Latest / Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast / 136. Why Did I Get My Period Over Summer Break and Now it’s Gone?

Transcript

136. Why Did I Get My Period Over Summer Break and Now it’s Gone? · Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast

0:00
Hey girlies, just a quick reminder before we dive into
0:02
today's episode. The information shared on this
0:04
podcast is intended to be general sports nutrition advice
0:07
and education related to period recovery for female athletes.
0:10
This is not specific to anyone individual and it may or may not
0:13
apply to your situation. If you are looking for
0:15
personalized guidance, be sure to apply to our RBSN Period
0:18
Recovery nutrition coaching program.
0:20
Our four month period recovery program is designed to help you
0:22
sustainably get your period back and keep it.
0:24
You can apply now to get started in our program and we'll leave
0:27
the link for the program below. This is the Eat more Carbs
0:29
podcast. Hello and welcome back.
0:36
This is the Eat More Carbs podcast.
0:38
We're Riley Beatty Sports Nutrition, and we're a team of
0:40
dietitians and we talk every Thursday about sports nutrition
0:43
for the girlies. I'm Jenna and I'm the host.
0:45
Of this podcast and I'm Riley. I'm the founder of Riley Beatty
0:47
Sports Nutrition. We like to call it around here
0:49
our BSN. We're super excited to talk with
0:51
y'all today. Before we get into today's
0:53
episode, we are going to do our high and low.
0:55
So sharing just a little bit about our week, the good and the
0:57
parts we wish had gone a little bit differently.
0:59
As always, Riley, can you kick us off?
1:00
Yes, so my high and my low this week are actually kind of the
1:04
same story. If you are new to the Emor Cars
1:06
podcast or if you are new to RBSN.
1:09
I'm actually running New York City Marathon in less than two
1:12
weeks, which is crazy. I will actually be on my way to
1:15
New York like next week around this time, which is crazy.
1:19
I have marathon nails which I'm super excited about and if you
1:23
are watching video, you'll be able to see them.
1:25
So I guess that's my high. I guess my low is how I got my
1:29
nails because I got them a little bit early because last
1:32
weekend I was reaching into my fridge.
1:34
I wasn't doing anything super crazy, but I like completely
1:38
broke this nail. It went like, not like a
1:41
vertical break like a. Horizontal break like a cross.
1:45
Across and I was like why does my nail hurt so bad Because it
1:49
broke underneath the nail like the outside still looked OK.
1:54
It was like my actual nail part. It wasn't like because I usually
1:57
get dip, like it wasn't the dip part.
1:58
It still looked fine. It was the underpiece.
2:02
And so when I went to go get them done and she like took them
2:04
off, my nail was like cracked halfway through and it was like
2:07
bruised and she was like, what did you do?
2:09
And I was like, I was just trying to get the milk.
2:11
I. Just tried to get the milk.
2:13
Oh my gosh, Ouch. I don't know why when you injure
2:16
your fingernails like that or like hurt your nail beds or
2:19
whatever, it hurts so bad. Like why is it like paper cut
2:22
level pain? Like it's so painful.
2:25
It was so painful and I felt like such a wimp because I was
2:28
like my finger hurts so bad and I I don't know why.
2:30
Like I was like showing it to Rob's and I was like look my
2:32
finger hurts so bad. He's like, it looks fine and I'm
2:34
like it hurts so bad. It's one of those things where
2:37
it's like you don't know what happened, you just know it.
2:39
Hurt, yes. So I had to get them done like a
2:42
little bit early, which I'm not mad about because then I
2:45
wouldn't have them like super long after the race, you know?
2:47
Yeah, they're. Fun though, Anybody not watching
2:50
the video feed? Can you describe them?
2:51
Oh yeah, they are blue, orange and like a light pink, which are
2:56
like the colors for New York City Marathon.
2:59
So they're kind, just a different combo.
3:01
And then I have these little like lines.
3:03
They're so festive. Thanks.
