Although not really Pilates-related, since the main story (so far) follows a runner, Christine Mboma, I thought I'd share this fascinating podcast series. (Well, at least I find it fascinating as it combines a few things I am interested in, including running and science).

It looks at the testing that is supposed to determine who is a woman and thus can compete as a woman in an athletic event. They are also questioning the science that supposedly underpins that testing since, as they put it, "sports is binary but humans are not."

And this isn't about trans people. They are testing any woman who doesn't fit whatever notion the sports committee has about what a "real woman" looks like...

(Produced by NPR and CDC, so a North American production...)

https://www.tested-podcast.com/

Are you planning to do a challenge for March Matness, Liz (Pilates for Runners) ? Someone on a NHS Health Unlocked forum reminded me of this event initiated by Benjamin Degenhardt over 10 years ago, although it seems to have taken on a life of its own now... It involves doing one (or two) of the exercises of the classical Mat sequence (see photo montage of Degenhardt doing them).   More info is here: https://marchmatness.com/

Apparently, today is International Menopause Day! While I find these days a bit weird (and sometimes annoying), I thought I'd use this as an excuse to share some resources I wished I'd had when I went through "the change" a few years ago. All of these are for active women*!

The Well HQ: This isn't just for menopause but for athletic women's health in general. They do have a menopause category: https://www.thewell-hq.com/category/menopause/

Dr. Juliet McGrattan writes for women* runners, including those going through peri-menopause: https://drjulietmcgrattan.com/category/blog/ (through her Insta page I learned about Menopause Day...). 

Specifically for athletes going through menopause is this resource: https://www.feistymenopause.com/

And lastly, the book that helped me discover almost all the above resources: "Up to Speed" by Christine Yu. Again, this is for all women* and it has a chapter on menopause (see https://www.christinemyu.com/book )

(That * ?!? 🏳️‍⚧️ Yes, today is also International Pronoun Day, so I want to include people who might've been born with a female body and no longer identify as female and/or who have made changes to their hormone household, which will lead them also through menopause...)