Experienced sportswomen are calling for a shift in attitudes – breaking the bias and normalising discussions around menstruation in sport. In the last of a four-part series, Bonnie Jansen speaks with ultra-marathon runner Shannon-Leigh Litt about how she embraces and navigates her flow and adapts her racing to align with her cycle.
Some of Shannon-Leigh Litt’s best races have come at a time most athletes would fear – day one of her period.
“I actually feel strong when I have it,” she told the Herald. “But if I’m not in tune with my cycle, I can feel lost – like I’m running blind.”
The ultra-marathon runner, who has run 51km on each of more than 550 consecutive days, carries tampons in her vest, is most comfortable wearing period undies and has yarns about bloating, pain and hormones among competitors before the start line.
They’re topics the 46-year-old wishes were normalised years ago – and now, she’s speaking up to make them part of the conversation in sport.
“I actually wish I knew what I know now, even 10–12 years ago ... I might have been a little bit more in tune and maybe kinder to myself with how I was performing.”
Litt has developed a deep understanding of her body. She knows exactly when she’s primed for peak performance, when to fuel up with extra carbs and when it’s time to rest.
Such self-awareness is crucial as she chases a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive days a woman has run over 50km.
Each day she runs across roads, trails, beaches and sometimes in competitive races. The record attempt comes with strict conditions: she must get two witnesses per day who have seen her running, and keep a logbook of the route and keep the stopwatch running – even between breaks. As it’s an outdoor challenge, if Litt needs a bathroom break, the watches must stay outside.
This one rule often proves a hassle when it’s her time of the month.
“Sometimes you might have to change [your tampon] every hour or two hours.
“I would go into a public toilet, or maybe even a petrol station – leave my watch outside, go in to the petrol station,” she said. “Or I just go home, because I’ve got a base at home.
“But it can be challenging within a race, and I have had my period within a race, a long race, and so I’ve had to change [my tampon] a few times.
“I usually carry a few [tampons] because if you’re around and you’re at a race, someone else might need one, maybe at an aid station. Just to have [tampons] available, not just for yourself, but for other people, because we should be able to talk about it in a race if someone gets their period.”
Despite the discomfort and challenges, Litt has come to embrace her cycle. With the demands of daily training, understanding the nuances of her menstrual cycle – spanning an average of 21 to 35 days – has become not just helpful, but essential.
She told the Herald her knowledge of the menstrual, follicular, ovulation and luteal phases has deepened, along with an awareness of how hormonal fluctuations affect her body.
In the luteal phase, which comes before menstruation, Litt said her cravings intensify.
“I know a few days leading up to my period, I feel really bloated, I feel a lot more hungry, I’m craving more carbs. I love eating carbs. Since I’ve been doing this challenge, I love kūmara chips and cut-up potato chips,” she said.
“We do crave a lot of sweet food and junk food at that time [of the month]. I’ve found magnesium helps, [and] just trying to look after the body and trying to eat healthy, but it is hard at that time [of the month] sometimes.”
During the menstrual phase, when her period begins, Litt said she often races better. Though it may seem counter-intuitive given the bleeding and cramps, some athletes feel stronger once menstruation starts, as hormone levels begin to rise again.
“What I find when I am racing is when I do have my period, I don’t actually find there are any symptoms – I find I can race quite well.”
But when symptoms do arise, she adjusts her training accordingly.
“I’ll just ease off and maybe do some walking, a lighter intensity.”
Litt emphasised that every athlete’s experience is unique.
“I don’t think you should be looking at one person and what’s right for them. Because for me, I feel okay when I am actually on my period racing, but for some people that might actually feel really bad and they might be better in different stages.
“So I don’t think we should be a one-size-fits-all approach ... everyone’s different.”
Sue Robson, High Performance Sport New Zealand’s Healthy Women in Performance Sport lead, echoed that the one-size-fits-all approach is flawed.
“It is now widely recognised that there is no generic phase-based approach for tailoring training to different menstrual cycle phases. What’s more important is supporting coaches and athletes to understand how menstrual cycle hormones play a significant and positive role in health, wellbeing and performance.
“There has been an explosion of interest and a growing amount of research in this area. Here in Aotearoa, there are a few research groups working on several interesting projects.
“This research will be translated into best practice for female high-performance athletes and the learnings will be shared across all NSOs [national sporting organisations] and Sport NZ.”
Having raced competitively for most of her life, Litt reflected on how a deeper understanding of her cycle earlier on might have changed her approach.
“I might have been a little bit more in tune with how I was performing.”
While Litt has used her understanding of the menstrual cycle since starting her attempt at the world record in 2023, recent changes to her body – that she believes are possibly linked to pre-menopause – have left her feeling disconnected from that rhythm.
Last month, for the first time, Litt missed a period entirely. She felt that at her age this was normal, but was also difficult as her hormones were out of check.
“That’s been challenging because I haven’t known where I am in my hormone cycle, and so I’ve been hungry and then I felt a bit bloated. So, I’m sort of not really sure where things are at and [my body] hasn’t given me that indication where things are.
“Now that I’ve aged, my periods have changed over time. What I have noticed is actually they have got quite a bit more heavier. They are a little bit irregular.”
Because of this, she opts for darker clothing during runs to avoid leakage concerns.
“I don’t like to wear really tight clothing and I don’t like to wear really light clothing... [and] I’ve had to increase the iron intake.”
Litt said the delay in her period had made racing more difficult because it’s hard to be prepared.
“It can be really hard, especially if you’re racing, and you don’t have any tampons or you don’t have anything around.”
As a runner, Litt said fatigue, rather than bleeding or cramps, was the symptom that affected her most when on her period.
“Because sleep is so important, and if you’re tired and you’re not able to sleep because of your period and hormones, that can link into so many other things.”
But she has learned a healthy mindset can help tackle that.
“I think if you’ve got that mindset that you’re not going to feel very good, then maybe that’s what will happen.”
As she’s learnt to speak more openly about her period, she’s encouraging fellow runners to be kinder to their bodies.
“If you feel like maybe you need to start later with a run or take a little bit more time off work, you should just go with that.
“[Period chat] has changed a lot with a lot of people talking about it. I think that’s really helped a lot of athletes.”
Tuesday: Irene van Dyk on her silent struggle playing netball while menstruating, hiding the reality and avoiding conversations.
Wednesday: Sailor Liv Mackay on navigating the challenges of being the sole female on her team and how she manages her period while spending long hours at sea.
Thursday: Aimee Didierjean on the stigma in gymnastics, competing in tight uniforms while navigating pads and tampons, and how intense training led to her period arriving late.
Friday: Ultra-marathon runner Shannon-Leigh Litt on embracing her flow and how she adapts her training to align with her cycle.
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She was named New Zealand’s Best Up and Coming journalist in 2025. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.