3:05
It was supposed to be like a neutral color for the pink
3:07
piece, but she did pink. And I, I don't hate it because
3:11
it's also cool. This is a story that you didn't
3:13
ask for, but there's three waves for the marathon and there's
3:17
blue, orange and pink. So I'm in the blue wave.
3:19
I've heard that's the good one. So on the elites run.
3:22
Oh. Heck yeah, she is like.
3:23
I can't wait to say that they beat me by three hours, but I
3:27
did run. We had a head start so.
3:30
Yeah, true. I am very excited, which I will
3:32
share a little bit more later in my training update.
3:34
But Jeanette, how is your week? Going week is good.
3:37
Actually the high that I am sharing is something that
3:39
happened yesterday. Usually one of the first things
3:42
I do on my calls with athletes that I'm working with is like we
3:44
go through like wins and challenges.
3:46
And I knew that the person that I was going to have a call with
3:49
was kind of going through some challenges based on like our
3:51
check in form that I had looked at right before.
3:54
So I'm kind of talking to her about those challenges and like
3:57
a couple minutes and she's just like, well, I also got my
4:00
period. So we were like 8 minutes into
4:03
the call and then we just got to celebrate the rest of the time,
4:05
which like this is such a big win.
4:07
She's someone who has worked so, so hard to get her parade back.
4:10
And like, we both were like almost on the verge of tears
4:12
because like, it was just like something that she's worked so
4:16
hard for. And it was such like a big
4:17
moment to celebrate that. But it was also kind of funny
4:20
because we were like kind of talking through the challenge
4:22
that she had mentioned earlier. And then she was like, well,
4:24
it's kind of OK now. That was a fun high for me to
4:27
get to celebrate and just really proud of her.
4:29
Don't do you think it's so funny when athletes are like drop that
4:33
like in the middle of a call or like they don't tell you over
4:35
messenger when they've had their period for a couple of days?
4:38
I always think it's so funny when they're like, yeah, I had
4:41
to wait to tell you like in person.
4:42
I was like, you could have started with that.
4:44
Like you could have sent me a message.
4:46
Yeah, that's exactly how I felt. I was like, Oh my gosh, you
4:49
should have told me. Like either way, I am just so,
4:53
so proud of her and so happy that she got her period.
4:55
So my high is that my athlete got her period back.
4:58
That's the best tie. It really is my low and I will
5:01
also talk about this during our training update too at the end
5:04
of this episode is that I am having issues with my hamstring
5:08
again. I know, I think, and this is a
5:12
hard thing for me to admit, I love running.
5:15
I want to run every single day. My body cannot handle running
5:18
every single day right now. I think similarly to the
5:22
athletes who have recovered their period and then want to
5:25
immediately kind of jump back into old patterns or anything
5:28
like that. I did the same thing where I was
5:30
like my hamstring pain is gone, I can start running again, I can
5:33
run more and I think I was too aggressive with my goals for
5:37
kind of working back into running.
5:38
And I think I re injured myself, which plays actually really well
5:41
into our episode today, which we're talking about if you've
5:43
lost your period after getting it back and why that might
5:47
happen. But I think that I kind of fell
5:50
into the same thing that a lot of athletes do with once we've
5:52
reached a goal, then we immediately kind of jump to the
5:54
next one and I needed to be a little bit slower.
5:57
This is also my low who cares I crack my finger I'm so upset.
6:02
Me too. Is it the same one?
6:04
Yeah. Can you give us a quick kind of
6:06
summary for our new listeners of what's going on with your
6:09
hamstring I? I started experiencing some
6:11
hamstring pain when I was training for my most recent
6:14
marathon that I ran. Oh gosh, was that in May now?
6:16
And I decided that I was going to continue to train, did a lot
6:21
more cross training during that time to lead into that marathon
6:24
because I still wanted to race. And then afterwards, I decided
6:27
that that's when I really needed to take a good step away from
6:30
running. I was not running at all.
6:32
I was doing exclusively cross training.
