The facts are that you’d be breaking the rules if you continue to race.

Sorry to hear. But if you take treatments and you notice significant improvements in workouts, don't race, just know you are healthier. Before I would follow that path, try to get diet help. I found magnesium malate helped me with muscle soreness and fatigue.

As long as you are not taking a spot (Kona or Boston or Money) from someone that is doing it by the books, it comes down to your moral compass. Can you sleep at night knowing that you just raced and broke the rules?

I dont have a problem with it until you start finishing in the top spots of the race. MOP no problem. I am sure you will not be the only person that is bending the rules, Just dont take away from everyone that does it clean.

If you do group rides/runs everyone might notice a increase in your performance which could raise questions but if it is something that will increase your quality of life then go for it.

yes. no racing.

get some sleep, lift heavy, eat some meat, get your vegetables, and come back in a few months and see how you are. You can fix this if it's not something pathological.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I say if you're not taking a slot or award of any kind, I don't see an issue. This opinion strictly refers to amateur racing with nothing on the line other than a trophy award. Once any sort of prize is involved, no. Don't race.

If you can get the same rush and have the same motivation doing group rides or just improving fitness without racing, that is the best choice.

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Strava

Keep racing. Enjoy your life. Avoid USAT sactioned races or events where you might be tested. And if you podium don't accept.

So, you're advocating breaking the rules; you're stating that cheating isn't cheating, unless you're caught.

Why?

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no sponsors | no races | nothing to see here

good sleep is a problem. Food and lifting isn't the issue. I lift 4-5 days a week. Olympic lifting. cleans, dealifts, sntach. big movements and all the accessory work. I'm eating around 2800 cal/day 50/20/30 splits so I take in 300 grams of protein daily. The rest of my blood work was great. I've been lifting and eating like this for years.

I'm in the camp of 'don't care if you aren't taking podiums etc'........but yeah, you are still breaking the rules, and on the extreme off chance you were tested, kiss racing goodbye for 4 years.

Also note - I don't believe there is such thing as 'a small dose to bring levels up'. Once you take daily exogenous testosterone on board, it will likely shut your natural production down, so you'll need whatever full dose you require to replace all of it and get to whatever level you want.

All that said, I think you'd be way better off trying to solve it with better sleep, etc, even if it involves taking some sleep meds if needed, before you fuck with your hormone system, which will also fuck with your blood pressure, etc.

Have you ever heard the old saying, "If you have to ask, you probably already know the answer?"
I train and race to the best of my abilities and finish MOP. For you to suggest that it's ok to dope and finish MOP is insulting.
If you cheat, you don't deserve to be on the course, period.

Why can’t you fix your sleep - how bad is it?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

then maybe it's time for a change... lift 2x/wk and more vegetables

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Assuming you're American, you might consider applying for a Recreational Competitor TUE (RCTUE) through USADA. Some info here. This would let you compete at regional events.

I don't know if you'd get it, based on your condition. It's a bit fuzzy what qualifies, but presumably it's a lower standard than a regular TUE.

Edit: That said, I agree with Eric's approach. I had also had low "T" and used better sleep, CrossFit (running and ducking), and 70% of diet as raw veggies. Helped a lot. One of my goals in life is be free of chronic prescription drugs for as long as possible. At age 45 still on no prescription drugs.

"I just enjoy the training and the health benefits of the active life style.". really? low sex dive, tired, at 38? Those are my symptoms at 63. I'd give up training and/or quit your job so that you don't miss out on your youth. You'll never get that time back with any drug!

yeah I know all about that side of it. shutting down your natural test production. but I'm already at half of what the low end of the avg guy in my range is at. a full dose would still only be intended to bring me up to 400. that's all the insurance company will pay for. say if 160mg 1x per week gets me to 400 that's my full dose. if 160mg 1x per week gets me to 600 they'd cut my dose. I understand the rules are black and white and I understand the intent is to curb abuse. This is a medically diagnosed condition affecting my quality of life. Its not like I'd be taking 400mg twice a week and coming in with a test level of 1600. Would this be the exact sort of thing the "Therapeutic Use Exemption" be intended for?

