The email went out yesterday notifying us of the urgent need for blood. Today, I arrived at the office to find my colleagues contemplating when to go down to donate. I’ve often given blood, but more recently have let the blood drives come and go without getting a drop of my A+ blood. This morning, however, I let them take a pint of my blood.
Later in the day, I passed through the cafeteria with my lunch in tote – a nice salad and chicken lime soup. Some of my colleagues get my attention as I head upstairs to drop my lunch at my desk before heading to the fitness center. I probably shouldn’t have been taken back by their concern for me working out after donating blood this morning. The Post Donation Instructions note, Don’t do any strenuous activity or exercise, heavy lifting or other heavy use of your arms for the next 24 hours. But how one defines “strenuous” is varied depending upon the individual. For me, running 3 miles at an easy pace is not at all strenuous, and that is just what I did. No weights, no speed work, just me and my iPod.
Beginning my workout a bit later than usual, I saw the usual fitness center goers, as they were finishing up their daily exercise. I choose my treadmill and set it for a very easy pace with the plan to keep my heart rate less than 160 with my 10% loss in circulating blood volume. I resumed the play list that I ended my last run with. Familiar songs played and I noticed that, at the much slower pace, I felt the urge to increase the speed. I resisted. It was fun, listening to music, reading the text from the TVs in front of me, and moving along. Towards the end of the workout, YaYa’s sleepy voice said, “Go Mom, You’re almost there”. This is a mix of YaYa’s voice that DD mixed with some fast beat music for me. It makes me smile and encourages me on the run. Yes, I am almost there. Pretty soon 3.1 miles done, I head back to my office.