6:33
That didn't hurt my hamstring at all.
6:35
And then once I got into a point where rehab felt really good, I
6:38
started working my way back into running.
6:40
And at first I was doing it really slowly, but then I
6:43
started to feel really, really good.
6:44
I think a lot of runners experienced this where they're
6:47
like, I'm feeling good so I can push it and I push just a little
6:50
too hard. I'm.
6:51
So bummed. I wish everybody could watch
6:53
Riley's reaction because Riley's reaction is like exactly what I
6:56
felt the other day. Putting into the universe we are
6:58
going to run together in 2026, even if it's a one mile fun run
7:01
like we're doing something in 2026, Yes.
7:04
On today's episode, we are actually talking about why I got
7:07
my period back during summer break and why is it gone now.
7:11
So this is a common one that we hear from people who have gone
7:14
through the period recovery process, gotten their period
7:16
back, and now they've lost it again.
7:19
This can be incredibly challenging to work through an
7:21
incredibly frustrating. So we decided we would do a
7:23
whole podcast kind of talking about why this might happen.
7:26
So Riley, from your experience working with athletes, what are
7:29
some of the common reasons why someone might get their period
7:31
back and then lose it again when they maybe go back to school?
7:34
Because they were feeling properly over summer break and
7:36
now we're not feeling properly again, Which?
7:38
Seems like such a short answer, but there's actually a lot more
7:41
that kind of goes into this about like the reasons why, and
7:44
we're going to talk about some of those today.
7:45
Yeah. And this is actually something
7:46
that's pretty close to my heart because I actually went through
7:49
this a lot when I was, you know, a teenage athlete when I was
7:52
playing club sports. Because I often would get my
7:56
period back during summer when I would maybe have lighter
7:58
training or as much of A structured schedule, right?
8:01
Like I would maybe go to camp during the day or I would, you
8:04
know, Bebop or play in the neighborhood or do school work
8:07
or whatever. And then I would have club
8:09
training in the evening and then I would give my period and then
8:13
fall would come around, I would go back to school, I would have
8:16
more structured training, and then my period would go away.
8:19
I often associated the disappearance of my period with
8:22
an increase in fitness because I had that more structured
8:25
training. I actually thought it was a good
8:27
thing. And it really pains me to say
8:28
that now, but that's kind of what I had been taught.
8:32
Been told that was the association I made.
8:34
And I remember even going to my pediatrician who was great, and
8:37
my mom actually mentioned that and she said it's totally normal
8:40
for athletes. Oh, it's so hard to hear.
8:42
I do think that summertime we do have more flexibility, more
8:46
sleep, less structure when it comes to our training and things
8:49
like that. That can all impact our ability
8:51
to fuel and our ability to train and in a fueled state.
8:54
I think it's interesting that you bring up the idea of a loss
8:58
of period being associated with like an increase in athletic
9:01
performance. We've talked about this before
9:03
on this podcast, but that's something that you experienced
9:05
vaguely remember being a part of the track team and talking with
9:07
one of the athletes that was also on the track team.
9:10
And she was incredibly fast and she would talk about how during
9:13
every single track season, she would lose her period.
9:15
And I thought one of the reasons why she could always beat me was
9:19
because she didn't have her period because she trained so
9:21
well during season. And that's what that meant.
9:24
And I think that is a common like misconception that a lot of
9:27
younger athletes have that they're well trained and they're
9:30
well adapted to their sport if they don't have their period.
9:34
And in reality, the opposite is true.
9:36
This is so bad and I'm so embarrassed to say this but I to
9:40
think I was fitter because I was losing my period.
9:43
I didn't know like there wasn't social media.
9:46
No, think nobody. Was talking about this.
9:48
Nobody was talking about it. I mean, you go went to the
9:49
doctor. Nobody cared about it.
9:51
It wasn't a thing. Right.
9:53
And we were told for so long that it was so common and that
9:55
would come back during offseason.
9:57
And that's not something to worry about.
