@Anna C, when I was practicing olympic weightlifting, my coach was ranked third nationally in her weight class at the time (and getting close to that level again now after having a baby). She was absolutely stronger and lighter than me, and trained the same way.
When I was part of a Georgie Fear's nutrition coaching group (who just signed on with StrengthMatters), her husband, Roland, said that women have the same capacity to build strength, pound for pound, as men. They're both tied fairly close to keeping up on research, but I don't have the background to say whether or not that was accurate.
I'll respectfully throw out a different experience than yours,
@Bill Been. I tend to be pretty adept at low-rep strength stuff, but I have to really fight to develop my engine. I can press close to my half bodyweight bell right now, but even after spending the last year doing pretty demanding workouts in a studio, I'm not some aerobic machine. Being stronger definitely makes bells feel lighter, but a 5 minute sprint is still a 5 minute sprint, at least for me. I think it's phase three when Geoff starts compressing rest intervals with the sets of 10. That's where I think a lot of conditioning will build back.