Values were normalised to urine creatinine values and reported in nmol/mmol creatinine. The lower limit of detection was 0.1 nmol.L−1 with an intra-run and inter-run CV of 3 to 7% and 10 to 13%, respectively [22]. Statistical analysis Results are expressed

as mean and standard error of the mean ± SEM. Repeated measures ANOVA analysed time, trial and time*trial effects of the different RTB and CTB sessions on various serum iron and inflammatory parameters, as well as urinary hepcidin levels. OSI-906 research buy Post-hoc paired samples t-tests were used to determine where specific trial differences existed, using an alpha level set at p ≤ 0.05. Cohens-d ES were also calculated (<0.4 = small, 0.4-0.8 = moderate, >0.8 = large). Results Heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion Mean HR for each trial was expressed as a percentage of the maximum HR (HRmax) attained during the running and cycling GXT; which were 193 ± 3 and 186 ± 3 bpm, respectively. Mean percentage of HRmax was not significantly different between any of the running and cycling training sessions on their corresponding days (Table 1). Mean RPE was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in all cycle training sessions as compared to running on their corresponding

days (Table 1). Food intake Daily kJ for RTB and CTB was 10,171 ± 305 and 10,027 ± 268 kJ, respectively. For RTB, the percentage composition of daily kJ intake for carbohydrates, fats and FK228 chemical structure proteins was 47 ± 2, 27 ± 2 and 22 ± 1%, respectively. For CTB, the percentage see more composition of daily kJ intake for carbohydrates, fats and proteins was 49 ± 2, 25 ± 2 and 22 ± 1%, respectively. The daily food iron content

for RTB and CTB was 6.7 ± 0.5 and 6.7 ± 0.6 mg, respectively. Daily energy intake, the percentage composition of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, as well as food iron content were not different between conditions (p > 0.05). Blood parameters Blood parameters are displayed in Table 2. No time or trial effects were recorded for serum ferritin and iron, as well as transferrin saturation on D1, R3 and R7 for both RTB and CTB. Although no trial effects existed for CRP, time effects revealed that CRP levels were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) at R7 as compared to D1 during CTB. Table 2 Mean (±SEM) baseline serum ferritin, iron, transferrin saturation and C-reactive protein (CRP) at Day 1, Recovery Days 3 and 7 in the running (RTB) and cycling (CTB) training blocks Blood Parameters RTB CTB   Day 1 Recovery 3 Recovery 7 Day 1 Recovery 3 Recovery 7 Serum Ferritin (μg.L −1 ) 79.3 82.6 84.2 84.7 82.4 77.9 (15.0) (16.0) (13.7) (17.4) (15.5) (15.5) Serum Iron (μmol.L −1 ) 19.6 20.3 17.5 15.8 22.6 17.5 (2.0) (1.5) (2.0) (1.0) (2.8) (1.6) Transferrin Saturation (%) 33 34 30 26 37 29 (5) (2) (4) (2) (4) (2) CRP (mg.L −1 ) 1.08 1.10 0.91 1.17 1.12 0.75a (0.35) (0.34) (0.33) (0.38) (0.38) (0.28) aSignificantly different to CTB Day1. Urinary hepcidin Urinary hepcidin levels on the exercise days (D1, D2, D6) are displayed in Table 3.