Saturday I met up with a teammate I'd met at the last Spartan Race I participated in. I wanted to show Joe aka the singing tortoise the neat caves, rope and traverse sea wall. I had such a great time he is literally one of the most positive loving men I've met. When I got back to my car I had a tingly sensation in my hands and tongue and I just shrugged it off as dehydration and red blood cell loss. This feeling came and went along with a headache throughout the course of the weekend. It made me nervous, but kind of frustrated also because usually I feel great after blood donation. In the past I've worked out or ran the very next day. I was also worried how it may affect the upcoming races in just a few days. I made myself rest throughout the weekend and hydrate.
Many people know of my desire to be a ten gallon blood donor before my 40th birthday. I was right on schedule to achieve that goal even with the one year deferral in 2007 from getting a tattoo.
Right on schedule until today. I think I'm at 7 gallons so far on the local blood bank record though I'm right at 50 pints. I received a letter in the mail stating that because my hemoglobin level was on the low end of the donating scale that an additional test was run and I tested low on ferritin an essential protein used in helping build iron in the blood. I got put on a 24 week deferral even though plasma and platelet donation are still acceptable.
I learned I've been far more focused on training with iron rather than supplementing my body with iron nutrition. I put myself on an iron supplement and you may see me carrying around peppers, sweet potatoes and steak, but I will use this valuable lesson to remember to take time to replenish.
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