6.1 miles with Andy. 42:00.
Splits of 7:00, 6:47, 7:44 (trail uphill), 6:37, 6:39, 6:32, :38.
Felt pretty terrible for most of it. But it's a run. Think my iron levels must be low. I'll start taking some more today. usually that's the problem.
Fighting the Thalassemia minor is tough enough. That keeps my normal hemoglobin levels under the normal range as it is. When my iron gets low and I get iron deficiency anemic as well then all I want to do is sleep like I have been doing the last week. Plus my runs suffer badly which they have all week. I'll take the iron this week, then next week when I get back from Lexington go get my blood checked to make sure it's going up. I usually take one iron pill a day, but when it's low I need to take 3. So three it is for the next week, no coffee, other than before the race, and my levels should be good by next weekend.
The trick is no caffeine because that blocks iron absorption. Taking the iron with a glass of orange juice helps the iron absorb. In 2012 when my hemoglobin levels were down to about 10 I, my absorption rate was less than 10%, so only 10% of the iron I was taking was being put in. After cutting the coffee, and taking the iron with orange juice my absorption levels went up to 30% which is the normal value and my hemoglobin levels went up to about 14.7 which is the highest they had ever been and I felt super great. 15-18 is the normal range, but with the Thal. Minor, I'll never get into the normal range.
The good thing is this is an easy fix. And it doesn't take too long before I have so much energy that I'm wound up super. And knowing the signs early is good. If I had to guess my hemoglobin level is probably around 11, which is really low. But by the end of the week it will be 13 at least. Couple of weeks I can get it close to 15 and I'll feel like superman. Doctors actually say they can give me EPO to get my levels into the normal range, but I'd feel like I was cheating if I did that, so I'll get up as best I can and deal with that.
Most people with Thal. Minor never know they have it because most people who have it don't train like I do. But I'm not allowed to race in hot conditions( I ignore that one), or at altitude. My cells can actually sickle if I run hard in the heat or altitude and I might have to have surgery as a result. Done a lot of research on it and the doctor I saw when I was training in North Carolina had a lot of information about it that helped.
The trick is no caffeine because that blocks iron absorption. Taking the iron with a glass of orange juice helps the iron absorb. In 2012 when my hemoglobin levels were down to about 10 I, my absorption rate was less than 10%, so only 10% of the iron I was taking was being put in. After cutting the coffee, and taking the iron with orange juice my absorption levels went up to 30% which is the normal value and my hemoglobin levels went up to about 14.7 which is the highest they had ever been and I felt super great. 15-18 is the normal range, but with the Thal. Minor, I'll never get into the normal range.
The good thing is this is an easy fix. And it doesn't take too long before I have so much energy that I'm wound up super. And knowing the signs early is good. If I had to guess my hemoglobin level is probably around 11, which is really low. But by the end of the week it will be 13 at least. Couple of weeks I can get it close to 15 and I'll feel like superman. Doctors actually say they can give me EPO to get my levels into the normal range, but I'd feel like I was cheating if I did that, so I'll get up as best I can and deal with that.
Most people with Thal. Minor never know they have it because most people who have it don't train like I do. But I'm not allowed to race in hot conditions( I ignore that one), or at altitude. My cells can actually sickle if I run hard in the heat or altitude and I might have to have surgery as a result. Done a lot of research on it and the doctor I saw when I was training in North Carolina had a lot of information about it that helped.
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