When I started thinking about writing about menopause in my mid-forties, I had no idea how quickly time would go and how quickly the void would be filled by other GenX women. I couldn’t keep up with these amazing women, and I couldn’t keep up with myself. I had so many things planned out in my head that I wanted to write about and share. But before I knew it, I found myself unknowingly navigating my way through this challenging time, and significant years of my life had gone by. I now find myself a bit shocked to be turning 55 this year. These are precious days my friends, and I do not want to lose any more ~ nor do I want you to. So here I am ready to begin again in this space and share all my experiences and knowledge about menopause, because I can confidently say that I have become a ‘subject matter expert’.

The hardest part has been navigating from not only one menopause transition challenge to the next, but life challenges as well. What most disappoints me is how much time I have lost because of both how little I knew, and where life took me. You only get one go-round and to feel like you missed years figuring things out and dealing has been extremely disappointing. I am disappointed in myself a bit, but really I am most disappointed in how little I knew because of how little information there was to help me.

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I distinctly remember thinking in my forties that I never wanted to be one of those ‘sad older women’, but wow I got there.

First of all, I had no idea when it started the tumult late perimenopause would cause in my life, especially as an athlete, because I had no idea what late perimenopause was or would be like. And then just as I was getting on my feet, my back took me on a journey I never could have predicted. And just as that got better, I lost my furry best friend Inge, my Dad, my job, and stumbled through a year navigating it all alone while my spouse has been working overseas. Before I knew it I lost a lot of precious time and it feels like I am still digging out.

Not only did the Wheels Fall Off, but metaphorically I completely lost the bike.

I have been so immersed in the challenges of this time of life, and so tired of thinking about and dealing with menopause that taking the time and focus to write has been hard. I found myself trying to get through, and then just wanting to move on. I found that my initial desire to write and share went to a mental space of not wanting to deal. I can see why when GenX women have asked their mothers what menopause was like for them, their mothers typically can not recall. Rather than letting a challenge define your life there is a definite instinct to forget and move on. To not become defined by one moment in your life. Menopause at points really became all too consuming for me, punctuated by an all-consuming back pain. And after two years of constant medical visits I have wanted nothing more than to get myself and my time back.

But if menopause has taught me anything, it is that I will never get myself or my time back and that I will never be the person I was before. Before the menopause transition, before back surgery, before my body changed, before one hell of a year that quite nearly broke me. So in an effort to have a lot fewer ‘sad older ladies’ in the world, including myself, I feel it is important to acknowledge, accept, and share in order to move forward.

My intent with this space is to now catch up with myself and to begin (again) sharing my GenX/Menopause journey in hopes it helps to bring some humanity and understanding to what for many is a misunderstood and under-understood time of life. I am confident that with the work my generation is doing that the path ahead will be easier for those that follow and who chose to address changes with eyes wide open and a good knowledge bank in place.

I have just made it through what has been the most challenging five years of my life. But rather than sitting down and writing a book about my experience, I will let the story unfold. I am finally going to write about all those ideas in my head after what has been year after year of making it through one difficult moment to the next. Because here I sit on what feels a bit like the other side, and an understanding with myself that I cannot get those years back so I better make the most of where I am now and what lies ahead.

Greetings on the best day of the year ~ Winter Solstice! I am (finishing) writing to you from the Crash Pad where it is cold but beautiful. Light snow flakes are slowly floating toward the ground and Solrig is eagerly awaiting his first play session of the day in the snow. The snow is deep and many trees have snapped and are bent to the ground from a heavy wet snow a few weeks ago, making our first Hok ski a pleasure but also a bit of a bushwhacking event.

Perhaps you have noticed that I have not been here much this year. Still reeling from the loss of Inge, life took many challenging turns as the year moved on. There have been a lot of major life events this year - the last two brought me to my knees.

September was a particularly difficult month for me. On September 24th my father passed away.

It became clear this year that Dad was suffering from dementia and hard decisions would need to be made about his care. With his passing I felt relief for him and our family knowing he had a very good life until almost the very end (he was 90 1/2 years old!) and that he would no longer be suffering mentally or physically. Dementia is something you hear about in the news, but when you become ‘one of those families’, the reality lays bare in front of you. It is hard; if you are dealing with it I feel for you and your family. I am thankful that my Dad was prepared with his end of life decisions, which made the answers clearer and easier for my Mother when questions were asked. For a variety of reasons I was unable to be with my Dad during his last days. I am thankful for my Mom, sister, and brother for being with my Dad during his last days, and thankful for the amazing staff at Hospice of the Valley who do very special work. When I think about my Dad it is not as a light that went out, but one that keeps burning in my heart.

Returning from visiting my mother after the death of my father, one day later my position at the American Swedish Institute was eliminated and the online store I worked so hard on was closed for budgetary reasons. Many of you know me from my participation in ASI events ~ thanks for your support then and still being here!

Both of these major events broke my heart. I lost both my father and my community in the span of a week.

I have spent the last three months healing/recovering, and trying to look at things with a positive lens (not easy!).

Thankfully we were blessed with an AMAZING and long Autumn and I spent many hours at the Crash Pad gravel biking, clearing my head, building a new like-minded community, and focusing on the most important thing ~ recovering; from both back surgery and the hardest year of my life. I was able to have a successful cycling season that although started late (mid-July), went all the way until late November!

I never thought in May that back surgery would be the BEST thing to happen to me all year. I am thankful that recovery from surgery, though tough in the moment, has been successful. Physically I am feeling phenomenal, and for that I am incredibly thankful.

I have a couple of new stories I hope to complete early in the new year after a few more major life events take place. So I hope you will stay here with me. Meanwhile, I thought I would share a few things I have been enjoying lately.

• Chill & Cozy Lofi Christmas music | Playlist is a great background to have on during the Holiday’s. I played it (twice) last night while my neighbors were here and they really enjoyed it, they commented on how nice the ‘humanity’ of it was. Hige & Me is one of my favorite YouTube channels.

• A Very Bradford Holiday. This little dog is someone special and Kara is an amazing pianist. I have been looking forward to these posts daily.

• Dani Connor Wild Vlogmas. We have also been enjoying this daily while Solrig has his dinner.

• The NYTimes wrote a great reference piece on Menopause. If Perimenopause and Menopause are confusing to you, you are not alone. This article is a great place to start! Gift Link: What Menopause Does to the Body. Read it, share it.

• I have spent A LOT of time the last year and a half doing physical therapy. To get me through it, I find something on YouTube to play that I can listen to (since I can’t always look at the screen). Recently I have really enjoyed Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud (daughter of artist Lucian Freud! and granddaughter of Sigmund Freud!!).

• I recently walked through Dyani White Hawk: Love Language. This exhibition is the best I have seen at the Walker since Elizabeth Peyton in 2009! It is visually and conceptually stunning. Highly recommend; and if you can not visit ~ explore the excellent audio guide and transport yourself there.

• Oh my goodness, I also do not think I told you we went to Copenhagen, Denmark!?! I would 1000% move there in a heartbeat. I will have to share details with you in the New Year! One recommendation for now…. Bento Copenhagen. Make a reservation (or two or three…) and go!

• Speaking of Japanese food, one last recommendation. I have been eating almost weekly at Cafe Yoto, my new favorite restaurant in Minneapolis. My standard order is the Sansai Udon with house broth and a side of Karaage (I bring some home for Solrig and snacks the next day). I think I could write a story on my love of Udon at the Nagoya airport, how Japanese food saved me in China, and how my solo dates at Cafe Yoto have become a much needed respite for me this year. Perhaps I will…

P.S. The screen porch was finished! I do not think I shared, so here it is….

We were able to do a few yoga and mobility sessions out here before it got too cold and immensely look forward to spending much more time in this space in the years to come.

Wishing you peace and rest on this special day and I will see you in the New Year!

~ DeAnn

It has been two months since I was last here and I feel like I have been a world away.

Since I was last here, I had my back surgery on May 23, complied with the surgeon’s instructions to only walk and no other physical activity (no yoga even) for a very long 6 weeks, and got the all clear to return to normal life on July 9. I left my post-op appointment in near tears from the relief that that phase of my life was over, came home and packed, and the next day came to the Crash Pad.

Physically recovery went very very good and I feel great. But my mental health suffered during recovery when my usual outlets for stress relief (biking, yoga) were gone ~ it was tough, really tough, and I will be writing about that in stories to come. Recovery Phase 2 will be returning to my physical therapist to build my body back up to a better place and continuing to see the mental health professional who has been helping me to navigate this challenging time.

I am happy to say that I am back on my bike! When I hopped on on July 12 I could instantly tell the surgery and recovery was all worth it. It was like I had a new body. Another emotional moment on a long journey. I am so thankful for a good surgeon, a good recovery, and to be back doing what I love. Not only physically will things continue to get better, but this is a vital part of my mental health recovery.

In Cabin Stories…

Part of my surgery recovery, but also part of my grieving and healing, has been working on Inge’s remembrance video. This took a long time because I had so many issues with my computer memory and file storage, but also because it was very very hard to work on emotionally. The last week of my restricted movement recovery I also got to the end of the video and many many tears were shed. I miss Inge every single day, she was such a light in my life and such a strong personality. If you are interested…

Watch Inge at the Crash Pad

In GenX Notes…

I will be writing a series of stories, My Back Pain Journey as an Athlete, about what my life has been like the last 2 years. The first story is available for your reading pleasure.

Read Unachievable Goals

So what’s been happening at the Crash Pad you might ask…

• After diligent watering with A LOT of help from my neighbor while I was recovering from surgery and could not go to the Crash Pad, we have grass! BUT, turns out the seed supplier has confirmed it is the WRONG GRASS! I am patiently waiting for the seed supplier and our landscaper to work through this issue, hoping they correct it. The landscaper has confirmed they will be killing off all this grass and replanting with the correct seed.

  

• The front porch is finally finished thanks to a great contractor we found.

  

• We rehired our contractor to complete the final crowning jewel on the exterior of the Crash Pad ~ the Screen Porch, which is being built as I type! This space is about the same as the living room area, it is going to be a game changer! I envision days of dogs laying about here, doing yoga, happy hours, and many good meals. I can’t wait to see it completed when I return in August!

  

• Spring and Early Summer has been alive with the cutest baby deer and mama sightings on our security camera…

• AND bear sightings!

• And as I type today (the last day of July, 2025) the roofers have arrived to finish the roof on the screen porch. We can’t wait to see it!

Recommendations:

• One thing that really helped me through my recovery, and beyond, was watching Amy Hudson cycle the Tour de France route, plus transfers. WAY better than the actual Tour. Super inspiring, and all for a good cause. As someone recovering both physically and mentally, and who understands how important cycling is in my life for both ~ I get it.

• I don’t know about you, but Kurt and I were Oasis fans in college. This brilliant piece of marketing makes me want to go out and buy a track suit and some Samba’s stat.

It is hard to believe August begins tomorrow, but with that will come new adventures. It is my hope now that I am not living daily in excruciating pain I can more frequently share stories with you than I have over the last year.

Thanks for continuing to read and watch. I have always appreciated your kind words about my creativity in all its forms. ~DeAnn

We had 12 years with Inge, the last few of which she was there every step of the way with us as we built the Crash Pad. A place she grew to love as much as we did. A place she spent some of her final days doing the thing she loved most - snuggling and hanging out with her family.

Finishing this story has been extremely difficult. It has taken me 6 months. Part of it was dealing with technical issues (full memory on my laptop). But I think really at the core of it, I did not want to finish it because I did not want to say goodbye to Inge. Something about being at ‘the end’ has been something I have had a hard time accepting. I miss my friend deeply, to my core. I’ve cried a lot as I have worked on this video ~ typing and editing through the tears.

But here we are. At the end.

It seems only fitting that we honor Inge with her own Crash Pad video. She was an integral part of the team. Building the Crash Pad wasn’t easy for any of us, and for Inge that was particularly true ~ especially on the coldest days. But she was there putting her best paw forward.

We are glad we finally got past the hard days of building to a point where we could ‘move in’ and Inge could finally enjoy comfortable days at this special place. Our favorite image of Inge is one Kurt took earlier in December of 2024 at the Crash Pad that was the culmination of everything he envisioned the Crash Pad would be ~ Inge content by the fire.

And at the Crash Pad entry there will always be this picture of Inge there to greet us…

We love you forever and always Inge! You are missed. Thank you for being on this adventure with us. ~F.K., Mother, Solrig

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In retrospect, my body has repeatedly forced me to have unachievable goals at every attempt to reach a goal the last three years. At the end of the day, the goal has always been the same ~ to feel more like my active cyclist self and be able to regularly workout again. Yes I would like to be where I was at when I was 47, 49 (I am now 54)… but as the goals kept getting averted, my expectations eroded and I tempered them to accept less. Doing nothing was never the goal, but my body has had much different plans than my head and heart ~ eventually pulling those down with it.

First there was the goal to ‘fix my iron’ issue.

If you have been following along, my ‘iron issue’ became a bit of a side note to what became my next goal…

The next goal was to get the MPT (menopause transition) ‘under control’. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t really get ‘under control’ (but it definitely can get better with the right partners and solutions).

The next goal was to at long last, after getting through all that (and a cabin build) ~ get back ‘in shape’.

Well, life took a long winding detour on that one. That goal seems more like a lofty dream right now, but I remain hopeful.

About that detour…

After many valiant efforts, to get myself ‘better’, I now sit here 5 days after back surgery officially in ‘recovery’. But for me the question has become, what is recovery to someone who has never ‘recovered’ as an athlete (remember I did not call myself one until the age of 51)? What is recovery to someone who has literally never been treated for any health issues in their life, not spent time in a hospital or with health professionals other than for an annual exam? And what is recovery in the end really ~ will I ever be ‘recovered’?

My lesson in life over the last 3 years has been if there is one thing for sure, it is that it is likely I will never reach my specific athletic goals, because things change along the way. And although it is good to have that end goal in mind, it is likely to be different than I envisioned it. And as an athlete living the path of life, I think what is most important at this stage is to accept the goal changing, rather than to be disappointed when I can’t make it. It is likely that this one ‘fix’, at this point back surgery, is going to make things better for sure ~ it already has, but it is likely things are also going to be different than they were pre MPT and pre surgery.

