April 12, 2014.? First 400m of the season, and a ‘lesson’ learned… never ‘assume’ that you have won before the race is finished and always run your best race… as ‘K’ had thought she was far enough in the lead to not have to have a strong finish… that is, until she seen the approaching ‘shadow’ as she neared the finish line.
‘K’ still finished first, but a good lesson learned.
Over 100 High Schools from the Northwest attending, minimum Qualifying Standards for each event?and only 1 athlete per school per event allowed… tough competition.
April 30.? Fourth 400m of the season.
Due?short time between events (10 minutes), sprinting around the field to get/change uniform and a very inappropriate incident on the field, ‘K’ was very upset, could not focus and did not run well.
May 3.?? Low 50’s, cold, raining and windy. Got to meet 2 hours before it started… sitting around waiting for the first event.
Did not do an appropriate?warm-up for the conditions.
First event of the meet and ‘K’s first event, anchoring the?4 x 200m,
Shortly after getting hand-off, it is apparent ‘K’ is struggling, then about half-way signs of hamstring issues.
Hamstring strain.? Misses rest of events and next meet.
“Pretty cool to see her doing so well. I see she made a fairly successful attempt at the 300 hurdles as well”
She ran once, at a?JV meet, there was?no completion to push her to go faster.? She did it to appease the hurdle coach, as he told her if she ran this once, she wouldn’t have to do it again.
She said each time she came up to a hurdle she was terrified she was going to trip, hurt and embarrass herself.
At 5’1″, not the most ‘natural’ event for her.
She ran a 59.37… she was so frustrated and disappointed.
She said that since the day before, her legs felt heavy, they felt like ‘mush’, that she felt weak and lethargic and had no sense of power.
I continued her training and the following weekend, she ran at the border duel meet and ran even slower, 60.54, with her 100/200m sprint performance the same.
I expected a little loss of performance at some time due to the end of the program/ long taper, but not this extreme.
She complained of headache, nausea, light headedness to the extent of nearly fainting, extreme fatigue, lethargic, huge loss of appetite etc.
Went to her doctor on June 11 and I asked for blood work.
Received a call from the lab, they said ‘all’s fine’… well, from past experience, I went and got a copy of the lab work results myself.
Sure enough, her serum ferritin levels are the lowest I have seen, down to 17.
In 2011, as an incoming 9th grader, K had the same similar symptoms that she has now, just to not near as extreme as now.
Took her to the doctor for blood work, and her serum ferritin was down to 21.
After?a few weeks of Proferrin ES iron supplement and daily meals of oysters/chicken & beef liver/spinach etc., she regained her strength and felt much better.
September of 2012 she had blood work done with her physical just to make sure all was well.? She felt fine at that time, she had a pretty easy summer and did not start cross country until the beginning of September due to other issues, so her serum ferritin level was much higher, at 57, which is probably close to her ‘normal’ level.
Most all ‘experts’ about serum ferritin levels and athletes say that the minimum for a female athlete is 30, with others saying that it should be much higher.
K is still training and competing in various meets, as even though she is not as competitive, she loves to run and see all her friends.
This has really ‘scared’ K, and she is worried that she should move up to the 800m.
I explain to her that the medical is just temporary and in a couple weeks she will be doing much better… she may not run as well as she would like to this summer, but she will get better.
K has been persistent about running the 800m, she wants to be able to compete in at least 1 event and she feels that the 800m is ‘easy’ enough that she can compete…?so she will be running it a few times this summer, but keeping her sprint training the same.
We went to a meet last night, where she ran the 100m and 800m.
In the 100m, her legs felt heavy, she felt weak, lethargic etc. and did not run well, which was expected.
She did much better in the 800m,?she?said she ‘jogged’ the first lap, and just ‘jogged faster’ the?last lap…that she could have?dropped her final time by at least 5 or more seconds…
In 8th grade she set the school record in the 600m @ 1:37, which is the only time she has ran the 800m and only 3 times at that then…
She is in lane #3, wearing white top/black shorts:
Getting lab results slowly from the Dr.
‘K’ already diagnosed as iron deficient, received a call from Dr. office that her mononucleosis test is positive and that her antibody count is still very high, meaning it had been a serious infection.
Told as long as she stays out of heat, lots of rest and does not push herself, still ok to train and do limited events/meets, just be conscious of fatigue and when feeling tired or symptoms stop and rest.
The symptoms started almost 2 months ago.
‘K’ is unable to sprint, as she says she has no power and her legs feel ‘mushy’.? So she is trying the 800m as she says she can just ‘jog’ and it is easy without having to push herself she can still compete.
Here is a video of her running last night, she is in lane #2, wearing red shorts/white shirt:
This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Track Dad.
