Hoping to find some answers

Longtime readers of this blog know that in the last year and a half or so I've dealt with a general feeling of sluggishness: not much power, not much energy, not much giddy-up... I've felt listless in the boat, and in the flatwater distance races that make up my schedule in this part of the country, athletes I'd always been competitive with have been leaving me in the dust.

This issue has re-asserted itself in recent weeks.  Last week I chalked it up to the miserable weather, but on a beautiful Tuesday morning this week, I felt as impotent as ever.  As I labored through a gym session and then tried to do a set of ten 30-second sprints in the boat (I stopped after five), my physical ennui combined with thoughts of "Why am I even doing this?"  That might be the worst part of phases like this: I can't tell how much of it is a genuine physical problem and how much of it is just in my head.

A couple of friends--most notably my buddy Rob in New York, a chiropractor who specializes in nutrition and general wellness--have suggested that my testosterone level might be low.  A quick Google query tells me that common symptoms of low testosterone include fatigue, loss of muscular strength, moodiness and irritability, depressed mood, and decreased sense of well-being.  I can check all those boxes at least some of the time lately.  I've mentioned that my weight has been below normal, and maybe decreased muscle mass is accountable for that.

Whatever the case, on Tuesday I decided it was time to confront whatever is going on with me physically.  I hate dealing with doctors' offices, and of course it seems like I've been to mine a lot lately because of my annual physical in November and a PCR test for travel to South Africa in January, but I went ahead and made an appointment.  They got me in yesterday morning.  The doctor wasn't entirely convinced that low testosterone is to blame--she said men with that condition typically gain weight.  She said a couple of other things worth checking are my thyroid level and my P.S.A. (prostate specific antigen).  I bled out some blood so the lab techs can check all those things.

It'll take about a week to get the results, so all I can do now is try to keep on moving.  This morning I did another gym session, though I skipped the second set of pull-ups because they were putting a lot of stress on my left deltoid that's been sore for at least the last month (I've had too many other worries to mention it here before now).  Then I went to the river.  The gorgeous weather has continued all week, and I felt a lot better in the boat today than I did on Tuesday.  Maybe taking a couple of days completely off helped, or maybe I'm feeling more upbeat mentally now that I've taken steps to find out what's going on in my body.  I did a pretty strong 60-minute paddle and enjoyed the nice morning.

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