After 3 years of what has felt very off-track, and a bit over a year of living in excruciating pain, I will say however, I am going to set my sights on my recovery goal ~ with recognition things are likely to alter the direction along the way. What is my goal now? To get my body, and my mind, in a better place. Because when the body falls apart, I have learned the mind follows.

So what exactly has happened to me? The short story: a pinched nerve in my spine (L4-L5) resulting in radiating leg pain that landed me in surgery on May 23, 2025 for a decompression. The long story? There are three parts really:

1. When things went sideways

2. What I did to try to get back in-line

3. Surgery and Recovery.

I am going to write about each of these separately so they are more digestible and easily referenced for anyone else dealing with a similar issue.

As I publish this today, I am finally in week six of a restricted activity six week recovery. On July 9th I have my post-op appointment that I am literally counting down the days for (I have a calendar on my refrigerator I have been crossing the days off on) until I can get clearance to return to exercise and lift more than a gallon of milk. I wait with cautious optimism, and metered excitement, for direction on the next phase of my recovery. And I look forward to sharing my experience with you.

Yesterday it was fun to cheer on my neighbor and other riders at the end of the driveway as they participated in the Hungry Bear, and it was good to see friends at the finish line. I was not able to bike along on part of the course this year, more on that in a bit.

Remember I said I was working on an Inge at the Crash Pad video?

Well unfortunately in February my backup drive with my in process video and all my Inge (plus Crash Pad) videos crashed!! I was devastated. Best Buy told me it could cost me thousands of dollars to recover the drive; luckily for some reason I had the gumption to check the external drive manufacturer website, saw I could submit a claim, and to my surprise they had me send my drive in and would try to recover my data for FREE!!! And that they did!!!! I will forever be a dedicated user of LaCie. The company not only recovered my data onto a new drive, but they sent me a replacement drive for the corrupt one, and I bought another one to make sure I would be fully backed up. Lesson learned - never have videos and pictures in just one place!

So all that to say… I recommend LaCie for your backup needs, and the Inge Video will be coming ~ but it will take some time because I unfortunately have a lot of other things going on. One of which is…

After months of physical therapy, multiple steroid injections, two MRI’s, many many many visits to medical facilities, and barely being able to ride a bike for over a year ~ I will be having back surgery on May 23. More on all that to come in upcoming stories. But first…

I am going to do some gravel biking here (yes it isn’t comfortable, and yes it hurts afterwards, but I love it too much not to ride) before the only thing I can do for at least six weeks is walk. And yes I’m working really hard not to overdo it before surgery!

I do have a couple of stories for you if you haven’t seen…

In Cabin Stories…

Read

In GenX Notes…

Read

I’ve also got a few recommendations for you I have collected…

Going to Dublin, Ireland anytime soon? I’ve got a couple of tips from a quick trip we took at the end of March:

The Wilder Townhouse

We had an absolutely lovely stay at this hotel. We stayed in a shoebox room which was mostly fine because we were not in the room much, but it barely had room for my travel yoga mat [which is recommendation #2. (Speaking of yoga mats, I also would highly recommend making yourself some of this spray)]. I would 1000% stay at this hotel again. We felt very well cared for and safe with the expertly trained staff. On-site breakfast was a life saver, especially arriving early am from the US. Plus they let us in our room early which was also a life saver that first day (ask ahead).

Yoi Izakaya

We ate here twice the first day and enjoyed it both times. So nice when traveling not to have heavy, greasy, unhealthy food! And I could eat Japanese food pretty much any meal, any day.

The Little Kitchen

We had an outstanding meal here with a great view. We did not have reservations, but even on a weeknight we would recommend having one because this place is not little, it is tiny.

Other recommendations…

Noise Cancelling Headphones

On the flight home from Dublin while watching Conclave I borrowed Kurt’s noise cancelling headphones to take a break from the airline ones and MY MIND WAS BLOWN! The soundtrack to Conclave is what makes this movie, and with better earphones I couldn’t believe how it got even more amazing. As soon as we got to the Boston airport I bought my own awesome headphones while waiting for our last flight home. They were 100% worth it (and still on sale!). These are going to be a game changer on my next flight (after I get cleared to fly hopefully at my post op appointment in July). Do yourself a favor and get some.

Remembrance Frame

After we lost Inge I wanted to get a picture of her in a frame right away. We have done this for all of our dogs, but this time I thought of something that would be more immediate ~ an Aura Frame. My sister had suggested we get one for my parents for Christmas, and during our January visit I saw how lovely it was to have rotating pictures in a digital frame. So I knew exactly what I wanted to do to remember Inge. I loaded up photos of Inge as soon as it came. That first trip up to the Crash Pad without Inge, we brought the Aura/Inge with, it felt really good to have ‘Inge’ sitting in the middle of the room so we could remember all the good times we had together. A real comfort then, now, and always.

Ninja Countertop Oven

Our limited menu options on the induction burner at the Crash Pad were getting challenging, so we upped the ante and got an ‘oven’. This device has been a game changer! Many of you know that I am a big Cookie & Kate fan, and many of the recipes involve an oven. With the Ninja I am making things this week like green curry, by air frying the vegetables and tofu in it. And I have been air frying small potatoes and asparagus to go with the veggie burgers I make up and bring up here frozen (the recipe is in Cookie & Kates Love Real Food cookbook). The Ninja is so awesome sometimes I wonder if we will actually need a stove up here.

So what’s been happening at the Crash Pad you might ask…

• There has been what seemed like a leak in the roof dripping through the top of our stove pipe. We had both the roofer and the wood stove installer out here who both concluded that the issue was not a leak but from condensation in the top of the pipe. I’m still a bit baffled by this, but I guess it is what it is.

• Thanks to our connections at the local pizza place, we now have all the electrical completed in the back of the cabin! This means ceiling lights, outlets, and two smoke alarms!

• We now also have a smart thermostat. This was a bit of a learning curve. When the electricians were here we had them install our Nest thermostat, but later that night realized it was 80 degrees in here and it wasn’t turning off. Kurt did some research and learned that Nest thermostats do not work with Navien tankless water heaters and spent a late night switching wires back to the old thermostat. We then had the plumber come out and put a compatible thermostat in.

• Before we left the Crash Pad on the last visit we noticed one of the small tanks in the mechanical room had a hairline leak. The plumber also replaced this when he was here. Luckily it was under warranty.

  

• Our Landscaping is in! It is pretty simple, rock and what will be no mow grass, but it is SO nice to be at this point! Once the grass grows in it will be low maintenance and we will have less erosion around the cabin and sand tracked into the cabin. The crew did a really nice job and came recommended from our neighbors.

• Before I came up to oversee the landscaping, my neighbor who I now call Gadget Gal, advised me on materials to purchase to make a sprinkler system so that the no mow seed would grow and turn into grass. I purchased some hoses, sprinklers, and the key item a four zone timer. After a happy hour together, we got it all set up and it is running beautifully as I type. I was worried how well it would work because our water comes from our well system, but it is working great. My neighbor has all my log in information to the b-hyve app so she can make adjustments when we are not here and stop by and check on things until our next visit. This is giving me great peace of mind!

• We have hired a contractor to finish our front porch! That work should be completed early Summer. It will be great to finally have all the siding fully completed and get our bike ‘garage’ installed out there. I also purchased Dark Sky friendly lights to replace the temporary ones that were installed last year.

• While our contractor is here, he will be fixing our doors. The front door and the mechanical room door were not installed correctly by our SIP installer. The front door in particular has been a real problem. At times it has not locked, and the weather seal has degraded because the bottom drags too much. We have had multiple people try to fix it without removing it, but it needs to be taken out and reinstalled. I worked with Anderson Windows to get a new kit for the weather seal that our contractor will install before he resets the front door. The mechanical room door is clearly not plumb because in the winter you can see evidence of heat leak at the top. Now is the time to have these fixed as the contractor will have to remove siding and reinstall it to do these repairs and he will already be working on the siding.

• Our new contractor will also be building our screen porch for us later this Summer. This will be huge as it will be the last thing to be built on the exterior and the architect’s vision will finally be complete (minus the front deck which is tbd if we will do that). This will also be a game changer for Summer days up here as we will likely have many happy hours, dinners, yoga sessions, and just plain relaxation time out there ~ bug free. Speaking of bugs…

• The woodticks are out. I’ve found dead ones on the bed this week, which tells me Solrig’s Nexguard is working, and picked 5 off of him on our morning walk yesterday. And it looks like the first mosquito hatch is happening, they aren’t bad ~ yet. This part of being at the Crash Pad scares the daylight out of me and part of why I left the Great North for many, many years! Spring and early Summer are really my least favorite times up here ~ contrary to what you would think having a cabin is all about. I love Autumn here and have come to love Winter too when we can walk to the back of our property, because NO BUGS and sleeping bears. Summer is hard, even biking. I’ve had a few rides where I have literally screamed in terror from mosquito or deer fly hordes on and around me.

• I hope I am not ruining my luck for my morning walk by saying this, but so far we have not seen any bears (Update: no bear sightings).

  

• The robin’s are back! This year they are trying out our new light instead of the dog ramp they used last year. Such a pretty nest.

  

• And the trilliums have exploded. This was the first one I saw, and a couple of days later the forest is covered with them. If you followed our bicycle bag company, you will remember that our last bag intro was the Gräventyr in Trillium green.

That’s a lot, and surely there is more. But as I sit here on my last day at the Crash Pad before surgery, looking at a forest that has gone from bare trees to full green in my week here, I relish the peace and the beauty, and my time here with Solrig.

Before I got here the city was wearing me down. I now feel refreshed and recentered ~ and that is really what being here is all about.

The days ahead are a bit nerve wracking as I head home for my pre-op appointment, and then surgery and recovery. But there is comfort in knowing I will be back.

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For anyone who has had to say goodbye to a furry family member, you may know the moment at which you are asked if you would like your friends ashes. We have said yes three times.

But for us the challenge became being comfortable with truly saying goodbye by releasing those ashes, and most importantly ~ finding the right spot to release our friends so that they could run free forever.

For many years we had the ashes of Dunker and Loki in our Swedish sideboard waiting for ‘the right time’ and ‘the right place’. For a long time we thought we knew the place, but we never made the time and eventually the place no longer felt right.

Perhaps it is because the universe knew someday the Crash Pad would be the place. Their place.

On our many walks at the property Kurt would tell us (me, Inge, and Solrig) how special this unique tree was close to the Crash Pad. It is a yellow birch that he called The Druid Tree. Kurt knew THIS would be the place.

We knew when we lost our dear Inge on the last day of January we would not be placing her ashes in the sideboard. We wanted her and Dunker and Loki to finally be at peace. At the Crash Pad. At the Druid tree.

On April 13, 2025 it was time.

One by one we held our friends ashes in our hands and each said our goodbyes. First Dunker, then Loki, and lastly dear dear Inge. With each goodbye Kurt then released their ashes at the base of The Druid Tree. It was emotional, full of tears and smiles of the memories we shared. It felt good to finally honor our friends properly by releasing them and letting their spirits run free. For us it is comforting knowing they will forever be at this special place by this special tree. With each visit we take to the Crash Pad from now on, it is good to know we will all be home.

Dunker

Loki

Inge

For the majority of my adult life going to the doctor was never about being sick, and really not about taking care of myself. Essentially as an adult I went to the doctor so I could get a renewal on my birth control prescription. And I have been lucky to have never had to spend time in a hospital or take medication. But I knew things were going to change and I should take charge before they did. So I set out to find a doctor who would be my partner in aging as a woman.

So let’s talk about my relationship with a doctor starting with early adulthood…

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Primary Care

I always had a primary care doctor, a doctor who was a woman (my choice), and that is who gave me my annual exam. ObGyn’s in my viewpoint were for women who had babies, or wanted to, and neither of those was me. That honestly is pretty much still my opinion ~ not because of how I thought in my 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, but because as a now menopausal woman I have learned a thing or two. [Side note, I did go to an OB’s office once for an annual exam at the recommendation of a mom friend and most of what I remember about the experience was nearly passing out and being taken to a room to lie down. I always say the sight of all those pregnant women in the waiting room made me almost pass out!].

Women-Centered Care

But I did start to think in my late 40’s that advancing from a primary care physician to someone who had expertise in women-centered care for the ‘someday I would be in menopause’, and as I ‘aged’ would be important.

There was no information at the time on how to find a doctor to help me with this goal, so I intuitively did my best and sought out a well-regarded female doctor who treated women. I literally searched the internet and looked up bios and pictures and did my best. A method today I am glad other women shouldn’t have to resort to (more on that below).

So in 2018 when I was 47 I started looking for a new doctor. I found one at the M Health Fairview Women's Clinic and scheduled myself an appointment.

2019 ~ My New Doctor

My new doctor was an ObGyn who had a special interest in menopause. On February 27, 2019, when I was 48, I had my first visit with my new doctor. I really liked her and she seemed knowledgeable, but we had very little time together (which I believe was entirely not her choice, but the reality of healthcare today).

What I did not understand at the time was that I already WAS in LATE perimenopause, which meant I was in the menopause transition (what I call the MPT). I had specific notes for this visit that I wanted to discuss, one of which was ‘refill birth control’, but also other things I will talk about in another story. Specifically something that I now know to be a symptom of menopause (that I had been having for 3 years by that point!). I did get a new prescription for this menopausal issue, because I believe my new doctor knew exactly what was going on with me. But the problem is, because she was allotted so little time to spend with me, I didn’t really realize how important this prescription was for me and what exactly was going on with me ~ again, the MPT.

2020 ~ A Pandemic Pause

So off I went with my new prescription that I only used for awhile. I dutifully scheduled my next annual exam for 2020 and then, Covid 19. I was unable to keep my 2020 appointment and would not make it in to my new doctor again until 2021. I see now that having a global pandemic hit at exactly the same time you are going through the menopause transition did me absolutely no favors. But I also know that when I finally made it to my next doctor visit in 2021, I wasn’t much further along with my care, in fact I missed some critical moments.

