Mammoth Mountain in California! Friendly weather, the most consistent snow in CA, many walk-to-lifts lodging options (besides airbnb, we’ve had good experiences w https://www.mammothres.com/), plus skate skiing and backcountry options in town. Not Whistler scale, but still a huge amount of terrain and variety–they will not get bored. You can fly into Mammoth from LA or Burbank — once in Mammoth, the public transit is superb and you can easily get around town and between town/mountain without a car. Downside is expense–although Ikon pass helps, ski lessons and general cost of living are $$$$.
lucye
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Participantlucye on May 23, 2022 at 11:21 am · in reply to: Recommendations for a ski destination in the US #67519Participantlucye on March 3, 2022 at 10:20 am · in reply to: Please make menopause a topic in the forum index #53038
Hi @sannk06,
Thanks for sharing–it’s great to hear experiences from others in our cohort are doing. Not an expert, but I will offer my understanding, which comes mostly from Selene Yeager’s Menopause Feisties group.
However, as a menopausal woman, the rules about fat adaption don’t seem to apply the same–or maybe I’m burning fat, but I’m also not losing it in the places it’s become common on my body since I entered menopause.
Yes – I don’t think that’s contradictory. As I understand it, becoming fat adapted and losing body fat are not necessarily the same thing. When one becomes fat adapted, they become more able to burn fat to fuel physical activity; this can happen even without losing fat from particular body parts. The hormonal changes of menopause essentially drive fat accumulation around the belly (“meno-pot”) that, for most of us, is not going to be our body’s choice to metabolize to fuel activity. While research and expert analyses on menopausal atheletes are essentially non-existent, there are many anecdotes of (peri-)menopausal athletes who went hard-core into caloric restriction and/or fasting to try to lose belly fat but instead lost athletic performance and developed stress fractures or RED-S.
It sounds like with your huge performance improvements, you are on the right track! I might focus on that and on how your body feels.
Since you like podcasts, you might enjoy these ones from Hit Play not Pause:
Stacy Sims interview (she goes into more depth about menopause here than in ROAR)
btw, Stacy and Selene are working on a book on menopause next!
Participantlucye on March 3, 2022 at 10:20 am · in reply to: Please make menopause a topic in the forum index #53035Hi sannk06! Not an expert, but will try to share my current understanding, which comes mostly from Selene Yeager’s Menopause Feisties group for (peri-)menopausal athletes (there is a podcast, a free fb group, and a paid membership where you get a deeper dive into the topic-of-the-month).
Since you like podcasts, you might check out this one, which focus on nutrition:
And this one with Stacy Sims, which covers many topics including nutrition and goes into more depth than Roar (note Selene and Stacy are working on a menopause book now!):
The TL;DL (don’t listen) version is essentially as you suspect – that for most of us, menopause will unfortunately mean 3-5lbs of fat that is physiologically programmed to accumulate around the belly, even if other objective measures of athletic performance remain the same or improve. Of course some women are exceptions, but there are many anecdotes that trying to lose the “meno-pot” by severely restricting diet by fasting or caloric restriction causes many women to lose athletic performance instead and develop stress injuries.
However, as a menopausal woman, the rules about fat adaption don’t seem to apply the same–or maybe I’m burning fat, but I’m also not losing it in the places it’s become common on my body since I entered menopause.
As I understand it, becoming fat adapted and losing body fat are two different things–fat adapted means being able to use fat as an energy source during activity, and you could become fat adapted even if you are not seeing targeted loss of fat from one specific body area. If I were in your shoes, I’d focus on these performance metrics. And here, it sounds like you are on the right path–your UA training has been going super(min/mile faster is huge)!
Hope some of this is helpful–we are all in new territory here and there is such a lack of expert info out there, so it’s great to share info w each other on our journeys.
