Holy Cholesterol!

I went for my blood test last Saturday before my ten mile run. On Tuesday, I called the doctor because I had not heard anything yet. They said they did not get my results but would check into things and get back to me. I was surprised when they actually did what they said they were going to do and got back to me the same day. I was prepared for them to tell me that there was no real change and that the past 2 months of nonexistent limited alcohol and caffeine did no good. That wasn’t the case and I was pleasantly surprised for the nurse to say, everything looks fine. I said hold on a minute; I have been trying different combinations and doses of medicine to get my numbers down for years and everything is fine. What does fine constitute, I asked. The numbers are:

(Insert drum roll)

Cholesterol:

HDL 38 (HDL above 60 is optimal)

LDL 64 (LDL below 100 is optimal)

Total Cholesterol 131 (Less than 200 desirable)

Triglycerides 144 (Below 150 is normal)

Kidney Function 21 (normal range is 10-20)

Needless to say, I was ecstatic to find this news out. The cardiologist told me there is no reason to come back here and call my regular Dr. to go over the results. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me. I certainly now realize that I will have to consume alcohol in moderation, compared to my use prior to this test. That will be to be the most difficult thing, since I do love beer. I can live with cutting the caffeine down. Lack of caffeine didn’t seem to bother me so much. While my results may not compare that great to some of you, for me it is a tremendous improvement. My last testing, I believe my cholesterol was at 255. I never realized what an impact that alcohol and caffeine can have on this. As far as the kidney function being elevated, I read that it can be due to a high protein diet and further read that the cholesterol medicines can breakdown skeletal muscle tissue which can affect the kidney. Of course, I am consuming a high protein diet and I need to talk with my doctor further to discuss minimizing some of these medicines. I think my genetic make up may also play a role in the low HDL number. But the overall cholesterol is good and the ratio is more important than just the HDL number. These numbers are with me on medication. I am taking Zocor and Zetia for cholesterol and Toprol-XL for high blood pressure. My blood pressure has been in check for years with the medication and exercise.

Back in college I was economics major. Every year, the Economics Dept. from my Alma matter (Eastern Illinois University) brings ten students to Chicago for the weekend. They take a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank and other cool things in the city. This Friday, the alumni in the area get together with the group of students and professors for drinks and dinner in Chicago. It is a nice way to meet the students and reminisce of old times and catch up with old friends. I was fortunate enough to develop friendships with two of my professors and when they make the trip, I always try to attend. This year they have asked me and a few others to be mentors to the existing students. I am honored and have offered to help out in any capacity I can. In years past, I have always stayed with my professors at the hotel so I could take in the night life after dinner. This year, I will be taking a late train home and running in the morning. These are some of the lifestyle modifications I will need to get used to.

Sorry for the long winded post. I hope everyone has a great weekend and good running.

Ten Miles and Some Tile

I signed up at the gym Friday evening after work. My son, Dante went with me. After I paid for the first month, they took my photo and gave me an ID an we were set. The cool thing about this gym is that they have Family Hours, even though the membership is for me only, you can bring family members with at certain times to use a segment of the facilities. Each day the schedule is different. Friday night was pretty much an open family night and all areas were being used. Dante and I went to the basketball court and were able to shoot around a bit. Saturday, I had my 10 miler and I ran outside with my wife, Terri and poker buddy, Chad. It was a little windy, but we tried to hit routes that minimized the wind as much as possible. The 10 was not as easy as my long run last Saturday, but no so bad.

After I returned from my run on Saturday, my father in law was at my house waiting to help me grout the new tile. Grouting is a messy and nasty job. It took two of us to accomplish. One was spreading the grout and the other was constantly cleaning the tile off with a sponge and dumping the dirty water out and refilling. This was not exactly what I wanted to do after I got done running 10 miles. Of course I showered first, then grouted. This process took a about 3 hours to do, actually a little longer than I expected. After the grout was on and tiles fairly cleaned off, we needed to wait for the grout to dry for 24 hours before I could wipe the tiles down again.

After grouting, I took another shower and we were out the door for my uncle Jimmy's 70th Birthday party. The party was at the Schaumburg Golf Club. It was dinner, open bar and music. Kids were invited and the dress was casual so it was a relaxing evening for everyone. I forgot to mention, I was the one who had to do the music. I prepared a play list during the week to try and satisfy a wide range of ages from 70-teens. Luckily, I have a large library and was able to prepare something to please most. Of course the older people would tell me to turn it down, while the younger people would be telling me turn it up. You can't please everyone. People were dancing and having fun, so I figured it was good enough.





