Blood analysis provides an opportunity to look inside your body, giving insights into your diet and training and their effects on performance and health.
When athletes consider blood testing, it's usually during a time of illness, a drop in performance or injury. In other words, it's done as a reaction to a physical setback. However, don't wait until it's too late.
Anytime you are about to experience a new type of stressor (ex. new training block, return to training after injury, overcoming an illness, approaching a significant increase in training volume, altitude training), a blood test can give you valuable information about your current state of health. The only way to know what's going on in your body is to test what's going on inside your body. Many times, early diagnosis of a condition is easier to treat before complications develop. Sadly, athletes will only consider blood testing when symptoms are significant - but at this point, health may be severely compromised. Although blood testing may look expensive, costly and inconvenient, it's a simple way to stay on top of your health.
From August 10th until August 20th, Karel and I will be in Breckenridge, Colorado. The town of Breckenridge sits at 9,600 feet above sea level. Greenville, SC sits just below 1,000 feet.
Karel will be participating in Breck Epic - a 6-day mountain bike stage race. Originally, I was going to also participate but I was worried about performing at altitude and also decided that I wanted to focus on XTRI ICON which is quickly approaching on September 1st in Livigno, Italy. While Karel is racing, I will be helping him out however I can, and training. Although I am not going to Breckenridge to intentially train at altitude for performance gains, this opportunity will give me a good understanding of what my body can do physically at a high elevation. Livigno sits at 5,958 feet and I'll be cycling up to 9,000 feet.
Anytime I change my training location or routine, I always get a bit nervous for my body as it tries to adapt to new stressors. For the past four years, I've remained healthy and uninjured (minus one sickness in October 2021 due to COVID). My body is in a great place physically and I've been so happy with the training and racing I've been able to do over the past few years. But training at altitude worries me.
Anytime you are about to experience a new type of stressor (ex. new training block, return to training after injury, overcoming an illness, approaching a significant increase in training volume, altitude training), a blood test can give you valuable information about your current state of health. The only way to know what's going on in your body is to test what's going on inside your body. Many times, early diagnosis of a condition is easier to treat before complications develop. Sadly, athletes will only consider blood testing when symptoms are significant - but at this point, health may be severely compromised. Although blood testing may look expensive, costly and inconvenient, it's a simple way to stay on top of your health.
From August 10th until August 20th, Karel and I will be in Breckenridge, Colorado. The town of Breckenridge sits at 9,600 feet above sea level. Greenville, SC sits just below 1,000 feet.
Karel will be participating in Breck Epic - a 6-day mountain bike stage race. Originally, I was going to also participate but I was worried about performing at altitude and also decided that I wanted to focus on XTRI ICON which is quickly approaching on September 1st in Livigno, Italy. While Karel is racing, I will be helping him out however I can, and training. Although I am not going to Breckenridge to intentially train at altitude for performance gains, this opportunity will give me a good understanding of what my body can do physically at a high elevation. Livigno sits at 5,958 feet and I'll be cycling up to 9,000 feet.
Anytime I change my training location or routine, I always get a bit nervous for my body as it tries to adapt to new stressors. For the past four years, I've remained healthy and uninjured (minus one sickness in October 2021 due to COVID). My body is in a great place physically and I've been so happy with the training and racing I've been able to do over the past few years. But training at altitude worries me.
At around 5,000 feet the body senses changes in the oxygen level. As you gain elevation, the pressure in the atmosphere decreases. Although the percentage of oxygen in inspired air is the same at all altitudes (~21%), the fall in atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes decreases the partial pressure of inspired oxygen (how many molecules of oxygen are in a given volume of air). Because there is less pressure to push oxygen molecules together, there are fewer oxygen molecules in the same volume of air, reducing the oxygen availability in the air reduces the oxygen saturation in the blood and brain of unacclimatized people. The next time someone says that there is less oxygen in the air at elevation, you can correct that person and say that it's the pressure in the atmosphere that decreases at higher elevation. Because of the reduced air pressure at high altitude, the volume of air you breathe into your lungs contains less oxygen molecules in each breathe.
To help the body adjust to lower oxygen levels, your body is forced to change its physiology (acclimatization). The first change is faster and deeper breaths to take in more oxygen. This can lead to shorteness of breath and feeling lightheaded. Heart rate will increase to supply more oxygenated blood to the tissues. The higher the elevation, the dryer the air. This means moisture avaporates more quickly from the skin, which can lead to dehydration if fluid intake is not a priority. Increased urination is a response to changes in the body's acid/base balance, which can also increase the risk for dehydration. Low oxygen can affect brain during sleep and the altitude can suppress the appetite. And lastly, with less oxygen reaching the muscles, which means a decline in performance compared to what you can do at sea level. Altitude sickness is a common concern and symptoms begin 6-48 hours after exposure. Symptoms include headache, nausea, lethary, dizziness and difficulty sleeping.
