Tracking Distances and Periods: Examining the Interplay between Endurance Sports and the Menstrual Cycle

Improvements in sensor technology, particularly focusing on integrating sports performance metrics and health data, contributed to advancing athletic performance. Concurrently, there is an increasing focus on menstrual health within HCI that emphasises the role of technology in managing bodily experiences. Yet, despite the availability of self-tracking tools for sports and menstrual health, there is still a gap in HCI which addresses the unique needs of menstruating athletes and addresses the bidirectional effects of athletic performance and menstrual cycles. To address this gap, we conducted a diary study and interviews with N=11 runners to demonstrate how self-tracking technology embraces the interplay between athletic performance and menstrual cycles. Our results shed light on the challenges and coping strategies of menstruating athletes related to menstruation and the way tracking tools address them. This paper suggests directions for interaction designers to tackle the challenges of bidirectional impacts of athletic performance and menstrual cycles.