How my addiction to training took a toll on my triathlon career
From a young age it was drilled into my head that I had to look a certain way as an athlete. I suffered a lot during high school which ultimately lead to an eating disorder. While the restricting only lasted 6 or so months, it still continues to play with my mind to this day. I felt the need to control something and food was no longer something I could use as an escape from my underlying mental health issues. The next best thing I could control was my training. I became obsessed. For years I have been in denial that I was addicted to training. I wouldn’t let myself miss a session. I had to have the perfect graph on Strava. I had to run at a certain pace and a certain amount of kilometres. If I took a day off I feared that I would gain weight. I denied myself rest. I abused my body. Over the years I have been able to fix some problems but it still ultimately lead me to this point of being diagnosed with RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). In simple terms, I was unable to fuel m...