Summary

This podcast episode explores the intersection of female athletes' training and their menstrual cycles, emphasizing the importance of understanding individual physiological differences. Host Kate Baldwin and Associate Professor Claire Badenhorst discuss the Menstrual Health Manager, a tool designed to help athletes and coaches communicate effectively about menstrual health. They highlight the variability of menstrual cycles, the impact of hormonal contraception, and the need for athletes to collect personal health data to inform their training and health decisions.

Link to Claire's Publication:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38904920/

Injury risk in runners is rarely about one single factor.
It’s usually the result of how load, recovery, stress, and strength interact over time.

In this episode, I break down six evidence-informed factors that consistently show up in the research on running injuries, and more importantly, how they can be applied in the real world.

We cover:

• How to use pain as a guide without fear
• Why strength training matters for injury risk, not just performance
• How diversifying load can reduce repeated tissue stress
• The role of sleep in recovery and injury risk
• Why psychological stress matters, and what actually helps
• How to prioritise what matters when time and energy are limited

This is not about doing everything perfectly.
It’s about understanding what actually influences injury risk, and making small, sustainable decisions that support long-term training.

A short, practical episode for runners who want clarity, not noise.

“Just do a short recovery run today.”

Most runners have heard it. Most runners have done it. But easy running is still load, and calling it “recovery” can quietly sabotage adaptation, durability, and long-term performance.

In this 15-minute episode, I break down:

• what recovery actually is (and when it happens)
• why easy runs still stress tendons and bone
• how tissue adapts on a delay
• why “flushing lactate” misses the bigger picture
• and what to do instead if you want to train consistently and stay injury-resilient

This episode is evidence-based, runner-focused, and practical physiology explained clearly.

If you want to train smarter, recover better, and stop confusing easy with free, this one’s for you.