50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum

my experience from 50-53 1/2 was fairly typical and well understood fatigue. In fact, on the higher end of the mileage I felt pretty good on my runs and after. Did you experience sudden onset of fatigue right at 54? I’m genuinely curious.

the fatigue was something new which is why I sought a medical opinion. Perhaps I was overtrained and need more rest. Who knows. My number was 278 for reference. Although I can’t remember any bloodwork from when I was young.

Doc called for 8 weeks on treatment. I’ll probably do that cycle and then be on my way. just wanted to see others experience but guess this one a the wrong forum for that.

I guess it's up to you (your conscience & consideration for future health), your doctor, and WADA.

If you are running road races, track, XC even at 18:30 for 5K that's still competitive in your mid-50s and I think unfair to others who don't and won't take T.

I actually like the Ryan Hall approach. He had low T but retired and took to weight lifting to boost T naturally.

Personally, well I'm probably not all that well liked by most people anyway, and if I did something like that then they'd have zero respect. And more importantly, I wouldn't like myself for finding an athletic edge just because I felt fatigued and got a prescription for testosterone.

At 72, I really don't care much about what my competition is doing, but am far more focused on whether I am hitting the level of performance I think that I should be capable of. I do care a little though about "slipping down the competitive ladder", as Cavorty so eloquently put it, to someone using a banned drug in USATF competition. I feel that USATF rules are clear and you either should avoid banned drugs or stay out of USATF sanctioned races if you use banned drugs. In SoCal there are plenty of non-USATF races to run for those people who want to use a USATF-banned drug for whatever reason. Personally, I care a lot more about looking in the mirror in the morning and being able to think I see a person with integrity and honesty than whether I finish 1st or 5th in my age group at a race.

“just wanted to see others experience but guess this one a the wrong forum for that”

Right forum, with responses from some of the best masters runners in the country. Now and in any recent past (not including myself, by the way). When it comes down to it, excellence is a state of mind, underlined with integrity. Very little else really matters.

^^^^ So. Much. This. ^^^^

Wise words from one of the best there is.

We are masters. Part of the competition is figuring out how to get yourself to the start line healthy and still play by the rules. You aren’t doing that if you are taking synthetic testosterone.

It’s cheating. If you’re take it, don’t compete with the rest of us.

Appreciate the honesty.

Three weeks since my endocrinologist removed a type2 diabetes drug from my array of old dude meds. I am finally seeing a positive result. Can no longer drink beer but wine is a positive. No I need to regain a bit of weight. Yes, I am contrary to most people.
M: 9M - 10(800/400) - august heat/humidity is baaaack

T: 2 hours on the treadmill @ 12:14 pace

W: 8.25M @ 9:30 pace - nice on this course

Th: 90:00 on treadmill @ 12:30 pace

F: 6M w/15(1:00 on/1:00 off) - very quick

Sat/Sun: off to see the grandkids

enjoy the week

😹 At least they ran well for me before the ship went down.

What is dishonest about taking care of your health? This is delusional thinking. I’m clearly not threatening any of your precious AG awards , your last bit of fading glory. In fact, I never mentioned racing at all. I’m not running for trinkets or my name on a website.

you are runners …old runners given to old ways of thinking. No healthcare professional has commented. Being a good runner doesn’t make any one an expert in medicine. Nor does it make you an ethicist. funny that running hasnt changed much..you want to flagellate yourself and have everybody congratulate you for doing so. me- I just want to enjoy my running.

Not everyone is running to compete with tired fools trying to hold on to fading glory. Some people simply enjoy the freedom of movement that running provides.
Don’t worry I would want to compete with the “rest of you”. You seem like the type that would comb the rules looking for any infraction, so that you may find an excuse for your poor showing

You’ve further proved my initial error. The best masters in the country have a warped sense of running and only see it through the eyes of competition. Applying this integrity without consideration for others values and ideas is simply dogma

Greeting to all, still here. had to throttle down my running because too much load from other parts of life. have fun, stay safe.

Your trolling is boring.

First of all your T level is only marginally low and might be better treated with other approaches. Yes technically you are cheating. If you pop a 17.50 somewhere at a decent 5 k and win your age group and get a nice little prize then that would be pretty dodgy. If you are just rolling around in the local parkrun or in local club 5 k with your buddies well really no one is probably going to give a stuff.

I am currently on a drug that is lowering my testosterone level in my prostate, not sure whether that will impact on my general T levels. Never had it measured.

Sonogno is a health care professional and a great sportsman, I’d listen to him. I don’t know if this qualifies but in my former career I was a hospital administrator with Hospital Corporation of America (suit-wearing jerk). I sat on a committee with clergy, counselors, lawyers, and doctors called “policy and procedure”. We literally wrote the manual on ethical practice in healthcare. I’m 63 and I also happen to be one of the slowest mo-fo’s on this thread and I sure as sh*t could benefit from any “help” I could get. I’d like to think this qualifies me to respond. My answers are: 1) No, I do not take testosterone in any form. 2) Yes it is an unfair advantage, even with a TUE. Notice I did not personally insult you, which is generally not a nice thing to do to anyone, even if you disagree with them.

OK, enough already, cheater. :-)

I take a daily multivitamin and other supplements to offset the fact that my body may not absorb nutrients as a natural consequence of age or because of medications I take. The goal is to provide extra nutrients where you need them and to boost my energy.

Am I cheating?

So you come onto the thread to ask competitive masters runners how they feel about you racing with a banned drug in your system, they tell you it’s against the rules and the moral spirit of amateur sport, and you attack them in a childish way for not agreeing with you?

You should probably just stay home and chase Strava age-group segments.

Every one of the dedicated old-timer racers I have meet has on their list of reasons for competing a belief in the value of sport and competition. It’s the idea that we improve from striving, competing against our peers and using the results to inform our daily lives.

That could come from any competitive endeavor. We choose running.

In doing so, we agree to play by a common set of rules. We are asking you to abide by those rules.