9:58
But when we do lose our period, no matter what time it is or
10:02
what's going on, we should look at why we've lost our period.
10:04
Like we definitely want to go and visit a physician first and
10:07
make sure that there's nothing like structurally going on
10:09
anything like that. Or we are OK to then start
10:11
working on like increasing energy availability, which is
10:13
what we should probably have done when you were in soccer
10:17
season in order to make sure that you were fueled for all of
10:20
that increase in training. Yeah, it's so hard when you
10:22
don't know, right? Like especially, you know, we
10:24
see so many athletes who go to the doctor and they get just put
10:27
on birth control because their hormones are out of whack with
10:29
air quotes, right? And it's just hard when you
10:31
don't know. Oh my gosh, so true.
10:33
I think another thing that this school year kind of brings about
10:36
for a lot of athletes that maybe have just recovered their period
10:39
is routine changes because we have the flexibility of maybe
10:42
being at home during summer break or we just don't have as
10:44
much commitment during summertime.
10:46
But those long classes, maybe you have long labs, maybe you
10:49
need to study for much longer for your fall classes than you
10:53
did for any type of summer schooling that you were doing.
10:55
And we can really quickly kind of fall into that, Like we're
10:58
skipping snacks, we're skipping meals because we have class that
11:01
runs from, you know, 10:30 to 1:15 on a Tuesday or something
11:05
like that. Or we even have to work in
11:07
weights for our sport on our off times and our only off time is
11:12
over what would be a meal period or it was over a meal period
11:15
when we were on summer break. And I think that can really push
11:18
the body back into that low energy availability just from a
11:20
routine standpoint. And it doesn't even have to be
11:23
something that is like intentional.
11:25
I, I've actually been thinking about this because if anybody
11:28
didn't know, I'm running a marathon very, very soon.
11:31
But I've been thinking about my fueling is going to look on race
11:35
day compared to how it's going to look like when I'm just
11:39
training because race day, I'm going to have a time that I have
11:42
to report and that's what time the race is going to start,
11:45
right? If I wake up maybe a little bit
11:47
later on a training day or a long run day, I can push my run
11:50
back a little bit. Maybe I have to go to the
11:51
bathroom, my run gets adjusted. I don't really like what I have
11:55
for breakfast on my long run day.
11:57
I can choose something else in my pantry on race day.
11:59
I don't have that flexibility and I don't have those options.
12:02
I will run with a bladder so that I can drink water whenever
12:05
I want, but that's not allowed during my race.
12:07
So I'm gonna have to rely on water stations and that's
12:10
probably going to result in me drinking less water and probably
12:14
eating less fuel, right? And that pains me as a
12:16
dietitian, but I'm, I got an obviously practicing and
12:19
preparing for those changes. And I feel like that happens a
12:22
lot with like summer versus fall where like you're used to being
12:26
able to kind of do whatever you want, but now we add this
12:28
additional structure in. And even if you're being
12:31
intentional about it, you just might consume less fuel.
12:34
You bring up such a good point with like access to fuel.
12:37
If you're at home for summer break and you are spending more
12:40
time at home, you probably have more access to like a pantry
12:44
full of food. Maybe your parent has stocked
12:46
that or maybe you have stocked that because you're at home, you
12:49
can just get up and go grab something rather quickly.
12:51
But if you're on campus, if you are at practice, we don't have
12:55
that luxury of just like getting up and walking from the living
12:58
room to the kitchen to grab something when we feel hungry.
13:01
And that is a big change that we can experience when we go back
13:05
to school. And I think it's an, again,
13:06
unintentional thing that happens when we go back to school is we
13:09
just don't have the the same availability of fueling as we
13:11
did when maybe we were on summer break in at home.
