I was in Murfreesboro for a meeting Friday so I ran the stadium stairs for the time and had some blood work. Have most of the results in.
I got to the stadium, warmed up and stretched, and ran 6 reps, first 3 fast with no rest at the bottom. The heat index was about 107º, no shade, and was coated with sunscreen. I hadn't eaten in 24 hrs due to fasting blood work. The first one up felt great. Joyous. Strong. The feeling of running again with no pain was awesome. It got harder. My HR hit 181 walking down just after the 3rd rep. I knew I wouldn't be doing many of these so I did them hard.
It was a good start to running. Now that I know I can run hills, I need not abuse it or try to do it too often.
Due to fasting, I'm down to race weight, in the 140-142 range.
Blood work
It has only been 7 weeks since my last test for lipids, but I had some other ones: PSA, A1C, CRP, glucose, and Total Testosterone.
Lipids - an improvement but not optimal. Not as good as Dec. Here's a comparison, first number is June 3, second number July 25:
Total Cholesterol: 220 to 205
LDL: 152 to 137
TriG: 174 to 138
LDL/HDL ratio: 4.1 to 3.3
Non HDL Chol: 183 to 164
HDL: 35 to 41
Additional tests:
Glucose: 100
A1C: 5.5
PSA: 1.58
Total testost: 418
I'm still waiting on tests for insulin, and CRP. My first CRP in '21 was decent, 1.1 mg/l. I think inflammation has a lot to do with my sugar intake. It has been down in the past several weeks as I've eliminated raw sugar and am using only allulose/ monkfruit sweetener.
A1c is pretty good. Mine ranges from 5.5 to 6.1. It is highest after ski season as the intensity drive’s adrenaline response and increases gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, and since my pancreas seems to be somewhat compromised my blood glucose can exceed 200 during an intense ski. But it can be mitigated by consuming 20 to 30 grams of high quality protein 30 minutes before exercise - protein stimulates the pancreas to release insulin. From my 24 hour glucose monitor I can confirm it works but nonetheless 3 to 4 intense skis, each probably the effort of three of your climbs in one workout, significantly elevate my A1c. Cycling not as much as overall intensity is lower. Also there is something about adding the upper body component. Even if I do my skierg sitting on a stool and only achieve modest heart rates my blood glucose response is much greater than on an indoor bike trainer pedaling at fairly hard effort. I believe intra abdominal pressure (IAP) is a factor. IAP has been studied a lot with athletes- a transducer in the vagina or anus is typically inserted. The fastest sprinters and swimmers generate the highest IAP. IAP is essential to athletic performance but there is debate as to whether it is a factor (input parameter) or just a output parameter. IAP also affects organs so I believe exercises that increase IAP, like the rhythmic double pulling and torso compression of skate cross country skiing, increase blood glucose more than a sport like cycling, due to its effects on pancreas and/or liver. Sprinting is probably in between cross country skiing and cycling in blood glucose response.
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