Intro In this episode, coach Jessica Marie Rose Leggio offers sage advice for female runners experiencing hot flashes during menopause. She provides tips to deal with it on the run and condition your body to minimize the symptoms occurring in the first place.   Hot flashes are a red flag for menopause. It is usual for women going through menopause to experience hot flashes while running. However, often women don’t know that the hot flash is menopause related. Instead, you may write it off thinking you are out of shape, have low blood sugar, or it is just not your day. But, it is vitally important that you take note. If you are in the menopause age range, a hot flash is a red flag that it may be menopause related.  #RunPainFree tip! Go to your doctor and get checked ASAP! Workouts reduce menopause symptoms when running. All women going through menopause will experience hot flashes and sweating. But for women who run, running may exacerbate these symptoms. The lack of muscular conditioning is often the primary reason why your body can’t handle the heat flash pressure caused during a run.  In general, many runners skip strength workouts and just run – which is always a bad idea. But for women going through menopause, skipping workouts can exacerbate hot flashes.  “You need to work out for your sport. The sport isn’t the workout.” There is a big misconception that if you run every day, you are working out every day. It would be best if you did sport-specific workouts to support your running regularly. And this is even more important for women during menopause.  Women who work out vs. women who don’t. Women who don’t do workouts will feel the symptoms of menopause more intensely when running. If you are a woman, who has kids and doesn’t strength train, you will be on the hot flash spectrum. At the same time, women without children who work out will experience minimal hot flashes. The difference is night and day.  What to do when you experience a hot flash  Slow down and start walking. But don’t stop – this will shock your body. Calm your body by taking deep cooling breaths Sip water, but don’t guzzle. Consider hydrating with coconut water. It has natural electrolytes, twice the potassium of a banana, without the bloating, and natural sodium. In summer, freeze your coconut water, so it is cool on your run.  Put cold packs on your wrists and behind your ear lobes. This practice will cool your core down quickly.  If you don’t have ice packs with you, get to a water fountain and run your wrists underwater, and then immediately press behind your ears. Rinse and repeat.  Get organized and build a system that supports you when a hot flash occurs. Get an elastic pocket belt so you can carry your ice packs and coconut water. Plan your running routes, so you are not too far from home and not too far from water. Listen to your body. Sometimes, it just isn’t your day. It is far better to give it rest rather than to push on. Running through pain when your entire body is saying stop is just asking for a bad spell that will last well beyond when your run ends.  You have to learn to identify the sensation and how to calm your system down. Give your body the cushion it needs to get through that moment. Honor what your body is telling you. That hot flash is your body screaming for you to back off the pace.  “You need to work with how your body is genetically driven and what you can do to condition it and work with what you’ve got.” When you condition your body, you will get to a point where hot flashes can be minimal and won’t stop you in your tracks.  If you need help with specific conditioning exercises to help you keep running during menopause, head to #RunPainFree and book a free consultation. We ask many questions because we can’t fix anything unless we repair everything! TIMESTAMPS 2