Can it be true?!?

I have had a tremendous amount of sadness and frustration over my increasingly slow running times. In the summer of 2006 I noticed that my times were getting slower and slower. While training for the Chicago half in August 2006 I gave blood and I don't know that I ever fully recovered my speed and energy. After that I had the issues with vertigo, then Ethan came along and my running became more and more spotty. I have worked very hard to get my mileage back up to 2006 levels, but my energy and speed are both still in the toilet.

I went to the doctor and the bloodwork came back normal. This would be a good thing in most circumstances, but I KNOW something is wrong with me. I went from a 10:30 or 11:00 mile to a 15:00 or even 16:00 mile with no obvious problem. I started reading and researching again.

It turns out that runners, especially distance runners are prone to a special kind of anemia. While hemoglobin levels (part of what my doctor tested) may look normal, ferretin (which dr. didn't test for) can be low. For runners, even readings in the low end of normal are unacceptable because they represent the amount of stored iron in the blood which prevents fatigue and boosts endurance. I could have written many of the personal accounts of this that I have read. After my blood draw last week I started supplementing iron, adding in a vitamin c pill to help absorption, and sadly, I also quit coffee cold turkey. Apparently coffee blocks iron absorption.

Early this morning I got up and very nearly went back to bed. I was frustrated and sad over my inconclusive bloodwork and it just felt pointless. I had the first strong run that I have had in a very long time. I was still not back to my 2006 levels, of course, but this was a 3.5 mile run and I got back to the house 15 minutes earlier than usual. I can't believe this may actually be working! My first marathon may not have to be over 6 hours!

Looking back, it all makes sense. Times tapered off as I was doing endurance training in the summer. Endurance training and hot weather are both bad for ferretin levels. Giving blood pushed it over the edge. I stopped worrying about it for a while because I was distracted by the vertigo situation, but when Ethan was born and I was ready to start running again, I began rinking coffee regularly again so I just couldn't recover.

I can't wait to see where this leads!