I'm a Blood Donor

Believe it or not, I just went back to the Tally blood bank for the third time this past weekend. Erin convinced me to go with her as a date a couple months ago. We are going to try to go just a little less frequently than every 8 weeks. There is a 56 day mandatory rest interval between donations. We have to make sure that Erin meets the weight cutoff every time. We might have to consume a large dinner and breakfast plus lots of fluids to make her eligible.

The first time we went here, I got an amazing tech/nurse who poked me so nice that I started to not even notice that the needle was in my arm. The second time saw a little greener assistant who poked me in such a way that I couldn't ignore the needle and didn't want to squeeze the foam they put in my hand. The third time I got an experienced dude who did a good job. It stung when the needle first went in and he informed me that it was from some of the sanitizing alcohol getting on the needle and into my vein. It was cool to know why that sensation was occurring. After that feeling went away, I felt pretty good and the blood flowed fast.

I thought I might try to time my donations based on the gifts you get. The first time we got a Lowe's gift card, which is sweet. The second time we got a kind of weak T-shirt, but we could have rocked a way cooler shirt if we waited until the following week. The blood bank publishes their donor gifts, so I think it's a good idea to look ahead and see if there's something better on the horizon. It looks like everything on the visible time horizon is a T shirt. I didn't accept the shirt this weekend because I have enough shirts. Too bad I can't get Lowe's cards every time.

The very first time I gave blood back in Jupiter, I went running and didn't eat enough beforehand and I got a little light headed. I've made a note not to make this mistake again. I make sure to snack and take advantage of the drinks they're doling out in the vampire room. After these last 3 times of getting a pint out, Erin and I have gone to 1 Fresh Stir Fry and reloaded our bodies with tater tots and a stir fry.

I've always thought that donating blood sounded good in theory but that I couldn't do it because I was training so seriously. I guess that other areas of your life can suffer when you're training really hard. I'm not sure, but I think that it would be alright to donate blood, as long as you had at least 6 weeks until your race. I decided not to donate again until after collegiate nationals coming up in April.