Trying to find your sweet spot with running & fitness in perimenopause? This is for you!

I shared the insights below in our private BTW Community & I wanted to share them with you, too.

If you are a woman who loves to run & push your body to be as fit as possible, yet your body doesn't seem to agree with long runs, chasing PRs, or perhaps even easy runs as your hormones are starting to shift - this is for you!

I will be sharing more about this on my podcast in upcoming episodes: How to find your sweet spot with fitness, running distances & intensity so that your hormones do not tank, so that your menopause transition is not premature (or pure hell) & how to confidently protect your vibrant health, energy & longevity in active living - as that's exactly what we do here at BTW.

I'm proud that Breaking Through Wellness is leading the way in rewriting women 35+ health, hormones & fitness outcomes, so I'd like to act like it & share more of our award-winning innovation with you in my email newsletter & here on the blog :)

Here are new insights about my own health that I hope can help you or a fellow active woman you know & love:

Yesterday, I finally got the endometriosis ultrasound I advocated for based on recent symptoms that seem a bit too intense around ovulation per my opinion & clinical experience. I shared a lot about this on this podcast here.

My goal was simple: I wanted to ensure I did not have something more serious going on. It was a true pain in my ass to wait so long to get this specific test, but it was worth it. After going through a serious of other tests to get to this point, including MRIs, other less specific OB ultrasounds, venous scans, etc. my conclusion was I likely am having cysts develop around ovulation that burst (either normally per ovulation release) or abnormally.  Free fluid in my pelvis post-ovulation in prior scans also pointed towards this as a possibility.

While I have profound improvements in my symptoms since applying our ovulation/luteal phase masterclass strategies, I still feel extreme heaviness in my legs at times, sharp intermittent pains in my core, GI back-up during cycle days 9 - 15, truly tight hip flexors & I can swell to extreme levels in my core.

The honest heart-breaking truth, no runner wants to admit: Running does make it worse. I have also noted that running long runs & Goal Pace runs for things like half marathon training makes it significantly worse - likely due to the time I am running being too long/hard on my unique physiology & the intensity of the paces being too hard on my hormones.

If you listen to my podcast, you know the interplay of running's impact on cortisol, sex hormones, our adrenal system, nervous system & our gut health are profound.

 Key Point For You: Both long runs & Goal Pace runs are the hardest types of runs on our hormone production, balance & resilience. This is what we should all be re-evaluating the most age 30 & beyond - Are they worth it? 

For me, they are not & more evidence, like my health data (HRV), bloodwork, medical scans, symptoms, etc. are confirming I likely need to stay at 10-miler race distance training cycles & below for the foreseeable, if not permanent, future.  I’m thriving with more strong 5k-based & body recomposition focused training cycle right now.  I'm choosing to focus on immense grateful that my body can still tolerate this in my 40s!

Once I repair my gut, I should have a better understanding of what my body can tolerate. I am also in a gut restoration protocol right now after recent periods of intense life stress within our military lifestyle & with my husband's health destroyed my microbiome over the past few months. This was also a huge red flag & humble reminder that life stress does a number on our health, hormones & gut health.

And - my suspensions were confirmed. Yesterday, on cycle day 14, my scan confirmed ovulation with the presence of cysts. While my doctor said this can be somewhat “normal” to have ovulation cysts, we need to follow up to confirm they are going away after ovulation.

So, my journey continues in getting more scans & advocating for my longevity in vibrant active living & feeling my best.

I’m so glad I tuned into my body & didn’t push to train for a hard half marathon training cycle. You can learn more about how & why I pivoted in month 3 of my training cycle in this podcast episode here.

Just think of what I could have done to my body had I stubbornly pushed through with half marathon training: encouraging more hormone havoc, cysts bursting under stress & perhaps contributing to a downstream series of gynecological & pelvic floor problems in the future.

Thank you for being here alongside me, as we all continue to ask the right questions, realign our relationship with running/fitness for midlife & support our best hormones.

I know we can & will find our unique sweet spots with fueling, lifestyle & training strategies that align with our unique female physiology so we can protect a lifetime of badass holistic health & fitness. 

Finally, I do have a BIG win to celebrate: My last round of hormone labs showed I was likely anovulatory - meaning, my body was not ovulating despite getting a period. This was another sign my hormones were starting to tank & I was overdoing running. To clarify, it is dangerous not to ovulate or get a regular period (outside of certain gynecological considerations).

With this scan confirming ovulation, I’m really, really freaking proud of myself for restoring my hormones to healthy levels again & knowing when to call it quits with the half marathon training cycle.

I’m so proud of my new sense of fitness balance. AND my faster physique changes, improved libido, mental health, ability to feel happy & less symptoms are tangible proof my body is happier to work with me… as long as I continue to tune in, respect it & not stubbornly push the endurance side of things. P.S. My running times are improving too - just in shorter distances.  Hell yes!  I'm still able to level up & not lose it :)

If these are the types of conversations, insights & lesson learned you are seeking in your own health & fitness, learn more about my 1:1 Academy & our badass Community of support in my 10-minute video here.

Yours in all things loving running, but also rethinking everything I thought I knew about it as my hormones shift,

Louise