Donation via ALYX and workouts....

It's going to affect your oxygen carrying capacity for several weeks until you replenish your red blood cells.

So...bad idea 12 days out from tri?

Eh, it's up to you and your priorities. If it's an A race, and you really are concerned about your performance, I wouldn't do it. If not and the personal satisfaction you get from donating is worth it, then I'd say it was a good thing.

I wouldn't recommend it.  I gave 'double reds' at the beginning of August and it wiped me out.  My run times are just getting back to where I was before the donation and my swim times haven't fully recovered.  Biking seems to be OK except that I can't go as quite as long at the same paces, my energy really tapered off the last few miles of my normal long ride.  I haven't been able to ride in the last two weeks so I don't know if my bike stamina is back to normal. 

The first week after giving I lost about 10 sec per 100yd in the pool and my run times were off by about 1:00/mile. 

I haven't donated a regularly blood donation since I started tri training last year so I have nothing to compare against to see if my body just takes a while to recover from any type of donation, but I'm not giving 'double reds' again.  I am going to try a regular donation next time and see how my body reacts.  
 

Edited by cscottjr 2009-08-25 3:13 PM

Helping people is nice but you gotta think about your own health, too.  You have signed up for a race before you hear about the donation.  So by doing donating (regular or ALYX) so close to your race, you're doing no good to your own health. 
How about checking their schedule and see if you can donate a couple weeks after the race?  Or sign up for a few blood drives in the off season? 

In 1 year you can give the same amount of blood via whole donations or the double red process.  The Red Cross told me I have to wait twice as long to donate again after giving double reds.  I don't remember the exact wait times, but for example, if the max I gave via whole blood was 6 times a year then I could only give double reds 3 times a year.   

They put a bit of pressure on me as well and I think they are just trying to maximize the donors they get with the fear that you might not donate consistently throughout the year.  In my uneducated opinion, if you give whole blood regularly then the blood supply will be helped the same as if you did the double donation. 

I got the evil eye from the girl that scheduled me saying that was not true about being a bit run down.  I still donated whole blood as I know its effects on me. 

Yes.  You can only do ALYX every 121 days.

I have donated the double red blood cells before, and as an recreational athlete, it definately affected me.
For me, I noticed the difference for about 7-10 days, then I was fine. Please note, I am not that fast and wasn't doing much speedwork at the time.
Do what is right for you. If you give a regular unit of blood, you can give again sooner, and it won't affect you as much.
The needs of the world are not your responsibility. It is great that you give when you can.