No big deal? Sure?

Does not affect time,trial performance?

No big deal?

I've never heard of donating blood being "dangerous" for serious athletes and asked my son, former college runner if there were any guidelines about donation at his school and there were none. Everyone has to make up their own minds, separate fact from fiction, not always easy on Internet forums. I would prefer to think that we're here for the greater good and will continue to donate my blood when it doesn't compromise other aspects of life

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

I'll throw my hat in here on my experience. February 2013 I was training pretty hard (for me) and running four days a week, training for my first half marathon that April. Being a good citizen and a long-time blood donor, I decided that I could donate on Monday and run on Wednesday. The short version of this story is that was a really bad idea...I blacked out 1/3 mile into my group run. Now I don't donate during race season; so I won't give again until late September this year.

On the plus side, the incident did help one of my runner friends decide she didn't want to be a nurse after that. :)

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- John
"Have courage, and be kind."