Health & Nutrition

I thought I had the healthiest heart in the world. The left anterior descending artery is called the “Widowmaker” because it supplies blood to the heart. Another 5% of blockage and I’d have been gone in minutes.

Dr. Stacy Sims’ book “Next Level,” taught me something new about female athletes in the peri- and post-menopause stages, and gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of the aging female body. More importantly, it gave me hope for a better version of my current self.

When we talk about calf muscles and the Achilles, it is important to understand the forces that are involved which can put those structures under excessive load, causing problems with running.

You spend a third to half of your life postmenopausal, and 10 or more years perimenopausal. Symptoms are common and expected, but can impact your racing and training, and your heart and bone health. The good news is, like any race, the more you know about the course, the better you can adapt your training to meet the demands of the “Menopause 200.”

There is a wealth of information on ultrarunning nutrition, what to eat in training and how to consume calories during your race. But not a lot is mentioned about how to practice eating in a way that simulates a race environment and introduces your body to the stresses you’ll be experiencing. Here are a few ways to practice nutrition during training to better prep your gut for race day.

I’m a young girl. In sport. And nearly four years after the diagnosis of my eating disorder, I am finally healed enough to discuss it. We’ve all come to a realization that it is time for the broken system to mend. But how?