Dr's Checkup

A couple weeks ago I mentioned seeing my sports Doctor to have a full athletic physical done complete with blood work. I had a followup appointment yesterday and I got my blood results back. I'm very pleased!

She said that I'm definitely not anemic as I have a ton of red blood cells for some really oxygen rich blood! Good for my VO2 max and endurance training!

My HDL (good cholesterol) is at 45 and my LDL (bad cholesterol) is at 91, so very good numbers! Doctor's recommendation is to add a glass of red wine at dinner to boost my HDL. I was never a wine guy, but it's really good.

She then reviewed my thyroid numbers and noticed that there is a safe and legal way to make me faster! My numbers are normal but she prescribed me Synthroid, a thyroid supplement to slightly bump my numbers up. The thyroid controls how quickly the body burns energy and makes proteins. So a small increase could make a big difference. In 6 weeks I'll have another blood test to check my thyroid numbers to ensure the supplement is working okay. If the numbers are way off, I'll be off it.

Finally, I had a gait analysis done to check my running form. My arms are a bit high and crossing my body, so I need to keep my elbows behind my torso and forearms at my waist. I'm also a slight heel striker, so I need to really focus on landing on the mid foot. My Doctor gave me a few drills, including barefoot strides after every run, to keep me off my heels. She also recommended the Newton shoe, which I'll probably give a try once I'm due. My current shoes are okay for me and only have about 40 miles on them so it doesn't make sense to get new ones right now.

A very good appointment and I'm really glad that I made myself go to get checked out. I'm feeling more confident getting ready to begin my Ironman training. I'm also looking on some coaching options to help me out and I'll be getting a bike fit with my Christmas money! Tomorrow, I'll be getting a Polar BodyAge done, which is a system that Kevin has at his work that measures VO2 max, bodyfat, and strength analysis. It will tell you how old your body is compared to your real age. I'll keep you posted.