by Jeff Hess

Before you read on and decide that the following is either gospel or garbage, let me suggest that it's neither. I'm addressing a medical issue, but I'm just a high school track coach with degrees in English and Physical Education. I have no medical training, but I have watched enough athletes fade mysteriously from super-fitness to super-misery that I started researching the possible causes.

More than anything else my questions led to the same answer: Iron. Too often we've attributed declining performances among high school athletes (especially girls) to structural changes relating to puberty or injuries resulting from overtraining. It's my belief-and I'm not alone here-that a great many of those cases are caused directly from iron depletion and could be remedied with proper nutrition and supplementation. ................

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http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/hs/coachscorner/20051215.html