Photo by Samuel Wee - KLSCM HM 2026 KM19
If you've been following my recent posts, you know that 2026 has been a humbling year of rebuilding. Turning the big 5-0 while working through calf and glute rehab completely rewrote my training playbook. I shifted my focus heavily toward rehabilitation sessions and deep muscle release by my Rehab Specialist which has greatly helped a lot, reducing my mileage by almost 50% even on my daily runs, cutting down interval workouts and having only 12km as my longest "LSD. Doing all these just for chasing smooth, pain-free movement.
But as any endurance athlete knows, what happens on the tarmac is only half the story. The real engine baseline is written in your biology.
After a gruelling season crossing finish lines at the Twincity Half Marathon, Score Half Marathon, the punishing Men of Steel 123, and most recently, the KLSCM Half Marathon, I noticed my pacing and recovery felt unusually heavy. To find out why, I went in for a comprehensive health and a complete blood screening. The results were eye-opening, perfectly explaining why my racing performance felt like an uphill battle.
What started as the "never recovery" post Twincity HM, which I thought was just jetlag (I returned from US hours before gun off), triggered the year of staggering fall of fitness in all sense, to accepting that even my A-race (KLSCM HM) has to be adjusted to just a "fun run" pretty much sum it all up.
A year where I thought turning 50 would meant a rebirth, has pretty much turned into a year of rehab.
A year where I thought turning 50 would meant a rebirth, has pretty much turned into a year of rehab.
🔎 The Blueprint: The Numbers Behind the Kilometers
When the lab report came back, it wasn't all bad news. In fact, a massive relief was seeing completely clear, negative cancer markers across the board, great (good) cholesterol readings, and a stress test to Level 7 giving a good snapshot of no blockage in the system, proving that the foundation is solid.
Of course there were not too great numbers as well where the sugar marker is on the higher side and the Creatinine numbers may raise the eyebrows of some doctors not familiar with your diet and regime. Thankfully, the Family Doctor that attended to me know of my creatine dosing regime and how I take high-sugar spikes for races.
True enough my fasting sugar level was exemplary, my historical (HbA1c) shows I am at the high side - in my doctor's friend word "you are walking to the door of pre-diabetic, not there, but a bit more". If you wonder, HbA1c is the sugar marker in your blood that stays up to 120 days - a reminder that what you take in the past 3-months pre-complete health and blood work will reflect. Thankfully This knowledge was useful to provide a full context on this "walking to the door, but not yet knocking" analogy.
However, a few critical bio-markers immediately jumped off the page, highlighting why I've been hitting a wall:
- Iron Level: 3.1 µmol/L — Crucially low and deeply deficient.
- Hemoglobin: 135 g/L — Hovering at the lower baseline for active males.
- Homocysteine: 18.5 µmol/L — Elevated well above optimal levels.
"Are you undergoing some menses or bleeding as we speak", my doctor friend asked me. He wondered how I am still standing and not fainted with that amount of low iron or ferritin level in my system.
And this is the scary part - human body is highly adaptive, and the fact I am still functioning says a lot about how I have it all compensated - but at what cost. He went on to say since the rest of the marker is good, it is likely a sports induced anaemia. A condition where the body is even drawing iron from the bone marrow; not a great sign, but it is what it is.
And this is the scary part - human body is highly adaptive, and the fact I am still functioning says a lot about how I have it all compensated - but at what cost. He went on to say since the rest of the marker is good, it is likely a sports induced anaemia. A condition where the body is even drawing iron from the bone marrow; not a great sign, but it is what it is.
For comparison, a normal male iron level runs between 11 and 30, and a female 9-28. I was 3. 3 times lower even than a healthy woman on regular menses.
Not a brag!
Not a brag!
📉 Connecting the Dots: How It Impacted My 2026 Races
When you are training for half marathons and multi-sport triathlons, these aren't just minor data points—they are systemic bottlenecks. I am human, and these systemic bottlenecks usually surface itself as frustrations, demotivation and overall $hitty feelings.
Your easy runs that you used to do at pace 5, within Zone 2 HR now shows up as pace 6-7 and Zone 3/4 HR. Any slower would meant it's a briskwalk. Swimming meant taking more breath than usual per length, and cycling meant the same hill you climbed all your riding life felt like a massive task.
And there is the indicator that your VO2max starts to drop point-by-point even when you are putting in the work. I lost 8 VO2max points in up until Score Marathon - a short 6-months post Twincity! My Resting HR went from 40 to 52 upon waking up. HRV were all over the place, rest was never restful.
