Use it or Lose it

Surprised at how tired I was over the weekend, then it dawned on me that maybe it was a result of donating blood Friday afternoon. (first time donating in many years).  Did a quick google search and discovered that many athletes don't donate blood because it hampers their performance for a few weeks.  Others still donate, but make sure to only do it after a big race, when they are in a recovery zone.  Anyone have any experience with the effects of donating blood on their energy level and running performance?

I'm not a vegetarian, but my daughter is, and I just happened to eat vegetarian all weekend with her, and didn't even think about eating high iron food.  Hum, better 'beef up' my diet with some eggs, lentil/spinach soup, raisin bran, dried fruits, and perhaps canned sardines (oh, I bet my office won't like me if I bring in sardines for lunch!).  I might even consider eating some red meat :).

Hope to find time this evening to at log a few more miles. . .

Felt better running this morning, perhaps because I ate a nice steak dinner last night?  Or maybe it's mental!  Regardless, I plan on eating lots of iron rich foods for the next few days. 

Read some interesting things about donating blood.  The volume of blood fluid returns to normal within 24-48 hours, but is diluted and has approximately 10% less red blood cells (which are the cells that carry oxygen to your muscles).   The body gradually replenishes its store of red blood cells over the next few weeks.  Some athletes have compared running after donating blood to running at high altitude where you have less oxygen getting to your muscles.  This has the effect of pushing you into an anaerobic stage at a lower heart rate, which is interesting.  Anyhow, I've decided to count this as a high altitude training week and not be a wimp anymore!!

Hope all bloggers are having a good running day! :)

Not much time to run but I figured some running was better than no running. 

Had 2 miles at 6 mph, but needed a 1/4 mile slower pace between them, which I attribute to still recovering from donating blood.  But at least I could do the 6 mph today - Monday I couldn't get above 5 mph!  (In contrast a couple weeks ago, I ran 3 miles at 6.0, 6.1, 6.2 mph, with no breaks between them.).  It'll be interesting to see how my recovery progresses so I can plan future blood donations to have the least impact on my training in case I have a race coming up. 

Planned on running easy this morning, but the music was good so I sped up to 6.5 mph, which felt good, so I decided to do an impromptu mini speed workout and did 6 1/4 mile reps @ 6.5 mph with 1/2 distance recoveries between them.  Now, this is a pretty puny speed workout compared to what I did a few weeks ago, but I'm running so much better than I did on Monday, so I'm happy & I'll take it! 

Couldn't run longer, because I needed to get to work early.  Still felt energetic at work, so during my break I did 2 sets of stair climbing at work (312 steps total).  Okay, that burned a little. . . but feeling energetic, so maybe I'll do it again at lunch!  Okay, did two more sets of stair climbing, but think I should've done them before eating instead of after eating!

Hope you all are having a good running day. :)