Running on Empty - Anemia

I'm now 54 and have been running since my late 20s.

Australian Swimming

Growing up in Australia I did a lot of swimming training. The ground roots swim movement is huge in Australia and many of us are proficient swimmers. One reason why Australian swimmers do so well on the world stage even with our relatively small population.

I had always liked the idea of running long distances but it always seemed out of reach and didn't come easily to me. I feel like its probably pretty hard work for a lot of us.

When my family moved to the US when I was in my late twenties I realized that not every country has an abundance of swimming pools available to the public. I had to look for another form of workout.

I paid for the asics running shoes - so damn it, I was going to run

I started to run which was very hard work. I remember measuring out that first 5k and struggling through it. I had invested in a pair of asics running shoes so I wasnt going to give this up.

Anyway that began my running history and we have lived in a number of different countries since this time the one constant has been my running in many different environments.

Anemia

Throughout this time I have at times struggled with the running and it has been harder than it should be given my training. I had read about anemia so I supplemented with iron and things generally improved. This was without having blood tests, not a great plan.

When I was in my mid 40's I was going through perimenopause and was bleeding pretty consistently over probably the next five years. We didn't have great health insurance, at this time we were living in the Bahamas. I never had my iron levels checked. I had also begun following a vegan diet. You are right in thinking this was a recipe for disaster.

Needless to say my running times deteriorated slowly and the running became more of a struggle. When I was about 50 we moved to the US again and I finally went for a full physical with blood tests. At this time I was literally struggling through half a mile at a time. I can't believe now that I didn't think something was very wrong. But I put it down to stress with another move from country to country and getting older which of course is ridiculous. I feel like when you have a significant anemia you are not thinking too clearly but think you know everything.

Colon Cancer?

The doctor called on a Saturday and told me to go straight to the emergency room as I was severely anemic. I lay down for a few hours worried about how much this would cost even though we did have health insurance. She called again later in the day and told me to get straight to the emergency room. This time I went.

The doctors were great and kept me over night for a blood transfusion. He talked about how anemia sneaks up on you. He told me the fable of the boiling frog. Describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. This pretty much summed up my experience.

The doctors were actually convinced I had colon cancer as anemia is one of the most common symptoms, thankfully this was not the case.

I went out a couple of days after the transfusion and literally breezed through a 6 mile run. It was truly unbelievable.
The doctor put me on a regime of iron and vitamin C supplements. I continued to improve and kept an eye on my iron levels it took a few months for them to come up to normal.

I feel like throughout my life I have been anemic to some degree at times particularly after having my children.

I think for women when your running seems like it isn't what it should be you may well be anemic. I would really like to share this story to save other women this struggle.

Always be aware of your blood iron levels even a small drop off may affect your running performance. This is especially the case if you are following a restricted diet such as becoming vegan or vegetarian.

On a side note my current running shoes with a hole at the top of the left one which always happens pretty quickly to all my running shoes not sure why. Any thoughts?