My 50th Birthday was March 17, 2020. By the end of that week my celebratory dinner reservation had been cancelled. And around this time I noticed that all of the sudden I had a ‘belly’. My wedding ring also no longer fit (which it still doesn’t and I don’t understand why), and my fingers hurt (I thought it might be arthritis). Because of the lack of information available on menopause, I attributed this weirdness to pandemic stress and cortisol (which I had never heard of until the Pandemic). These things bothered me, but as the Pandemic wore on I just accepted them more as hopefully a temporary situation than the long-term one it has become. [If anyone can tell me why my wedding ring still doesn’t fit ~ I would love to know!]

2021 ~ A Maroon Folder

By September of 2021 I finally made it back to my new doctor. Clearly she knew I was in the menopause transition, but I absolutely still did not grasp what that meant in our brief time together. We discussed if I wanted to stay on birth control as that was a good option to continue to take and then she mysteriously mentioned considering progesterone ‘next year’. The doctors notes from that visit were:

Continue OCPs for contraception/HRT, refill ordered today

Offered FSH level at the end of placebo week, consider at next appointment if interested

Resources given: menopausal folder, NAMS website

I still have no idea what the FSH level note is about so looked it up, here is more info if you are interested. Again, the doctor was not given enough time to explain this to me.

And this menopausal folder… It was a maroon folder filled with informational packets and pages with what I am sure were all the things she didn’t have time to tell me. I looked through it, but that is not the same as having a conversation with someone to be sure. Did I grasp what all of it meant? Still, not really because wasn’t menopause mainly about hot flashes and just happens one day? No.

I can confidently say that my doctor absolutely knew what she was doing. But the fact that she didn’t have time to explain it, or ask me to schedule a separate appointment to discuss it all (which I will discuss below), was not advantageous to my MPT journey.

GenX Women Speak Up

And then GenX women started talking and there was an explosion of information not only about menopause, but late perimenopause and the menopause transition. Most importantly, I found the Hit Play Not Pause Podcast (HPNP) and it opened up my world. And it was from this podcast that I started to understand I needed to find another doctor and make a different kind of appointment. This was thanks to two main guests on HPNP:

• Dr. Heather Hirsch. In this episode Dr. Hirsch spoke about other symptoms than just hot flashes (which I have never had).

• Dr. Lauren Streicher. In this episode at minute 52:10 was an ‘aha’ moment for me when they start talking about how your doctor may not be the best doctor for what you need at this time.

Dr. Heather Hirsch

Heather Hirsch’s podcast became an important resource for me. This was well before she had her book, had been on Oprah, and began her own online practice. After listening to the HPNP episode with Dr. Hirsch I listened to a LOT of her episodes while doing work for the small business I had at the time. Specifically, Episode 67 Where Can I Find a Menopause Doctor had an impact on me in regard to how I approached my visits with my doctor and how I could find the right one.

Dr. Hirsch also has a YouTube Channel where I found a lot of helpful information. She has this helpful video: How to Find a Menopause Doctor and What a Good Doc Should Do! I can see from my YouTube history it looks like the first video I watched from Doctor Hirsch was on February 11, 2023 and about joint aches and pains, which I was having in my hip.

Dr. Hirsch also came out with a book, Unlock Your Menopause Type, which released in June of 2023. I checked out this book from the library and read it in August 2023 (before menopause books had long lines in the e-reader queue at the library, which is a good thing).

Dr. Lauren Streicher

I started listening to select episodes of Dr. Streicher’s podcast Inside Information after the HPNP episode I link above. Dr. Streicher can sound a bit harsh sometimes, but she knows her stuff and tells it like it is.

Dr Streicher has recently come out with an entire episode on finding a MPT doctor, How to Find a Clinician Who is Not Clueless. I listened to this podcast and thought it to be a very clear and concise resource for the end of 2024. Again, Dr. Streicher can be a bit terse to listen to, and I did not find 100% of what she said to be useful in my situation, but she knows her stuff.

A couple points I personally understand Dr. Streicher mentioned in this episode in my case I did not find relevant to me.

• Academic appointment at a medical school. The doctor I found in 2019 was part of a university medical system and an associate professor, which although I have no doubt made her extremely knowledgeable I did not feel lent to us having what could have been beneficial conversations and were missed opportunities to guide and educate me (especially during a time of very limited resources for the average woman about the MPT).

• A doctor who isn’t like you. Although Dr. Streicher is completely right about the fact that you do not need a female doctor, personally I would never go to a male doctor (and never have as an adult). I ultimately believe no one knows a woman’s body better than a woman (outside and in). But along those same lines… My 2019 doctor I believe is a bit older than me and either had gone through or was going through the MPT transition. My current doctor is younger than me and although has not been through the MPT I feel very comfortable with the additional education and interest she has in menopause.

I not only wanted, but deserved, more. Finding My Next New MD

Thanks to the increasingly good resources available to me (I always say I was getting my MPT PhD), I learned so much ~ specifically how to make the right kind of appointment to actually talk to a doctor about menopause, and how to find that doctor.

For my new doctor search I learned three key things (at the time):

• Look for a NAMS Certified Practitioner (The North American Menopause Society) website where you can search by zip code. [NAMS is now called The Menopause Society]. There are a number of Menopause Society requirements a doctor needs to have in order to be listed on the website. Dr. Hirsch explains this very clearly on her podcast, Where can I find a menopause doctor? Starting at minute 7:20.

• That Doctor should be licensed and board certified. Dr. Streicher explains this clearly on her substack.

• Make your first appointment for a ‘Menopause Consultation’, NOT your annual exam. This was so critical as this is likely why I was not getting the time and conversation I felt I needed from my first doctor. I wish she would have told me, but at least through my resources I learned this.

After looking on the NAMS website by zip code I narrowed down my search to three people. And then I sat on doing anything for quite awhile ~ months. It was not until I had the Summer of 2023 where I was dealing with extreme fatigue and poor exercise performance that I finally decided to make an appointment with one of these three doctors. What it really came down to is where I could get in and when (from what I recall).

My Menopause Consultation with my new doctor was scheduled for August 23, 2023.

The Menopause Consultation

I knew from the MPT PhD I was getting to come well prepared with notes, and that I sure did! I had a two page document arranged accordingly so I was sure to remember everything I needed to:

• Overall visit goal

• Symptoms I was having

• Supplement list (because I had been working with Rasa)

• Dr’s Visit Notes since 2019

• Period History (I had been documenting this for the last couple of years when I was noticing a change in regularity)

To my pleasant surprise at this visit for the first time in a long time I did not feel rushed at this appointment. My new doctor spent a FULL HOUR with me!

• Conversation: First we had a full conversation. This included my long list, but also filling her in on my bloodwork and working with Rasa, as well as discussing the other MPT medication I was on (that I will discuss in another story).

• Exam: I was given an exam.

• The Plan: Most importantly after having the conversation and the exam, my doctor discussed a go forward plan with me. We agreed it was time to stop birth control and begin hormone therapy (MHT or HT) [Which I was well educated on by this point and felt very comfortable taking. More on MHT in an upcoming story].

• Resources: I loved that my doctor included additional resources in her after visit notes such as:

  • This article from the New York Times is also a good one: Women Have Been Misled About Menopause - The New York Times (nytimes.com) [I had already read this article and agree, it was groundbreaking at the time. This link is a gift link so you can read it].

  • Good books: Menopause Manifesto by Jen Gunter, MD, You Are Not Broken by Kelly Casperson, MD (also has a podcast of the same name). Estrogen Matters by Avrum Bluming, MD. Good Books on desires and sexuality: Better Sex Through Mindfulness by Lori Brotto, PhD, Anatomy of Desire by Gina Lake, Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel, MD, Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski, PhD, She Comes First by Ian Kerner, PhD. [I immediately checked out the Menopause Manifesto from the library and read it].

  • I LOVE the "You Are Not Broken" podcast by Kelly Casperson, MD. Episode 222 is an interview with Avrum Bluming, MD, auther of Estrogen Matters. [I remember listening to this driving around the gravel roads by the Crash Pad].

• Ongoing Conversation: My doctor urged me to reach out to her with any additional questions and we did have an ongoing conversation via MyChart (the messaging system my medical providers have all used for a number of years).

• Follow Up: Because I was starting out on MHT, a follow up was required to see how I was doing and if any adjustments were needed. I was offered in-person or virtual but wanted to do in-person. I will talk more about what was decided at the follow-up in my story on MHT.

• Cost: I should mention that this visit for me was not really covered by my insurance (don’t get me started). We had high deductible insurance and I ended up paying a few hundred dollars out of pocket for this visit (one of the MANY hidden costs of menopause that I will be writing about). But I will say it was 100% worth it and I would do it again. I would strongly urge you to maybe pass on some other non-essential needs in your life and use that money for this crucial visit if you also have to pay out of pocket.

  Luckily subsequent (‘regular’) visits have been covered by my insurance as you would expect.

The Value of Finding THE Right Doctor

It has now been 1 1/2 years, and three in-person visits, since I started seeing my new doctor. I absolutely have made the right decision to switch doctors and am so glad I found her. In November of 2024 I again came with a list of things I wanted to discuss, we had a conversation, my doctor spent around an hour with me again, and I left knowing if my mind changed on something we discussed, or things changed with my body, or I had questions ~ I could always reach out and get an answer and we could make educated decisions together (which we have).

I really like my new doctor. She is most of all kind and equally well-educated on menopause.

Critical Referrals

As it turns out menopause for me has resulted in needing all sorts of recommendations for other medical professionals. I have really had to lean on my Doctor for quality referrals and am very thankful for them. Turns out I have needed a village to get through this time of life, and I am glad I am finding it with the help of my doctor, and all under the same medical system (in my case HealthPartners. I switched systems when I switched doctors and am so glad I did!).

I have been very clear with my doctor about the type of person she is referring me that I want: I want a woman, an athlete (someone who works with cyclists), and someone who is knowledgeable about menopause. My new doctor has given me stellar recommendations, such as my current physical therapist (a now critical part of my MPT team that I will be writing about), and other professionals to help me with needs outside of her treatment area; these people have become a crucial part of my MPT medical team, or I have the names of when I am ready (i.e. potentially working with a mental health pain specialist who works with athletes).

Conclusion

I would highly suggest finding a doctor through the Menopause Society website. Then check out their bio and picture and see if there is enough information there to think you will ‘click’ with them. I always like to read about what they do in their free time, if they are an outdoors person and athletic, that goes a long way for me. Make yourself an appointment not when you are in menopause, but when you are in perimenopause (for me I now realize that would have been in my early 40’s). Having someone to essentially walk alongside of you during one of the most challenging times/transitions of your life is incredibly valuable. Don’t underestimate the value of a good partner/doctor during this time. You deserve the best care, find it.

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Our little family gathered together for this picture on New Year’s Day this year looking forward to a fun year together, with more time spent making memories at the Crash Pad. But January did not end with the hope it started with for any of us.

In the early hours of January 31 we found our precious Inge collapsed at home, rushed to the U of M small animal hospital, and found ourselves saying goodbye ~ all in the blink of an hour. Our hearts were shattered and our world was changed forever.

The loss of a family member is difficult to process. The grieving is intense. Our family has experienced a seismic shift. As I type this, the three of us (Kurt, Solrig, and I) have returned to the Crash Pad for the first time without our little Inge. The absence is profound. We dreaded making this trip. But it became a comfort for all of us. A place to continue healing and a place to start remembering.

Inge came home on December 8, 2012. The center top picture above is her first day with us, getting to know her new big brother ~ Loki. She was part of our family for just over 12 years, since we were in our early 40’s and into our early 50’s. 12 years where both Kurt and I have fundamentally changed and learned to accept what comes with aging. 12 years to very much become best friends and a family.

When a furry family member comes home into our arms we know these hard days are ahead, but we convince ourselves somewhere along the line that perhaps this loved one will be different. Perhaps they will live forever. At the least, we thought Inge was well on track to make it maybe to 17! But we all know that what ultimately lies ahead is heartbreak.

We did not know Inge was struggling with illness until we returned from Arizona on January 14th and noticed loss of leg control on her right side. We learned at a vet visit on January 21 with consult from a neurologist that Inge likely had a tumor in her neck or top of her spine, or something going on with her brain. But with some new medication and improvement we expected to have many more days with her. We did not expect 10 days later we would be saying goodbye.

We have learned since from our wonderful team at the UofM that Inge likely had hemangiosarcoma and they believe on January 31 she suffered a critical tumor rupture. We will never know for sure, but it is comforting to know we did our best to help her in her time of distress and she did not live through a long drawn out period of suffering (like we have been through with our last two GSD’s (Dunker and Loki).

Inge was omnipresent in our lives, constantly there to hang out with us, snuggle with us, adventure with us, cook with us, monitor the household comings and goings, ride front and center between us in the Jeep, and tuck her head around the corner to come check on us if we were apart for too long. And although her barking was also omnipresent, the silence without it is deafening.

In memory of Inge, I am setting aside the next Crash Pad story I was working on (water and heat) and will be making a video story of Inge’s time at the Crash Pad (after I sort out the issue of my laptop drive being full). I have so many hours of video, so many happy memories. I look forward to sharing Inge’s Crash Pad story.

Thank you Inge for so many good years! You will forever be missed and forever be in our hearts. We love you with our whole being. ~ Mama, FK, Brother Soli

Season’s Greeting’s and Happy Solstice! That was not what I intended to say when I started working on this newsletter. I started writing this newsletter in September during my first solo week at the Crash Pad, while Kurt was in India for the first time on business. I planned to finish up my next Cabin Story ~ ‘Water’, and send some Summer recap’s. But…

Life since September has been an example of how you should enjoy each and every day because you never know what the future will bring. More on that below, but first back to September…

During my first solo Crash Pad week I was the happiest I have been all year. The Autumn weather was perfection, I went on many wonderful gravel rides, I found out I was FINE on my own in the middle of the woods (with Solrig and Inge by my side), and I felt the best physically I had felt all year. After months of physical therapy I was finally feeling almost myself. I felt strong on the bike and I was experiencing almost no pain. So let’s go to where I intended to start before I update you on today…

This year Summer feels like a blur. I vaguely remember it starting late. I definitely remember it raining A LOT. And I remember that when it began, we didn’t have a shower at the Crash Pad.

