On the Wagon

I know I have disappeared for a while, but I’m back. My knee healed up after a week taking it easy and I was back to my normal routine in no time. Thanks for all the comments and support.

The Holidays were relaxing and I was able to have a few weeks at home to spend with my son while my wife worked. Along with the relaxing holidays came a few unwanted pounds from a few too many beverages and unnecessary grazing. Now I need to get rid of about 8 pounds to get back to my summer weight.

I have researched a few training programs for my upcoming Marathon and decided upon Hal Higdon’s 18 week plan. I have about 2 weeks until I start my program, but I am excited to begin this journey.

I have been having cholesterol & triglyceride issues for some time and have been working with my doctor over the years to get the right balance of medicines that don’t tax my liver but are getting my numbers down. Unfortunately, my last blood test was not good enough and my doctor has referred me to a cardiologist. I think this is in part due to liability issue on his part, but nonetheless I went last night. I was told that the cardiologist thinks my numbers may not be as bad as they are showing on the testing. He feels that a false reading may be occurring and wants me to start new medicine and go for another blood test in 6 weeks. On top of the new test, he wants me to give up all caffeine, alcohol and limit sugars so we can see if the test is accurate. This is going to be tough as I start each morning with a cup of coffee and on occasion have been known to enjoy a nice cold beer or two. It will be tough, but I will give it my best to adhere to the Doctors orders. The only saving grace of it is that I start my training program in a week or two, so I can shift my focus to that.

Once I have cleared my body of sugar, alcohol and caffeine I am supposed to get retested and hopefully this will divulge the real numbers at a much lower level. I hope this is the answer, because after years of watching my diet, exercising and taking medications I am starting to get a little frustrated.

Last weekend my wife, Terri and I went to our local running store (Dick Pond) for a first of the year fun run. We have never done this before and thought it would be a nice way to start the year as well as try and meet others with similar interests in our own area. We were the first two at the store on Saturday morning at 8:00 and the temperature of 0 degrees out. For a second, I thought no one else was going to show. It turned out that five others strolled in and all first time to the fun run as well. It was a nice eclectic mix of ages and running skills and we only went for a short 3-4 mile run. Afterwards they made pancakes on a griddle right in the store and had pastries and coffee from Caribou. They even had four raffle prizes. Terri won a pair of gloves. When we were leaving, after Terri picked up some additional running stuff on clearance, they gave us a bunch of food to take home. My son was pleasantly surprised that we brought him breakfast. Aren't we thoughtful?

Good news is the weather here in Chicago is starting to warm up. We will be in the upper 30’s this week and hopefully for the weekend. Running in 0 degree weather sucks!

Happy running and hope to post again soon.