I'm just imagining a sudden case of menstrual cramps when you're in or about to go into blocks. Mind over matter is just NOT going to work!
I'm a woman (obvs) and yet the first thing that springs to mind when a female athlete says 'cramp' is cramp in the calves. There really are all sorts of cramps and period pain cramp is SO familiar to most women - but that's not what I thought of. Why not?
The conditioning is so deep rooted that we can't 'just' blame it on blokes thinking. We need to speak out (like Eilish and Dina and Jess Ennis). Exclusively female issues for athletes are getting more discussed but we can all play our part.
I also assumed cramp in the calves or hamstrings, but can quite imagine a woman being poleaxed by period cramp (or IBS-related cramp, which is commoner in women and can also be immobilising). Interesting about Dina avoiding weight training during certain parts of her cycle too.
I wonder if much of the silence around the impact of the menstrual cycle on women's athletic performance is a hangover from the days when women had to prove that they could do sport without their wombs falling out.
A problem I have noticed is that one girlfriend might be completely open about her periods and I am comfortable about what is a perfectly normal bodily function then another girlfriend might find it "weird" that I am happy to openly discuss the subject like an adult.
I should point out that I never went all Kryten about it
Dina did specifically say cramp in both calves so neither of you assumed in this situation.
I think I read that some women can be more prone to injury in during their period so maybe that is an issue?
Watching Dina's semi run in the 100m it was clear she wasn't running smoothly (almost looked robotic). Night and day from the run in the 200 yesterday.
Dina did specifically say cramp in both calves so neither of you assumed in this situation.
Yes, she even said she wasn't running when cramping calves as she would be risking injury. So it was definitely legs and not stomach/back/hip/thigh period pains (take your pick really!)
I can see the pattern in my parkrun times. Not so much this year because I am of a certain age and having fewer periods (and the covid vaccine might have had an impact as well) but go back 2-3 years and there is a slight, but significant dip every 4-5 weeks. If you can see it on a 24ish minute parkrun time, you can see how much it can affect elite athletes.
I didn't notice any cyclical variation in any exercise related parameter in the 15 or so years between taking up running and reaching the menopause, but I've just been very lucky in that regard.
I must admit when I heard her talk about cramps I was assuming she meant that her "metabolism" (there might be a better word for it!) was off kilter at that point in her cycle which was what she was attributing the calf cramps to. Not that she was having menstrual cramps.
I presume that other parts of your body, other than just uterus / womb / stomach area can be impacted at particular points in the menstrual cycle?
Yes, the hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle can affect a multitude of systems and functions, not to mention the significant mood changes that many women experience. And Eilish makes some good points about the contraceptive pill. Not every woman tolerates it, and not being on the combined pill makes it easier to identify if a woman has lost her period and needs to be assessed for RED-S.
I suspect the reason it's not been talked about much up to now is that the predominantly male pundit / commentator / armchair spectator would have used it in some way to demean women's sport ("Oh, she's had a bad run there, I bet she blames it on her period again") or they were just really uncomfortably socially with discussing it.
Was good that last night after Dina's comments they could throw back to Gabby, Denise and Jenny who immediately were utterly relaxed with it as a topic of conversation. Might (might) have been a bit different tossing the stadium feed back to David Coleman, Dave Moorcroft and Brendan Foster for a panel discussion of the same subject.
Good point above though about some women feeling (currently) more comfortable with discussing it than others. That's actually no different to many other aspects of life. My wife will tell me in intricate details if any of her bowel movements or urination are feeling unusual (!), but I actually keep it very much to myself. We're not all comfortable about talking about our bodies and the various biological things that we all deal with.
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Elite Athletics Thread
Dec 2024
