As a division 1 cross-country and track runner at the University of Michigan, Erin Finn became an NCAA All-American and Big Ten Champion. But multiple injuries slowed her down, and at a certain point, her body stopped responding well to training. By the time she learned it was because she wasn’t eating or resting enough, which had led to a syndrome called Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs, and formerly RED-S), it was too late. Looking back, she wonders what more she could have achieved as a runner if she had been fueling properly.
“My career might have looked very different if I had been able to internalize these concepts earlier,” she says. “I suffered many injuries, and probably have lifelong consequences with bone density that I’m working on fixing.” Now a medical resident, Finn started an educational resource and virtual community called Out of the RED-S to help other athletes avoid the same fate.
What is REDs?
REDs happens when athletes don’t eat enough to fuel their bodies. At the center of this syndrome is
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