The Runner’s Guide to Menopause by Dr Juliet McGrattan #ad
I was lucky enough to be sent an advance copy of The Runner’s Guide to Menopause by Dr Juliet McGrattan, published by Bloomsbury, which was published at the end of March 2026. I’m not obliged to write a review, but I wanted to share my thoughts, as I think it would be a very useful read for a lot of women.
Dr Juliet McGrattan is a former GP, an author, runner and running coach. She is also an old blogging friend. We bonded online over running and having similar families. The Runner’s Guide to Menopause is her third book. Her previous books are Run Well and Sorted.
The Preface tells us that running in menopause is important, even though for many women, it gets so much harder to run in perimenopause and menopause: “Women generally become less active when menopause hits, yet it’s a time when we need the power of running more than ever. Our disease risk is increasing, our muscles and bones are weakening, and we can feel lost and vulnerable. The consequences of running less negatively affect our physical, mental and social health.”
So how do we keep running?
The Runner’s Guide to Menopause covers all the issues we may enounter (and remember we don’t all encounter all of them) – from flushes and sweats to sleep and energy levels and the effect on our mental health, bones, joints, muscles and more. There’s a chapter on body composition – why most women gain fat and lose muscle in menopause and the consequences.
There’s a chapter on menopause treatments – mainly HRT of course, but not just HRT.
The chapter on nutrition focuses on good nutrition to optimise your running and recovery in menopause, which is also good nutritional advice for all runners.
There’s tips on what is normal and when you should see a doctor, because not every symptom can be explained by menopause. Sometimes it can mask something more serious.
The chapter on training advises women to be honest about where they are now – not where they were at their fastest and strongest or where they would like to be. It advises a good warm-up, some slow runs, strength training and one really fast run a week. I’m pleased to say this is largely what I do. Although my warm-ups aren’t great. And some weeks I do two fast runs (my speed training session with the club, plus a fast parkrun).
For anyone unsure of what paces and distances they should be running, it includes training plans for different levels of running and lots of detailed diagrams for strength training.
Whether you see perimenopause in the not-too-distant future, you’re in its dark depths or you’re heading out the other side, The Runner’s Guide to Menopause really is a very useful read! You could sit and read all of it or you could dip in and out of it, focusing on the chapters which feel relevant to you at the time.
PS menopause doesn’t have to mean getting slower. I’m the living proof! I’ve been running my entire adult life and got 5k and marathon PBs at 50, followed by mile, 10k and half marathon PBs at 51. I’m currently training hard to hopefully get a marathon PB at 52. I’ve been on HRT since 2018, which took away the worst of my symptoms, but I also wonder whether running itself helped me through the menopause.