I don't believe they give out TUE's for low test.

what SBRcanuck said. in theory, that's what they are for, but some products are less likely to be granted a TUE than others. testosterone and HGH are in the "practically never" bucket.

work on sleeping habits and adjust training volumes first. you're trying to lift 4-5x per week along with a load of endurance work, plus not getting decent quality sleep. That will suppress your testosterone levels right there.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I work rolling 12 shift with a 45 min commute each way. we make relief on the 4's. so try to follow standard 14 day set. i'll work days mon/tues, off wed/thurs. nights fri/sat/sunday, off mon/tues, days wed/thurs, off fri/sat/sun. the next 14 are the same pattern just swapping the night and day sets. between the rolling shift and trying to keep up with family obligations of young active kids doesn't leave a lot of time. 8 hour nights are rare. I probably avg 5 hours a night. when I work nights I'm lucky to get 3 maybe 4. ear plugs, black out shades, sleep masks. it doesn't matter. after about 3-4 hours i'm awake, like it or not

I worked rotating shifts on a submarine for years in my 20's no problem. I took a job at 35 that required rotating shifts and and it wrecked me physically. Don't underestimate the negative health effects of rotating shiftwork. Some people can tolerate, others can't. You might be surprised how many health issues go away by getting off of rotating shift. I was lucky enough that I found a different job and was able to stop them after 2 years. Best decision of my life even if it meant a pay cut.

I assume not just triathlon, but maybe running and cycling? What governing body do your races fall under? Follow their rules. See if you can get a TUE. If you cannot, just do races and events that do not have a governing body or any rules prohibiting exogenous testosterone.

I'm advocating continuing the healthy lifestyle. I'm advocating participating in events that don't participate in testing. And I'm advocating in not accepting any awards.

It sucks that this person has low T. It sucks that his doctor is recommending treatment. It sucks that people like you think he should stop participating in his hobby.

This is a hobby. He is not racing for money. As long as he isn't hurting anyone, then yes he should be able to continue to race if it brings him joy. If it hurts someone then no he shouldn't. I think I identified the primary ways that someone would actually get hurt and mitigated that.

I don't race anymore (to much family stuff), but when I did, I was not too concerned with my placing unless it was for podium or nationals slot. If I was 4th or lower, it was all about how my performance/times were, not those around me. If this person took third, but stepped aside for the 4th place person, what is the harm?

How much endurance training are you doing now? When I first started seeing similar problems, I got similar test results (cannot remember my levels, though). Tried a few things and nothing worked/changed, but was training pretty consistantly.

Fast forward a couple years to where I was pretty sick (so no training for about a month) and was getting blood work done anyway and had things retested: everything was perfect.

Only difference was training load (and probably diet, maybe more sleep, but mainly training). This was all right around your age when I first got into tri from being strickly a runner.

Don't know my levels now - I'm 42 - but I seem to be training and racing better than I ever have, and take exactly zero meds. Maybe the beer helps...

TL;DR: There are other options to get balanced out.

That being said, however, my plan if I ever do end up needing any type of TRT or what-not is to simply contact race directors and ask to not be scored. I enjoy the community aspect of racing in conjunction with pushing/testing myself, and wouldn't want to give that up. Plus, I only ever do smaller, charity races (no for-profits) and wouldn't want to stop contributing in that manner.

TL;DR Part 2: Train and race when you can, just don't allow yourself to be scored.

Feel free to message me on what I have/haven't done. Good luck!
- Jeff

You will not get a TUE for Testosterone but it is possible to get an RCTUE for it.

I'm a crappy sleeper too, but that is your low hanging fruit right there. Get a sleep aid of some sort from your doc, or even just over the counter melatonin, and try to get 7 hours.