The musings of a multidimensional multisport athlete
Ali Brauer Was A Rising Pro. Then It All Came Apart.
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This is the story of how one promising young triathlete met an all-too-common fate, written by Kristen Seymour of Triathlete Magazine. Click here to read.
"There are many less-than-glamorous aspects in the sport of triathlon. Peeing into a chamois pad, the volatile snot rockets that don’t make it over your shoulder, the chronic chlorine stench, funky toenails, oozing blisters… These are the things triathletes constantly encounter yet rarely speak up about because it’s simply part of the sport; enduring discomfort is part of the sport. But how much discomfort is too much? Where is the line drawn between drive and destruction? Last February, author Kristen Seymour with Triathlete Magazine published a phenomenally informative article discussing Ali Brauer’s experience as a professional triathlete who met an all-too-common fate via overtraining, even when she was doing everything right. 'Often, we hear about RED-S and overtraining syndrome (OTS) in the context of disordered eating, or athletes who didn't listen to their coaches and went overboard. But this is not my story'. I had the opportunity to interview Ali, who is a...
A few months ago, I made the decision to stop all structured training in an effort to regain my health. I've been struggling with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) for over a year now, and after a lot of trial and error, it became clear that I needed more rest - mentally through less structured training, and physically through less training in general. Throughout this unstructured period, I have placed emphasis on moving my body in ways that bring me joy. Accordingly, I have freed myself up to try new things purely for enjoyment. This is in major contrast to the last four years of my career, during which enjoyment was tossed aside in favor of an "all-in" mindset and an all-consuming pursuit of success - and during which I operated under the idea that anything non-triathlon-specific would detract from my triathlon endeavors. But recently, through my efforts to combat burnout, I have realized that this is not the case at all. In fact, these non-triathlon-specific ...
Yesterday the triathlon world was rocked by news that American pro Collin Chartier, last year's winner of IRONMAN Mont Tremblant and the PTO US Open, was suspended for 3 years after testing positive for EPO - arguably the biggest doping case in the sport's history. I do not know Collin personally. However, I looked to him as an example of a fellow pro who seemed to chip away year by year for multiple years and finally had his big breakthrough. Though he denies doping with EPO until November 2022, his admission that he has taken L-carnitine (a substance that disgraced track and field coach Alberto Salazar was rather enthusiastic about) for quite some time speaks to the fact that at best, he has been sitting in a grey area for a while, and his progression in the sport is not as it seems on the surface. What struck me most deeply about Collin's situation was his explanation that poor mental health as a result of going "all in, too much so" is ultimately what drove hi...
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