Bret

April 29, 2024

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Location:

Milton,GA,USA

Member Since:

Jul 27, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PR's -

Mile - 4:38 (High School)

2 Mile - 10:12 (High School)

3 mile - 15:51 (High School)

10k - 35:19 (High School)

Marathon - 2:59 marathon (London -2013)

Half marathon - 1:25:18 (Deseret News 2013)

Completed all 6 of the World Marathon Majors 2024

Completed each of the 5 majors (NY, Chicago, Boston, London & Berlin) at least twice.

8 x Boston Marathon (1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2020 (virtual due to covid) 2021, 2022)

13 x NYC Marathon (1997, 1998, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Short-Term Running Goals:

~~Sub 3 hour marathon~~

Long-Term Running Goals:

Continue to enjoy running and racing as long as my body permits me.

Personal:

Old guy - (grandfather even) been running for 40+ years.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	10.00	Month:	148.75	Year:	541.80

Wed, Dec 12, 2012

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.00

AM - 10 easy slow kinda-cruddy feeling miles before work this morning.

So I finally got my blood test results in and I think I have identified my culprit of racing malaise. Ferritin level is 24. That may do for a sedentary person, (normal limits are 20 to 380) but not someone training as I do and wanting to race competitively - indeed from what I have read, the Ferritn levels need to be at least 35 and for many elites (not that I am an elite) it averages in the the 65-70 range. I think Jake K's report in August shared that his was 108.

HGB is on the low end too 13.7 and Crit is only at 40%.

By comparison - in March of this year my HGB was 14.2 and my Crit was 42.6%.

Will continue to focus on Iron intake with some supplementation as well as diet. And will get rechecked again in a month or so.

Comments

From Jake K on Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 08:54:43 from 155.100.226.191

Yeah you get the iron up a bit and I bet it'll make a big difference. Mine was 74 and 108 the last two times I've had it checked. I've cut back on supplementing since then, as I don't want it to get too high, but you have some room to go up.

From Bret on Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 08:59:40 from 64.128.133.66

Thanks Jake - yeah I just checked your blog entry from August to compare. I had a really good-feeling running yesterday after a week of using the iron supplements. I understand it can take about a month or so to start getting back to normal.

Incredible amount of research out there on Iron and endurance athletes. Most doctors are not that clued into the relationship with Ferritin and endurance athletes' race performances.

I was not surprised by the lab results - it really confirmed what I suspected was going on.

From Jake K on Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 09:03:54 from 155.100.226.191

It makes sense. Your training has been solid but it just seemed like there was a little something missing, holding you back a bit. This is so common - it gets a lot of attention in females, but guys have issues almost just as much. Give it at least a month to get re-checked, because it does take a while for the levels to raise.

Good timing on figuring this out now, before you are too far into your next marathon buildup.

From Andrea on Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 12:23:21 from 72.37.171.52

How much iron are you currently taking? The research seems to indicate taking about 60mg every day (preferably with OJ) to increase the levels in runners.

From Bret on Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 12:49:38 from 64.128.133.66

Hey Andrea - I just started taking the iron last week. Have not settled on any one particular product that sits well with me. I tried something from GNC which had 18 mg - and I took 2 per day for 4 days. Then I tried a different product that had 65 mg - but that did not sit well with me.

I got something online called Proferrin yesterday that has 12 mg and they recommend taking it 3 times per day. I like the lack of any digestive side effects with it.

I was recommended to try EP-No (an obvious take on banned EPO, but this is not banned)- which has 30 mg and to take it 2 times per day. Just ordered it this morning and will give it a shot. It is marketed specifically to endurance athletes and has both heme and non-heme iron with vitamin c (and B 12) for maximum absorption.

Do you or Jake use a particular/recommended product?

From Andrea on Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 14:06:10 from 72.37.171.52

Jake and I must both have insensitve stomachs because we just take the generic kind from the grocery store all at once with no problems.

Sounds like you are finding what works for you! Hopefully this will give you more pep :)

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