donating blood vs training/racing

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2009-06-19 3:38 AM

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Barcelona
Subject: donating blood vs training/racing
Hello everybody,

I donated blood yesterday, something I use to do 4 times a year (about 450ml each time). The only thing they tell you is to not sport the same day.

Does anybody know if it has some other impact on your racing, training, on your body... Should I change my eating habits? Should I put it in my planning?

Thanks in advance for your help!

2009-06-19 5:56 AM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
Drink (water preferably) aggressively the day you give blood and the couple days AFTER you donate.  I also try to increase iron intake (nothing crazy just a little extra) in the days after.  There was a study of competitive cyclists that showed they weren't at their peak for almost a week after giving blood so that study suggested not to give blood a week before a competition if you were a competitive athlete.  I know that I could give again recently but it was just before a HIM that I was doing so I just waited till after the HIM knowing that I would be "resting" anyways...
2009-06-19 9:25 AM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
Agreed on the water intake.  I typically try and get my daily workouts in the before the donation and then the next day go back to giving as scheduled.  Don't have a lot of experience with donating before a race (just completed my first) but I gave blood on a Monday and then race on the next Sunday.  Didn't feel like it impacted my performance at all.  This was just a sprint distance.  I would be more concerned about it for HIM or IM.  In the end, triathlon is a hobby for me and giving blood has a much more important impact so I personally would not alter my donation schedule for an event.
2009-06-19 9:28 AM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing

My coach donated blood a couple of days before our test run and he ran quite a bit faster.  He didn't say if he did anything extra like water intake and such, though.

2009-06-19 11:00 AM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
I'm not a doc, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night, so if I've got any of this wrong I would appreciate being corrected. Drinking lots will bring your blood volume back up but that's only part of it. Your red blood cells take longer to get back to normal, up to 6 or 8 weeks, and that can limit the blood's maximum capacity to carry oxygen.

The way I've always interpreted this is that high intensity will be affected more. You are capable of lower intensity efforts almost right away, at least that's what I've experienced myself. I assume this is because the blood can still carry plenty of O2 for easier work. As time passes and your red blood cells are replaced, workout or race intensity can go higher. I would also expect a sprint tri would be impacted for longer after a donation than a longer race where the intensity is lower. I try to donate regularly but usually not within a month before a race.
2009-06-19 11:04 AM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing

I've exercised the same day as donating with no ill effects.  However, you want to make sure you are very hydrated going into your donation and then hydrate like a fiend after.  Drink all of the punch and eat all of the Nutter Butters they give you and continue for the next couple of days.

I usually feel depleted for about a week after donating.  Not enough to skip a workout or change my schedule, but enough that I wouldn't want to race that week.

Also, I was unable to donate when I tried to give a week after my HIM last summer.  My arm clotted up and they refused to try the other arm.  I do not know, however, whether this problem was due to a bad stick (phlebotomist error) or if I had just not sufficiently recovered my from the race. 

2009-06-19 11:35 AM
in reply to: #2228706

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
1stTimeTri - 2009-06-19 9:28 AM

My coach donated blood a couple of days before our test run and he ran quite a bit faster.  He didn't say if he did anything extra like water intake and such, though.



Clearly due to having to carry less weight because of less blood.
2009-06-19 2:38 PM
in reply to: #2229067

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
depending on the person it will take 5-9 weeks to totally replace and get back to the levels you were at before assuming you were training hard.
as someone else said, lower level intensity will be back pretyt much right away but higher level stuff will take a bit longer, and you will not be back where you were for a few weeks.

think of it like this, all that work you have done to let your blood cells carry more o2 you just fried and got rid of. not to say this is not a good thing, but it will impact your racing/training a bit.
2009-06-19 3:02 PM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing

My experience:

  • Was told to drink lots of water beforehand so dontaing works better (had a problem with flow stopping during a donation) but this thinned down the blood which meant my haemoglobin(?) levels were too low to donate!

  • I always do a workout the morning before donating because I feel really tired/whacked later in the day after donating

  • Last time I donated was about 2 weeks after IM and it set back my recovery. Got sick after that and was really tired fo several days.

Gerrard

2009-06-19 3:09 PM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
Boy this is a timely post.

I donated Wednesday after work. That morning, I did do a strong finish trail run which was my first trail run of the year and my legs were a bit sore from it. Yesterday, 13 hrs after the donation, I commuted to work and had dead legs and didn't "have it" for my swim today.

My donation was a double-red where they just take the red blood cells (twice as many as normal donation) and pump the plasma and some saline back in. I'm thinking now this may not have been a good idea. I do have 1 full month before my race, but I don't want to be struggling with training going into the race. I need all the placebo effect I can get

Anyone know about the effect of donating platelets or plasma?

2009-06-19 4:12 PM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
I gave blood 6 weeks before a sprint and I was slow and I am still wondering if the blood donation hurt me. I read that it takes 4 weeks to replace the lost iron from a donation, but I suspect it can take longer.

2009-06-19 4:25 PM
in reply to: #2228270

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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing
I just thought I'd add that I also donated blood on 3/16 of this year (first time in a long time) and while I did do swim/run two consecutive days following that donation, I had no comments about feeling it and my times look about right. But, that was a normal whole blood donation.
2009-06-19 5:13 PM
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Subject: RE: donating blood vs training/racing

I'm a regular blood donor and have been for years.  I do try to schedule worouts so that i don't do anything too intense for a day or 2 after blood donation but I have run/swam/biked the same day.  I have never experienced anything that I would consider a significant set-back from donating.  Like others have posted...drink lots of water before and after donating blood.

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