Running, lifting, dehydration and blood donation.

Workout notes: I “ran” my 6.4 mile course (hilly) in 1:08:55; the day was sub freezing but dry and sunny. This the last good day I’ll have for a while; snow arrives tomorrow.

But I felt very sluggish; I did the same course in 1:03:22 on December 28.
How today’s run went: the first 2.55 was in 25:36 and it was an effort; I was hurting. I slowed down when I let my mind wander and it became, well…easy but much slower. The last 2.55 leg took 28:38!

As I headed down into the park, a group of about 8 XC women (young) were running up the hill; they were dressed in spandex tights (different colors); they were followed by 3 more spandex ladies. They flew up the hills that were killing me. Last night, a chiseled young man benched 350 pounds (legally) thereby making me feel weak; heck, about a dozen of these young guys made me feel weak.

Part of the problem was after this weekend’s half marathon racewalk, I attempted to give blood (after two large drinks and a sandwich). I got started ok, but the blood people gave up half way as the blood flow kept stopping; evidently my platelet count was high and I was still a bit dehydrated. Note: blood cholesterol was well under 150 so there is no problem there.

But that was still a half-bag of blood (maybe 3/4 of a bag?) and this will slow me down for at least a little while.

Back to the run: when I focused I was faster (not fast but close to my “normal” pace) and it hurt. When my mind wandered it was easy but way slow.

Note: my legs didn’t feel weak; it was as if I was out of breath.

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