Changing out the oil

Went to the blood donor clinic after work today to give blood. Second time this year.  Last time was in March before the marathon training began and before that, the last time was in 2010.  Back then, I just had hit 25 total donations and got a nice thank you pin and a customized 25x donor card and thought that would be the end of my donating years, but I suppose times change .

I think two is about my limit for the year. I used to give more often, but it obviously gets in the way of training.  The first time was in high school during a Grade 13 physics class.  I remember distinctly because the teacher said we could either write a pop quiz or give blood.  Easy choice.  In university, giving blood was a cheaper way to get quickly intoxicated.  Give blood and drink a beer. I'm sure that the nurses wouldn't condone that sort of thing and I suppose it was just a coincidence that the blood donor clinic was located in the same building as the campus pub. 


This officially puts an end to any thoughts of doing another marathon before the end of the year as I'm down a few red blood cells and wouldn't be in a position to race another marathon anytime soon.  I've always considered giving blood to be like getting an oil change.  Swap out the old blood and get some new blood in there.  I know that doesn't make any sense, since it's my body that is producing the red blood cells and it does so constantly, and I'm not technically swapping it with some EPO infused super blood that can heal all ailments (Kahn blood).  Nonetheless, I like to think that somehow I'm getting some sort of benefit from it. 


Day 6