13:14
I think another thing that kind of goes along with that is just
13:16
like activity shifts, Like, yes, we might have more structured
13:19
practices or things like that. But if you're going from being
13:23
at home to being back on campus and maybe you have like a really
13:26
large campus that you have to walk, we might be seeing like
13:28
unintentional, like activity shifts from a day-to-day basis,
13:31
just from small activity increases and all movement
13:34
counts towards like what your body needs from an energy
13:37
standpoint. Yeah, I definitely resonate with
13:39
a lot of that. Like thinking back, you know,
13:41
10-15 years ago when I was on a college campus, even the idea of
13:44
like, if I wanted to go to the dining hall, like I had to walk
13:47
probably half a mile and it was downhill one way and then it was
13:50
uphill another way. And that additional exercise, I
13:54
wasn't thinking of it as exercise as a college athlete,
13:56
but that additional movement, it did add up because at home, you
13:59
know, the distance between my room, my desk and the kitchen is
14:03
a lot shorter than me having to walk to the dining hall.
14:06
Also, like sometimes I didn't want to walk to the dining hall.
14:09
It was easier to there and I know that there's like delivery
14:11
and things like that now, but sometimes people are don't.
14:14
Even want to deliver kind of going off of that, the
14:16
preparation and the time that goes into preparing your own
14:19
meals and snacks. If you're at home and you have
14:21
the luxury of like a parent who cooks for you or you have pre
14:25
made or leftover options that you can easily heat up and
14:28
things like that that you might not have when you're at school.
14:30
I know for me, for example, when I was on a dining hall like
14:35
ticket when I was in school, I only had 10 meals per week.
14:38
So that left a lot of time for me to skip meals if I didn't
14:42
want to cook, like I was skipping a meal.
14:44
And I was oftentimes doing that because I needed to study or I
14:48
had class or I had other extracurricular activities that,
14:50
like I had already signed up for, needed to be at.
14:53
And all of those things can like unintentionally cause us to
14:56
decrease our fueling just because it isn't as convenient
14:59
as it was when we were at home. And that can really impact us
15:02
way more than what we're really thinking of.
15:04
And none of these things are like malicious or there's no
15:06
like I'll intent, like you're not trying to purposely under
15:10
it, just you really have to make it a priority.
15:13
Like you're making other things a priority.
15:15
And if you're not making it a priority, it's likely going to
15:17
slip. Such a good point with the
15:19
period recovery process, one of the things that we often see is
15:23
if you have decreased your activity in order to help you
15:26
get your period back and then you get your period back and
15:29
then you immediately jump back into high mileage or lots more
15:33
training or increasing your training rather quickly.
15:36
That's another thing that can cause us to lose our period.
15:39
So all of the things that maybe helped us get our period back
15:42
during the summer season, maybe you were able to maintain all of
15:45
those things, but you did also increase your training the
15:49
moment that you got your period back.
15:51
And this is probably some tough love.
15:53
But if you did need to decrease your training, which some
15:55
athletes do need to adjust their training in order to help them
15:58
get their period back. But if that was the category
16:01
that you fell into to help you get your period back, and then
16:04
you got your period back and then you immediately started
16:06
training the way that you were before, we can't go from running
16:10
just a few miles per week. So then all of a sudden running
16:13
up to 1014 miles plus per day, You have to think about doing
16:17
that on a very slow scale to build back up.
16:20
And we have to accompany that with increases in fueling too.
16:23
Whenever anyone is making adjustments to their training
16:25
because season changes, they're going back to school or
16:28
something like that, I tell them they have to increase their fuel
16:30
first before they increase their training.
16:32
Fuel first, training second. Yeah.
16:34
And it's not like you can't go back to the way that you were
16:37
training. That's, I think a huge
16:39
misconception, right? And that's not what Jenna was
16:41
saying at all, was that you can never be the athlete that you
16:43
were before. You just cannot do the things
16:45
that you were doing before and expect to keep your period.
16:48
Like just because you got your period like once or twice or
16:50
even 3 times, if you go back to old behaviors that resulted in
16:54
you losing your period, you're going to lose it again.
16:57
So if you increase training, you have to increase fuel and some
17:01
more tough love. It's a lot of tough love this
17:02
month from us, but you have to keep going with your changes.
