Bladder issues for women runners

I want this blog to be helpful so I am going to talk about something many may consider too personal. Stress incontinence when running. Yep, I said it. It happens, and to a significant number of women runners. When I started running it happened to me. I had never had a problem with it unless I had an intense coughing fit, so I was shocked...and dismayed. I read everything I could, and there wasn't a whole lot out there about it. So, I want to share some encouragement if you are a new, late life female runner who is experiencing this problem.

 

I was determined to keep at my training schedule, so I wore "protection", limited my drinks for hours before I ran, and started doing Kegel exercises religiously. I noticed it didn't happen at every run. Seemed to be worse when I was really tired. Soon it stopped. Why? I am not sure. I had read where it takes months for the Kegel exercises to work, so I didn't think that was it, and anyway, after a few days of doing those, they slipped my mind and I ended up forgetting to do them on most days.

 

I think my body got used to the jarring of running. I think as my muscles toned up from running, somehow the bladder muscles did too.

 

So, I just wanted you to know. Don't let it stop you from running.....give yourself time to adjust to this new activity. You'll be glad you hung in there. I've been running about 3 miles 3x/week and I am hooked. Tonight I logged 100 miles in my running journey.