Understanding your body is key to managing menopausal symptoms and training at your very best

Words Louise Pyne

If you’re a seasoned runner, your training journey may have seen you encounter all sorts of physical and emotional highs and lows. From the elation of scoring your first marathon medal to the pain of running on after an injury, putting your best foot forward is a powerful force that can take you through all sorts of life challenges.

As a woman, one of the biggest physiological changes that can impact training occurs when you reach menopause. A natural evolutionary process that signals the end of a woman’s reproductive life, the menopause is nothing to fear, however it can exert an impact on all areas of your life, including your training.

The menopause explained

|| Menopause is nothing to fear, however it can exert an impact on all areas of your life, including your training||

All woman are born with a finite number of eggs, or oocytes, within their ovaries. “During the menstrual cycle, ovarian follicles develop and usually one oocyte matures within a follicle, to become an ovum. The ovum is then released during ovulation to either be fertilised by a sperm, or if not, eventually shed during a period,” explains GP and fitness expert Dr Folusha Oluwajana. “As we age, the number of oocytes in our ovaries naturally declines.

It is estimated the average woman is born with one to two million oocytes, 400,000 of which will reach puberty, and only 400 will experience ovulation.”

According to stats from the NHS, the menopause normally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, but in around one per cent of women in the UK, it happens before the age of 40. There are three distinct phases. Peri-menopause describes the years leading up to menopause when oestrogen levels are reducing but may fluctuate. This period can last for several months to years. The second phase is actual menopause; it’s when a woman has not had a period for one year if over 50 years old, or two years if under 50 years old. And then there’s post-menopause, the period after menopause when you may still suffer side effects. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to menopause; we are all unique individuals, so the type and severity of menopausal symptoms that a woman suffers varies.