It is now officially Autumn. To indirectly celebrate, I came up to the Crash Pad on the first day (September 22) to check on things, but mainly to bike. THIS is the time of year we wait for ~ I call it the Golden Time. The bug factor is low, warmth is still in the air, and the trees start putting on a magical show. Without a doubt my favorite time of year.

This trip to the Crash Pad is my first solo trip here, something I never thought I would do. But when your husband is in India (on your anniversary no less), and you know it is the Golden Time ~ you go so you can ride. And ride I did.

Summer started off a bit rocky for me. Physically I was having issues with my right leg that I have been in physical therapy for all Summer for what appears to be a pinched nerve in my spine (a story for another day). Not only physically was it a bummer, but emotionally it was hard.

Kurt wanted to be at the Crash Pad a lot more than me both to ride, and move the cabin forward (he has been working on the interior walls all Summer). I found myself wanting to be in the city more and connecting with my colleagues at work. But interestingly as Autumn begins, I am finding myself more comfortable here and my priorities shifting.

At the beginning of Summer the Crash Pad really was not very comfortable, but here we are in Autumn enjoying the progress made over the Summer (see the last newsletter).

And I survived the great mouse invasion of my car after a three month saga! My end conclusion was that the mice got in my car here at the Crash Pad, not at home as we initially thought. This was validated when on trips up here in the Jeep in August mice got inside of it too! The invasion of the mice in our Mini Cooper was so disruptive, I thought I would make a video to share what we are doing now in hopes of keeping them OUT of the Jeep (stay tuned). And at least for now, I am not driving my car up here anymore ~ I can’t mentally take going through an invasion again.

In GenX Notes…

I published a story about my experience with a sports nutritionist.

Read

Side note on this story: I just had my bloodwork done, so posted a short summary:

Bloodwork Update

I was asked to be on a Podcast! Not just any podcast, but the most important podcast I have ever listened to ~ it changed my life.

Read

Listen

And most recently I shared my experience of feeling lonely and isolated during the MPT, and now dealing with a pinched nerve in my back.

Read

For those of you wondering what happened after the MRI…

After a lot of effort on my part (‘healthcare’ sucks), I finally got a steroid injection in my back. At my follow up appt on Dec. 2 with a wonderful woman, we discussed the need for another injection at a different spot in my spine. It was scheduled for Jan. 6, but thanks to a cancellation I received my 2nd shot on December 9th. I haven’t slept through the night since sometime in late October. More updates in a story later.

It has been a difficult journey going from that high point of my solo gravel Crash Pad week to today. I can only hope for better days ahead again in 2025.

So what HAS been going on at the Crash Pad you might ask!

Well, not much - but sort of a lot. Kurt was not able to do much work this Fall due to his work schedule and I have not been back up since early October due to work and my back challenges.

• Kurt has been at the Crash Pad this week for a vacation week which has included more wall bracing and more wood on the walls and ceiling.

• Walls and ceilings continue to go up! Kurt almost has the back of the cabin complete.

• Kurt has been priming and painting the bathroom door and drumroll…. We now have A DOOR on the bathroom! It is a pocket door that we had to assemble the wall kit for and it works! FINALLY PRIVACY in the bathroom! Whoop Whoop!

• Once the back of the cabin walls and ceiling are complete, a call will be made to the electrician to get them back out to at least complete all the work on the back ‘zone’. This will mean full lighting and outlets in the Office/Cycling room, Bedroom, and possibly more.

  

• In October we were lucky to see an amazing Supermoon, hard to capture, but beautiful to see!

• We finally made it to the back 10 to retrieve our camera trap. Above is a screen grab of a visitor.

  

• Kurt has been seeing scenes like the above on his fat bike rides this week. We can’t deny we are living in someone else’s home…

• Kurt has reached out to Rick, who did our exterior siding, to start lining up getting the Screen Porch done in 2025 (fingers crossed).

• We have a landscaper lined up for June 2025. We will have gravel around the perimeter of the Crash Pad, no-mow grass (like our neighbors have), better drainage channels for the roof downspouts, and possibly more. And along with this, hopefully MUCH less sand inside the cabin.

• Mice have continued to now get in the Jeep, but we have a new deterrent that mostly seems to be working. We call them disco lights. More on this once I get a Story together.

  

• We have called our neighbors over a couple of times…. Once because we had some trespassers on the property we could see on our camera (maybe our architect sent them over?? they seemed to just be normal people looking at the cabin) ~ they were gone by the time our neighbor arrived. And once because we were worried there was an open window or something because we were using so much propane. In both instances our exterior and interior camera cams have been great to see what’s going on and I now know how to talk to people through the exterior camera (I didn’t know I could do that when the trespassers were there). We are thankful again for such great neighbors (and technology)!

  

• And one of the best moments of the year, and why we love the community around the Crash Pad…. We were a driving force in getting signatures from our neighbors earlier this year so that we could have the road we bike on out our front door designated as a Rustic Road ~ which means keeping it a gravel road. We are so happy to share that it worked! Listen to this if you want to learn more about Rustic Roads in Wisconsin.

When will there be another Cabin Story?!

For those of you wondering when our next Cabin Story will be posted…. I will finally be at the Crash Pad again during mellandagarna (what Swedes call the time between Christmas and New Year’s). My plan is to wrap up the next story I have been working on ~ ‘Water’, and to start working on a new story. I’m definitely not a frequent story-teller as I had hoped to be, but my hope is that when I do share a story you find it worth your wait! For now you can click on the button below to see any of our Cabin Stories.

Cabin Stories

Now for some fun…

Mountain Bikers will know that the Crash Pad lies in the heart of what is known as Chequamegon 40 territory. We were reminded of how lucky we are to be here with this beautiful footage taken literally in our back yard earlier this year (our property may be in this video somewhere). Professional cyclists come here to ride, we live here to ride!

Happy Happy Holiday’s to you and most importantly from our viewpoint, HAPPY SOLSTICE! The Winter Solstice is our second favorite day of the year because it means we start turning to our favorite day of the year ~ Summer Solstice.

Thank you for reading and for all your kind comments ~ it means a lot to me, and YOU are why I keep writing/telling stories.

In November I had my annual exam, during which I told my doctor I wanted to have bloodwork done for my ferritin and vitamin D. Ferritin to see if I was still in Rasa’s target range of 50-80, and vitamin D because Rasa told me my test in June was low.

My doctor also put in requests for other tests that she wants to get data from, so this is the bloodwork I had done last week:

The short summary is that my doctor said all the results were good, but I wanted to dive into a couple of them further.

I had hoped to regroup with Rasa, but the expenses I have incurred this year due to menopause (another story), including care for my pinched nerve (another story), have been unexpected, and a lot. So I need to lean on my doctor to help me navigate the results at this time.

Vitamin D

After my June bloodwork Rasa said “Typically we try to be above 50 for optimal, but maybe this is your normal”. To recap: when I started taking my Omega 3, it has 1000u Vitamin D, so I had adjusted for that and decreased my Thorne Vitamin D3 pills to 1 pill at 1000u, for a total of 2000u Vitamin D between the two pills. But after my June bloodwork, I added back the 2nd Thorne Vitamin D3 for a total of 3000u between all 4 pills I take daily (2 Thorne Vitamin D after breakfast, 2 Omega 3 with Vitamin D after lunch).

I was disappointed to see with my most recent bloodwork that my Vitamin D level is still in the 30’s (it went from 34 to 37 in 6 months). My doctors comments on the result were “Vitamin D is still on the lower end of normal so I would still take a supplement (D3 2000 IU) daily.”

I discussed previously how my Vitamin D levels have been low for years and I started taking supplements after moving to Minnesota. I also know from all the information I have gathered about menopause that Vitamin D is very important.

Vitamin D is essential for muscle function. Research shows that Low vitamin D status is very common in postmenopausal women, and that correcting vitamin D deficits in postmenopausal women can help boost their muscle mass.

~Source, FeistyMenopause

Listen/Watch at minute 5:20: Nutritional Supplements for Active Menopausal Women with Katie Linville, MS, RDN

Heather Hirsch discusses Vitamin D: The Best Supplements and Vitamins for Menopause from a Menopause Expert Physician

Ferritin and Iron

If you have been following my journey with the MPT you know that I found out thanks to my nutritionist that I had low iron and have been specifically monitoring my Ferritin levels. The goal was to get between 50-80, which I achieved after many months of taking a supplement called Ferrasorb daily (2 capsules).

In June I sent my results to Rasa and she advised an adjustment to switch to taking two capsules every other day.

My December test showed my ferritin level over the target range, but still well in the acceptable range.

My doctor also ran other tests for iron and specifically the iron result was alarming to me because it got flagged as ‘high’, as was another result that I honestly don’t know what it tells (% saturation, calculated).

My doctor always sends comments in my chart on lab results and this is what she said:

Your ferritin is in a great range. The other iron studies are likely due to iron supplementation. If you are supplementing daily, decrease to every other day; if taking every other day, decrease to 2-3 times weekly.

Since I am already on the every other day regimen, I am moving to every third day right now. I asked my doctor if I should switch to 1 tablet, but she said:

Usually the 50-80 range is the "don't go below" range; a lot of people struggle to even be in that range. Anything above the 50-80 range and below the upper limit of normal is just fine; no downside to this.

We will check again when we next meet to make sure it is still in an appropriate range.

So I now feel OK with where my iron levels are at. And remember, it took me over two years to get to this point. I started taking Ferrasorb in August 2022.

Guidance

The above shows how important it is to work with your doctor on guidance. The results above were a bit alarming to me, but knowing my doctor is reading the results and evaluating based on my situation is extremely helpful. I wish I could afford to work with Rasa again to hear her opinion, but it is helpful to know from when we worked together what her targets were for me.

Am I Better?

As I have stated before, I always hope when I enter into a challenge (low iron, low vitamin D, MPT, or now a pinched nerve) that there is a quick fix. I have learned that patience, perseverance, and having a team to support you for the long-haul are all important. Our bodies are ever changing, which means constant monitoring and care.

Do I still fill fatigued? Much less! Do the Ferrasorb and Vitamin D supplements help? Absolutely!

As a 53 year old menopausal athlete, the last three years, particularly this year, have felt interrupted and incredibly isolating.

I think back to 2022 when the Crash Pad was becoming a reality and the Summer of cycling I ‘missed’ because of it, and then the hip pain that started to present that Autumn.

I think back to the gravel ride in May of 2023 where I couldn’t stay with the group, later realizing my hormones were in major fluctuation during the MPT causing all sorts of chaos in my body. And in turn my mind. I felt alone, very alone.

I think back to the times over the last three years where the MPT made me fall off an exercise cliff stopping me in my tracks as I tried to climb my way back into fitness, again and again and again, thinking ‘okay, that sucked but this time I’m back’. Until the next time…

I think back to that hike in Arizona in February when I decided something had to change, and it meant dropping out of group fitness class indefinitely and going it alone. Very alone.

I think back to all the solo trainer rides I have been doing, some very good. But alone.

And all the solo gravel rides I have been doing, so many were very, very good. Physically and mentally.

Yet I still feel interrupted and alone.

And then there is now.

This week I found out that I have a “L4-L5 disk herniation impinging on the nerve root”. THIS is the reason the last 7 months have been so difficult. THIS is why all the physical therapy I was doing stopped working. THIS is why yet again I fell off the exercise cliff.

After almost two weeks at home, most of it standing, or on my stomach, once again I feel very very interrupted and very very alone.

I expected menopause to disrupt my life in some way, I just never expected it to disrupt my life in the ways it has.

As an athlete, when you find your self time and again unable to do the things you love one of the biggest challenges becomes your mental state of mind. For me, this has been completely unexpected.

The options are to give up, or to keep going. In the darkest of moments of pain in the wee hours of the morning, I now understand how some people give up. But I know that I have to keep going.

Keeping my head screwed on in the right direction the last few years has not been easy. Especially this year. But I know I have the tools to work through the challenges, deal with the reality, and keep going.

And also what I know from my menopause class with other women going through the MPT, is that although it feels like I am alone, I am not alone.

In the coming months I will go in depth more on this experience and share what I have learned.

Although the doctor told me this week my disc issue is not necessarily age related (“it can happen to 15 year olds”), and cyclists are prone to herniated disks, I can not help but think it just might be partly menopause related.

The loss of estrogen changes EVERYTHING and I do find it coincidental that when my body began to dive deeply into the MPT, this issue started to present in subtle ways. Is there anything evidenced based to say definitively? No. but could it be related, my hunch says yes. I will talk a bit more about this when I write my story.

Meanwhile…

More immediately I plan to share my healthcare journey and how I found ‘my’ MPT doctor. That decision has made all the difference in my current web of extended healthcare for my spine. And I know that with all these people by my side, and the people I have yet to meet, I will continue to not be alone.

And maybe, just maybe, if I keep going ~ the cliff’s I keep finding will turn into rolling hills.

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In August I received an email that I couldn’t believe I was the recipient of:

Hi DeAnn!

It’s Selene from Navigate Menopause and Hit Play Not Pause.

I’m putting together a podcast where I interview a few women from the Navigate Menopause cohorts and just talk about the experience.

…

Just thought you’d be great to include.

…

The honor of the lifetime to be asked! Of course I said YES! And on September 5, while we were up at the Crash Pad, I sat down to chat with Selene.

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Today the Podcast released and I could not be more honored to be part of this episode. Selene is a great interviewer who made me feel like I was talking to a friend, and she did a great job of creating a podcast I am extremely proud to say I was a part of.

Listen to The Episode

Here is a little behind the scenes of what it looks like to do a podcast at a cabin you are building so you can ride gravel (gravel always comes first…):

Thank you Selene, and all the women at Feisty for this amazing opportunity to share my journey and be part of this wonderful community!

