How frustrating has that been for you and do you have any idea why you’ll feel so terrible all of a sudden?
"It’s been the most frustrating challenge I’ve faced in my running career because I haven’t been able to figure out exactly why it’s happening. Running is very tough on the body in many ways but I think one of the biggest ways is hormonally. Every time I’ve had blood work done, I’ve had clinically low testosterone levels, which affects everything. It has been really frustrating to put together months of really good training only to lose it all due to sudden fatigue that requires complete rest. This has kind of been the trend for me over the last couple of years, which is why my results have been so up and down and why sometimes I am so hopeful about my running and other times not so much."
Have you done anything to help try and combat your low testosterone levels?
"There isn’t anything that I can legally do to change that and even if I were to get a TUE (therapeutic use exemption) for testosterone, I still wouldn’t take a synthetic version because then the body stops producing testosterone naturally. I also feel like taking synthetic testosterone, even with a TUE, crosses a moral line that I am not willing to cross.
"I’ve tried altering my diet to a higher fat diet—the body cannot produce testosterone without fat—with no change in my testosterone levels. I’ve also tried playing around with weights and other natural testosterone boosting exercises, also with no noticeable change in my testosterone levels. When you do research about how to naturally boost your testosterone, there are many different things you can try both dietarily and in your activities or lifestyle, but the number one thing that everyone agrees reduces testosterone levels is running. So, I’ve kind of come to the realization that if I am going to be training like a marathon runner and running tons of miles, then I guess having low testosterone levels is the price I will have to pay."