For many women – myself included - running is more than just a form of exercise, it’s a source of empowerment, mental clarity, and physical strength. Running for me is my “me time”, my “I can do this” time, my “I might be getting older but I’m not going to let that stop me” time.  I have never been a natural runner, and I have never been fast, but my distances were getting steadily longer, and I was feeling great……until I was about 52.  Then, I started getting slower, less energetic, I couldn’t complete my interval workouts, and I felt like I was running through mud.
​At the time my periods were still regular and I had no perimenopause symptoms like hot flashes or moodiness, so I didn’t immediately put it down to hormonal changes.  But my sleep was starting to really suffer and after talking to friends also going through these issues I realised that it might be perimenopause.  In fact, with the average age of full menopause (no periods for one year) being 51, and the perimenopause period lasting up to 10 years before menopause, I was definitely in the perimenopause period of my life. 
So, I delved into understanding how these hormonal changes impact athletic performance and looked to find evidence-based strategies - including nutrition, supplementation, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - to navigate this transition effectively.

If you want to know what causes knee pain and what does and doesn't work then you need to read this article published by Muscle for Life.  It is a bit long, but well written and I highly advise everyone read it, whether you have knee pain or not.  I myself am lucky enough to rarely suffer from knee pain, and yes, while this is due in part to good luck, I also am a big believer in preventative exercises and know that my leg strength is also partly to be credited.