Hi! 👋🏻 I'm a Running and Health Coach, and whether you're just starting out running or you're an experienced marathoner, our community offers support, motivation, and resources tailored to all levels of runners. Enjoy weekly insights on training techniques, nutrition advice, gear reviews, and personal stories that inspire and guide. Become a part of a vibrant running family dedicated to moving forward together. Lace up, sign up, and let’s hit the pavement as a team!
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Today's reading time is about: 6 to 8 minutes.
Before we jump into today’s topic, I want to take a moment to acknowledge something important.
This past Sunday was International Women’s Day, and I want to extend a sincere congratulations and appreciation to all the women in our endurance community.
To my female readers, athletes, and mothers balancing family, careers, and training — your discipline inspires more people than you may realize.
And to the men reading this — husbands, coaches, training partners — remember that supporting the women in your life often starts with understanding their physiology.
Because here’s something many people still don’t realize:
One of the biggest performance limiters in female endurance athletes is not training.
It’s fueling.
Across endurance sports — running, triathlon, cycling — a large percentage of female athletes unknowingly train in a chronic state of low energy availability.
They are training hard.
They are disciplined.
They are consistent.
But they are not fueling enough to support their physiology.
And when that happens, the body begins to shut down key systems.
Not immediately.
But gradually.
Performance stalls. Fatigue increases. Hormones shift. Bone health declines.
This condition is now recognized in sports science as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).
And understanding it is essential for every endurance athlete — especially women.
¿Hablas español o conoces a alguien que sí?
Endurance Mindset en Español (¡Ya disponible!): desde cero al maratón, con ciencia y estructura. Compártelo o regístrate y forma parte desde el comienzo. 🏃♂️📩
Energy Availability refers to the amount of dietary energy remaining for the body’s physiological functions after accounting for exercise.
In other words:
Energy intake – Exercise expenditure = Energy available for the body.
When energy availability drops too low, the body prioritizes survival over performance.
The systems most affected include:
Hormonal function
Bone metabolism
Immune function
Recovery processes
Metabolic regulation
This phenomenon was first described as the Female Athlete Triad, but the concept has since expanded into the broader model of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) Mountjoy et al., 2018.
And while RED-S can affect both men and women, female athletes are significantly more vulnerable due to the interaction between energy availability and reproductive hormones.
The Hormonal Connection
When energy intake becomes chronically insufficient, the brain reduces signaling from the hypothalamus.
This leads to disruptions in the hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis, often resulting in:
Irregular menstrual cycles
Loss of menstruation (amenorrhea)
Reduced estrogen levels
Estrogen is not just a reproductive hormone.
It plays a critical role in:
Bone health
Recovery
Cardiovascular protection
Muscle repair
When estrogen drops, the consequences extend far beyond training.
Bone mineral density may decline, increasing the risk of stress fractures, a common issue among endurance athletes experiencing RED-S.
Performance Consequences
Ironically, many athletes believe that eating less will help them perform better by reducing body weight.
But research consistently shows that chronic energy deficiency leads to:
Reduced power output
Slower recovery
Higher injury risk
Reduced endurance capacity
In other words:
Underfueling does not make you lighter and faster.
It often makes you tired and injured.
Why This Happens So Often
Several cultural and behavioral factors contribute to underfueling in female endurance athletes:
Diet culture in endurance sports
Fear of weight gain
High training volume without nutrition adjustment
Lack of education about energy needs
Misinterpretation of fatigue as lack of discipline
In reality, many athletes are doing everything right in training — but unintentionally undermining their progress with inadequate nutrition.
Photo: SamaritansPurse.com
Post of the week
Samaritan's Purse meets critical needs and offers real hope as serving women around the world.
Practical Application — How Female Athletes Should Fuel
So how do we apply this knowledge?
Let’s translate the science into actionable guidance.
1. Fuel Around Training
Female athletes often benefit from strategic carbohydrate intake before and after workouts.
For example:
Before training (30–90 minutes prior):
Fruit
Toast with honey
Oatmeal
Yogurt with granola
After training:
Protein (20–30g)
Carbohydrates for glycogen replenishment
Recovery nutrition helps restore energy balance and supports hormonal health.
2. Avoid Fasted High-Intensity Training
While fasted workouts may have some applications in endurance training, frequent fasted sessions — especially high-intensity workouts — can increase the risk of low energy availability in female athletes.
Instead:
Reserve fasted sessions, if used at all, for short and low-intensity runs.
Quality workouts should be fueled.
3. Monitor Menstrual Health
The menstrual cycle is a powerful indicator of energy balance.