On Sunday, I woke up and started cleaning the tile for the last go round and then applied a stone sealer. This protects the stone from any cooking grease etc. and enhances the color of the stone. I need to do this annually, but it is extremely easy. After that I started prepping the walls for painting and installed the new cabinet hardware and outlet covers. Needless to say, my day was spent working. My wife had been given tickets to the Chicago Wolves hockey game for Sunday, but I told her to take Dante and my nephew Shane instead of me going with. They went and had a good time and I was able to finish everything while they were gone. Below is the finished product of my hard labor. I am happy the way it all turned out and looking forward to the next project I dream up. I am sure it wont take me too long to figure something out.

Lat night was a rest day, but since I didn't get to the gym on Sunday, I decided to head up anyways. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and did some free weights for biceps and chest. Terri and Dante went with for family hours (6:30-9:00) last night. Terri rode the bike while Dante played ball and ran around the track for a mile. I told him he needs to start running if he is going to run the local 5k (Run Thru the Hills) with us next month.

I feel great today and will be heading back to the gym for a 3 mile run tonight. If I still feel good, I will try some more lifting afterwards.

Gym Rat

Well I am off to the gym tonight to sign up and see how it goes. There is a February special with no initiation fee and a monthly fee of $66. It has an indoor track, pool, classes for spinning, yoga and even tennis courts. I am not sure how much I will use it but I will give myself a month or 2 and see if I can get my monies worth out of it.

My wife and I have a ten miler planned for tomorrow morning. The forecast looks like it will be a high of 31, so not too bad. One of my poker buddies, Chad is training for the Illinois Marathon and will be running with us in the morning. He is much faster than us, but he just needs to get the mileage in and wants the company. It will push me to move a little quicker as well.

My Father in law finished installing my tile back splash in the kitchen yesterday. It turned out great and the only thing left is to grout. I hope to have some photos of the finished project to share after this weekend.

I am going for a blood test before my run tomorrow to test my cholesterol and triglycerides. As I have posted before, I have a long history of bad reading of these in my blood work. I was told to give up caffeine and alcohol for the past 7 weeks and to retest to see where my numbers are. I did not give those things up completely, but had limited my consumption drastically. I have not had alcohol for the past week. This is no easy task, As I keep a 1/2 barrel on tap at my house. I played poker last night and was the only one drinking water. On a side note, I ended up winning for a change. I guess it was just luck, right? Anyway, I have my fingers crossed that the numbers have gone down and that things are getting somewhat under control. If not I curse my Italian ancestors for giving me such shitty genetics.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and wish Jamoosh good luck at Gaspirilla distance classic tomorrow.

Feeling Good with No Rest

Saturday’s nine miler went better than was expected. The weather was around 30 degrees and overcast, but the miles seemed to flow by effortlessly. My fastest pace was actually mile 8. In fact the run went so well that my wife and I went out again on Sunday, our rest day. The weather forecast was predicting snow on Sunday evening so we wanted to get another outdoor run in before the dreadful snow came. Well that snow came and it wasn’t so bad. I only saw a few inches of accumulation at my house. Still it is enough to prevent clear pavement for running for a few more days.

The good news is that my friend is still asking if I want to be her guest at the gym. I have a 3 miler for Tuesday, which I can run on my home treadmill but have a 5 on Wednesday that I will probably take her up on the gym offer. After running on the indoor track last week, I was having some pain in my ankle and inside shin. I self diagnosed my issue as Tibialis Posterior Tendonitis. After a rest on Friday evening and a Saturday run the pain seemed to have gone away. I think running so many laps on the track and having to pass so many walkers may have aggravated something. All I Know is that I am thankful the pain is gone and I am still running. I think I am going to use the treadmill at the gym and maybe a warm up and cool down on the track. Maybe it has nothing to do with the track, but I am too scared to test it out.

I was just in touch with an old college friend and he invited me to come to Champaign for a visit. He informed me that he is running the Illinois Marathon and he is going to do his first ½. I remember Max ran a little in college but not too much. I guess running to the bar was as good as it got. Anyway, I told him that I would have run the ½ with him but unfortunately, I signed up for the Wisconsin ½ Marathon for the same day. He has not been running regularly and is just thinking of starting his training this week, which gives him about 10 weeks to prepare. He said a few different people told him to run 3 miles for 6 days a week and a little longer on Saturday. He seemed really clueless on what it will take to get him ready for this. I forwarded Max the Hal Higdon ½ marathon novice program and I hope he will try and follow some training regime other than listening to clueless people. I hope he enjoys the journey and accomplishes the goal but as of right now I am a little skeptical. I guess too many people watch the Biggest Loser and assume anyone can run a marathon or ½.

Now that we have our appliances installed, we went tile shopping at Lowe’s for a back splash. We found a nice slate tile and bought all they had at our local store. We had to drive to another store to get the rest of the tile we needed. While we we re there, we decided to change the cabinet hardware, outlet covers and re-paint the kitchen. I seem to always create a good amount of work for myself, but I hope in the end it will be worth it. Luckily my Father-In-law is retired and has offered to install the tile. I think he is really excited to help out and who am I to get in the way of that happiness. He just did a back splash at his house and it turned out great. It also helps that his best (retired) buddy was a tile guy, who will probably accompany him for moral support.

