Mary Cain on REDs, Period Health, and Why Sports Should Be Healthcare - This Is Not About Running

What if we stopped treating sport like entertainment and started treating it like healthcare? That's the question at the center of this conversation with Mary Cain: professional middle-distance runner, Stanford medical student, and New York Times Bestselling author of the new memoir This Is Not About Running. Host Heather Caplan, RDN, and Mary Cain talk about what it would actually take to change sports culture, including how we coach youth athletes, how providers diagnose and treat REDs, and what it means to find yourself outside of sport.  Chapters 09:10- What hope actually looks like in women's sports right now 11:32- Reframing athletics through a healthcare lens 14:01- What is an athlete? Rethinking youth sport, PE, and why kids drop out 18:49- Detaching from outcomes- what coaches, parents, and teammates can actually do to support athletes 23:28- Periods, pressure, and getting her first period in 10th grade  29:59- Flexibility and fueling across seasons  31:37- REDs vs. the Female Athlete Triad 32:34- Talking to athletes with body dysmorphia: a more trauma-informed approach  38:36- How Mary got diagnosed with REDs and navigated the healthcare system 44:47- When a non-sport therapist was exactly the right call 47:44- Writing This Is Not About Running while in med school Resources mentioned: This Is Not About Running by Mary Cain is available now The Rich Roll Podcast Another Mother Runner Podcast Follow Mary on Instagram: @runmarycain Connect + get support: Are you an athlete? Find a sports dietitian, DPT, therapist, or coach who understands athletes at lane9project.org/directory. Are you a clinician or coach? If this conversation resonated with you professionally, Lane 9 Membership was built for you. Join a community of dietitians, DPTs, psychologists, sports medicine providers, and coaches who are doing this work, and get listed in the Lane 9 Directory so athletes can find you. Future clinicians and coaches are welcome too. Follow us on Instagram and get in touch anytime!