How my season was ruined.

My first high school cross country season was incredible. I was a freshman with a varsity spot at a school with a very decorated history. I was running with some of the most amazing athletes in the school. As the season progressed, I was only getting stronger and faster. We were consistently winning big invititationals and everyone had high expectations for us at the state meet. And of course, we showed out and were state runner ups. 

Flash forward to my freshman track season, which was devastatingly ended early by a severe IT band injury. Without being able to run, I was so upset and my mental state started on a downward slope. 

But finally, sophomore cross country season rolled around. I love that sport with my whole heart and I was ecstatic that the season was beginning. I had trained all summer and was expecting to be racing at the front of my team, and my coach thought so too. But race after race, my times weren’t getting any better. They were actually getting progressively worse. My PR this year was slower than my worst race the year before. I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t sick, but something was wrong. 

After races, I felt empty. I felt like I was about to collapse, even though I hadn’t run anywhere near my ability. My coach wisely suggested that I get my iron levels checked. I just wanted a reason, an explanation, for why I was running so slow, so I went in for blood work. 

As a previous story stated, the normal blood ferritin for a distance runner is anywhere from 60 to 200. I was at a 4. I was told that they were surprised that I was even making it through my workouts, let alone a normal school day. I was immediately put on high dose iron supplements, but at this point it was too late to save my season. I ran in an open race after just two weeks of being on the supplement, and dropped two minutes. I felt good again. I loved running again. I felt strong. 

Iron deficiency ruined my season for me and it’s often a problem that’s overlooked, but I would highly recommend that you catch it early and save yourself before it really starts effecting you.

- Anonymous