Too much running... A bad thing?

[Erica L.]

I've been very (very) slowly moving towards the transition period in my life, but one of the things that I've brought with me is my desire to run. I love it, as both a way of staying healthy and also relieving stress.

On the 28th, I'm running a local marathon, so I've been doing some extremely high mileage runs. On those long runs, I've had a lot of time to think. One thing I've wondered...

Is it possible to run too much and damage the future changes that my body will undergo during transition? I realize that backing down on the distance is an option, and I plan to after the race... but is it possible that too much running could be a bad thing?

[tekla]

As any stroll through your local mall will immediately inform you - not getting enough exercise is far more of a problem than getting too much.

But it is an interesting question about how that level of physical exertion will work in combination with the drugs.  We know that women who have extreme work-out schedules will have some pretty radical changes in things like their monthly cycle, many female long-distance runners, and female gymnasts on a competition level don't have periods, or have the onset of them delayed.

[kyril]

The hormonal disruptions in top-tier female athletes seem to be more a function of body fat percentage than amount of exercise, from what I understand. Gymnasts and figure skaters in particular face a dual pressure to be extraordinarily athletic and extremely slim, and they tend to start training seriously well before puberty; for long distance runners etc it seems to be more a matter of not being capable of eating enough to maintain adequate body fat.

As far as how that relates to trans women, I can't say for sure - you aren't relying on your body to produce its own hormones, so low fat may not be an issue from that perspective, but you might not get the aesthetic results you want from the hormones if you can't maintain some subcutaneous fat. And that just really depends on how much you run and how much you eat.

[Erica L.]

Very true. My assumption is also that at the time I resume HRT, certain hormones that are produced more rapidly during exercise will be diminished as well. Maybe that will curb the length of my workouts.

Eating-wise, I try to stick to a diet that limits caloric intake to responsible levels for someone in training for a race. When not racing, I try my best to stick within the suggested ranges for healthy living.

[Jasmine.m]

Erica,
I'm also a distance runner but have a slightly different concern; endurance. I asked the question below awhile back and got several really good responses, even one specific to running marathons. It's not really what you're asking, but it's still helpful information:

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,72284.0.html

~Jasmine

[Erica L.]

Jasmine-

Thank you for the link! That discussion was super informative and I have a much better idea now!

Thanks again!

[ShaunaNinjagirl]

Running is very hard on the joints. I do body by science. I lift weights every 10 days. Many MTF do not but for me I think it is the best way to burn fat. I just don't do any biceps exercises. I really don't want big guns.

[Nicolette]

Running is very hard on the joints. I do body by science. I lift weights every 10 days. Many MTF do not but for me I think it is the best way to burn fat. I just don't do any biceps exercises. I really don't want big guns.

What's the reasoning behind only every 10 days? I have been doing lower body weight lifting, avoiding the upper body completely.

[ShaunaNinjagirl]

Well most people over work, what usually happens is this: You lift heavy weights, the body takes around 1 week to rebuild your muscles, and you maintain that muscle for another week or two. You can still make improvement exercising 2 to 3 times a month. I just do one set till complete failure, so benchpress, squats etc. When people overwork I compare that to an elevator. If I push the button once the elevator comes down, it won't come down any quicker  if I push the elevator button 10 times. The body needs time to heal, and working more is sometimes working less. If you ever find you get to much muscle from weights all you need do is stop. So far all it has done is keep me skinny.