It’s November, the mud is cold, wet and plentiful. The start line is tense. Your feet are crammed into wet spikes but you don’t care because you can’t feel them – numb from the icy puddles you jogged through to “warm up”.
Your uterus is throbbing and you’re waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in – THIS is cross country during shark week!
We LOVE cross country running, the terrain is brutal and the workout is worth EVERY calorie of the post-race tea and biscuits we share at the North West Sunday Cross Country League. As winter training goes, providing you don’t go crazy and get injured the physical conditioning and mental resilience you gain is immense. Take it from us, put in a season of XC and come spring your road running will have improved!
From a technical perspective, running on soft ground requires a higher knee lift and hills… Well you know the benefits of them right? (Further reading on cross country and hill training)
But, shark week falls on race day… Stay home and eat chocolate? We think NOT!!!
You already know that despite really not feeling like it, going for a run will help with cramps and feeling generally rubbish but you don’t want to go waist deep in a bog wearing a sanitary towel (I did that once, it wasn’t a joy I can assure you). So how are you going to deal with “the curse”? We absolutely recommend a menstrual cup (KuuCup to be precise) as you can set yourself up for a great day of mud, mayhem and miles first thing in the morning and forget about it until the evening. Once fitted correctly it will create a seal to keep your period flow contained until it’s convenient for you to remove, empty and refit.
Will a menstrual cup stay put? Absolutely! We’ve tested KuuCup for running plenty and have found that once you create that seal it’s not going anywhere until you choose to break that seal by grasping the base of the cup and tilting to one side. It’s really simple and mess free to do either while you are sitting on the loo or in the shower.
Will a menstrual cup be comfortable? Again, absolutely definitely yes yes yes! KuuCup is made of soft medical grade silicone which takes on the temperature of your body and moulds to the walls of your vagina meaning that as long as it’s fitted correctly you wont even be able to feel it is there (we’ve been known to have to set timers to remind us to empty).
So what are you waiting for? Get out, get muddy and give cross country a go no matter what week it is!