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And yes, I will be writing more about the class, Navigate Menopause, in a future story. The next cohort starts soon. You can sign up now (if you are wondering if you should, the answer is yes!).

Building an ‘MPT Team’ (I call the menopause transition ‘MPT’) takes time, and takes work.  For me my ‘team’ was not built all at once, it was an evolution over time.  Finding a team skilled in what they do, and who you trust, is incredibly important ~ but knowing that you have indeed found ‘your’ team might take awhile.  I consider the core of my ‘MPT Team to be my doctor, my coach, my nutritionist, and most recently my physical therapist ~ all of whom I will be sharing my journey’s with separately.  On the heels of ‘Is Steak the Answer?’, let’s start with the Nutritionist.

Why Did I start working with a Nutritionist?

It has been just over two years since the idea of working with a nutritionist was introduced to me.  When I first started working with a nutritionist, it was to ‘fix’ the fatigue issue/iron problem I had, not to learn how to eat ‘better’ or what to eat, or to deal with menopausal weight gain (because initially menopause in general was not on my radar 100% as a reason to work with a nutritionist), and most certainly supplementation (other than vitamin D) was definitely not on my radar.  

I worked with a nutritionist on a regular basis from July 2022 - May 2023.  I learned a lot in the process, and continue to learn from the process.  

One of the biggest things that I have learned from working with everyone on my ‘team’ is that there is never just ‘a fix’ ~ usually multiple things are going on in your body that overlap and improvement is a continual evolution.  Especially as a peri/menopausal athlete.

How I found ‘my’ nutritionist

As I discuss in ‘When the Wheels Fell Off’, my nutritionist was recommended to me by my coach, Sophie.  I had never in my life thought about working with a nutritionist, and I definitely was not thinking about working with one for my fatigue issue.  But I was desperate to figure out a solution.  After yet another not so great bike ride, I made the call.

Who is my nutritionist?

The nutritionist I worked with during 2022 and 2023 is Rasa Troup.  Rasa is a former Olympian, has worked with the Minnesota Vikings, is an immigrant to the US, and much much more.  Those are all great parts of her story, but why I chose to work with her is the personal referral from my friend and coach Sophie, as well as the conversation we had on that first call I made.

The Call

Immediately during that first phone call with Rasa (July 18, 2022) I knew I was talking to someone who listened, who understood my issues, who was knowledgeable and made very good suggestions, and who would help me.  I discuss in ‘Is Steak the Answer’, on that first call Rasa made suggestions on what bloodwork to get done before we even had a first meeting.  That was the beginning.

First Meeting

After I received the results of my bloodwork, Rasa and I met virtually for our first visit on August 8, 2022 (even though Rasa is local to me, it was still ‘covid times’).  We talked a lot about my iron deficiency (see ‘Is Steak the Answer?‘), but we also began to talk about other things, like how much I exercised (and what type), if I was eating enough to support the exercise I was doing (hmmmm, never thought about it), the importance of protein, my stage of life, hormones, supplements, and moving differently (which will come into play in a later story).  

I learned a lot of new things.  And although I was still pretty laser focused on that ‘iron issue’, some new ways of thinking and eating started to slowly settle into my brain and then my daily practices.

Let’s back up here a second

If you will recall, I did not call myself an ‘athlete’ until I was 51 years old.  That was early in 2022, shortly before I started working with Rasa.  Nutrition around exercise was never something I paid attention to, I knew Kurt did ~ but he was a bicycle racer ~ I wasn’t.  So drinking electrolytes, eating before/during/after exercise, paying attention to protein ~ absolutely none of that was going on until quite late in my lifestyle as an athlete.  When I was younger and started cycling more seriously, I drank water on my bicycle rides, I didn’t ever worry about food around exercise, and I certainly never ever had a protein shake (that was for serious athletes).  My advice to myself now would be ~ get there sooner.  You ARE an athlete, you need to think about what you put into your body and why; because it matters.  But you don’t know what you don’t know, until you know it ~ and then fortunately, you can’t unsee/un-know it.

I did change those habits, eventually beginning to drink Skratch in my water bottles on cycling rides.  But I didn’t start thinking much about eating around exercise really until my late 40s, particularly when I started doing virtual training with The Fix Studio in late 2020 and started to think more about eating around my training and drinking protein shakes after a workout.  So I was starting to head in the right direction…

Let’s also remember, I am a selectarian, so that alone means I was typically not getting the nutrition I needed through the food I was eating pretty much most of my life, especially my adult athletic life.

And I am a ‘light’ eater.  I eat, but not a lot.  And I eat only when I am hungry.  I love vegetables, so I eat a lot of them, but having protein on my plate wasn’t something I thought about.  I got away with my way of eating, until I didn’t.  Hello MPT.  Hello Rasa education.

My Goals

After our first meeting, I emailed Rasa on 8/19/22:

I had some time this week to sit down and put a list together of what I feel I could use some help with.  I think it would be a good use of my time and money to do some additional appointments with you.

Attached is a list I put together of issues and goals.  Let me know your thoughts, if you feel continuing to meet is a good plan, and if this fits into your package plan, and best next steps.

1. Iron

a. Follow up on Ferrasorb progress

b. Long term strategy

2. Protein

a. Do I need to make adjustments?

b. Intake and times (i.e. in regard to #4 ~ workout fueling).

c. Using Protein Powders. Currently using this.

3. Perimenopause/Menopause transition

a. Is that affecting #1 & #2?

b. Adjusting diet accordingly

c. Belly fat emergence in 2020, how to reduce and stay healthy

4. Workout Fueling

a. How to fuel before/after workouts, depending on type of workout

b. Protein Balance (see #2)

5. Diet

a. This summer I have noticed an increase in appetite, which leads me to believe I

am not getting what I need out of my current diet. I am frequently hungry, which

leads to ‘b’.

b. Snacking.

I. I try to snack on nuts, prepare healthy muffins for a mid-morning snack, etc. But this Summer I have often felt like I am starving, which is frustrating when I am hoping not to have a big weight gain as I head into menopause.

ii. What are good snack options?

c. We eat mostly a vegetarian diet, so I may not be getting everything I need. How

to adjust?

6. Hip Soreness. Is my diet contributing to this issue? What can I do to improve.

a. I can’t find when exactly this started, but I have been talking to Sophie most of

this year about trying to improve. We have been trying to address through

exercise, which does help ~ but not 100%

b. Could this be a dietary issue?

7. Vitamin D

a. I currently take typically Oct - April. My levels were good in my blood test, but in

the past I tested low (a number of years ago).

b. Any adjustments that need to be made?

8. Fatigue

From this point I bought a package of six visits with Rasa that was discounted, and refundable if I did not use it all (I used it all).

What I learned working with a Nutritionist

Protein

I am sure I read about protein in Next Level, but I think I stopped reading that book around the time the Crash Pad work started getting pretty intense, and as I got consumed by ‘fixing the iron issue’ (I will talk about that book in another story).  What I began to learn from Rasa is that protein is important, especially for an athlete. And as I now know, especially for my stage of life.  And not just protein, many things.

I was definitely not incorporating enough protein into my diet, and it is still a struggle as someone who doesn’t eat much meat and doesn’t like many sweet things.  Rasa really helped me with putting together a list of protein food options for my palette.  We looked at what I was generally eating on a daily basis, how much protein certain items had, and discussed ways of incorporating more protein into my day.

Kurt and I have the same diet, and he exercises more than me, so he has been super open and interested in increasing his protein as well.  We realized we were frequently eating meals without any protein (like pasta) and have made an effort to ensure our plate is more balanced at each meal.  We also try to have better protein snacks around so we aren’t always grabbing chips when we want a snack (still working on that one).

Next Level has good baselines for MPT women to start with your protein guidance, but I would also suggest working with a sports nutritionist to fine tune for your specific needs.

LEA (Low Energy Availability)

It was highly likely that I had been under fueling my daily activities for years.  And for many years I got away with it, but things amp up and change in the MPT and suddenly you may realize what you have been doing no longer works.  Rasa and I discussed that part of my fatigue issue might likely be because I was not giving my body what it needs for the level of activity I was doing.

Just two years later LEA is being discussed much more and athletes are having to accept that to perform better they need to eat better (here is a good recent article). Changing how you eat is likely to lead to body composition changes that have been culturally denigrated for women for decades (particularly GenX women who grew up with diet and exercise culture where looking thin was more important than feeling good and performing at your best).  Layer LEA and cultural perceptions on to an already changing body during the MPT and it’s a bit of a perfect storm. 

I do not think that LEA was my only issue with fatigue, I also think it was my iron issue, hormone fluctuations, and sleep issues.  I still have a higher fatigue level than I used to, so keep trying to figure that one out (if it can be ‘figured out’). You will also hear the term ‘Red-S’ used in the LEA conversation, I certainly heard that from Rasa and that was the first time. Red-S is discussed a lot with the MPT I have come to learn.

LEA was a tricky one for me. Because I was having such a hard time with cycling, I created the perfect storm for myself. I started eating more (like Rasa said I should), BUT I began exercising less (because I was desperate to feel better and felt I had been overtraining). I put on far too much weight for me and had to realize I had gone too far. In my desire to get an ‘A’ in LEA, I was eating too much fatty proteins while I was not exercising much. So a word of caution, really understand what you are doing. Eating more is not in itself a bad idea for an athlete, but what you are eating and what is going on with your exercise is important to monitor. I don’t think I ever have fully lost that weight because of my continued struggles the last few years with exercise (more on that later), but I did lose quite a bit of it. Unnecessarily putting on weight I didn’t need during an already difficult time mentally and physically made the whole MPT weight shift more complicated for me. I think more could be written and researched about LEA and menopausal athletes for sure.

Exercise Diversification

For years cycling 4-5 days (sometimes more) a week was my norm.  I have mixed in periods of yoga during my adult life, but it has ebbed and flowed.  Until I started working out with the Fix in 2020, I did not do any strength work or weight training.

At my first session Rasa said I might want to consider moving differently with shorter and more intense exercise sessions (this is well researched and discussed for MPT women, particularly by Stacey Simms), and that I might have to think about other ways of exercising that would bring me joy.  I remember feeling pretty devastated when she said that and didn’t really listen to that advice until I couldn’t cycle as much as I wanted to.

The last couple of years as I have struggled through my various challenges, I have realized how important mixing it up is to my recovery and ability to have good rides consistently.  I am thankful that I was already incorporating yoga and core + strength classes, as well as walking, into my routine; I have been trying to be consistent with these activities and use them as tools to recovery.  I have had to reduce the number of days I cycle, but it gives me more time for these other activities.  I have also set a goal this winter to do an additional day of weight training every week.

SUPPLEMENTS

Rasa and I had talked about vitamin D in our second session, but it was not until our fourth session we talked more about other supplements to aid in some of the issues I was having.  I did not grow up taking vitamins or supplements.  In my 20s I took a multivitamin for a time, but at some point stopped that.  In working with Rasa I began to understand the benefits of taking certain supplements to help me in some of my challenge areas ~ recovery and sleep.  Because I am a selectarian it is difficult to get a lot of what I need from food (ideal source), in which case supplements are helpful (as I found out with the Ferrasorb for my iron deficiency).

This is the list of supplements I began to take (and am still taking):

• Ferrasorb

• Vitamin D

• Omega 3

• Magnesium

I will discuss each of these separately.

Ferrasorb (see Is Steak the Answer?)

Vitamin D

After I moved from California to Minnesota in 2006, I learned at an annual exam I had extremely low vitamin D, so I began taking vitamin D annually October - April.  Rasa and I discussed vitamin D at our second session and that I should check my levels at the end of winter and adjust if necessary.  I was taking 2000u daily.  

When I started taking Omega 3 with vitamin D (see below), I cut down my vitamin D pills.  But in my bloodwork this Summer, Rasa noticed my vitamin D levels had gone down, she said above 50 was optimal.  I looked back at my results and saw my levels had gone down almost in half!  They had been between 54-60 consistently.  When I started taking Omega 3, I went down from taking a 2000u vitamin D tablet to a 1000u tablet because the Omega 3 has 1000u in two tablets.  So I stepped the vitamin D back up to 2000u daily (in addition to the Omega 3 with vitamin D).  I will have new bloodwork done this winter and see the impact of the additional units.

I looked back at a menopause class I took earlier this year and the nutritionist in that class also recommended levels from 50-80 (More on that class in a separate post).

Omega 3

In our fourth session Rasa and I discussed Omega 3.  Rasa told me that Omega 3 provides a fatty acid our bodies need, and it also helps with inflammation and muscle soreness.  She also told me I could have my levels tested if I wanted to and shared this article with me.  After this session I ordered the Omega 3 she recommended and have been taking two a day ever since (per her recommendation).

Not surprisingly, I have since learned a lot about the benefits of Omega 3 supplementation in the menopause podcasts I have listened to (Heather Hirsch and Hit Play Not Pause), as well as the menopause class I took.

Magnesium

I had been sleeping pretty poorly starting in my mid-40s, not knowing I was in Perimenopause and that it was a common symptom (I attributed it to work stress).  I was really not sleeping well when I started working with Rasa and she recommended taking Magnesium for that, as well as its other benefits.  The Magnesium she suggested was not in stock at the time, so she said it would be okay to take this one (I never did switch to the powder and have been taking the pill ever since).  I instantly noticed an improvement in my sleep.

I realized about a year after starting to take Magnesium that I was only taking one pill, which is 135 mg, and nowhere close to the 400 mg Rasa had suggested.  When I realized that earlier this year, I moved up to a second pill, so am up to 270 mg.  I realized later the pill recommendation for what I am taking is 1-3x/day.  I take the Magnesium pills before bedtime with other pills, so moving up to 3 pills at a time seems like a lot, but I am committed to getting there.  My goal is still to get closer to the 400 mg by either taking another pill or switching over to the powder.

Not surprisingly, I have learned in the same podcasts linked above, and in my menopause class, that magnesium is very important.

