How To Train & Race While On Your Period With Emma Pallant-Browne

Your period may make you feel uncomfortable about training or racing. Cramps, feeling tired, and managing bleeding all add up to make a period on race day something to dread. However, unless you’re on the pill, they are a part of life we ladies can’t control. So we talk to pro triathlete Emma Pallant-Browne about how you can manage your period worries come race day.

0:00 - Intro
1:08 - Biology
1:49 - Pain management
2:41 - Diet
3:10 - Emma Pallant-Browne's advice
6:46 - Managing flow
7:30 - Race day

Useful Links

What are your period hacks and tips? 🌹 Let us know in the comment section below! 💬

Watch more on GTN...

Photos: © Triathlon / Getty Images
Thumbnail image courtesy of Professional Triathletes Organisation

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound / Artlist 🎵
Flower Fountain - Chill Cole
The Life of a Divorced Bumblebee - Josef Bel Habib
My Heart Only Beats for You (Instrumental Version) - Stonekeepers
Let's Be Honest (Instrumental Version) - L.M. Styles
Cut You Off (Instrumental Version) - Mindme

#gtn #triathlon #swimbikerun #swim #bike #run #period #periodpain #periodcramp

The Global Triathlon Network (GTN) is the world's biggest triathlon YouTube channel, with new videos every day! GTN is for anyone who loves triathlon: from seasoned triathletes to first-timers – and everyone in between!

With the help of our former pro and Olympic medal-winning team, we’re here to inform, entertain and inspire you to become a better triathlete; including videos on:

- How to swim, bike, and run faster with expert knowledge
- Try our session ideas
- Investigations into wide-ranging topics
- The best triathlon bike tech and gear with pro-know-how
- In-depth, entertaining features from the heart of the sport
- Chat, opinion and interact with us across the channel and on social media!

Join us on YouTube’s best triathlon channel to get closer to the sport and to become a better, faster and fitter triathlete!

Welcome to the Global Triathlon Network.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gtn]

What are your period hacks and tips? 🌹

[acatonasnowboard]

absolutely love Emma's response to the dude who said to pick a different photo or crop it. And I love how she said train through it so you can figure out how to adapt, periods shouldn't hold us back especially on race day. Emma's a legend and so's Heather for making a video on this!

[OGWNF]

My partner is trying to get into triathlon and suffers badly. There aren't enough of these kinds of videos out there and its helpful for being supportive to her. Thanks GTN!

[paulamiller]

I’m an older age grouper and no longer deal with this issue, but when I did, it simply wasn’t discussed. Thanks so much for addressing this important topic and taking away the shame.

[kimfraser-rybinski]

Great episode. I remember years ago girls would get notes from their mothers to excuse them from PE at school. Not my mother;) she’d say you’re going to have your period for at least the next thirty years. You can’t sit out of life for five days every month. I’m glad we’ve come such a long way. Fifty percent of the population will deal with this throughout their lives. It’s time to loud and proud about our periods.

[meganparr]

I got my period 30km into the bike of an Ironman and with endometriosis this was possibly worst case scenario unfolding. Pain relief is good to talk about but for super long distance things like ibuprofen should be avoided due to stressing the kidneys. My lesson learnt - don’t run the marathon in bike shorts hoping to use the chamois as a sort of pad. The chaffing is unreal. Do not recommend! I feel I can talk to this topic forever managing endo with training and racing!!

[ej]

So great to see you covering this topic. Well done GTN!

[lawathlete]

For a 70.3, the best option is the full volume moon cup. It is unreal! it never slips and you don't have to take it out for 8 hours. I have to admit, it is quite heartening to hear this from a big channel like GTN. This kind of stuff happens way more frequently than people let on. I recently finished a 10km and it was my other half who told me to come over really quick to him to tell me I was bleeding- I had no idea and there was photographers around. I nearly lost my life. I was in front of colleagues and friends and just wanted the ground to open. Especially if you are pushing hard on the run, you are increasing the muscle use around that area and that may cause your menstrual products to slip and leak. Just something I learned. Anyway, we soldier on and lead the way for younger girls coming into sport. Thanks GTN!

[thetroublewithmavis]

I don't know how many people this would be true for but I've found that when I get cramps when running (which I tend to in the week leading up to my period as well) if I stop and stand or crouch for a few minutes and wait for the pain to completely go, I can then run again without them coming back. I used to just go home when this happened but after discovering this it's just a small interruption and then I can continue. And yes, this has happened in a race. It cost me three and a half minutes of crouching at the edge of the course and being asked if I was alright by everyone who passed but I was able to run normally afterwards and complete the race.

[shil]

Thanks for making this video! Would love to see content on training during pregnancy and returning to training/racing after childbirth. 🤰

[Xflosiv]

Thank you so much Emma! I am so impressed with your approach and showing how we all go through something similar as women. I suffer with bad bloating and period pains that make me want to bend over all day while bleeding heavily. I also have a short cycle so it messed up my training last year taking so many days off. This year I ran through it and took OTC meds to manage pain and was able to finish my first Comrades marathon at 40. I really admire professionals who have to deal with this year after year, triathletes in particular since there's the swim element in the mix. Big ups to Emma and GTN, I'm an even bigger fan now!

[jaynolay]

I’m doing my first Triathlon next month and I was thinking about this very topic! Thank you so much for covering this 😊

[blrun]

Fantastic that GTN is covering this topic

[favouritemoon]

As an 11-year-old and I happened to be about a head taller than most of my peers. This gave me a significant advantage in sports. In the middle of a Cross Country race, I started my first ever period. This was in the UK in the mid-1970s and everyone wore 'short' shorts back then. I sensed something, then I sensed a lot MORE of 'something'. I ran faster.

I have to add, that 'Cross Country' was over a few acres of school fields, up and down steep banks with a few trees at the top of those banks. It was all school grounds [the school was then called St Paul's, and it was on Granville Rd in Sheffield]. I ran as fast as I could with the aim of getting back to the changing rooms, and for the first and last time in my life, I won a race. I didn't tell ANYONE [not teachers, friends, sisters, let alone my parents...none of whom had told me anything about periods] what was going on with me that day. What I did was stuff some Loo Roll into my knickers. The next day I stole some sanitary towels from Debenhams.

I am so, so glad that most girls these days won't experience anything like I did.

[filomenaepic]

Emma is the best! Such an awesome response to whatever people say! Great video! Thank you GTN!

[peachxblue]

Great video! Love Emma’s POV and openness sharing about the reality being a female athlete. I recently did my first 10km swim during my period, & was most concerned about a shark coming at me smelling the blood. Fortunately, all was well 😅I wore a tampon for this event, but I generally don’t wear tampons for fear of toxic shock syndrome - I usually only wear for the duration of swim practice (1-3 hours), then switch to pads for the rest of my day. So in an IM, I probably would just wear during the swim portion, then switch to pad if possible. 🤷‍♀️Haven’t had this situation arise yet.

[horsiesarepretty]

Thank you for making this video! Personally I’ve found that the menstrual cup is really great for tris because even if you do have to stop and empty it you won’t have to use up precious pocket space (potential snack space) for used/unused tampons.

[blufaerie]

I really appreciate this video. I swim for fitness, and this was a great topic.

[purefunfit]

I do have heavy legs, less power, lower back pain and belly crumps in first 2 days. I try to concentrate on anti-inflammatory foods, I love sour cherry juice!

[mayadethabrew-hutton]

Thanks for this video. Not enough women on running channels, too many men explaining how to achieve the the best race times etc but they can't advise on anything like this so thank you for this video ....we need more women's running/sports channels on youtube