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.
I struggled at Nationals to go a 5:17, and that was tapered and shaved. The week before, in practice, I went a 5:25 with a push start. Just last week, I went a 5:18 at the end of practice. So for me, 10 seconds per 500 is a big deal. I've got a meet in a few weeks, so I'll find out then how much I've really improved.
I know it may sound like I'm making too much of a fuss over a poor season, but I'm trying to nail down the reason, or reasons, why. Just one of those things that keeps me up all night thinking.:D
Those are solid times for a 500 fr , so i can see where a 10-15 sec drop is significant and why the iron then seems to be the significant actor. Over the last few years I've tried to focus on a more alkaline diet (with much less red meat) to improve muscle building post middle-age - more spinach and raisins that are high in iron too.
I struggled at Nationals to go a 5:17, and that was tapered and shaved. The week before, in practice, I went a 5:25 with a push start. Just last week, I went a 5:18 at the end of practice. So for me, 10 seconds per 500 is a big deal. I've got a meet in a few weeks, so I'll find out then how much I've really improved.
I know it may sound like I'm making too much of a fuss over a poor season, but I'm trying to nail down the reason, or reasons, why. Just one of those things that keeps me up all night thinking.:D
Those are solid times for a 500 fr , so i can see where a 10-15 sec drop is significant and why the iron then seems to be the significant actor. Over the last few years I've tried to focus on a more alkaline diet (with much less red meat) to improve muscle building post middle-age - more spinach and raisins that are high in iron too.