Supplement Certification

I learned from Rasa’s recommendations, and later menopause educational sources, that it is extremely important to take supplements that are 3rd Party certified; it is a flooded market without much regulation, so if you want to take an effective and tested supplement you should be sure it has had adequate certification.  I look for ‘NSF Certified for Sport’, Thorne has an info page about it).  When I learned about the importance of 3rd Party certification, I switched my vitamin D to Thorne (I had previously been buying it at Whole Foods which I noted did not have any information about 3rd party certification).

Is it Worth the Money?

Supplementation Cost

When you are trying to get the MPT under control and start learning about the things you need to do for yourself, it can add up quickly!  I’ll put together a story eventually on the cost of MPT, but for now as it relates to supplements, they are a new expense I definitely did not have before.  As I said earlier, because I need these supplements and am unlikely to get them through my diet I consider the cost both part of my medical expenses as well as my grocery bill.  

The downsides of not taking the supplements I am taking I feel are personally too great for me based on evidential research I have read and been educated by.  And if there is one thing I want to do for the next phase of my life, it is give my body what it needs so I can enjoy doing the things I want to do ~ like cycling.  And thanks to cycling, I sought out a nutritionist who helped educate me on how I could give my body what it needed.  I owe so much of my journey to cycling.

Nutritionist Cost

I bought a 6 visit package from Rasa which was $100/visit. Any unused visits were refundable, but I used them all. Each visit was 45 minutes. We have a high deductible insurance plan, so I had to pay out of pocket. But your insurance may cover an expense like this. I feel that paying the fee was worth it for Rasa, for her time and her knowledge and guidance.

I plan to continue to work with Rasa on at least an annual basis to stay on top of the inevitable changes I will go through and to make sure I stay on top of my iron deficiency. Because having a nutritionist is another expense, it can be hard to include in your budget when you have a lot of other expenses going on (for me it has been many things related to building a cabin). But I do believe the cost is a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately this year I have not been able to budget for the expense; I am hoping after my next round of bloodwork we can touch base (which will be a session I have to pay for).

Would I pay for a nutritionist again after taking the menopause class and having access to a nutritionist in that class? I would because I was having specific issues I needed help with. I learned a lot in my class that I had already learned from Rasa so it was great to have the generalized information for navigating the MPT for sure. But if I was going through the other specific challenges like I was, I would definitely work with a nutritionist to deal with my challenges.

Where your doctor fits in

What I learned is that although my doctors (I have had two during this process) may not initiate bloodwork, if you have a good nutritionist working with you requesting bloodwork and advising what testing to have done, your doctor will work with you and send in the requests for you.  And it should be a three-way conversation once you get the results, talk to your nutritionist, but also make sure your doctor knows what is going on with you and what your nutritionist is advising.  My new doctor has been great with having an ongoing conversation with me and sending in the tests I request, keeping a record in my files, and keeping an eye on the results and offering feedback. In my experience, as with so many things ~ you do need to be your own best advocate.  No one knows your body like you do.  Your doctor is relying on you to be in tune with your body and also having conversations with your nutritionist if you are monitoring specific things ~ like I was with my iron deficiency.  

That said, when I switched to a new doctor in 2023 I felt like I had another partner on my team who was paying more attention, and who understood the complexities of what is going on with my body and what I am looking for in my results.  My new doctor and I were able to have a conversation about what tests I wanted, what she might want to add, etc.  Meanwhile, my nutritionist and I would discuss the results and targets and next steps.

Do not discount the importance of the doctor in the conversation.  Before I switched doctors, my previous doctor was very open to sending in tests and letting me tell her what was going on, but I didn’t really feel like she was helping me to monitor what was going on (for example getting told by her nurse that first time that my ferritin results were ‘within range’).  I didn’t really feel like my doctor had my back or was paying attention.  With my new doctor I know she is part of the ‘team’ and keeping track with me and is likely to catch some red flags if I happen to miss them.  My new doctor has also put in additional testing for me she felt I needed with my bloodwork, and made suggestions we discuss, which makes me feel like she is there for me. I will be writing about my new doctor as part of my MPT Team in an upcoming story.

Conclusion

At first I found working with Rasa challenging because I am an ‘A’ student who always looks for the ‘answer’.  I like a recipe laid out in front of me to get to an end result (that is ideally perfect).  Rasa’s approach seemed open-ended and organic and I couldn’t see a clear path I was on and what ‘final result’ I was going to achieve; that was hard for me to wrap my brain around.  But I have come to understand that that is exactly the right approach.  

Subsequently my menopause course made everything Rasa said ‘click’ at a higher level.  I was lucky to be exposed to another great sports nutritionist, Dina Griffin, whose knowledge sharing reinforced what an amazing resource I have in Rasa, and had at exactly the right time.  Rasa helped open my mind, taught me to better feed my body, helped me understand sometimes the body needs a bit of help (supplements), and that nothing will ever be static.  As Rasa said, “inevitably our bodies will change’.  I know now that to expect a ‘fix’ is not the right mindset; to find aids to help you through the twist and turns and be open to adjustments is a better way to think.

Rasa gave me number of good nuggets:

• “Trust your body.”

• “What you are experiencing is a very normal experience, a very human experience.”

• “Keep it simple.”

• “You don’t have to be perfect.” “It is okay to be a C student.  C work means making mistakes.”

• “Everybody is an athlete regardless of what level you are doing.”

• “Restriction can increase midsection.”  Rasa talked a lot about body trust and acceptance, which didn’t always feel at the time like it was an issue for me.  But MPT body change has happened to me and it can be a huge challenge to ‘accept’. That’s a much bigger topic that I will be discussing in another story.

In June of 2023 everything Rasa had taught me started to sink in and this is what I emailed her:

My perspective is you have nailed it on every single thing over the last year.  

• My iron was/is low.  

• I do have LEA.  

• I do need to think about dialing back exercise and diversifying because it seems this year I have over trained.  

• I do need to eat more.  

All of it - you are right.  I think it just took me a year to absorb all that, and understand it.  

You are also right - this will be an ever changing landscape since the body is not static.  I have admitted that to myself now :p.

Thanks for being so smart and supportive!

Rasa’s reply:

So much goodness in this email.  I am happy to support you and provide space for you [to] find your journey.

I am very proud of you.

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This May we celebrated one year of habitation at the Crash Pad (May of 2023 was the big push when we finally ‘moved in’)! This year we have had the big push to get the Crash Pad comfortable while we are in habitation. We are far from done, but we are closer to done than we were a year ago! I will tell you more below, but first and most importantly…

The riding has been good.

REALLY, really good.

In May our Crash Pad neighbor asked if I wanted to ride the last bit of the Hungry Bear course with her (we called it the ‘Pirate Bear’), she picked me up at the Crash Pad driveway (where I saw a bear while waiting!) with her friends, and I had a lot of fun riding the rest of the course together into Cable, WI. I don’t ‘do’ event’s, so sort of doing one was more my speed. Kurt finished the Snacking Bear (60 miles). It was a great day ~ wonderful weather, wonderful people, seeing a lot of my cycling friends at the finish, and wonderful gravel biking!

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After two years of dealing with the MPT, I finally feel SO MUCH BETTER. My rides are much better than the last two years. I don’t always feel like, or look like, what I have known as ‘me’ for my entire adult life, but the most important thing is I can ride my gravel bike and feel good on a ride, even perhaps kicking it down at times and nailing some tough runs. THIS is what the Crash Pad was built for, and it feels good, very good, to be in a place to enjoy it.

Working on Cabin Stories took a bit of a back burner this Spring as I got myself back up and running, took some really great classes that I will be writing about, there was work going on at the Crash Pad that took a lot of time and coordination, I started months of physical therapy (a story for another day), and as we adjust to what split time at the Crash Pad is like (still working on that one). But I have managed to get a story together.

I will be creating a ‘mini series’ for the next few videos on the Crash Pad Systems. All the need-to-understand stuff for a cabin build in the woods ~ like what we use for electricity, water, heat, and the septic system. Here is the first one:

*I had so much footage of the Robin’s, I made an addendum video. If you enjoy ASMR, this is for you.

In GenX Notes…

I share my journey the last two years of dealing with an iron deficiency as a selectarian MPT athlete.

In June I had the honor of being an 'alumni' guest speaker in the latest cohort of a menopause class I took through Feisty earlier this year. Yup, that's right ~ a menopause class!

Everything I know about navigating menopause started because I am an avid gravel cyclist; to be in a room with one of THE Gravel Cyclists, Selene Yeager, was truly special.

I can’t wait to share more about this class in a future GenX Notes!

So what HAS been going on at the Crash Pad you might ask:

Great things, and pure chaos! It definitely gets worse before it gets better! First the great things…

• We have a real bathroom!

  • We now have a SHOWER!!! (You can see some glimpses of it in the new video). The locals all sang the praises of Terry and we couldn’t agree with them more; Terry did all the tile work in our shower and did an artisan job at a very reasonable price.

  • Kurt assembled and installed the bathroom vanity and wall cabinet.

  • Kevin the plumber was back. He moved the utility sink to the kitchen area, installed our shower hardware, and installed the plumbing for the vanity sink.

  • Kurt put up the cedar ceilings in the shower and bathroom area.

  • Terry installed our ceiling fan in the bathroom.

  • I painted the bathroom.

  • The electricians were back and installed the lights, outlets, and switches and connected the ceiling fan!

There is nothing better than coming home after a ride and taking a hot shower washing away the gravel, suntan lotion, bug spray, and sweat!

• The electricians were back twice. They are not finished, but they made good progress.

  • They finished wiring for the ceiling fan

  • did a lot of cleanup work and finishing touches,

  • added a few more outlets

  • Installed our outdoor lights and security camera

  • And most importantly installed a battery backup system (more to come on this in the mini-series!).

• We sheathed the front porch area where the bike storage will be. The next step is to install the siding over the sheathing. But we’ve had a work stoppage from the Eastern Phoebe’s and Robin’s (see Crash Pad Nature Report).

  

• It feels quite chaotic in the interior where there are things waiting to go in place everywhere.

  • The Tongue and Groove wood for the interior finishing was delivered and installation has begun! Our living room was the staging area until we could break down this pile, which now is dispersed all over the Crash Pad (feeling a bit crowded in here).

  • We now have an actual wall between the toilet and the bedroom!

  • We brought up our closet system from Ikea. But we can’t install it until the ceiling goes up in the bedroom, so the big boxes are laying in the hallway.

• We are excited to have a full sized refrigerator and washer/dryer unit. Both make spending extended periods of time here so much more pleasant!

• Kurt now has an office desk and chair, and I have a nice office chair (working on the desk idea) ~ all of which are big upgrades to our live/work situation.

• After having a mouse emerge on my leg on my way to meet Room & Board at the Crash Pad, we now have a new comfortable couch.

• We also have a new comfy living room chair.

• We have a tv on a rolling stand which has made our Shetland watching much more enjoyable.

  

• We took two trailer loads to the dump full of building debris and our old patio couch we were using as our couch for a year.

In the moment it often seems like we have SO far to go and the chaos of having big piles in almost every square inch can feel exhausting. We wonder if we will ever finish this place. But at the same time, when we look back at all the work we have done, we are amazed we have gotten so far!

But the end goal always remains ~ we are here to bike. And along with the work we are sure to spend time here doing one of the things we love most.

It was my hope I would get to see them all fledge. Not a birder, that’s not something I had ever paid attention to. But now I was all in, an avid Crash Pad Robin Family birder captivated by what was happening under our roof. Because the nest had been built so low to the ground (on our dog ramp!), I worried each night before bed about their survival with the foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and other animals in our ‘hood, but miraculously each morning they were still there!

On Thursday, July 11 our electrical crew arrived. All 4 birds were still in the nest and we told the crew to be careful while they worked around this area. I guess two of the robins decided it was a good time to fledge, because at some point that morning they disappeared ~ likely hopping out of the nest into the woods. I was bummed I did not get to see it.

On Friday, July 12 two robins remained in the nest. We went to bed that night hoping yet again they would stay safe through the night. When we woke on Saturday, July 13, one robin was left in the nest. There were no signs of disturbance, so we trusted the third robin fledged successfully.

I went out on the porch to capture a picture of the last robin. It looked at me, chirped, hopped out of the nest and hopped into the woods. AMAZING! I could hear it’s family cheering emphatically from the woods for it to come. It all happened so fast, I felt so lucky to see the last one go.

My heart will be forever warmed by our Robin Friends. For 10 days I left my camera set up on a tripod and tried to capture the cycle of life happening before me. This video is a compilation of what I saw over these 10 days. The very first pictures of the eggs and the hatch were taken by Kurt as he arrived on two separate visits. After he saw the eggs we thought they might have hatched and be gone by the time we returned a couple of weeks later, so little we knew.

I will always be rooting for our Robin Friends hoping they have made a life for themselves around the Crash Pad. But we are also happy (crossing fingers because I am home as I write this) that all our bird friends have finally left the porch so we can finish construction (and our bike storage). [*July 28: Kurt has returned to the cabin and we have no new friends on the porch; construction resumes].

The first thing to know if you are building a cabin on a rural property is that you will need to think about where your waste water goes. Our property is forested land that had never been built on and was not tied into a city system of sewer, water, and electricity. These are all things as a city dweller we take for granted. As a rural property owner we had to choose which systems would be installed and find someone to help us install them.

Soil Testing

One of the first steps of the build process was to work with our excavator to do soil testing. This step was done at the Crash Pad in late July 2022, before the excavation work began on the property to clear for the cabin (August 1, 2022). There was a certified soil tester from the state on site with the excavator. Our excavator went into the woods with a mini excavator to dig testing holes. The soil tester then evaluates the soil composition of the holes and advises if the soil composition will allow for a drain field (the ideal system). Three testing holes were dug on our property within a range that would be far enough from the cabin for drainage, but close enough for the system to be installed for a drain field. Unfortunately all three holes revealed clay soil, which can not be approved for a drain field (the optimal choice).

The Options

What is a drainfield?

