The only time that I’ve ever stuck to a “work out plan” was when I trained for my marathon last year, and these past four weeks of training for a half-marathon at the start of June.

Other than that I have always just kind of gone through spurts and phases of exercising.

Things like yoga, weight lifting, biking, but the most of what I’ve done over the years has been running.

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to different types, or amounts of, exercise at different points in your cycle?

Leading up to and during my period I find myself wanting a much slower form of exercise, whether that be yoga, hiking or simply going for a walk. I’ve still go running during this, but I don’t push myself too hard. Thankfully, our pace this year hasn’t been very intense at all so it works out great.

I don’t base my exercise on where I am in my cycle so much as just listening to my body as I go along. Because I’ve got a training plan to follow I usually stick to that for the most part.

But last week around ovulation I found myself wanting to get outside more than once, or go further than originally planned. Three days in a row I ran 6 miles.

Wednesday I went on a run with my mom, and then Michael asked if I wanted to go with him so I did. The next day I ran around two miles with my mom, and then decided to run the 4 miles back to my apartment. And Friday we had six miles to run.

I’m more likely to head out on an unplanned run, hike, etc. because I get this urge to blow off some steam or excess energy (or lack of energy).

One thing that I’ve discovered I enjoy a lot is running on trails. Not bike paths, but dirt trails through the woods, or when we were in Phoenix is was through the desert.

Once I get into the habit of being active again (when it’s starts getting warm out) I just really try to focus on what my body feels like, combined of course with what I have for a training plan.

I don’t necessarily switch up the type of exercise I do depending on where I’m at in my cycle, I just change the amount and intensity of running I’m doing that week.

I do find that when I’m feeling in a slump, tired or things like that, getting out for a run really helps to balance me back out again.

What is your go to exercise, and do you switch it up at all throughout your cycle?