I’m a 48 year old female distance runner putting in over 65 miles per week (been running most of my life and was competitive when younger). Three months ago I started estrogen and progesterone (E+P) HRT (two pumps of estrogel and 100mg of prometrium inserted vaginally), and it’s been amazing for my joints and tendons, a bunch of old niggles/injuries have completely healed.
The downside is I’ve felt noticeably slower with less power in my runs. I also completely lost my libido, so my doctor recently added testosterone cream (I’ve been applying a fingertip of androfeme every day for about two weeks now). I haven’t got my T tested yet, looking to do this next week.
After about a week starting T, I felt better overall and the libido is coming back. However, I haven’t noticed any improvements yet in my running paces, power, or recovery.
Does anyone here have experience with long distance running while on testosterone (especially as part of menopause/peri HRT)? I’d love to hear how it’s affected your performance, power, speed, recovery, and training in general. Did it take a while to notice running specific benefits? Any tips or things to watch out for?