Donating blood

JohnDozer

Do any of you do it? It's been on my to do list for quite some time but keep putting it off for some reason. Does it have an impact on training, or does it just require a couple of days of taking it easy after a donation?

Peterx

JohnDozer wrote: »

Do any of you do it? It's been on my to do list for quite some time but keep putting it off for some reason. Does it have an impact on training, or does it just require a couple of days of taking it easy after a donation?

yes and yes. Do it. I try to do it twice a year in off season times so November-ish and February-ish for me.
You refill the fluid loss in 24 hours and the blood cells regenerate within a month so I wouldn't give blood during heavy training or racing times.
If you are an irish man you may even be doing yourself a favour as Irishmen can be disposed to high iron levels.

Slogger Jogger

I'm a lifelong donator though in recent years its been platelets and I found the donation process has no impact on my running. If you haven't donated try soon, you never know when you might need it yourself.

ThisRegard

I'm similar to Slogger, personally I find it has little affect on me, but I wouldn't be putting in the same amount of training Peterx would.

Haven't donated in a while though, another down side of no longer working in Dublin city centre just down the road from the clinic.

JohnDozer

Nice one, exactly what I needed to hear. Guess it just requires a little bit of planning and all is good. Checked out next local clinic and away we go! Interesting point about the iron levels, as I'm most certainly Irish, for a few generations back at least.

jimcricket

I donate about 2 or 3 times a year. Sometimes I would feel a bit tired for a day or two so I would hold off on doing a hard run for a few days. Other than that its the best thing you can do. You never know who will need it, maybe even one of your own

ArtieFufkin

I'd do it. But apparently my Scottish blood is no good in Ireland (I'm not joking). You can't give blood in Ireland if you're not Irish.

ThisRegard

Have you ever lived in the UK, or are they telling you you can't donate because you have Scotish lineage?

ArtieFufkin

ThisRegard wrote: »

Have you ever lived in the UK, or are they telling you you can't donate because you have Scotish lineage?

Yeah I lived in the UK and was born there. I was told by a friend who used to work in the health service that I wouldn't be able to give blood.

ThisRegard

Yeah, the whole mad cow thing prevents you donating blood in Ireland but I think that's only from the early 80s to the mid 90s, outside of that I think you're fine.

So it's not because you're not Irish but because you lived in the UK within a certain period.

ArtieFufkin

ThisRegard wrote: »

Yeah, the whole mad cow thing prevents you donating blood in Ireland but I think that's only from the early 80s to the mid 90s, outside of that I think you're fine. So it's not really because you're not Irish but because you lived in the UK within a certain period.

Their policy seems a bit mad to me

ThisRegard

It's actually a policy that many countries implement around the world, Australia have an identical restriction, down to the dates, from what I can remember. I think America, or at least their military, has the ban on anywhere in Eutope within that time frame.

Wubble Wubble

To the OP - yes I do, and yes it does have an effect. More than I thought. Last year the Clontarf HM and the Fingal 10k were a week apart, and in between I made a blood donation. Result - 5 days later I ran what I think was my slowest ever 10k at the time. I had no energy whatsoever, and managing to complete it at all felt like a big deal!

YFlyer

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

To the OP - yes I do, and yes it does have an effect. More than I thought. Last year the Clontarf HM and the Fingal 10k were a week apart, and in between I made a blood donation. Result - 5 days later I ran what I think was my slowest ever 10k at the time. I had no energy whatsoever, and managing to complete it at all felt like a big deal!

You probably wasn't recovered from the half marathon anyway.

dublin runner

For me, I wouldn't race the week after donating. The next days training is usually a small bit harder but after that donating never caused an issue. One thing heavy training can do is knock the stuffing out of your iron levels (for me anyway). Something to be conscious of as if you iron is low you cannot donate for 6 months.

rom

dublin runner wrote: »

For me, I wouldn't race the week after donating. The next days training is usually a small bit harder but after that donating never caused an issue. One thing heavy training can do is knock the stuffing out of your iron levels (for me anyway). Something to be conscious of as if you iron is low you cannot donate for 6 months.

What would you consider low? as low for a runner or non runner is different.

RayCun

rom wrote: »

What would you consider low? as low for a runner or non runner is different.

The IBTS have a minimum Hb level of 13.5g/dl for men (it used to be 12)

dublin runner

rom wrote: »

What would you consider low? as low for a runner or non runner is different.

Ray is correct, they have lowered the minimum level. I am not too sure what is considered low for a runner to be honest. Personally, marathon training really impacts on my iron levels. I would normally have very high iron levels but on the previous donation attempt my iron was very low (anemia). In future will only donate when not heavily training . That's just my experience. Everyone is different. I really don't want to put anyone off donating!

davedanon

I'm a long-time donor, and I've come back to regular blood donations in recent years, after a long absence when the plasma-donor programme was cancelled. I haven't made many donations since taking up running 6 years ago, as I'm always worried about adverse effects on my training. There is a theory, though, for anyone who's interested in trying it out, that giving blood can be a bit like 'natural' blood-doping. The idea is that 10-12 days after giving blood the red cells have been fully restored, but can result in a higher level than before. This would enable an athlete to temporarily perform at a higher level. I haven't tried it myself, but I've just received an IBTS appeal for a donation in the post, and as I've just done a marathon, I might give it a go.

ronn

Don't train after you donate and you be fine, pencil it in when your resting the following day,