I need help from my fellow female forumites please. Apologies in advance for getting personal, but I am really interested in your experiences of training affecting your menstrual cycle.
I had always considered that females would have to be training to elite standards before menstrual cycle would be detrimentally affected. I have very irregular, infrequent periods but, as I say, had not really considered that my training would be an influencing factor in this. Recently I have developed a stress fracture. These are much more common in female athletes who have irregular periods because of the hormonal influences on bone density.
It has made me wonder whether I should take the issue of my periods and hence my bone density more seriously and I'd really love your opinions and experiences on the subject. Are your periods regular? Have any of you suffered stress farctures? Those mums amongst you, do you think your fertility was affected positively or negatively by running?
I fully understand if you would rather not discuss this on the forum in front of the men! So feel free to PM me if you'd rather
JLS