<p>Many distance runners try and push through anemia until their ferratin levels become so low that OTC iron supplementation doesn’t begin to make up the deficit. A good diagnosis is key to knowing how aggressive to be with treatment. Anemia is a hot topic among runners, and it’s tempting to self-diagnose and treat, but not a great idea without basis. I’ve seen some kids who start loading up on iron because their teammate is anemic. Better to have a little more information. Also, it’s critical to differentiate between anemia and other common ailments of teens like mononucleosis or simple exhaustion from burning the candle at both ends. </p>
<p>A big red flag for anemia in distance runners is when their 5K times suddenly increase by 10-20% for no apparent reason. They do fine in practice, and are otherwise healthy. They run the first half of the race fine, and then seem to have nothing left in the tank. For a high school athlete, this is really disconcerting. Some kids start training even harder, trying to fix it. Generally if a kid is healthy, he will get faster through a training season, not slower. If the athlete, coach and parents don’t figure this out fairly quickly, the kids often feel confused, upset and depressed because they are so used to asking their legs to run and always hearing “yes.” This impacts more than just their sports performance, because the general tiredness associated with anemia drags down every part of their lives. </p>
<p>You see anemia in teens in other sports, but seemingly not in the numbers present in distance runners. Because XC and track have an objective measure (the clock) it’s pretty obvious when an athlete has a drop in performance that lasts longer than a single race. More and more high school coaches are asking kids who present with anemia symptoms to get tested before they run another race.</p>