17:05
You can't just be like I'm good and I'm going to go back to old
17:07
behaviors. You also can't expect that what
17:09
you were doing to get your period back will then be enough
17:12
to fuel your training increases. Like yes, it helps you get your
17:16
period back and helps you fuel through training you were doing
17:18
during the summer. But you can't expect that that
17:20
same amount of fuel is then going to then also be able to
17:23
fuel the continuation of your period and training increases.
17:27
So like both of those things have to kind of be in your mind
17:30
when you're thinking about making changes to your training.
17:33
You have to increase your fuel. Like Riley said, and definitely
17:36
agree with you, that doesn't mean that we can't return to the
17:38
athlete that we were or the amount of training that you had.
17:41
It just means you have to be more strategic and more
17:43
thoughtful and make your feeling a priority.
17:45
Yes. Another thing too to add on is
17:47
like increasing your training without increasing your fueling
17:50
isn't just gonna hurt you from a health standpoint, but like your
17:53
performance is going to be like crap.
17:54
Like even if you feel like you're back to normal, if you're
17:57
not feeling properly and you're not giving your body the energy
17:59
that it needs just to optimize itself as a person, you're not
18:03
going to have great performance too.
18:05
And that's something that obviously we haven't really
18:07
talked a lot about on this podcast, but like we are helping
18:10
athletes get their periods back and maximize performance.
18:13
Like they go hand in hand if you.
18:15
Are someone who has lost your period again after getting it
18:18
back we know that that is so hard and if you're looking for
18:21
additional resources to help you regain your period after going
18:24
through a second loss, please reach out to us.
18:26
We hope you enjoyed it Today's episode talking about what
18:29
happens or what might be the reasons why you've lost your
18:32
period again. We are going to do our training
18:34
update. So sharing just a little bit
18:35
about the training that we are doing.
18:37
Like we kind of teased at the beginning of this episode, Riley
18:40
is running a marathon extraordinarily soon.
18:42
And I maybe am not running a marathon anytime soon.
18:46
But Riley, what does training look like for you, knowing that
18:49
we are just a couple days out from the New York City Marathon?
18:51
I'm tapering, Yay. Are you enjoying this paper or
18:55
do you miss running so much? I feel like I'm still getting to
18:59
run honestly. Like I, I really, I feel like I
19:01
got a knock on wood when I say this, but I'm like actually
19:03
feeling OK right now. I think that I've kind of taken
19:06
the mindset of like, there's nothing I can really do right
19:09
now except for like make sure I get to the starting line
19:11
healthy, trying not to stress out too much and like trust the
19:14
process. Yeah, I know that you're working
19:16
with a coach and you guys have like a detailed plan.
19:18
How are you feeling about like the remainder of the time that
19:21
you have as far as like next week leading into marathon week?
19:25
Good. Like you just shared, like I
19:26
have been working with a coach, like I was using Runna and I
19:29
think that was like really good for maybe like some shorter
19:32
distances for me. But just like the way that my
19:34
fitness is and the way that like I've been like training for my
19:36
entire life, like as a soccer player, like it's just, I think
19:39
my fitness was out of different place.
19:40
So something like using AI or like using some sort of like
19:44
formula online, it just didn't match up with what I needed.
19:47
So I think a big thing that helped take away a lot of the
19:51
stress is working with a coach and I have like complete faith
19:54
in her. I'm just like trying to trust
19:56
the process. Another thing that's been really
19:58
helpful is that I haven't been really running to a pace.
20:01
I've been running more to like an RPE, especially because it's
20:04
so holy around. So I feel like I'll be OK
20:08
because I'm working off of a. Feeling like not off of a pace,
20:12
and I think that's a big change for me, like going into this
20:14
marathon is that I want to have a good time and like feel strong
20:20
running, not hit like a certain pace, if that makes sense.
20:24
Oh yeah, I love that kind of mindset shift.