ParticipantHi ppeddi – Adding to Coach Carolyn – a good resource is Stacy Sims’ book Roar which talks about fueling the female physiology. She also has a thorough discussion of RED-S (Relative Energy Deificency in Sport) among female ultrarunners, some guidelines for evaluating oneself, and how to get out of it (including fueling before/during/after workouts).
ParticipantHi Mercedes,
That sounds really sucky. I’m on my third Mirena now, and I have to say that I haven’t experienced what you describe. I take it this has been happening with both IUD models?
Lucy
ParticipantRe restricted fascia upstream/downstream of the joint – Voodoo flossing has really worked to loosen fascia around my knees/ankles. Here’s one Kelly Starrett video illustrating how to do it:
ParticipantHi April, +1 here. Just listened to the Menopause Feisties’ interview with Erin Carson and I’m also feeling pretty confused about how (whether?) to incorporate #LHS guidelines into the UA programs. The awareness of how perimenopausal/menopausal women respond better to different approaches to training (compared to their younger selves, and also to men of the same age) is really just opening up, and I’d love to hear some of the UA female coaches’ perspectives.
Participantlucye on December 13, 2020 at 12:20 pm · in reply to: Please make menopause a topic in the forum index #48213+1 to that suggestion, Jane!
Turned 50 this year myself and also experiencing how all the old ‘rules’ don’t seem to apply anymore. It’s discouraging to discover the dearth of information there is–we are truly an overlooked constituency. That being said, I’ve been personally inspired and energized the last few months by the community emerging at Feisty Menopause. Their podcast (“Hit Play not Pause”) is legit and wide-ranging (first podcast featured Dr. Stacy Sims), they have a very active fb group and they just launched a new paid membership that gives you live access to people with specific expertise for peri- and post-menopausal athletes. (I’m not affliated in any way, just excited to feel like I finally have a means to try understand what’s going on w my body.)
If I had one critique it would be that the focus is more along the lines of triathalon and cycling and not uphill endeavors that are the focus here. The guests (not coaches) on the Uphill Athlete Podcast have all been guys so far–it would be great to hear interviews with female alpinists and ultrarunners in the 50+ group.
Participantlucye on July 4, 2020 at 9:27 am · in reply to: Getting back to the mountains after fatal accidents #43274Kate,
My heart goes out to you. Others here undoubtedly will know more, but these articles below describe a growing movement to acknowledge the terrible trauma that many like you carry and profile the mental health pioneers who are exploring avenues for therapy.
I hope you find peace and strength in your journey.
Lucy
Survivor’s Guilt in the Mountains
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/02/survivors-guilt-in-the-mountainsAlpinists are intimately familiar with death and grief. A therapist thinks he can address the unique needs of these élite athletes. (focus on Conrad Anker)
Backcountry Magazine v. 133: THE BOUNDLESS ISSUE – OUT OF THE WOODS
Trauma isn’t just physical—a broken bone, a severe laceration. It cuts deeper. In the mountains, where there’s a fine line between taking risks and suffering consequences, we’re often exposed to the types of scenarios that can cause emotional harm, which can manifest in post-traumatic stress and mental health struggles. But in a mountain culture that prizes toughness and expertise, it can be difficult to break the silence surrounding emotional trauma. Now, however, industry leaders are beginning to speak up about their own experiences facing issues with mental health and are working hard to end the stigma.
ParticipantJane, Alison – This thread brings me out of lurking to madly +1! Alison, bought ROAR on your suggestion and feel like this was the book I’ve needed for the last 20 years…it is a complete game-changer and Stacy Sims is a hero. Also realizing how isolated I am around menopausal issues in my local fitness circles (w guys and/or pre-menopausal women). Hope there are chances to connect on this/learn from each other.
ParticipantI’m also curious about the answer to Mariner’s year-old question, and can’t seem to find it elsewhere on this forum. Is the TSS adjustment for a heavy pack 20 TSS/1000 ft for any pack greater that 20% BW? Big perceived difference in effort in carrying a pack that’s 40% vs 20% BW. Thanks! – Lucy
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