Donating Blood
#1
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Donating Blood
Just complete my first race after a long hiatus. I wasn't expecting to place very high in the ranking but under-performed even my low expectations. I donated blood the the Wednesday before a Saturday race, I thought a few days to recover from that would be fine. Could that have been a factor?
#2
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I would say yes.
#3
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From a quick Google search:
After donation, your body goes to work regenerating the lost blood. Your plasma recovers the quickest, in about 24 hours (9). The Red Cross recommends no strenuous exercise during this period until your “fluid” or plasma normalizes (9). Platelets restore next, within a 72-hour period (13). The oxygen carriers or RBCs – unfortunately for athletes – are the slowest to regenerate, taking four to six weeks to fully rebound (9).
The lag in RBC recovery is an obvious indicator that an athlete’s endurance performance will suffer until pre-donation levels are restored. Several studies have reported significant drops in performance measures from 24 hours to two days post-donation in active young adults, including VO2 max, work rate (4,5,6,7), and time to exhaustion (5). Dellweg et al. reported a 9% decrease in VO2max, and a 13% drop in maximal work rate following a 500-ml whole blood donation (6).
The lag in RBC recovery is an obvious indicator that an athlete’s endurance performance will suffer until pre-donation levels are restored. Several studies have reported significant drops in performance measures from 24 hours to two days post-donation in active young adults, including VO2 max, work rate (4,5,6,7), and time to exhaustion (5). Dellweg et al. reported a 9% decrease in VO2max, and a 13% drop in maximal work rate following a 500-ml whole blood donation (6).
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I do not like to give up a test tube of blood for a test.
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Just complete my first race after a long hiatus. I wasn't expecting to place very high in the ranking but under-performed even my low expectations. I donated blood the the Wednesday before a Saturday race, I thought a few days to recover from that would be fine. Could that have been a factor?
Ben
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Weeks to fully recover. About 3 months. I've given over 2 gallons until they stopped taking mine (grew up in Africa and they kept going further back in time).
Giving blood and racing don't go together.
Giving blood and racing don't go together.
#7
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Thread Starter
Wow, 4-6 weeks. That was probably a contributing factor.
#9
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Just complete my first race after a long hiatus. I wasn't expecting to place very high in the ranking but under-performed even my low expectations. I donated blood the the Wednesday before a Saturday race, I thought a few days to recover from that would be fine. Could that have been a factor?