Running and periods: an athlete challenges the stigma
Athletes like Scotland's Eilish McColgan are trying to encourage a more open conversation about something that all women deal with every month until menopause
Managing their period and menstrual cycle, for some women, is just routine–a minor inconvenience that happens over a few days every month. But for others, especially those with a busy racing schedule, it’s not just a major hassle, but occasionally it can seriously affect their performance. This week, in The Scotsman, Scottish middle-distance runner Eilish McColgan, who finished third behind Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford in the women’s mile in Sunday’s Diamond League race in Birmingham, called out for more openness around the issue.
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The issue is, generally speaking, hidden, except when someone like McColgan talks about it. It comes up from time to time in women’s athletics, and it still causes a stir because of the shame and taboo that many (women as well as men) still attach to the issue of menstruation. Some athletes deal with heavy periods that always seem to start at the most inopportune times. For some, like McColgan, the issue is pain from abdominal cramps and fatigue that can derail a race.
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The paper recalled McColgan’s Instagram post of May 3 when she talked about dropping out of the 10,000m at Payton Jordan the previous day. She had been battling a shin issue, but she also got her period during the warmup:
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time when I take my period on race day or a few days before racing/training–I run like dog shit,” McColgan wrote. “Feeling heavy, flat and like a walrus trying to run around in circles. I took a heap of painkillers to stop my stomach from feeling like a horse was kicking me in the ovaries and set off in the race hoping for a minor miracle to get me round 25 laps.
“In all honesty, the shin held up pretty well, I committed to the race and followed the pacer, but my legs were getting heavier and heavier after just a mile. I think I made it to 5 laps to go before calling it a day.”
RELATED: Olympian opens up about getting her period before competition
Many athletes use the birth control pill to regulate, schedule or even eliminate their periods altogether, but not everyone can do so. As McColgan told The Scotsman, “There are so many aspects and one little pill doesn’t fix all because everyone reacts differently.”
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