In conventional, or soil-based systems, the liquid (known as effluent) is discharged from the septic tank into a series of perforated pipes buried in a leach field, chambers, or other special units designed to slowly release the effluent into the soil. This area is known as the drainfield. (epa.gov)

A drainfield would have been the cheapest option for us, but unfortunately after the soil test it was no longer a possibility. This meant we had two other options:

1. Septic Tank

2. Mound System

Kurt talks through in the video the different options and about what we chose ~ a Septic Tank.

Septic Tanks

Septic tanks come in different sizes. The bigger the tank, the higher the price. We went with a 2,000 gallon tank based on both cost and need. Kurt estimated that we would need to have the tank pumped twice a year and that cost savings far outweighed a bigger tank or a mound system.

Think about the Visual

We strategically drew out a plan for our excavator showing where we wanted the tank. Visually, we didn’t want the septic tank to be part of the view from the main living area or from the kitchen. We would highly advise that you are involved with the decision process for tank placement ~ you often see horrible placement on rural properties. If you are going through the work to build your dream cabin ~ don’t assume your builder or excavator will put your tank where you want it. You don’t want to be sitting looking at your beautiful view with a tank and pole in the middle of it reminding you of your waste, and you also don’t want that to be the first thing you see when you drive up to your ‘dream’ cabin.

Also, your tank needs to go where it makes sense. We have our tank placed directly behind our bathroom. It is definitely not the first thing you see on approach to the Crash Pad, in fact you may never even know it is there (until we tell you to flush with the green button and why).

Build Process

Before any step in the build process, the excavator installs the septic tank and digs the area for the foundation. That is why soil testing was one of the first things we did before even clearing the land for the building. If we had decided we wanted a drain field, that would have meant testing the property in locations further back, which if successful would have meant a longer driveway - which means more expense both during excavation, but also snow plowing. The likelihood we would have found acceptable soil for a drainfield further back on our property seemed slim, so we stuck with the original spot we had chosen with our architect for the Crash Pad.

Once the foundation was in, the excavator then came back and hooked up the septic tank through the foundation and then filled in the interior of the foundation and graded the exterior.

After that, the plumber comes at it from the inside and connects all the water and waste pipes leaving the building to the septic tank.

Water Usage

We were lucky to live in Colorado in our twenties, where we saw first hand how important water conservation is. It left an imprint in us. To this day, whenever we see water being wasted it drives us nuts. Water Conservation takes on a whole new meaning when you have your own well water, and a septic tank. We oversaw the installation of both and are keenly aware of how vital they are for the Crash Pad. Monitoring every single drop of water we use is particularly important because we don’t want to fill up our septic tank unnecessarily.

We have made conscientious decisions when picking out fixtures and appliances that use water.

Shower:

The Shower unit we installed is a low flow unit; it is a watersense product ~ which means it is efficient and helps us save water. Our plumber said he could take out the ‘low flow’ part of the unit if we felt the pressure was too low, but we love it as it is and it actually has better flow than our unit at home.

To get hot water to the unit, we let the initial water flow go into a bucket and rarely fill the bucket up more than 1/3 per shower before we have hot water. But using the bucket helps us to additionally save water from going into our septic tank. We take the water and dump it outside, or can repurpose it for other things like cleaning our bikes or the windows.

Toilet:

We chose a dual flush toilet. In the video Kurt talks about how much water we believe we save by using the green button to flush instead of the full flush lever. Having a dual flush toilet helps you save a half of tank of water per flush!

Washer Dryer:

In our plan with our architect we had spec’d out a combo washer/dryer unit to save space. But we were also interested in a unit that efficiently used water. This Summer we are happy to have our Washer Dryer combo unit in place for our longer stays at the Crash Pad. But we only wash essentials, like bike kits. We still take our bigger loads of sheets and towels and most of our clothes home to wash after a visit so that our water usage continues to remain as low as possible, limiting what goes into the septic tank.

Washing Dishes/Dishwasher:

If you do the math on washing dishes in a sink by hand or using a dishwasher, using a dishwasher is more efficient for water usage. We currently save up our dishes during the day to wash at one time in a camp sink inside our utility sink to limit the water used. Next on our purchase list when we get closer to the kitchen build will be a water efficient dishwasher.

It’s the small things:

And there are common sense small things we can do. Like when we wash our hands, brush our teeth, etc. ~ we don’t stand there with the water running.

Monitoring

We have peered down into the septic tank much more than I ever thought we would, because as a cabin owner in charge of our own build you pay attention to every single detail ~ including where your waste water goes. We also have looked down it a lot because unfortunately an important step was missed during the build, the box with the alarm system went missing and was never installed. So we have to visually monitor the septic tank to decide when it needs to be emptied.

On the tubing in the tank there is a ‘float’. I have learned from ‘our septic guy’ that when the float is basically horizontal, it is time to call them. After that point there is still room, but the tank is almost full and needs to be emptied. If the alarm had been installed, a red light would go off in the cabin (likely by the toilet) alerting us the tank needed to be emptied. But since the alarm has not been installed, we have to manually pull off the lid of the septic tank and look in. I’m sure our septic guy has never seen two people as interested as we are when they come out, and asking so many questions and taking pictures!

We hope to eventually get an alarm and get the electrical hooked up for it, but it is further down the list of things we need to get done.

Off Grid?

So are we off-grid? I guess in this respect, yes. People often think of being off-grid as one thing, mainly electricity comes to mind. But off-grid can be a combination of things, and can be partial. The Crash Pad water and waste is indeed off-grid because we have a well for water and a septic tank; so in that regard ~ this is what it means to be partially off-grid.

Future?

We currently have no plans to live at the Crash Pad full time, but if we ever did we would likely have to consider another septic tank, or a larger one, or a mound system. For now our system is working great (sans the missing alarm system).

Bears

We are very aware there are bears here, but in the years we have been coming up here we have never seen as many as we have seen this year. So far between us we have seen about 11 bears!

The first sighting of the year was just around the bend at Lake Helane right after we took this picture. It was a heart thumper and as we discussed turning around (and having to go up a big hill we had just come down), we met our neighbor Nancy (who we had not met before). The three of us decided to ride on, making noise as we rode past where we had seen the bear.

During the Hungry Bear event, many people were commenting on the bears they saw, and unfortunately that morning some of our neighbors lost a chicken to a bear intruder.

Speaking of the Hungry Bear, as I was waiting at the end of our driveway to get picked up to do the rest of the event with our neighbor, I looked towards my neighbors driveway while I was waiting and saw a big ol’ bear rump headed in the direction of our neighbors house, and therefore the Crash Pad, just feet from where I was standing. PANIC! I decided to remain where I was since it seemed to be headed away from me, and the event cyclists were starting to ride by, but whoa…..!!

And just a few days ago (it is July 3 as I type), Kurt was in the middle of a climb on a gravel ride and came around a corner and BAM ~ BEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! He pulled hard on his breaks, which are disc breaks so they squealed, luckily scaring the bear and it ran off into the woods. The bear was about 20 feet away from Kurt. I got a text right after:

And then there is the bear who walked right in front of our living room windows while we were watching a movie! It was one of those moments where I could barely operate my camera, so these are the images I got:

It has been a busy bear season in this area! We appreciate nature and bears, but just don’t want to be too close, and definitely don’t want the dogs to encounter one!

Eastern Phoebe’s

Then there have been the Eastern Phoebe’s who decided to build a nest on top of two 2 x 6’s we had leaning against the wall in the porch. We had planned to work on finishing the siding in this area, but work had to stop ~ there were eggs in the nest.

By the end of June the babies had hatched and flown away. So Kurt decided it was time to remove the nest. Sadly, he noticed too late there was a new batch of eggs in the nest. Sorry Phoebe’s!

Robin’s

We had hoped after the Phoebe’s had hatched we could have the porch back for construction tasks, but unfortunately that has not been the case. In Mid-June Kurt arrived to find a nest of vibrant blue eggs on the porch.

We had hoped by our next trip up they would have hatched and flown away. Instead, on June 30th Kurt arrived to find this:

Unfortunately the nest spot chosen was not ideal, this is the dog ramp we have to get the dogs in and out of the Jeep. We leave it on the porch, which apparently looked like a great place to build a nest! It’s not ~ it is only about 1 1/2 feet off the ground! There are a lot of critters here, so we are silently cheering this family on hoping they make it to fledge without interference.

I have been sipping my morning coffee while watching the babies grow and constantly be fed. Both the mom and dad have been actively watching and feeding the babies.

Fisher Cats & Coyote’s

This was interesting footage from the back of our property in February. We believe the first animal is a fisher cat and then a coyote after that.

This footage is from the trailcam at the back of our property where there is very active wildlife evidenced in the footage we catch and the well worn game trails. We debated if this was a wolf or coyote, but landed on coyote after googling images.

Wolves & Foxes

But there are definitely wolves on this property! The one thing we really worry about seeing is wolves, because of the dogs. We have heard stories from people in the area who have lost their dogs to wolf attacks, so are very aware when we are outside with the dogs. We know they are on our property because we have seen them on our trail cams several times, and have also heard them.

Is this a wolf or a coyote? Kurt leans towards coyote because of the ears (as with the above footage). I can’t find the wolf footage unfortunately.

Unfortunately I don’t have the fox footage any longer, but it was eye opening to see it so close to the Crash Pad.

Deer

And of course there are the deer, which we frequently see on our property. I don’t have any recent pictures ~ but Kurt saw a mom and her two fawns out the kitchen window recently. Here is a trail cam video of momma and baby on our property from last year instead:

Mice

Luckily I don’t have any footage of this, but we know there is an abundance of mice on our property. We have had a pile of siding for our front porch sitting on our screen porch area for a year and know it was a mouse haven from the get-go.

And we have a pile of debris that we plan to load to the dump this week. If it is anything like the piles we got rid of last year, we know we will be disturbing abundant mouse housing.

But that is not all! City mice have come up to the the Crash Pad with me! A month ago on my drive up here, 15 minutes from the cabin I felt something on my ankle I thought was my shoe lace. NOPE ~ gulp, turns out it was a mouse who decided to run up my thigh while I was driving! I immediately stopped the car (going up the hill under the Birkie bridge out of Hayward if you know the area). It was me and the dogs. I hopped out of the car hoping the mouse would follow, but it was nowhere to be seen! My only choice was to drive the last 15 minutes to the cabin ~ at 70 miles an hour (not kidding, someone let me go by and flipped me off. They had NO IDEA what was going on in my car).

Kurt arrived that night and the next day super sleuth Inge got her nose on the mouse. I tried to run it into the woods, but it just came back. Kurt thought it was a baby mouse and said it was definitely a city mouse, not one of the country mice, so had been in the car with me from home. As it was trying to make it’s way back to the car I told Kurt the only option sadly was to kill it, which eventually he did.

Fast forward a month later, a mouse nest was found in the car along with a dead mouse by the driver’s pedal, and a live one found the next day in the car bay at the service station! Plus I’ve killed multiple mice in the garage! I’ve also had the car detailed to get rid of the smell.

People have told me I need to sell the car or take it out in a field and burn it. I agree, but our finances don’t. So I am hoping no more mice (city or country) decide to take up residence in our vehicles. But country mice are tenacious, so when we remove the debris pile I’ll be parking my car over at the neighbor’s house!

Everything seems abundant this year after a mild winter and a very rainy summer, both at the Crash Pad and at home! We just hope we don’t arrive to the Crash Pad at some point to find a bear sleeping on our porch.

Kurt has mentioned several times it might be a good idea to screen in the front porch because of mosquitos. We are starting to think screening the porch to prevent it from being a future nature reserve might be a good idea as well!

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Selectarianism

One of the things that made sense to me was that it was entirely believable I had an iron deficiency.  I am a selectarian ~ meaning I rarely eat meat, especially red meat.  I have been a selectarian (without knowing that was a term) since I was a young kid.  It never occurred to me that my lack of meat eating could be a problem, until the Wheels Fell Off.  At which point, it seemed like eating meat might be the solution to all of my problems.  Problem ‘fixed’.  Not so fast…

Let’s start with the iron deficiency journey.

Symptoms

To back track to When the Wheels Fall Off…

• I was having extreme bouts of fatigue during work days during times I would have normally felt alert.

• Bike rides I had done hundreds of times now seemed daunting.  I literally thought on more than one ride I may not make it home.

Generally I wasn’t feeling like ‘me’.  Grasping at straws, or a ‘fix’ as it were, I reached out to a nutritionist one of my workout coaches had recommended.

The ‘Team’: Nutritionist, Doctor and Me

On July 18, 2022 I called the Nutritionist and told her what was going on with me.  She recommended I ‘check labs’ by having blood drawn at my doctor’s office.  After that phone conversation I immediately checked in with my Doctor.  This was my message to my doctor on 7/19/2022:

Hi.  I left a vm yesterday on the nurse line, but am following up with an email.  I have my annual exam scheduled for Sept. 14, but the last few months I have been having increasing hip pain.  My conclusion is that the pain is related to late stages of peri-menopause and decreased estrogen.  I am also starting to wonder if I might be iron deficient.

I spoke with a Nutritionist referred to me by my trainer yesterday who urged me to first work with my Dr. (you) to determine if I am having some deficiencies.  My suspicion is potentially iron deficiency since I am an athlete in peri-menopause who eats very little meat.  I have a pretty well rounded diet (lots of greens, veggies, grains, other protein sources), but I think something is lacking.  My Nutritionist advised that I ask for some bloodwork to be done ahead of my appointment, to discuss with you, and potentially see if my annual appt. can be moved up.  Then come to her if needed.

The Nutritionist suggested the following bloodwork:

• -Omega 3 Index

• -hemoglobin ferritin (not sure if that is one thing or two)

• -Vitamin D (I know historically I have been low on this and planned to discuss at my upcoming visit)

• -Thyroid function

The pain is mostly in my right hip joint.  Initially I thought it was from cycling, but I do not believe that is the case.  If I am having some deficiencies, I would like to get myself back in balance sooner than later!

Thanks for your help!

DeAnn

The reply from my doctor:

These orders are in as well as a DEXA bone density test.

If the pain is persistent or worsening consider seeing a primary care doc prior to September!

[*Note: I did the DEXA scan and know more about that now. At the time I was like ‘sure, okay’. Today I would definitely be more in tune with those results (which I was told were good). DEXA is a whole other topic, as is my Dr. journey.]