The Oxygen Bottleneck (Twincity & Score Half Marathons)
My iron levels sitting at a severe 3.1 µmol/L meant my body's iron stores were heavily depleted. Iron is the foundational core of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen directly to working muscles. With a hemoglobin reading of 135 g/L, my oxygen-carrying capacity was highly restricted. During the uptempo stretches of the Twincity and Score Half Marathons, my aerobic ceiling felt artificially capped. I was working significantly harder just to maintain baseline cruising paces.
My iron levels sitting at a severe 3.1 µmol/L meant my body's iron stores were heavily depleted. Iron is the foundational core of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen directly to working muscles. With a hemoglobin reading of 135 g/L, my oxygen-carrying capacity was highly restricted. During the uptempo stretches of the Twincity and Score Half Marathons, my aerobic ceiling felt artificially capped. I was working significantly harder just to maintain baseline cruising paces.
The Heavy Legs Syndrome (Men of Steel 123)
Moving into the grueling volume of the Men of Steel 123 triathlon, the combination of low iron and an elevated homocysteine level of 18.5 became fully apparent. High homocysteine is often a cellular warning flag for suboptimal B-vitamin methylation, which drastically impairs tissue repair and cardiovascular efficiency. It explains the intense, chronic fatigue and why my recovery between the swim, bike, and run legs felt drastically slowed down.
Moving into the grueling volume of the Men of Steel 123 triathlon, the combination of low iron and an elevated homocysteine level of 18.5 became fully apparent. High homocysteine is often a cellular warning flag for suboptimal B-vitamin methylation, which drastically impairs tissue repair and cardiovascular efficiency. It explains the intense, chronic fatigue and why my recovery between the swim, bike, and run legs felt drastically slowed down.
The Rebuild Phase (KLSCM Half Marathon)
By the time I stood on the start line at the KLSCM Half Marathon, in 1 hour and 49 minutes for the 21km course, I had already begun adjusting my focus. Knowing my internal engine was running on low cellular fuel, I relied entirely on structural efficiency and pacing via power metrics rather than forcing empty anaerobic adaptation. Calibrating my expectation from A to Fun Run helped a lot. But that also meant I had to let my aim of breaking PR to another year, and for the first time in the past 5 KLSCM HM, not running a sub 100minutes HM.
By the time I stood on the start line at the KLSCM Half Marathon, in 1 hour and 49 minutes for the 21km course, I had already begun adjusting my focus. Knowing my internal engine was running on low cellular fuel, I relied entirely on structural efficiency and pacing via power metrics rather than forcing empty anaerobic adaptation. Calibrating my expectation from A to Fun Run helped a lot. But that also meant I had to let my aim of breaking PR to another year, and for the first time in the past 5 KLSCM HM, not running a sub 100minutes HM.
Looking at the data post-race, my Stryd power metrics showed that my structural efficiency paid off, bumping my estimated FTP up to 265W. Despite the low internal fuel tank, my resting heart rate (RHR) at 52 bpm post race and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) at 68 ms tracking stayed within stable, safe parameters, proving that my pacing strategy kept me from completely redlining the engine. It was a race about survival and smart execution rather than chasing raw PRs. Those rehab sessions and exercises has further strengthened my glutes, quads and calves to the extend I did not have cramps - the limiting factor was my lack of mileage and muscle fatigue resistance to continue to push past 11km at pace 4:30.
🛠The Game Plan: The Recovery & Dosing Strategy
You can't fix a cellular deficit with sheer willpower. Since the bloodwork and consultation with my doctor friend, my recovery and performance strategy is shifting focus to a targeted nutritional and supplemental protocol to bring down my homocysteine level from 18.5 and restore my iron reserves.
Homocysteine is an amino acid. It need to be broken down to other chemicals the body need. It is a marker of vitamin deficiency - in this case Vitamin B-complex (basically all the Bs). Elevated homocysteine increases the risk of blood clot, heart disease and stroke. This one was the biggest revelation to me, and honestly, scared me a little more than my low iron.
Here is the nutritional and supplemental approach integrated into the daily routine to build the engine back up:
- Sangobion: Utilized to target iron deficiency and support red blood cell production.
- Vitamin B Complex: Included to support methylation and help manage homocysteine levels.
- Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10): Incorporated to support cellular energy production and cardiovascular stamina.
- Fish Oil: Utilized to help address inflammation associated with heavy training loads.
- Probiotics: Included to support gut health and nutrient absorption.
- Magnesium Glycinate: Taken to assist with muscle relaxation and sleep quality.
🗒 The Verdict: Listen to Your Body
Data doesn't lie. Whether it's the power numbers flashing on your Stryd pod or the biochemical data printed on a lab report, your body always tells you exactly where it stands. This blood work wasn't a setback; it was the missing piece of the puzzle. It gave me the precise blueprint needed to fix my foundational health so I can return to the tarmac stronger, healthier, and fully energized.
Until the next run—keep showing up!
