Learning to Thrive: A Runner’s Midlife Reinvention with Megan Eastwood (Episode 225)

Hit Play Not Pause

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health

4.9 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week’s guest ultrarunner Megan Eastwood is a portrait of perseverance. She’s lived through trauma, battled eating disorders, and been flattened by perimenopause. Through it all, she’s learned, grown, evolved, and ultimately thrived. Now 55 and postmenopausal, Megan is out in nature every week, running, climbing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, basically anything she can do outdoors. She’s completed numerous multi-day running events, where she generally posts top five in her age group, and currently has her sights set on 70.3 Ironman triathlon events. We talk all about her journey and learnings and what she wants other women like her to know.

Megan Eastwood never considered herself athletic. She was the girl no-one wanted on their sports team at school. Now 50+ she’s finding the confidence to see what her body is capable of.

She found ultra trail running in the UK in her early 20s, but an eating disorder ended any sports activity by the age of 30. Through career, marriage, and raising a family, she hit 39, overweight and not even able to run around the block. She knew she couldn’t enter her 40s like this and started running again. Living in Vancouver, Canada she quickly found the ultra-marathon scene.

Perimenopause hit hard. Like many women she couldn’t understand why everything was going wrong. She dug into research and resources and turned her situation around. Her message to anyone struggling to stay fit through menopause is keep going (and strength train), you will come through the other side eventually.

Subscribe to the Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page

Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099

Support our Partners:

Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/

Nutrisense: Go to nutrisense.io/hitplay and use code: HITPLAY to get 30% off

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Paradis Sport: Use code: FEISTY20 for 20% off any single item at https://paradissport.com/

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You are listening to Hit Play, Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:14.6	I am your host, Celine Yeager. Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help
0:21.2	you feel and perform you best no matter what your hormones are doing.
0:25.0	This show is a production of Live Feisty Media.
0:30.4	Hello, strong, feisty women.
0:32.5	I hope you all are well.
0:34.6	So, I came across this week's guest, Megan Eastwood, in our private Hip Play,
0:39.3	not Pause, Facebook group. I saw she was doing a cool heat training study, and I was curious to learn
0:44.2	more. And then as I dug into her story, I saw she just had a really cool background and probably
0:50.1	a lot to say. And I was, I was correct on that one. Megan found ultra trail running in the
0:56.1	UK in her early 20s but a really terrible eating disorder ended any sports activity by
1:02.0	the time she was 30 and then career marriage raising a family she hit 39 in a body she
1:08.2	didn't recognize and not even able to sort of run around the block.
1:11.6	And she didn't want to enter her 40s like that.
1:14.3	So she took up running again and living in Vancouver, Canada.
1:17.7	She quickly found the ultra marathon scene and the ultra running scene.
1:21.8	And you know what happens.
1:23.8	Perimenopause hits her like a freight train.
1:26.2	And like many women, she couldn't understand what was going on. She didn't even know she was in perimenopause hits her like a freight train. And like many women, she couldn't understand what was going on.
1:29.0	She didn't even know she was in perimenopause for a long time.
1:32.1	And when she went to find out what to do about it, you know, she got the advice to eat right
1:36.1	and exercise, all this stuff she was already doing.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Hit Play Not Pause, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Hit Play Not Pause and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.