Transgender Athletes

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larkim Aug 2019 2:23pm, 23 Aug 2019 8,387 posts	0 larkim I'm not disagreeing that there are two sides to both the inclusion and participation aspects, just that that is what NCAA state their objectives to be. I suppose I distinguish that as opposed to the objective being prioritising high performance athletics.
larkim Aug 2019 2:31pm, 23 Aug 2019 8,388 posts	0 larkim Oops, correcting myself again - NCAA isn't just athletics!! That'll teach me to self correct without checking first...
-Monty- Aug 2019 9:41am, 24 Aug 2019 1,452 posts	0 -Monty- Hi everyone. After seeing a post from a friend of mine about this thread I thought that I’d better come and see what it was all about. Blimey. I’ve spent most of this week reading all the 60 pages and trying to get a feeling of people’s concerns. As a transwoman I’d like to give my view on the question about male to female runners having an advantage of going through a male puberty and retaining their running ability. I feel that we’ve been talked about a lot but not actually contributed. Apologies if anyone has already though but want to stay hidden. A brief history but I’m not going to get too deep. I’ve been a Fetchie (and proud :D ) since 2008. A few people know me but a lot of people don’t as I tend to keep quiet. I’m about 5’ 4’’ and 65kg with a small build. I’ve been transitioning for 2 ½ years now. I am very fortunate that if you were to stand beside me on a race line, I doubt that you would know that I’m Trans. I’ve never been a winner or very competitive but I was usually in the top ¼ of race finishers most of the time. I’ve run all distances from 100M to a couple of Ultras. Before I started transitioning I ran about 4-5 times a week and would happily do a training run of 10 miles at 7:20 or 7:30 mm’s. At races it was usually a bit faster but then I was racing. My stamina and strength has totally disappeared now to a point where if I can only run 10 or 9:30 mm’s for 2.5 miles now. Any further or faster and then I quickly slow to a walk and then come to a standstill. I’m hoping that the fitness will slowly return but I doubt it. Yes I was pretty upset about my running ability reducing but I have slowly come to terms with it and am now happy. It no longer concerns me. I no longer take part in Parkruns or any races. I’ve done 282 of them and the last time I did a parkrun was last year in November. Not that I would feel intiminated but I just can’t run that far any more without being totally exhausted. I compare the feeling to that I’ve just raced marathon! I just run socially now on my own. Male to female runners having an advantage? I wish it was true as I most certainly do not. Thank you for TR, Vixx, Gobi, Fetch and anyone else that has written very kind words.
DocMoye Aug 2019 10:23am, 24 Aug 2019 29,670 posts	0 DocMoye Thank you for your contribution. It's certainly good to have the real life human perspective of the struggle that you face. I hope you find your way back to improved fitness and maybe one day back to parkrun. I for one would welcome you there.
Velociraptor Aug 2019 10:36am, 24 Aug 2019 42,871 posts	0 Velociraptor Thanks for contributing, -Monty- That's an excellent point you bring up. We talk about previous exposure to male levels of testosterone, and the consequent enduring physical consequences, as being a potential advantage, but the other side of it is that someone who has grown up and competed with male levels of testosterone and then has their hormone profile changed in a way that results in much lower testosterone levels could be at a disadvantage in comparison with those of us who have spent our lives training and racing with female levels of testosterone.
westmoors Aug 2019 11:39am, 24 Aug 2019 3,490 posts	0 westmoors Thank you Monty. I know you are only a sample of one, but you do show that not all transwomen will have an advantage over ciswomen.
LindsD Aug 2019 12:11pm, 24 Aug 2019 29,117 posts	0 LindsD Thank you, Monty
FreshStart Aug 2019 12:17pm, 24 Aug 2019 3,532 posts	0 FreshStart Thanks Monty I read this the other day and it made me think about this thread bbc.co.uk
Jovi Runner Aug 2019 12:47pm, 24 Aug 2019 6,557 posts	0 Jovi Runner This will be my last post on the matter but in what actual universes is it funny to 'fold a woman like a deckchair' If you cannot see the harm that causes to women then I despair.
fraggle Aug 2019 12:50pm, 24 Aug 2019 1,975 posts	0 fraggle Im sure there are a fair few women out there who could do the same to another woman on the rugby pitch Jovi ??