When Every Run Feels Uphill: My Wake-Up Call With RED-S
There was a stretch last summer where every run felt like a mountain climb—even the downhill ones. My legs were bricks. My breath was shallow. My muscles throbbed. And worst of all, my mind—usually my strongest muscle—was wilting under some invisible weight I couldn’t name.
At the time, I didn’t know what was going on. I just thought maybe I was overtraining or tired. But then, something happened that made it click.
My period was late. That never happens. I’m like clockwork.
So I did what I always do when something in my body feels off—I dove into research. And that’s when I found it: RED-S—Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. A condition caused by low energy availability, which affects everything from performance to hormones, bone health, mood, and beyond.
I realized: I’d run myself straight into the RED-S zone.
I’m not a nutritionist. I’m not a coach. I’m just a woman in her 40s who stumbled into trail running three years ago and somehow fell in love with ultradistances and running up mountains for fun.
When I started running, I figured it was simple: lace up, hit the trail, get it done. But I’ve learned the hard way that running well—running far, strong, and healthy—takes a lot more than just miles on the legs. It takes fueling your body like the powerful, capable, high-performance machine it is.
After my RED-S realization, I pulled back. Tracked my food. Rested. Rebuilt. And finished 2024 stronger than I started—with a 65-mile finish under my belt. My longest distance ever.
I was proud. And I was sure I had it figured out.
Then came 2025.
Cabin Fever 50K in February. This race holds a special place in my heart. Last year it snowed—the kind of snow that turns a forest into a snow globe. It was pure magic.
This year? Cold rain. All. Day. Long. But I ran it strong. I crushed my goal time and set a new PR by an hour. That race was just a training run for my 100K coming up in April, and it gave me the boost I needed. I was flying high.
But then March rolled in with another 50K. More elevation. A few extra miles. I went in feeling good. Strong legs. Solid mindset. But by mile 8, my energy vanished. I finished, but it wasn’t joyful. I bonked. Hard. I knew something was off.
Once again—I went back to the basics. I tracked. And what I found shocked me.
Turns out, you can eat clean and well… and still not eat enough.
I was eating whole foods, avoiding processed stuff (besides the usual gels and carb drinks during runs), and I thought I was doing great. But when I really looked at my overall intake—calories, macros, micronutrients, electrolytes—I saw the truth.
I was under-fueling.
Consistently.
Maybe not enough to stop my cycle again, but enough to drain my energy. To affect my performance. To keep me skimming the edge of RED-S, and paying the price in silent, sneaky ways.
But, here’s the thing. I was fueling my runs well. It was everything else throughout the day that wasn’t cutting it.
So I reset. Hard.
I meal prepped. I planned. I ate like it was my job (because honestly, for ultrarunners, it kind of is). And in less than a month, the changes were astonishing:
I’m sleeping deeper.
Recovering faster.
Running faster without trying.
Enjoying my runs again.
My heart rate is stable.
My “easy” runs actually feel… easy (what a concept).
And here’s the kicker…
My incontinence disappeared.
Yep. That thing so many women don’t talk about. The post-baby, peri-menopause bladder battles. I had it from the moment I started running and assumed it was just part of the package. I tried everything—strengthening, breathing, forums, and research.
But nothing helped—until now.
Getting my nutrition on point didn’t just give me back my energy. It gave me back my freedom. No more planning runs around bathrooms or tree cover—no more quiet stress in the back of my mind.
Could RED-S have been the silent cause all along? It sure feels like it.
So here’s my plea to you:
If you're a woman pushing your body—whether it's for ultras, marathons, or even just your own sanity—track your nutrition. Even just for a couple of weeks. Look at what you’re really getting. Not just the calories, but the protein, the fats, the carbs, the electrolytes, the iron, the calcium, the whole dang picture.
Because maybe that fatigue isn’t just “life.”
Maybe that achy recovery isn’t just “getting older.”
Maybe that nagging injury, that brain fog, that off feeling—maybe it’s your body asking for more.
And you, my friend, deserve to give it more.
Not just to run stronger.
But to live stronger.
So fuel up. Lift yourself out of the red. You don’t have to suffer to be powerful. You just have to listen.
