Running advice from Jackie!

Iron = Magic Last year I ran a PR in the half marathon. I had completed a great training cycle that concluded in a six-minute improvement, despite the trip and fall and broken pinkie finger that happened around mile 7. I felt great. I was ready for more. But more, unfortunately, was not coming. I have been running since high school, more than two decades, but only got serious about distance and racing about three years ago. Every race I ran, I PR’d: 2:09 in at the St. Louis Track Club Half turned into 2:00 at the GO! just six months later, which turned into 1:54 the next year. This isn’t uncommon for someone just starting out but it was super motivating and fun. I came to love running for the same reasons I love knitting and gardening (if I ever gardened): you get out what you put in, you start with nothing and end up with something. Tangible results. Efforts rewarded. And then things got hard. Not just plateau hard. Easy run paces fell off by nearly a minute. Running began to feel more like struggling on more days than normal. Motivation flagged. I couldn’t figure it out on my own – I spent so much time and mental energy, reading books about pacing and heart rate, trying MAF running, modifying my gait, fretting as I tried to prepare for another half marathon that fall. So I hired the amazing Mark Spewak to help guide me and together we decided that I’d run the 10k instead of the half, and see where we ended up. I ran a great 10k. I hadn’t ever run one (except for that time I almost died in 90 degree heat in the UCity Memorial Day 10k), so I was going to be happy with whatever time I achieved. And I was happy. But everything still felt hard. Like I could never get enough air. Like my legs were always there but my lungs weren’t. And then, months later and after deciding to take a break from training plans and racing, I read an Instagram post from a fellow runner who was struggling with anemia. Anemia is, basically, not having enough iron in your body. Not having enough iron prevents your red blood cells from carrying enough oxygen to your muscles. Not having enough oxygen makes things VERY difficult. I also remembered that I was borderline anemic when I was a teenager. A vegetarian teenager. At this point, I had been eating mostly vegetarian for about a year. And I’m 41. Women in your 40s and above: this is for you. When we get to this point in life, one of the earliest signs of pre-premenopause (yes, it’s a thing) can be heavier periods, and this had been true for me for about a year. Heavy periods can also cause anemia. So here I was, a pre-premenopausal vegetarian runner with a history of anemia, struggling with running. I had just started a new job and insurance hadn’t kicked in yet, so testing wasn’t an option. But extra iron can’t hurt you, so I bought iron supplements and started taking them daily.  Within a week, my pace times dropped. I was running nearly a full minute faster on my easy runs without any more effort. The balance between struggle and enjoyment shifted. And then I posted about my experience on Instagram and several women commented with similar experiences. It was like magic. So if you’re struggling, and especially if you don’t eat meat or have heavier periods, go get tested for low iron. Or just start taking supplements and see what happens. It might be your magic, too.