I commute to work two or three times each week (6 miles round trip) and feel amazing even when it's cold and rainy. I even enjoy a 20-30 mile ride now without any pain to speak of except a tight upper back. I'm thoroughly enjoying running and finally feel like I can push my limits without ruining my Zone 2 training with a super-long endurance event staring me in the face. Today I ran with my running partner, Jamie, in the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, where we joined more than 20,000 other runners touring the sites in DC on foot. It was her first race at that distance and I was glad to be there to support her in that exciting journey. I realized half way through the race that I didn't have food, I hadn't really trained or even thought about the race until that point. I'm an endurance athlete. A long distance endurance athlete. A 10 mile run is just a run. A marathon is a 'standard' event and I expect things of myself I never have before. I can move mountains.