What I knew instinctively, thanks to the PhD I was giving myself in the MPT, was that seeing a primary care doctor was not going to be the answer.  I needed someone who understood what I was going through as a 50+ athlete.

Blood Work

“Your body uses iron, an essential mineral, to build the red blood cells that carry fresh oxygen to your muscles via your bloodstream.  When your levels are low, you run the risk of iron-deficiency anemia, which can leave you chronically tired, hamper your workouts, and also cause more random symptoms…”  Next Level, Chapter 18 “Supplements:  What You Need and What You Don’t” by Stacy Sims with Selene Yeager

My first labs were done on July 26, 2022.  This is what they looked like:

• My Ferritin was at 17, the bottom of the range was 8.  This instantly was alarming to me.

• My Hemoglobin was at 11.7, that was the BOTTOM of the range!

• My Hematocrit was at 35.8, the bottom of the range was 35!

• My RBC Count was at 3.91.

These results, out of many, specifically alarmed me.  

After a few days I had to ask my Dr.’s office what these results meant (they hadn’t chimed in automatically), and I received this reply: “All your labs look great! They are normal and within range. ”  But… I know me, I know my body, and I knew this was far from ‘normal’, so I reached out to my coach Sophie and soon-to-be nutritionist Rasa Troup.  

This is what I was doing that day (going on a bike date), appearances (smiles) are deceiving:

Why I Worked with A Nutritionist to Start

August 4, 2022:

I don't expect either of you to do anything with this email, but since Sophie was curious to see my blood test results, I thought I would send to you both (attached are screen shots from the My Chart results).  The Dr. never wrote me back about them, and when I asked yesterday the nurse replied today "everything is within normal range".  I question this a bit, because some of these levels seem very close to the not normal range, particularly Ferritin, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, and RBC Count.  But what do I know??

Rasa ~ If something alarms you here in the test results, and you think a paid consult could be worthwhile ~ I can think about that.  I am not a medical expert, but my gut (no pun intended) still makes me wonder if something nutrition related is going on.  I do think my iron levels could be low based on what I can tell, which makes sense since I am not much of a meat eater.  But really I have no idea.  

Rasa Replied:

There are some labs that need nutrition intervention.

And so began my journey of working with a nutritionist to ‘fix my iron deficiency’, or so I thought that was my only issue.

This was a few days before the stress of building a cabin was starting to kick into high gear.  Excavation had just begun on the Crash Pad.  A time I now realize was the perfect storm for my body.  Major life stress + major hormone fluctuations + iron deficiency.

My first meeting with Rasa was on August 8, 2022.  We met virtually and of course this iron situation was front and center. 

I took diligent notes, the first one being “Iron above 30, preferably 50.  Ferritin.  Difficult with nutrition itself.  Will take close to 3 months to get to normal ranges of iron.   Hemoglobin on low end.  Anemia indicators:  initial stages because hemoglobin dropping to low end.”  Hearing Rasa talk about Anemia, and then googling it, was a bit terrifying. I have a lot of other notes about a lot of other things I learned at the time from Rasa, and although I was listening and understanding my mind continued to grasp onto the ‘get iron fixed….me better’ chain of thought.  I desperately wanted to feel better.

The MPT (Menopause Transition) and Iron Deficiency

Rasa and I discussed menopause, but at the time (just two years ago!) so much less information and knowledge was available.

On August 8th I wrote my coach Sophie:

Just got off the phone with Rasa.  She is GREAT!  Thanks again for the recommendation.

What she has really pinpointed for me is an iron deficiency, so we are going to be working on that. 

What is fascinating to me now as a person with a poor memory is to see what I was working through in these emails and in my head.  The me of 2024 knows this was not the full picture, but the me of 2022 was sure the iron solve was key to me feeling better.

What I absolutely did not know also was that iron deficiency, particularly for non-meat eaters like me, is common during the MPT.  Over a year later Stacy Sims posted this:  Are You Iron Deficient? Are You Sure? (posted January 2023. my bold.) and I finally felt like I had part of the answer:  

Perimenopausal women are at higher risk because estrogen helps downregulate an iron-regulating hormone called hepcidin. When estrogen declines and hepcidin rises, iron is harder to absorb. It is also common for women to suffer from low energy availability (so many nutrients, like iron, may be insufficient) and to follow a meatless diet—the RDAs for vegetarians are 1.8 times higher than for people who eat meat—because heme iron from meat is more bioavailable than nonheme iron from plant-based foods.

Ding ding ding!  I had been reading about iron deficiency in perimenopause, but it was always linked to heavy bleeding during the menstrual cycle; I never had issues with that, so it was not helpful for me in connecting the dots.

In October of 2023 the NYTimes published How to Know if You’re Iron-Deficient, and What to Do About It (my bold):

If you have heavy periods, eat a vegetarian diet or are planning to get pregnant, consider asking your doctor to test your ferritin levels, which measures how much iron is stored in your body.

increasingly, researchers suggest that the cutoffs should be higher: for ferritin, between 30 and 50 micrograms per liter; and for hemoglobin, 13 grams per deciliter.

I had already learned from Rasa that as an athlete the goal was to get my levels between 30-50, ideally up to 50.  It was nice to see the mainstream was catching up to the science.

On the same day the NYTimes also published More Than a Third of Women Under 50 Are Iron-Deficient.  Although I was 52, what I found again in this article was not eating meat can lead to iron deficiency:

Vegetarians and vegans, who might not consume enough iron-rich foods, should also get checked regularly, said Elaine McCarthy, a nutrition researcher at the University College Cork, in Ireland, whose work focuses on iron deficiency and anemia. It is harder for the body to absorb iron from plant-based sources, and those who don’t eat meat, poultry or fish may “struggle a little bit more with getting enough iron,” she said.

To some people who are full vegetarian the need for iron may seem obvious, but for me it had never been a concern. Being a selectarian is pretty close to being a vegetarian, with the benefit of sometimes I can ‘feel’ I just need a steak ~ and have one. So back to that ~ unfortunately it was not the solve. I do believe red meat gives me boosts, but I just am never going to eat it regularly.

So, on August 14, 2022 I began taking iron supplements per Rasa’s guidance.  2 tablets of Ferrasorb daily, indefinitely until my levels got up to that target of around 50.  I remember it well because we were at ROAM Basecamp camping and going over to our land where work had begun on the Crash Pad.  This was the day before:

I had one of the best bike rides of the Summer and finally tackled this technical stretch on one of our favorite groads.  Unfortunately this type of moment was a rare one that summer.  I was excited to get going on my ‘Ferrasorb Fix’.

Every three months after I started on Ferrasorb I would go to the lab at the U of M and have bloodwork done. This is my charted journey on getting my ferritin levels up to where Rasa wanted to see them (30, ideally 50). June was a strange anomaly because I almost passed out when my blood was drawn so we ruled that result out (I was dehydrated from a dentist appointment earlier in the day). In this chart you can see how loooong it takes to get levels up:

It has now been 1 3/4 years (19 months) since I began taking Ferrasorb. In September of 2023 I had a new doctor and had my next set of bloodwork done. My ferritin levels finally got up to (past) where Rasa wanted to see them! At this time, Rasa advised to switch to taking the Ferrasorb supplements every other day, which I have been doing since. In December my bloodwork showed that switch appeared to be stabilizing my levels.

The Hormone Factor

One of the most fascinating things about the chart above is that I realized perhaps the MPT was not the sole cause of my low iron, it is possible it could have been a trigger, but knowing what I know now I am thinking the iron deficiency was already there. The chart above shows blood test results with my new provider (Health Partners), who was actually my old provider when I first moved to Minnesota. For some reason in 2012 I had bloodwork drawn and was interested to see my ferritin level was at 18 way back then! In my mind that solidified that I have likely been in a low iron state for many many years.

What I did not understand at the time was that what Rasa said were ‘some deficiencies’ were being exacerbated by the crazy rollercoaster ride my hormones were taking me on.  I recently saw this chart and the middle diagram perfectly summarized what I realize today was going on in my body at the time, but did not realize then.  What this shows is pretty much how I felt:

Credit:  Navigate Menopause (my red circle).

So, I knew something was off for sure, but at the time I just couldn’t figure out why ‘all of the sudden’ I would be having iron deficiency issues.  It seemed like it came out of the blue. 

Fatigue is a symptom during the MPT, another one of those quiet symptoms you never hear about. Had I known that, and that these crazy hormone fluctuations were going on like this picture shows, it would have made SO much more sense.  But again, as a long time selectarian, iron deficiency made more sense then.  And so it became my mission to solve the iron deficiency.

I am lucky to know now that 1. I have an iron deficiency, which I know now thanks to the MPT and have been in treatment for. and 2. I was in the throws of late perimenopause and my body was trying hard to adjust to the ups and downs. I am also being treated for that, which is an upcoming story for sure!

So what’s next?

I am trying to switch to doing bloodwork every 6 months instead of every 3. In June I will have my levels checked and go from there.

So what have I learned?

• Being nearly anemic is not good.

• I should have been paying attention to this years ago; I wish I had known to do so.

• MPT changes everything. Hormone fluctuations work in quiet ways and for me one of those was getting close(r) to an anemic state.

• Getting help is important. Find a nutritionist who works with athletes and a doctor who understands your test results and keeps an eye on them with you (and for me both of these people are women, which I feel is very important).

• Problems aren’t often ‘fixed’ but can be altered. And there often isn’t a single ‘fix’ (like a steak).

Why am I sharing this long story with you? My hope is that if you see some of yourself in this story a red flag goes up and you do some research and get some assistance in checking into it.

Taking an iron supplement is definitely not a be-all-to-end-all fix for me, but I do know now how important it is. I know enough now to know that I need to work with my team and keep monitoring my iron levels.

And I also know now being in the MPT means there is no ONE thing going on with your body, there are A LOT of things going on. It is important to work on some individual fixes, but you may need more than that one ‘fix’. I also was finding out in the midst of my iron deficiency that more was going on. It was time to find the right doctor to discuss my long list with, and so I did. More on that in an upcoming story. And more on my journey with Rasa coming up as well.

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Solrig and Inge were/are quietly sleeping after a content filled morning/day of exploring the property, and of course for Solrig ~ spending time doing his most favorite things in the world, running after his toy in the snow and ‘helping’ me with tasks like cleaning up tree debris from the initial excavating (winter is the BEST time to do yard work in the woods ~ no bugs!).

This winter at the Crash Pad has been the polar opposite of last year. We arrived in January to snow melting OFF the roof (not through it), temperatures in the 30’s (F) and very little snow (as opposed to always snowing), a warm cabin (radiant floor and wood stove in full working order), a LOT less stress (because we can be here for a weekend, not just a single day), the whole family here together (as opposed to last year where only Kurt and Solrig came up here every weekend in January, and Inge and I didn’t come at all), and most importantly this year ~ a full roof (which was not the case this time last year). February has remained the same.

This time last year was one of the most challenging years of our life, and our relationship, and it took months for us to emerge from it and move forward. There is still a lingering scar from a difficult time, but it has begun to heal.

Looking back and editing the next story, I am thankful we made it through and can finally spend time at the Crash Pad doing fun things. Like walking the dogs to the back of the(ir) property (they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it), playing with Solrig (and not shoveling at the same time), running into neighbors on fat bike rides (Kurt) and building community, and having time to sit and write and edit stories (D).

This is much preferred to last year where our time here was spent sucking up gallons of water from the floor that came through the roof after the cabin went up, completing construction tasks inside the Crash Pad on a freezing cold slab of cement and being constantly cold, shoveling ALL THE TIME, and hoping every day that the Crash Pad makes it through the winter.

But in order to move past, you have to move through. Join us on that adventure by reading and watching our next story, Six: The Roof

Watch: The Roof

In GenX Stories…

I share what it felt like for me to accelerate into the MPT (Menopause Transition) in late perimenopause after finally calling myself an ‘athlete’ in 2022.

When the Wheels Fall Off

*Reminder: If you do not want to get GenX stories emailed to you separately, please adjust your subscription. Starting with the next story, I will start emailing updates in real time for GenX stories to those who are subscribed. So if you don’t want real time emails for these…and just want updates through the Newsletter, go here:

Manage My Subscriptions

So, what is happening at the Crash Pad lately you might ask…

Well the biggest news is we PASSED the Rough-In Inspection! Now we can start to cover the walls inside (which we have)!

Passing rough-in also means we can finally close up the last exterior wall on the porch (which we have) and side it. After siding we can install the lights, and lastly a hanging system for the bikes.

AND the electricians can start coming back and doing their finish work. They have been here working on our backup system that will keep our heat, refrigerator, and a few lights running if when the power goes out. We are excited to have them come back and install the final lighting on the exterior of the cabin next.

Our plumber has installed the shower pan and all the piping for the shower. We have picked out our shower head fixture. The tile for the shower is arriving imminently and we have an installer lined up as soon as it arrives!!!

We purchased our wardrobes for the bedroom, Kurt’s desk and new office chair for his office, and an office chair for me (I’m going to have my own little spot!). The big boxes are all currently taking up part of our living room in Minneapolis. We will be headed to IKEA soon to pick out a temporary desk for me as well as an interim couch we hope will be more comfortable than our old patio couch we have been using. The plan is to rent a U-Haul next week (Fat Bike Birkie week) and take a big load up.

We have picked out our interior wall finishes. We have begun to install one type that will go behind the wardrobes and be used at the front entry, and the rest is on order.

The septic tank is almost full again (last emptied in October), so we will call to have it emptied after our next visit.

Despite my love for gravel biking and Autumn, the last two months have been my favorite at the Crash Pad so far. Although it is Winter, it has been extremely mild (my kind of Winter!) with very little snow. Winter is the best time to go on walks to the back of the property because there are no bugs and no bears! I am savoring every moment, while anticipating what I hope to be an early gravel season starting in March (fingers crossed).

The future holds so much possibility! But I am working very hard to live in the now.

Thanks for reading and watching äventyr.cc, and supporting my creativity! ~DeAnn