Many athletes opt to train at altitude before competing at sea level because of the beneficial adaptations that influence endurance performance (although not every athlete is a good responder to training at altitude). Adaptations include:
- Increased hemoglobin concentration (protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen)
- Increased thickness of blood (more red blood cells)
- Increased red blood cells (kidneys sense oxygen deficiency in the blood and secrete the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) which stimulates the bone marrow to accelerate the production of red blood cells)
- Increased capillary density (improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles)
- Increased tissue myoglobin concentration (better supply of oxygen to the cells in your muscles)
For those who can train at altitude for 3-4 weeks, the greatest benefit is more red blood cells which allows the blood to carry more oxygen. When returning to sea level, the muscles get an extra (natural) boost.
Although I'm not going to altitude for specific changes in my physiology, I know I'm going to be physically impacted for ten days. Because of this, it was very important that I do not go into this high-stress training environment with any health issues.
That's why I reached out to Athlete Blood Test.
As a long time partner with Athlete Blood Test, the team provided me with two complimentary Iron panel blood tests. As a 31-year lacto-ovo vegetarian female who menstruates regularly each month, I was most concerned with my iron stores. Iron is a necessary mineral for production of red blood cells. Altitude increases the body's need for iron. However, you do not want to supplement with iron unless you have a blood test that tells you what you are deficient in. Ferritin measures the body's iron stores in the tissues (not blood) and is a more sensitive test for iron deficiency.
Because my last blood test was on June 27th, 2022 (over a year ago) and since then I reduced my iron pill dosage from daily to once every week (since my iron and ferritin stores were in a great place), I wanted to check in with my body to see if I needed to adjust anything before and during my time at altitude. I also wanted Karel to get tested because he will be the one racing and if he had any nutrient deficiencies going into the race, that would have severely compromised his performance and health.
Because my last blood test was on June 27th, 2022 (over a year ago) and since then I reduced my iron pill dosage from daily to once every week (since my iron and ferritin stores were in a great place), I wanted to check in with my body to see if I needed to adjust anything before and during my time at altitude. I also wanted Karel to get tested because he will be the one racing and if he had any nutrient deficiencies going into the race, that would have severely compromised his performance and health.
The process of getting our blood taken after receiving the confirmation of our Athlete Blood Test was super simple. I scheduled an appointment for me and Karel at the nearest Lab Corp (~8 miles away) and we were in and out in less than 15 minutes. A few days later, I received an email from Athlete Blood Test with our results and detailed feedback on my labs.
Here are my recent (and past) lab results. Last year I had my blood tested before we participated in the 7-day Haute Route Alps. Currently, I'm in the last part of my build to XTRI ICON and I've done a considerable amount of endurance training and racing this year. In the past year, my numbers are trending down. Although I feel great (healthy, strong, fit) and I'm performing really well, I don't want this decline to continue in route to my event on Sept 1st, especially after being at altitude for 10 days.
I'll be taking Iron again (every other day this week and then daily while at altitude). I take Thorne Iron Bisglycinate. I'll also be taking Vitamin B12 from Thorne. I do not take any other supplements.
As for Karel, his labs are in a great place. He was supplementing with iron once a week since last year to get his ferritin levels up. He experiences a lot of nerve issues (foot/hand) and iron can be related to restless leg syndrome. Again, you should never supplement with iron unless you know your numbers. As you can see from Karel's labs, his ferritin levels have doubled in the past year. He still experiences RLS every now and then but it is considerably better since last year.
If you'd like to read more about blood testing and altitude, the Athlete Blood Test has a great article on this topic.
While I'll be training carefully while I am at altitude, I have peace of mind knowing that my body is in a good place nutritionally and physically.
Test, don't guess. Be proactive with your health. Spending time, money and effort on preventative health can keep you healthy so you can continue to enjoy and get the most out of your active lifestyle.
If you are interested in getting your blood tested, I have a few great discount codes for you to apply:
Iron Panel for $90
Use code TRIMARNI15 (for single panels)
Use code TRIMARNI25 (combo panels: gold + bronze, etc.)
While I'll be training carefully while I am at altitude, I have peace of mind knowing that my body is in a good place nutritionally and physically.
Test, don't guess. Be proactive with your health. Spending time, money and effort on preventative health can keep you healthy so you can continue to enjoy and get the most out of your active lifestyle.
If you are interested in getting your blood tested, I have a few great discount codes for you to apply:
Iron Panel for $90
Use code TRIMARNI15 (for single panels)
Use code TRIMARNI25 (combo panels: gold + bronze, etc.)