Tag: running with menopause

Hot flashes can be tough in general but while running…

I had hot flashes at in opportune times for years before things really got frustrating. At first I just ignored that it was happening, but since I kept getting hot flashes while running, I accepted the fact that this was something I was going to have to get used to, at least for awhile.

I don’t remember exactly when the first running hot flash happened but I know I would get them when I was working out doing strength training, particularly doing plank, push ups and down-dog. It seems that these positions impact blood flow to my head and make my face flush. It doesn’t happen every time I do these exercises, so I do them regularly and just hope that I won’t have to battle extra heat in addition to the exercise itself. But then, surprise, they started happending during races!!!

Summer Series 2015

I distinctly remember last summer’s cross country series. It was hot out, but not too brutal, and it was toward the end of the series so I was working hard to improve my time over the previous race. Things were going well, I pushed through the back hills and came flying down the last hill toward the finish line when it hit. I had about a half mile left, all flat, and I had my goal time in my reach, I just had to focus and push through that last little stretch. The team’s coach was stationed at the last turn before the finsh, calling out times so I knew I was on target, but my entire head was burning hot, almost pulsing with heat. I was pushing and struggling and there was the coach yelling encouragement and I yelled back at him “hot flash!”

Now I love Coach Ken. He’s helped my running career tremendously, but there’s one thing that he will never understand and that is women going through menopause. When I yelled hot flash at him, in despiration, he just laughed at me… I’m not sure he actually heard what I was saying and in hind sight, how would he know how to respond to that? But it was then that I felt most alone in my struggle. I didn’t know anyone else who was experiencing what I was, or at least I didn’t think I did. None of my friends were talking about hot flashes or menopause and it’s not something most women just bring up, for some reason. Well, I’m hoping to change that because everyone goes though it! There’s no reason not to share and even if it just makes us feel less alone, it will help to get it out.

What is your most embarassing hot flash experience? Please share, let us laugh with you!

Why don’t women talk about this?

So, I’ve been having hot flashes for about 7-8 years now. I was in denial for the first 5 years or so when even my gynocologist blew me off with a flippant remark when I asked her about having hot flashes so early. I was not even 40 when I first started having them and didn’t even mention them to the doctor until many years later. I haven’t gotten much if any help from the medical profession in aleviating them and frankly, that was really my only symptom so I just ignored the whole situation for a long time.

Now I’m 47 and the hot flashes and night sweats and insomnia and depression are really getting in the way of life. They are also making my running career even more challenging. The last thing you need in the last quarter mile of a 5K is to be heated from the inside. I ran a very competitive race in the beginning of March this year, the Washington Heights 5K which is the first New York Road Runners Club Points Race of the year where the local clubs compete for annual bragging rights. Its a tough race with some substantial hills and a lot of competition but I had a secret weapon. One of my teammates who happens to be much faster than I was coming back from injury and she offered to pace me so I could hit my goal for that race. She pulled me the whole way and I managed a great time, but the last quarter mile was even more brutal because stress brings on hot flashes and I got hit with one right then. It was intense and even though it was just above freezing that morning, I stripped off my windbreaker, hat and gloves before the finish so I wouldn’t pass out. I managed a great time thanks to Laura, but I was dizzy for a good half hour after the race and had to be very careful not to bend over or look up over my head for fear of losing my balance and falling.

While I know this may not sound like a life changing issue, it really is. In fact, it’s referred to as the “change of life.”  It’s not a new issue but one that has been kept quite because men don’t want to hear about women getting hot flashes or getting dried up in certain places. But every woman goes through this at some point and for those of us who are active there are different challenges than women who came before us who may not have been putting in 30-40 miles a week along with strength training and cross training.

I’ve decided that talking about it will only help me deal with it better and I may actually help other women in the process. Please feel free to share your thoughts and join the Facebook Group I created so we can all share and get to know each other.