RED-S Is a Real Problem for Some Runners—Here’s What You Need to Know

Jesse Thomas, now a retired elite triathlete, didn’t always fuel his long runs like a two-time Ironman champion. Years before he won his first triathlon, as a cross-country runner at Stanford University, he’d sometimes go 24 to 48 hours without eating—and still head to practice.

“It was really, really bad,” he says. “But working hard is part of being an athlete, so it didn’t feel abnormal at the time.” Plus, he wanted to make the cut for the national team, and he thought losing weight would help him reach his goal. “I had a bigger, more athletic build than the other guys, and I didn’t think I was lean enough to be competitive.”.....

.....To be clear, those ingrained thoughts—that certain foods are bad, that elite athletes need to look a certain way, that working yourself into the ground is part of the sport—can be hard to shake. As Thomas notes, people often see the relationship between hard work and success as linear: the more you put in, the more you get out. “But to get to the next level, you need to realize that the curve goes down at a certain point, and with more work, your performance suffers because you’re limiting yourself,” he says. “Once I found balance, I had so much more success.”.....

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Bethany`s Notes: RED-S is not just focused on women but also on men. Both genders are faced with issues and beliefs that leaner means stronger or more is better but that goes out the door when your performances suffer and you need to reevaluate.