Chris Kelly: How Exhaustion is Slowly Killing Your Performance

Running through tiredness and pain is expected as a runner, but what about if you feel absolutely exhausted on every run and have no motivation to even train (but as a stubborn runner you do it anyway). Chris Kelly may have the answer for you, and it will change your life forever, and make you feel fit, healthy, and happy.

Do you ever struggle with exhaustion? Whether you’re running or just going through the activities of daily life, there might be some issues that you’re dealing with that can make you feel “not quite right”.

This can be particularly troubling for a runner, as it impacts our main stress-relief and health-boosting activity.

The fatigue can also leach into your everyday life, making you too tired to meet with friends or attend to daily obligations.

Today’s guest, Chris Kelly, a hobby-pro mountain biker, has developed a science-based, personally customized support program to help people just like me and you feel better and achieve better long-term health.

The program, called Nourish Balance Thrive, is described on his website as “the wellness solution created for athletes, by athletes.”

He speaks to us today about finding ways to feel better about your workouts and your life in general.

Running through tiredness and pain is expected as a runner, but what about if you feel absolutely exhausted on every run and have no motivation to even train (but as a stubborn runner you do it anyway). Chris Kelly may have the answer for you, and it will change your life forever, and make you feel fit, healthy, and happy.

Some of the topics we touch upon today include:

  • Why athletes need to take control of their health.
  • How fatigue can impact your entire life, not just your workouts.
  • Why specialized testing is more effective than regular bloodwork from the doctor.
  • Running and GI issues
  • Chris’s thoughts on orthorexia
  • Information on the effectiveness of the Paleo diet
  • The science between hormones in the blood and saliva and how they impact athleticism.

Questions Chris is asked:

5:00: Why did you decide to take control of your health?

12:00: What is the team you’ve built around you?

15:30: What symptoms can indicate a problem that might need attention?

18:00: Is one symptom of a problem when the passion is gone and you’re just going through the motions?

19:50: Why is it that the tests you do are so much more effective than saliva testing or bloodwork from the doctor?

23:10: What about people who think that because they run, they can get away with anything?

24:30: What kinds of stomach upset or GI issues should runners pay attention to?

28:00: Is there a way that people should know that their GI distress is a problem that needs a solution?

29:15: Is there anything else people need to know about stomach upset?

32:15: Is it okay to have something to eat in the evening after a late morning run, or is that too soon?

33:30: Do you want to say something about orthorexia and why it’s important to strive to eat better?

36:15: Are you seeing any improvements on how people eat and feel about restaurants?

37:05: Can you share your thoughts on why Paleo works and what it means?

39:40: How long would people need to try Paleo before seeing a difference?

41:05: Can you explain the DUTCH test and why it’s so effective?

44:00: What do you mean by hormone replacement?

45:00: What is different about looking at the DUTCH test than looking at the results of cortisol levels in a blood test?

46:15: What can you do about high cortisol? What’s the benefit of knowing?

51:45: What are some other markers that can come up in the testing that people should pay attention to?

54:15: Tell us about your podcast.

[bctt tweet=”Exhausted on almost every run, but know you are not overtrained? This may be the key” username=”Runners_Connect”]

Quotes by Chris:

“The Paleo Autoimmune Diet worked spectacularly for me…. I felt so much better.”

“The program we do is mostly diet and lifestyle based…. We also do lifestyle coaching.”

“The main problem is fatigue. You need to have testing to see what’s causing the fatigue.”

“Blood chemistry is ubiquitous and very well understood… but they don’t tell you why [the results are what they are].”

“Just because you’re an athlete, it doesn’t mean that you’re immune to problems normally associated with obesity.”

“If you’ve wondered if you’re the only runner on the planet having GI issues from running, stop worrying — it’s literally everyone.”

“The [GI] situation is made worse by the crap that people eat.”

“It’s up to you to figure out what to eat after a hard run…. It’s up to you to experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t. No dietician can help you more than that.”

“If being orthorexic is what it takes to achieve my goals, I’m okay with that.”

“Restaurants just care about making people happy. They don’t care about anything else. They don’t care if the food makes you fat in the long run, or tired. They just want you to spend your  money. That’s the problem.”

“I don’t care much for the idea of Paleo being what cave people ate and this is why we should eat it…. The nutrition sciences have moved on so much further than that.”

“Blood tests are great for some things, saliva is also great for some things, but the DUTCH urine testing gives the best of both worlds.”

“The science of cortisol is so interesting. High levels can prevent you from forming short-term memories…. It breaks down proteins and slows bone formation, so you can get stress fractures.”

“Slow down. That is the greatest advice I’ve ever received.”

We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top. Please consider giving us a review on iTunes by clicking THIS link. You can follow this YouTube Video of a Demonstration of How to Leave a Review. Thank you in advance.

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Links and Resources:


Nourish Balance Thrive


NBT on Twitter


NBT on Facebook


Last week’s episode with Jason Karp


Paleo Diet for Athletes


The Paleo Solution


Endurance Planet Podcast


Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers


DUTCH Testing


Fingerstick glucose test


Interview with Pamela Hinton


Nourish Balance Thrive Podcast


Primal Blueprint


Phil Maffetone


Interview with Phil Maffetone

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Thank you so much for tuning in. Remember you can always email me tina@runnersconnect.net if you have any suggestions, feedback, or guests you would like to hear from.

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Next week, we will be talking to 800-meter runner Phoebe Wright. She’s personable and awesome, so you won’t want to miss her interview!

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