Where were you 365 days ago?

I also experienced ferritin issues my junior cross country season. It is the most frustrating time I've ever had in my running career. You go from feeling confident coming off some strong training to poor performance after poor performance and there really isn't a clear explanation. With ferritin issues (anemia, iron deficiency) it's not like a stress fracture or shin splints where there is a clearer cut answer to poor racing and a clear cut answer to recovery. With these issues you find yourself questioning your confidence and your mental preparation even though the root cause is something physical that can only be described as feeling like crap. Fortunately like you my coach suggested a blood test to check if that was where the problem lied. And just as fortunately I had finally had a physical explanation for my poor races. Unfortunately by that time it was nearly my cross country state meet and I couldn't really salvage anything from the season. Also it is unfortunate that many high school teams are unaware of this issue. Seasons of many athletes, boys and girls (more common in girls), are completely lost. I suggest to any runner, specifically high school/college runners to have their blood checked early in their summer training to make sure there is plenty of time to solve this problem before it is too far into the regular season. Thanks for putting this up, nice to hear that other runners are back on the right track as well.