I few months ago, I posted about what a horrible meet, performance-wise, I had at short course nats this year. Couldn't figure out why I swam so slow, and why I was feeling so fatigued.
Anyway, I had a physical a few weeks later, and my blood work showed my ferritin level at 11, and my hematocrit at 39%. Both very low values for an endurance athlete. Doctor has me taking iron pills (ferrous sulfate, 325 mg, twice daily), and I've been taking Proferrin ES for about 6 weeks. Just in the last month, I've noticed a huge increase in performance. I went a :52:33 for my swim split at Ironman Boulder, and I've been feeling great in workouts. Anybody else ever experienced iron deficiency? I'm wondering if the increased performance I'm seeing is due to the replenished iron, or if it's due to something else.
10-15 seconds in a 500 free is only dropping .5 to .75 sec. per lap for 20 laps. Training and tapering could easily result in that drop, unless you are very fast. No doubt an increase in iron and red count would be very helpful too, but I'm not sure I would lay the low count on lack of red meat and sweat from running and cycling. A good physical with blood work might provide a better understanding.
10-15 seconds in a 500 free is only dropping .5 to .75 sec. per lap for 20 laps. Training and tapering could easily result in that drop, unless you are very fast. No doubt an increase in iron and red count would be very helpful too, but I'm not sure I would lay the low count on lack of red meat and sweat from running and cycling. A good physical with blood work might provide a better understanding.
