What if you were doing everything right—training hard, eating well, staying consistent—and still not feeling your best on the run?
For a lot of endurance athletes, especially women, it’s easy to chalk that up to stress or overtraining. You might even blame yourself for not being motivated enough, tough enough.
But what if it was something else entirely?
Low Iron, Big Impact
You’re logging the miles, sticking to your plan, and still feel like your legs are made of lead. It’s frustrating and confusing. But iron could be the missing piece.
Iron plays a crucial role in carrying oxygen through your bloodstream and producing energy. When levels dip, performance suffers. And for endurance athletes, iron deficiency is surprisingly common.
High training volume increases iron demands. Add menstrual blood loss or a diet low in heme iron (the type found in animal products), and even strong, consistent runners can fall behind. There’s also a lesser-known factor: foot-strike hemolysis—the repeated impact of body weight on the feet can break down red blood cells, reducing iron levels over time. It’s a well-documented phenomenon among endurance runners and athletes in high-impact sports.
Jessica Brake learned this the hard way. A passionate marathoner, she had just qualified for the Boston Marathon with a personal best of 3:29. But afterward, her performance declined sharply. Despite training just as hard, she finished her next marathon nearly an hour slower. Her energy was gone, and her confidence along with it.
Know the Signs
One metaphor compares running with low iron to “breathing through a straw.” And when your levels improve, it’s more like breathing through a Slurpee straw. You still have to work, but you’re finally getting enough fuel.
So, how do you know if your iron might be low?
Watch for:
- Persistent fatigue
- Sluggish recovery
- Workouts that feel harder than they used to
- Cold hands and feet
- Dizziness after standing up
- Increased anxiety or shortness of breath
If any of this sounds familiar, don’t dismiss it. These symptoms could point to iron deficiency.
What Female Athletes Should Know
Women are especially prone to low iron levels due to monthly blood loss through menstruation. When you layer on endurance training, it becomes harder to maintain healthy levels, especially for athletes who follow plant-based diets or have limited red meat intake.
Conditions like endometriosis can make it worse. Endometriosis is a chronic condition where tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, like on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or elsewhere in the pelvis. It often causes pain, heavy bleeding, and inflammation. It can also remain undiagnosed for years.
That means many female athletes may be losing more iron than they realize and not know why their performance is slipping.
Understanding how your hormone cycles affect performance can be game-changing. It also highlights the importance of iron testing as part of routine health checks, particularly when progress stalls for no obvious reason.
For Brake, the turning point came after hearing a podcast about iron and endurance athletes. She got a blood test. The result? Her iron was low.
After researching options and seeing a recommendation from elite runner and dietitian Rachel Hannah, she turned to Ferosom Iron.
Food Isn’t Always Enough
Even with a balanced diet, many athletes struggle to get enough iron. It’s even more difficult for those who follow a vegetarian or plant-based diet. That’s because iron from plant foods (non-heme iron) isn’t absorbed as well as iron from meat (heme iron).
When physical demands are high, and menstruation or endometriosis is in the picture, the body’s iron needs often outpace what diet alone can supply.
From Struggle to Strength
That’s where Ferosom Iron made a difference.
Unlike older supplements made with ferrous sulfate, Ferosom Iron uses a more modern liposomal delivery system. Ferrous sulfate was designed decades ago to treat anemia quickly and cheaply. But it’s harsh on the stomach and not well absorbed. What the body doesn’t absorb can linger in the gut, leading to constipation, nausea, and other side effects.
Liposomal and microencapsulated iron, like the form used in Ferosom Iron, is designed to improve absorption and be gentler on digestion. That’s key for athletes who can’t afford stomach issues that derail training.
For Brake, it worked. She experienced better consistency and real results without the side effects. Within months, her energy rebounded. She wasn’t just finishing workouts; she was improving again.
Years after her frustrating post-Boston slump, she came back stronger, clocking a new personal best of 3:29:40 at the Mississauga Marathon and finishing as the 12th overall female.
It was the strong comeback she never expected.
Don’t Let Low Iron Derail Your Progress
Here’s what to do:
- Get tested. Ask your doctor to check your ferritin and iron levels.
- Know the signs. Don’t brush off ongoing fatigue, breathlessness, or poor recovery.
- Choose wisely. Look for supplements like Ferosom Iron, known for better absorption and fewer side effects. Use code RUNWITHIRON for 20% off your order.
- Track your trends. Recheck levels regularly, especially during peak training blocks.
If you’re training hard but still feel like something’s off, it might not be your mindset or your plan. It might be your iron.
“And if you need a reliable supplement with minimal side effects compared to other iron supplements, Ferosom Iron has truly been a game-changer for me,” shares Brake.
“It helped me return to the roads with renewed energy and belief—and reminded me that sometimes, the comeback is even more powerful than the start.”
Don’t settle for running on empty. Get tested, fuel up, and find out just how tough you really are.
M&F and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
