Vitamin D

A fellow runner, Adam, asked me to send him my Vitamin D experience. He wanted to get the word out since it significantly impacted me. I sent this to him and decided to post it here as well.

In the fall of 2007, I extended my endurance longer than I had imagined. I attempted the Superior Trail 100-mile race and quit at 77 miles. From that point on, I never recovered. I took some time off, ate well, and thought I was doing everything right. I continued to train but felt fatigued. My bones hurt often. I had so much trouble sleeping.

I tried numerous things, including changing my training from running less to biking and walking more. I also tried massages and purchased a computer program to monitor my diet. Everything seemed like it should be fine, but it did not feel right.

In February 2008, I went to Kansas City to run the Psycho Wyco 50K. My chest was tight, and I had a cold the week before the race. I went anyway and quit at 20 miles. Now, besides aches and pains, an inability to sleep, and overall fatigue, I had a chest issue I just could not shake.

I continued to try to run through it, and in March, I fell and hurt my knee, and my lungs were so stressed when I ran. To make a long story short, I had steroid injections in the knee and a steroid inhaler for the lungs. (Later, I discovered that steroids are a major reason for lack of Vitamin D absorption.)

When Summer came, I started to feel better and was hopeful I could attempt the Superior 100 again. I had finished Grandma’s (over an hour slower than in 2007) and finished Afton at about the same time. So, I thought I could make the attempt. Although my weight had climbed 40 pounds as I just felt so fatigued for over a year, food was my choice to make it better. My second attempt at Superior resulted in fatigue and pains in the bones by 30 miles, so I quit.

I quit having the desire to run, bike, and walk. Depression had now set in. I just lost any enjoyment in so many things. It had been over a year, and things were not better. I decided to totally quit working out. I just needed to repair the mind, body, and soul. So, for 6 weeks, I did nothing but work and relax. I entered everything into my diet software and checked the nutritional balances, and I did not feel any different. I did lose 2 pounds, but I still felt sore, could not sleep, and was totally worn.

So, being a man who had to be at the end of the rope before seeking help, I finally called the Doctor and made an appointment in November. He did a blood test. He said everything was normal except my glucose was 104 and my Vitamin D was 11 ng/ml. The recommended Vitamin D level is 30 ng/ml to 50 ng/ml. So he put me on Vitamin D therapy, which meant I was to take 50,000 units once per week for 12 weeks. If you are doing what I did, then 50,000 units is correct.

I did not notice much difference for the first few weeks. I continued to take the calcium pills I always take with Vitamin D. After four weeks, I started feeling better. I woke feeling 60 years old, as opposed to 100… (I am 47) I began to work out. Then, in the second week of December, I felt a sharp pain in the abdomen/groin area that radiated through to the back. I went to the physician, who thought it may be a sports hernia. I was bummed as, for the first time in over a year, working out did not make me feel worse. But I thought, how can it be a sports hernia when it is the entire mid-section and the pain moved. So I took more time off.

I researched the web and found that high doses of Vitamin D and calcium result in Kidney Stones in some cases. So, I stopped taking calcium. Then, in January, I started working out. I went for a few runs and lifted some weights. What I noticed most in January (after 8 weeks of taking 50,000 Units of Vitamin D) was that I was able to sleep. I could not recall the last time I was able to sleep for a total of 5 to 6 hours without drugs.

Since I was planning a trip to Germany to visit my son, I decided to spend time doing light workouts, something structured, once I returned. So, on February 20, when I returned from Germany, I returned to the Doctor to have my blood tested. I was 43 ng/ml for the vitamin D count.

I felt better than I had in a long time. No bones hurt, I was now sleeping 6-8 hours and waking without pains, I started to run again. After a long time off and a net gain of 45 pounds since the summer of 2007, I decided to take it slow. I would do 15 miles the first week with 2-4 miles running and increase about 5-10% a week.

Since February 20, 2009, I have run 14.4 miles, 20.2 miles, 21.3 miles, 22.2 miles, and 26.1 miles in weeks. I have also biked and walked many miles and am not fatigued. I am breathing just fine and enjoying runs and many other things.

Now, I am not saying Vitamin D is the only reason… well, yes, I am. I did everything I could to resolve the issues on my own. My diet looked fine on the computer, but the computer did not know I started with a pathetically low Vitamin D count.

So now I am feeling better and running again. I have no thoughts of running the Superior 100 or any other races at this time. I am just getting outside, enjoying the runs, and whatever I decide as I go will be what I do. Of course, I do have to finish Grandma’s… it would be my 25th consecutive year!

Carry on…