If cycles become irregular or disappear, it may indicate:
Energy deficiency
Excessive training load
Stress or recovery imbalance
This should never be ignored.
It is physiological feedback.
4. Strength Training and Bone Health
Adequate fueling combined with resistance training helps protect bone density and reduces the risk of stress fractures.
Women respond exceptionally well to strength training, especially when supported with sufficient nutrition.
5. Men: Support the Women in Your Life
For male readers, this is where your role matters.
If you coach women, train with women, or have daughters in sports:
Encourage healthy fueling.
Celebrate strength.
Avoid reinforcing harmful ideas about body weight and performance.
The best female athletes in the world are strong, well-fueled, and resilient.
Key Takeaways
Energy availability is essential for performance and health.
Chronic underfueling can lead to RED-S.
Hormonal health is closely tied to energy balance.
Missing menstrual cycles should be taken seriously.
Proper fueling improves recovery, performance, and injury prevention.
Strength training supports bone health.
Male athletes and coaches should actively support female athlete health.
What's Going On in the World of Running?
1. The King’s World Tour: Kipchoge to Race Africa
The GOAT is not done yet. Eliud Kipchoge has officially announced "Eliud’s Running World," a mission to run a marathon on all seven continents. In a historic move, he will kick off the tour at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on May 24, 2026. This marks Kipchoge’s first-ever competitive marathon on African soil, aiming to boost Cape Town’s bid to become the next World Marathon Major.
The streets of Los Angeles witnessed arguably the closest finish in its 45-year history yesterday. American Nathan Martin surged past Kenya’s Michael Kimani Kamau in the final meters to win by a mere 0.18 seconds (2:11:16). While Martin celebrated a local victory, the women's race saw a masterclass in longevity as 45-year-old Priscah Cherono dominated the field to take the title.
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo has officially entered the pantheon of cross-country legends. By winning the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, he secured his third consecutive world title, joining the elite ranks of Kenenisa Bekele and Paul Tergat. His 18-second victory margin proved that on the dirt, he is currently untouchable.
4. Chicago 2026: A Million-Dollar Push for Inclusion
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is setting a new standard for major races. They’ve announced that the 2026 edition will feature a cumulative prize purse of over $1 million for the professional wheelchair division and, for the first time, will introduce prize money for the Para Athletics Program across seven different impairment divisions.
The hunt for the "Seventh Star" medal is officially a global phenomenon. After being named the newest Major, the Sydney Marathon received a record-breaking 123,000 ballot applications for its 2026 race. The running world is shifting its gaze toward the Southern Hemisphere.
"Trust in yourself is not only built through successful repetitions, but also through failed ones.
When you have worked through failures in the past, you fear them less in the future. You know you can bounce back.
Successful repetitions build competence. Failed repetitions build resilience." James Clear, is the Author of Atomic Habits Cofounder of Authors Equity, and I really enjoy his content.
Let us know what interests you the most at the 'Preferences' link below! ¡Cuéntanos qué temas te interesan más en el enlace 'Preferencias' al final de este correo!
References
1. Mountjoy, M., Sundgot-Borgen, J., Burke, L., et al. (2018). IOC consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). British Journal of Sports Medicine.
2. Nattiv, A., Loucks, A., Manore, M., et al. (2007). The Female Athlete Triad. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
3. De Souza, M. J., et al. (2014). Misunderstanding the Female Athlete Triad. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
4. Loucks, A. (2013). Energy availability in athletes. Sports Medicine.
Closing — A Body Designed for Strength
One of the things I love about endurance sports is that they teach us humility.
You cannot cheat physiology.
You cannot shortcut recovery.
And you cannot ignore what your body is trying to tell you.
For female athletes, fueling is not just about calories.
It is about respecting the design of your body.
Scripture reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Your physiology is not a limitation.
It is a sophisticated system designed for resilience, adaptation, and strength.
When you fuel it well, train it wisely, and care for it patiently — the results often exceed what we thought possible.
So if this article resonates with you, I encourage you to share it with a woman in your life.
Because sometimes the most powerful support we can give an athlete is simply helping them understand their own body better.
Hi! 👋🏻 I'm a Running and Health Coach, and whether you're just starting out running or you're an experienced marathoner, our community offers support, motivation, and resources tailored to all levels of runners. Enjoy weekly insights on training techniques, nutrition advice, gear reviews, and personal stories that inspire and guide. Become a part of a vibrant running family dedicated to moving forward together. Lace up, sign up, and let’s hit the pavement as a team!
