One For The Ladies!!

19 October 2019 - By Rachel Pearsons

I have been coaching at WRC for 12 years now and have seen many changes during this time. One of the biggest changes I have seen is in myself. As I have got older, I have found that hormone changes and ‘hot flushes’ have changed the way I train.

I have decided to develop myself as both a coach and athlete by researching and taking part in focussing on female specific training. I am still in the early stages of this project, but the results so far are very interesting!! I am researching into programmes for women that work with the menstural cycle and with the menopause, not against it. Depending on where you are in your cycle will depend on what training best suits you. For those in the menopause/peri-menopause stages, then adjusting what foods you eat and when can make a huge difference to your training. When you are in the high hormone stage of your cycle, the effectiveness of melatonin is much lower. This results in your body being less effective at controlling your body temperature, therefore resulting in unsettled sleep. Pre-cooling before training is also essential during this phase as it will help your core temperature remain lower.

I have also been trying different products to help me loose weight but maintain strength during training. Claire Johnson has helped me (and still is!!) figure out what is the best time to eat which foods. The result is that I have lost 9lbs in weight over 7 weeks and have seen an improvement in my running times.

So, I have contacted UKA and it is looking like they don’t provide a course/training for this area. However, early indications are that this is an area that needs to be developed. I have said I would be willing to work with UKA to develop such a training package. This could be a great opportunity for us to become involved in this piece of work. If you are interested in finding out more, or speaking with Claire, or even fancy being a ‘guinea pig’ for me then feel free to contact me.

A couple of hints and tips for you;
1) The first 14 days of your cycle are the best days to do your high intensity training due to the levels of hormones in your body.
2) Just finished a hard run and feeling ‘hot’ and having a flush? Try drinking 250ml of chocolate soya milk and a small handful of almonds.
3) Over 50? Using gels? Finding the are not so effective? Female digestive system also changes, so you may find they just sit in your stomach and then just make you need the toilet!! Not ideal.

Please note – be mindful of allergies, etc, when making changes to your diet.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I’d be grateful for feedback! Is this useful? Would you like more updates? Promise future posts won’t be as long!!