Greetings, Tribe!
With two weeks to go before Chicago, my body decided to throw a bit of a fit. I’m anemic. Again.
About a year and a half ago, I found myself coming home from teaching and could barely get myself off of the couch or out of bed the next morning. I decided I was over it, went to the doctor, and she found I was crazy anemic and prescribed me multiple doses of iron every day. My word, what a difference!!! I stayed on this regimen for several months until I was able to get my bloodwork relatively normalized, and until I felt like myself again.
Well, last Saturday it happened again. I got home from teaching, couldn’t get off of the couch. When I finally made it to bed, I slept and stayed in bed for over 12 hours. Only then did I feel as though I could even get up to make breakfast. I tried drinking great amounts of water and NUUN (a fantastic electrolyte replacement tablet that you can just drop into your water), but that didn’t help one bit. My schedule had my last 20miler scheduled (I pushed it back because of lack of sleep and 90 degree temperatures outside the week before), but after having a small breakdown I realized that it wasn’t worth pushing. There was no way I could survive 10 miles let alone 20! After resting some more, it hit me: I bet I’m anemic.
Since then I’ve put myself back on a two-a-day iron supplement regimen and am starting to feel like I can at least get through my work day without wilting into a slump. Do I feel normal yet? No, but I certainly am on the right track.
The moral of the story: listen to your body. If something seems wrong, talk to your doctor, take a rest day, do something! There’s no need to keep pushing, you know your body better than anyone.
One more week until Chicago….
In Search of My Running Tribe 