20:27
It wasn't easy to get here. I've been stressed for a couple
20:29
of weeks about it. Or especially kind of like
20:31
moving that and like, yes, there's like certain paces I'm
20:34
trying to hit or be close to, but like trying to like listen
20:37
to how my body. Feels.
20:38
So the goal is just kind of like feedback from the body and kind
20:42
of adjust based on that. Or do you have like a goal that
20:44
you are aiming for that you're comfortable with sharing?
20:46
My coach listens to this podcast and she's probably going to say,
20:49
Riley, you're crazy. But I can comfortably.
20:52
I mean, I feel like I don't know because I have never run a
20:56
marathon before. It's also New York City, NY City
20:59
is a very hard course. What makes it super challenging
21:02
is like the first half is relatively flat.
21:05
You go over some bridges. The first mile is uphill.
21:08
Like you go up a bridge and then you come down a bridge and the
21:10
next like 11 miles are relatively flat.
21:14
And then you have to cross over some more bridges and you get
21:16
most of your elevation in the back half of the course.
21:19
So a lot of people, well, like a positive split and I've always
21:23
like negative split like races. So I think that is a little like
21:28
intimidating. And I know that's not what you
21:29
asked and I'm like going on a tangent now, but I think it's
21:33
hard to like have like a goal pace because I don't know, like
21:36
I've never done it before. Like I do think I'm hoping to be
21:40
like around like AN815830 pace. Like I did a 20 mile run a
21:44
couple weeks ago and I was at 8:30.
21:46
I have a question about feeling specifically for this.
21:49
We talk so much about like runners and the importance of
21:52
fueling appropriately, not just for duration, but intensity too.
21:55
Intensity happens when we like increase elevation.
21:58
Do you have an adjusted fueling plan in that like incorporates
22:01
the elevation changes of your race?
22:03
Like I know that we talk about this a lot offline, like how we
22:06
really study the course when we're running a race.
22:08
And like obviously you've just kind of explained a little bit
22:10
to everyone like what that looks like, but have you adjusted your
22:13
fueling plan knowing that that intensity is going to change
22:17
second-half for you? This is a really good question.
22:19
I'm actually really excited to chat about this with you because
22:22
I know that we were messaging a little bit about this, but I
22:25
actually switched from gummies to Morton gels for my race.
22:29
And I know this has nothing to do with training, but I have
22:32
been practicing like a different fueling strategy and I feel like
22:35
it works really well for me. But I'm going to be doing about
22:37
10 grams of carbs per mile versus like I know a lot of
22:41
people do like one gel every 30 minutes and I'm actually going
22:44
to be doing 10 grams of carbs per mile.
22:47
My goal is like, more is more like I feel like I'm not
22:50
necessarily like adjusting my fueling plan that much.
22:53
I think my big thing is like, I'm going to probably try to get
22:57
in fuel earlier because I know like as intensity increases in
23:00
that back half, it's going to be a little bit harder to fuel.
23:04
We talked a lot about this on our podcast with Megan when she
23:07
talked about the Boston Marathon.
23:08
Boston is similar in that there is some intense hills later on
23:12
in that race specifically and she talked a lot about like
23:15
making sure that you fuel before you hit that intensity mark and
23:18
also maybe even incorporating some caffeine there.
23:21
I know based on what we've talked about, you're planning to
23:23
use like both the caffeinated and uncaffeinated.
23:25
Is that also playing into that strategy for you?
23:28
Yes, I am actually going to be taking the Morton One 60s
23:32
because my goal is to have like again, 10 grams per mile.
23:36
So I'm not going to be taking it all at one time.
23:37
So I don't need to do like the 100 calories because they're
23:39
smaller. And then there's like less
23:41
things for me to open. If I have a bigger packet.
23:43
I'm going to take caffeine probably around mile 12.
23:47
Everybody says that like there's a big push at mile 15.