Back in Business

It seems I have resolved my technical problems. I apologize if I have not been too responsive to anyone, but I assure you, I am reading your posts. It’s amazing how far behind you can get with just a short time away. Anyway, I am glad to be back and hopefully will not have any future computer issues.

Training is going well and I have been chugging along on my Hal Higdon 18 week program and incorporating a few extra miles in just to keep up with the level I was at anyway. I know this will change in a short time and I will wish I had rested up for the upcoming miles.

I have been going to the local gym lately with a friend of mine. She has a membership and they offer family hours but her husband chooses not to go, so I check in as him. They have an indoor track and it helps break up the monotony of running on the dreadmill. During the week, I have to run on the treadmill because it is dark and icy when I get home from work. I have also been able to incorporate a little lifting into my routine as well. I have been toying with the idea of joining the gym, but can’t seem to decide. They are offering a special for February with no initiation fee. The monthly fee is $65 and I don’t know if I will get my moneys worth. I am an outside runner, except for at night with icy conditions. I still have a few weeks to decide.

I have a nine miler scheduled for this Saturday, I haven’t run that distance since December and I am actually looking forward to getting out and putting some bigger numbers down. I took Monday off for President’s Day since my son was home from school and I was able to do a nice five miler in the morning, while it there was daylight outside.

Saturday, I had the new appliances delivered and I spent the rest of the day installing everything. I had a few issues with almost every piece but managed to get it done. The fridge had a leaking water line for the ice maker so I replaced that, the dishwasher required a part that didn’t come with it and I had to modify the Microwave install over the stove. Luckily with one trip to Home Depot I had everything I needed to complete the install. I have to say we are happy with the end result and it looks nice.

I have noticed a few new readers to my blog and I welcome you. I appreciate everyone’s comments and support.

Technical Difficulties

I have been experiencing technical difficulties lately and have not been able to post anything. I have been keeping up with all of you but feel badly that I haven't been able to leave comments on your posts. I am trying to figure out a solution so that I can fix my situation. Please know that I am keeping up and am with you in spirit, even if I don't comment much.

Training has been going well and according to my 18 week plan. Last weekend was 7 miles on Saturday in the snow and wind. I know I am not alone with this horrendous weather.

I signed up for the Wisconsin 1/2 marathon for May 1st, but couldn't talk my wife in joining me. Instead, I will be running with a friend. I signed up for my first race of the year for April 21st as well. I decided to run my local 5k (Run thru the Hills). My wife and son will run this as well, so it can be a family tradition like we did last year. My wife and son both got placed in their age groups and received medals last year.

I've got a busy weekend lined. Saturday morning long run with my wife, appliances delivered in afternoon, surprise B-Day party Saturday night. Sunday I am coaching my son's basketball team because the coach and asst. coach can't make it. Lucky the kids know what they are doing more than I do.

I hope to work my issues out soon and get back to normal.

Ten Things and a Cheese Head Medal

The weather still sucks in Chicago and I feel like a wimp for retreating to the treadmill after reading Marcia's blog today. She toughed it out and ran outside this morning. Anyway I will continue my first week of training tonight on the treadmill and head outside, rain or shine on Saturday for my 6 miler.

The Blue Moon is in and I'm still working the Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon angle with my wife. Heather told me I should because they have a cool cheese medal for finishing. I agree with her.

I have been tagged by Julie to list ten (10) things that make me happy.

Ten (10) things that make me happy!

1. The most obvious is running. I am happy for what running has done for me, what is has made me and the feeling of health it provides me.

2. Having Poker night on Thursday’s in my garage and the chance to BS with my buds makes me happy.

3. The sweet nectar that New Glarus Brewing Company creates makes me very happy and sometimes buzzed!

4. My wife and son always sometimes make me happy.

5. Spending 3 day weekends in Wisconsin during the summer make very happy and relaxed. I am grateful to have a getaway for my family and me to spend our summers at.

6. I am happy to have a steady job and to be employed. Some of my friends haven’t been as blessed as I have in that regard. It’s something I try not to take for granted.

7. Friends make me happy. Both the ones I see physically and the Blog friends I communicate with in cyberspace.

8. Building things make me happy. Back when I was going to college, I worked for custom furniture company and developed many valuable skills. I currently have a nice workshop and have built many pieces in my home and endless home improvement projects.

9. Being able to run with friends make my day. I don’t often get running partners so when I do, it’s appreciated.

10. Going to Wrigley field makes me happy. Nothing beats a cold beer and a ball park hot dog. Go Cubbies!