“You need to take this week off from running.” – never the words you want to hear from a doctor. But that’s exactly what I was told last week.
Let me back up a bit… a week ago Saturday I went out for a run with my hubs J. Despite the fact that it was a rare cool morning, with low humidity I struggled to get my breathing under control – something was clearly off. And, truthfully, I’ve been feeling off for a bit…really tired, low energy, laboring through my runs. This couldn’t all be about lack of running mojo, motivation or just the heat and humidity.
So I went to the doctor and insisted on a work up – and believe me I had to get pushy! But I got a full blood work-up and an EKG. The results – all is good except for iron deficiency anemia. My counts were very low thanks to my crazy irregular cycle and heavy periods – of the joys of perimenopause (not!) As my doctor explained, it looks like my body’s been “coping” for a while, but now has reach a point where it can’t cope any more. And, eating iron-rich foods alone are not going to do the trick – I need the boost from iron supplements. So I was told to start the iron pills and lay off the running to give my body a few days to start to bounce back. Not ideal, but at least I have an answer and a plan.
OK so here comes my public service announcement – if you’re feeling really “off,” don’t be quick to just chalking it up to a lack of motivation, the weather, etc. – listen to your body! If you do think you’re anemic, it’s best not to just start taking iron pills on your own – go see you doctor first! And, don’t take “well everybody’s tired”as an answer – Advocate for yourself!
After spending last week focusing only on planks and some low-key core and strength work, I’m itching to get back to running and hoping I get cleared to go this week.
Have you ever an iron deficiency?
