Blood donation and performance

[mweston]

I'm wondering what other's experience is with how blood donation affects performance. My doctor tells me that it should take about 6 weeks to be back to 100%. I ran a 10K on New Year's Day, 13 days after donating, and it seemed to affect me.

I ask because I'm organizing a blood drive on June 7th,and now I'm thinking about Pacifica, 2 weeks later. Not that I would be even middle of the pack,but would trying my first official 50K at that point be insane?

-- Mike

[willgotthardt]

Hey Mike-

Good question...I found some decent thoughts on the subject here:

dorunning.blogspot.com/2006/06/donating-blood-affects-perrformance.html

One note about Pacifica is that the loops are relatively short (12K/9K), so if you were to have some troubles, you'll be back at start/finish several times.

Will G.

[mweston]

Thanks! It sounds like a good excuse for a steak or two...

[chrisoconnor]

I do know some people either suffer the effects or perceive they suffer the effects less than others.

I gave up donating whole blood because it interfered with my running. What I did was switch to donating platelets, something blood banks are keen to get. (Platelets help the blood clot.) The procedure is longer, depending on the amount you donate (single, double, triple.) They take your blood as they would a regular donation, but it's run through a machine which separates the platelets, and then the rest gets put back into your system. I'm usually a little dopey immediately afterwards, but it does not affect my RBC count and I can run as usual.

[kim]

In theory, I think finishing a 50K two weeks after donating should be easier than racing a 10K soon after donating. Donating whole blood or red blood cells will decrease the amount of oxygen your blood can carry. Since you are running faster (hopefully ) in the 10K, you are pushing the upper limits of the oxygen-carrying capacity of your blood more than in a 50K. If you take it relatively easy in the 50K, I think you should be fine.
Donating platelets or plasma is also a great alternative, and depending on your blood type, may actually be more useful than donating whole blood or red blood cells.

[manleyklassen]

Well, I can only tell you what not to do.
Do not donate a double dose of RED blood cells 3 weeks before a marathon unless you do not care about your time.
I missed my goal by 30 mins.
About 2 weeks after donating, I could do my 5 mile loop in almost the same time as before, but it turns out that I could not continue for more than 3 hours at a high level of exertion.

[mweston]

Thanks again for more input...

• Finishing a long run is easier than racing a shorter run,
  
• Platelets good, and
  
• Double red blood cells bad.