Eirann, a 17-year-old continues to set personal records in her senior year at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon. After a strong sixth-place finish at the girls 5A state cross country meet in November, she is currently ranked among the fastest 800 and 1500M female high school runners in Oregon. Impressive results considering that just a year ago, she almost quit running.

“It was like fighting a constant, uphill battle,” she explains. “My legs always felt heavy; I never felt rested or fresh. And the harder I worked, the worse I performed. I loved running, but was so frustrated that I just wanted to quit.”

Eirann’s Youth Performance Profile offered her some insight and direction.    

“My iron and vitamin D levels were very low and my NTx levels were very high,” she explains. “This meant that I needed to make some changes in my diet—I needed to eat more red meat, less sugar and fewer carbohydrates. My system was really acidic and this was seriously interfering with my body’s ability to recover.”

She adds, “I spent my junior year running cross country and track in Houston, Texas. Being from the Northwest, the heat and humidity were hard for me to handle. But what I didn’t know was that all the sweating made me magnesium deficient. This explains why I always felt tired and why my calf muscles were always cramping. I’ve been using both a topical magnesium gel and an oral liquid and can definitely feel the difference.”

Next fall, Eirann will begin her collegiate running career at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

“It’s amazing,” she says. “I really didn’t think I’d be running in college a year ago.  Now that I have my motivation and my confidence back, I'm looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish!”