Does anyone donate blood while training?

[jade]

Do you find it affects your training?  Anything you do to speed up recovery?

So I usually avoid donating during my normal training months (spring/summer) and try to make up for it in the winter.  But now I am in the midst of half training and have an appointment tomorrow.  Meant to do it a few weeks ago but between work and travel it didn't work out.  I am freaking out a little by the thought of derailing what I think has been a great cycle so far.  But I also feel guilty if I don't go at least somewhat regularly (I am O-).

[irene adler]

If I marathon training, I do not.

Otherwise, I try to go every eight weeks. It usually takes me a full week afterwards to feel back to normal during my workouts, so I scale back what I need to and plan on a less intense week

[Susie]

Yes, I do.  I am O+, and donating blood is something that is important to me to do.  I am currently at 25 pints, nearing my goal of donating back the 28 pints that my mom received throughout her fight with ovarian cancer.  I don't plan to stop at 28, but it feels good that I will hit it this year, unless I get pregnant soon (and therefore can't).

I try to balance the needs of my training with my desire to donate.  In the past I have taken off from donating during the months when I am actively in a training plan for, e.g., a half ironman or a half marathon.  If I'm just doing maintenance training, or off-season, I go ahead and donate.  I feel it in my workouts for at least a week afterward.  I plan to take off the day of the donation.  Right now I am not really actively training for anything, so I donate every 2 months.  Before Hobbes, when I was training a lot more seriously, I might only hit 5 or 6 donations a year due to training.  I take a multivitamin to keep my iron up, and to try to rebuild after donating, but don't do much else that is special.

I also try to listen to my body.  I took off from donating not only my entire pregnancy with Hobbes, but also the entire year I was breastfeeding.  Even though I could have donated once I was 6 weeks postpartum, I didn't feel like my body had the resources to spare.  I went back to it shortly after Hobbes weaned.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I donate every 8 weeks without fail (provided I can keep my hemoglobin numbers up). I find that when I am training, it actually helps me recover better from the donation if I do a hard workout right before (like RIGHT before). I always plan my donation accordingly - swim from 7-8:30 on Saturday morning, then shower and head to the donation center by 10. Sundays are my day off, usually, so I then have the recommended 24-48 hours of rest before I'm back in the pool Monday am. It works well for me.

[libbygrl109]

I would, but it would be early on in a cycle when the mileage demands aren't as high. I tend to not bounce back as quickly when I give whole blood, so a couple of years ago, I started donating plasma and platelets instead.

[cinco]

I usually donate 2 weeks after a marathon. Right after or during training messes me up. My H donates during training and is fine. He might do a little less during a swim the next day, and wouldn’t the same week as a race, but he isn’t affected near as much as I am. So, everyone isn’t the same with regards to this, I think.

[osulori]

I donated smack in the middle of the highest mileage point in my training once. I had no idea how much it'd screw me up, or how bad that long run would feel...ugh. I'm told drinking lots of water helps, but I've just worked it so that I donate when I'm not training for anything or it's early on in the training cycle.

[jade]

Thanks guys. I guess I will keep the appt. I have hill sprints that morning, but then no runs until my long run on saturday. I can take it easy at my class on thursday. I will just plan for the long run to be rougher than normal.

A few years ago I donated right in the middle of training and then proceeded to have a pretty bad season. Don't know if it was the donation or something else, but it really got into my head.

[sadlebred]

When I donated I did not. My performance suffered too much for up to 3 weeks. (I can not donate at this time b/c of a personal health concern.)