23:50
You go over a bridge that's like your second biggest elevation
23:53
gain. The bridge isn't the only time
23:55
you don't have spectators. So I'm going to do that probably
23:59
around mile 12. I know this training update has
24:02
almost turned into a little bit of like Riley's fueling strategy
24:04
for New York, but we can do in a full expanded episode about like
24:08
how she practiced and prepared for this because obviously, like
24:11
we're talking about it today. But this is definitely not the
24:14
first time that Riley has like planned this out, mapped this
24:16
out and tried it. If you are a runner and you are
24:18
anticipating a race, like we want to practice this and
24:21
simulate race day, fueling before race day.
24:24
And that's super important. And so that way we can find what
24:26
does work for you. Because just like Riley said,
24:28
she has a goal that she's aiming for.
24:29
And that's really different from like what we hear from a lot of
24:32
other like strategies around race day and fueling.
24:34
I think it's just because. Everybody is so individualized,
24:37
and I think people are also so worried about fueling.
24:40
I think about like my time as a college athlete, I never fueled
24:43
during practices and games. Like, maybe I'd take a gel
24:45
during a game if I knew what I knew now, like when I was a
24:48
college athlete, like, I would have been eating like every
24:50
practice, US every game. And I think there's just like a
24:53
lot of misconception and a lot of fears around like fueling
24:56
during training or games. So true.
24:58
I'm really excited for you. I know that everyone who listens
25:01
to this podcast is going to be cheering you on.
25:03
I know that we even have like listeners who are volunteers on
25:05
race day or who might be spectating on race day.
25:07
So everybody cheer really loudly for Riley.
25:10
And if you are on course or if you're going to watch or
25:12
anything like that, like definitely reach out something
25:14
like Jenna just said, some of you have already reached out and
25:16
shared that you're going to be there.
25:18
But I always love to see people and I will be wearing Eat More
25:21
on the back of my shirt. I'm going to put it on.
25:23
I'm so excited. I love this, Yeah.
25:25
OK, well, tell me a little bit about what's going on with you.
25:28
I'm so sad. I know I'm sad too.
25:31
I also like think it's so different from your training
25:33
update, which is so exciting and fun.
25:35
And then I'm just such a downer right now.
25:38
My goal right now is to not run for the rest of the week.
25:43
Oh, an anti running goal? I know.
25:45
So we have a very different goal that we are kind of looking at
25:48
for Riley and I right now. But I think all just goes back
25:51
to like, it's like what your body needs and listening to your
25:54
body. And the most important thing for
25:56
me is that like I have longevity in my running career.
25:59
And if that means that for a couple of days or maybe even for
26:02
a couple of weeks, my goal is to increase my cross training and
26:05
step away from running so that way I can run to my full
26:08
potential. One day I'm going to do it.
26:10
So that's my goal is to not run this week.
26:12
You can hold me to. That OK?
26:14
I can't wait to be like hello did you run today?
26:17
Every morning Riley and I chat and she's going to ask me now
26:20
every morning, and I love that. Are you doing any other type of
26:22
movement that you enjoy or are you taking like complete
26:25
recovery days? I will still be going to the gym
26:26
and doing cross training. Riley's coaches had previously
26:29
shared that for cross training, like doing the stairs, that's
26:32
been something that has worked with me when I previously took a
26:34
break. So that's what I will be doing.
26:36
It's just a lot of stairs, so. The stairs supper is intense.
26:39
It's no joke. We're best friends right now
26:41
though. You go girl, you'll be ready for
26:43
those hills of the next course. I guess that you race on.
26:47
Always a positive spin. Yes, I love that.
26:49
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Eat more
26:52
Carbs podcast. If you do have questions for
26:54
Riley and I about our training period, recovery or just
26:57
nutrition in general, please reach out to us.
26:59
Can always leave your questions in the comments of this podcast
27:01
where you can reach out to us online.
27:02
You can find Riley on Instagram at easy Sports nutrition and you
27:06
can find me at Jenna dot Fisher dot nutrition.
27:08
Thank you so much for listening to this episode.
27:10
Please make sure you rate, subscribe and review.
27:12
And as always, remember to eat more carbs.