I wanted to post this on the other thread but I don't understand why she doesn't think a male coach should talk about menstruation. It is just a medical condition, no different than a sprained ankle in that regard, and coaches should talk about medical condition. Maybe she, and other female athletes, just need to be more mature and treat it like what it is, a simple medical condition.
I do agree many coaches, male and female, don't coach young women well but that is different than not talking about a medical reality.
I wanted to post this on the other thread but I don't understand why she doesn't think a male coach should talk about menstruation. It is just a medical condition, no different than a sprained ankle in that regard, and coaches should talk about medical condition. Maybe she, and other female athletes, just need to be more mature and treat it like what it is, a simple medical condition.
I do agree many coaches, male and female, don't coach young women well but that is different than not talking about a medical reality.
Menstrual cycles are not a "medical condition" or comparable to a sprained ankle, which is an injury. They're a normal part of human female physiology. They can exert marked effects on women's exercise performance and injury risk at any given point in the cycle. It's only logical for us to wake up to training around the cycle based on our understanding of how it affects running (e.g. fat versus carbohydrate utilization, when it's appropriate to focus on harder efforts vs long slow distance, when an athlete may be at heightened risk for injury).
Male coaches are certainly welcome to talk about and incorporate these concepts into training, however it should not be pathologized.
This is the right answer. Thanks for the great post.
And as far as male coaches "talking about menstruation, " I agree with Fleshman that I am not qualified; nor should teenage girls and young women be expected to comfortably talk to me, a man, about their periods.
I am not qualified either, but a male coach could make it part of his job to learn as it understanding is important for both health and performance of athletes. It's not an easy thing to navigate, but life isn't easy and most people recognize good faith and expertise.
WSJ feature on Lauren. Hard to disagree with anything in here but it smacks of victimhood which I just can’t embrace.
I didn’t see any victimhood in there. She’s talking about real and common issues women runners face. She’s reflecting on mistakes she thinks she made that she doesn’t want the girls she’s coaching to make. There is no victimizer.
I wanted to post this on the other thread but I don't understand why she doesn't think a male coach should talk about menstruation. It is just a medical condition, no different than a sprained ankle in that regard, and coaches should talk about medical condition. Maybe she, and other female athletes, just need to be more mature and treat it like what it is, a simple medical condition.
I do agree many coaches, male and female, don't coach young women well but that is different than not talking about a medical reality.
I'm not sure why this is getting so many down votes. Menstruation is just a medical phenomenon. I don't think it's comparable to an injury like this post says but it is just something medical that happens.
There's no reason a male coach can't learn about training around menstruation just like there's no reason a male can't be an OB/GYN.
And because it is a natural medical events there's no reason to be embarrassed about talking about it. Something that have the population does shouldn't be a taboo subject to speak with anyone about, regardless of gender. Because it impacts how you can run and train is the exact reason it should be discussed with your coach even if they're male.
Fleshman is promoting her book. Victimhood is what the media want to hear. Everyone is a victim. Haven’t we heard enough from former elite women runners about how terrible their lives were when they were paid handsomely to run?
You're going to see her in the media because she has a book to promote. I think this board is making assumptions about her book bc of her liberal leanings on social media & annoying desire to get her two cents in on every running related issue but no one here is actually taking the time to read her book. I am halfway through on an audible credit download and don't hear it as a victim story. Lauren is hyper aware that she is a privileged white woman who had it better than most. The message she's sending around periods is her way of getting the book across to young athletes outside the running world. And yes, period talk is taboo in many households, mine included. There was a fear that period meant puberty and the message at that time was puberty ended athletic careers. I do think Lauren is genuinely trying to change that message. Even though she uses research to support her narrative, I kind of wish she co wrote the book with a doctor to legitimize the story more. Instead She references her 20+ year old Stanford degree in human biology as proof of expertise, which is a bit eye rolling if you know anything about academia
I’m so glad that the mainstream media has the time and ink to dedicate to these stories rather than, oh…I don’t know…actual girls’ and women’s athletics.
motivated athletes will still lose weight to run faster because it works. Male and female both. We do need more women coaches, but that has never been controversial to say.
As a fan, I’ll do what I can to support women’s and men’s track. Within the track world there are double standards that go both ways. Probably more male fans, though women get more scholarships (of course that’s due to the 500lb gorilla of men’s football that is sacred to college sports for some reason). And as posters have pointed out on other threads, track is one of the sports that has closed gender parity at every level of competition.
track is a beautifully diverse sport where we see competitors of nearly all shapes and sizes, ethnicities, and of course male and female. I kind of think the challenges of coaching shot put be high jump, vs distance running are a much bigger stretch than coaching girls and boys. Which is of course why we have specialization at the coaching level in addition to at the athlete level.
I'm not sure why this is getting so many down votes. Menstruation is just a medical phenomenon. I don't think it's comparable to an injury like this post says but it is just something medical that happens.
That post is getting down votes because it IS comparing menstruation with sprained ankle. Any athlete would want to avoid having sprained ankle. If it happens, one needs to learn how to train around it. But the ultimate goal is not to sprain your ankle.
Comparing menstruation with an injury implies that it is something to be avoided. Some coaches still believe it is better if an athlete's period stops because of diet and training. It is NOT. That attitude needs to change.
WSJ feature on Lauren. Hard to disagree with anything in here but it smacks of victimhood which I just can’t embrace.
I didn’t see any victimhood in there. She’s talking about real and common issues women runners face. She’s reflecting on mistakes she thinks she made that she doesn’t want the girls she’s coaching to make. There is no victimizer.
1. “It just seemed like anything associated with womanhood was an impediment to success”. (Golly, there are so many things about womanhood that can facilitate success. And besides, there are so many things associated with manhood that can be impediments to success as well)
2. “If I had been told how amenorrhea”—the condition of missing periods—“could impact everything from your mental health to your libido to your immune system to your bone density, that would’ve gotten through to me”. (Not sure what she wants us to do here, since this is the way nature determined it should be) 3. “I know women, and I know how poorly our sports systems nurture their talent”. (Ummm, Title IX and such) 4. “I also liked gymnastics, but once we saw the monthly fees it was quickly a no.” (This is not unique to her or to women) 5. “she noticed how boys wolfed down whatever they wanted while girls often nibbled on salad with dressing on the side”. (Simply not true. Boys get fat too) 6. “Ms. Fleshman learned of young women who had set national records as teens only to hang up their spikes in college when their bones proved too brittle to race”. (Young men flame out too. German Fernandez?) 7. “most scholarships and prizes go to high school athletes who are at their best as juniors and seniors, but this is often when women start to see a performance-related plateau”. (Same for men) 8. “This phase can stretch into college, when women’s bodies are designed for peak fertility, while men are in their physical prime and can enjoy a trajectory of steady improvement.” (Again, simply not true)
Fleshman is promoting her book. Victimhood is what the media want to hear. Everyone is a victim. Haven’t we heard enough from former elite women runners about how terrible their lives were when they were paid handsomely to run?
It seems to me the most consequential quote is the one on trans women. This sounds like strong support for bio females, which she hasn't been prominent in other interviews. In writing about sex-based differences among athletes, Ms. Fleshman says, “I was nervous that the data and story I tell will be leveraged by people who have a desire to harm the trans community, to exclude trans athletes, which is not something I want. But I came to the conclusion that to meet the needs of a very large group of people who are cisgender female athletes in sport, we have to acknowledge sex-based differences. Erasing their existence is harming a huge group of people.”
