Rugged Individualist. Certified USA Triathlon Coach & NASM Personal Trainer, Men's Self Improvement Coach. President of Go Farther Sports. National Ranked Triathlete & 100 Mile Grand Slam Ultrarunner, only the fourth New Yorker to finish four of the oldest and most prestigious 100 mile ultramarathons in the U.S. in only 10 weeks.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Hump Day Coffee Musings - Iodine

Happy Hump Day people!






One of the people I was coaching was asking me about these coffee breaks I take frequently.

I'll try to keep the answer short. 😁

(it's a bit long. I failed 🤣)

Just about all of early this year, last year, and maybe even earlier than that, I've been lethargic for the majority of the day. I was trying to figure out why.

It got to the point where I couldn't finish half my tasks of the day. I was behind on a lot of things.

Maybe it was old age creeping on me and this is normal? But there were most other people my age handling work and family better than I was.

Maybe it was my training? No...even in my slow days I was still very lethargic.

I needed to get about the source of this. In the meantime I had to go to the coffeeshops to make myself focus on my work. I couldn't work at home because I would start to tire and fall asleep.

Still, I had to get in two, maybe three small naps in during the day. And that was on top of a good number hours of normal sleep at night.

One of the people I coached had an iron deficiency. I was wondering if that might be the case.

I bought iron supplements. After two weeks, I felt no change at all. It wasn't an iron deficiency.

Multivitamins weren't helping either. So I was at a loss.

Then two weeks ago, my parents bought iodine after hearing that some people might have an iodine deficiency.

Iodine is key to thyroid function, which is the main regulator of overall metabolism in the body.

Most people here don't have an iodine deficiency, so long as they used the iodized salt and eat seafood.

I don't use iodized salt.

And I don't eat seafood.

Hmmm...maybe?

It's worth a shot. So two weeks ago I started taking a couple of drops of Lugol's solution per day.







OMG, what a difference!

Except for normal bouts of tiredness after a training session, I've been energetic all day every day! I feel like I just emerged out of a fog.

And right on time for my peak training period! I've run a marathon 10 days ago, hiked a 50K this past weekend, rode 60 miles at 21MPH yesterday, and I feel fine this morning!

I was worried about a "Placebo Effect" but I did tell from the iron supplements that nothing was happening, so I can safely rule it out.

I'll still be at coffee shops though for the time being. I kind of like the focus here on getting my tasks done, with or without the iodine.

Anyway, with 6.5 weeks to go before my Ironman race, I'm glad I got this problem solved. I'm actually looking forward to the peak training coming up; I think I can handle it now.

And I can also handle what the rest of life has to offer. 😁

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