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