Brrrrr, it was cold today out on the road.
I biked early this morning for a couple of hours. The temperature was about 38 degrees F but not too windy. I wore double socks, long tights, a polypropelene turtleneck, gloves and a skullcap all on top of my usual wear. I think this may be my last outdoor ride of the year, unless the weather stays above freezing conditions for the next few weeks. Otherwise, I don't think I'd enjoy the frostbite.
I already started thinking about next year's triathlons: I'm considering raising the bar from sprint distances to half ironmans--from .25mi swim/15mi bike/3mi run to 1.2mi swim/56mi bike/13.1mi run increase. Quite daunting. I thought about my very first triathlon and how gruelling it was to simply try and finish. That's all I wanted to do. However, from that period on all the way up to this year, I had no doubt of completing the courses and was just trying to better my times. Next year, if I up the ante in distances, I'd be putting myself back to square one; to the "maybe I'll get through it or maybe I won't" mentality. I think it'd give me that original first race high if I were to succeed--a way cool incredible feeling that sparked an 'I can do anything' attitude, which I dearly miss and can certainly use these days.
For now, I'll just wait and see what I decide in 2006.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
I have high cholesterol: 227
I had my blood tested last week. Today, my copy of the results arrived in the mail. Some of the numbers were a bit high. Here are the major players:
Cholesterol: 227 (high). It should be < 200. I think this is the reference everyone talks about. It's really the sum of the bad cholesterol LDL + the good cholesterol HDL.
LDL: 151 (high). It should be < 100. This is the bad cholesterol and stands for Low Density Lipoprotein. I've certainly been eating lots of fatty stuff and been using a lot of butter in my foods for a while. It sure shows.
HDL: 75 (high, but a good high). Normally between 32 to 72. Stands for High Density Lipoprotein. I think the aerobic exercise had helped a lot with bringing this number up.
Triglyceride: 82 (good). Should be < 150.
Weird thing, but the high level of HDL good cholesterol offsets the other bad numbers and still puts me in the 'lowest risk' group, according to the results summary. My risk for heart disease is determined by the following formula:
CHOL / HDL = 227 / 75 = 3.0
A chol/hdl ratio of less than 3.5 is considered 'lowest risk'. Still, I'd say my overall cholesterol level is unhealthy, especially the LDL level. I guess it's best that I try to better my diet and exercise. The results were certainly motivating.
Cholesterol: 227 (high). It should be < 200. I think this is the reference everyone talks about. It's really the sum of the bad cholesterol LDL + the good cholesterol HDL.
LDL: 151 (high). It should be < 100. This is the bad cholesterol and stands for Low Density Lipoprotein. I've certainly been eating lots of fatty stuff and been using a lot of butter in my foods for a while. It sure shows.
HDL: 75 (high, but a good high). Normally between 32 to 72. Stands for High Density Lipoprotein. I think the aerobic exercise had helped a lot with bringing this number up.
Triglyceride: 82 (good). Should be < 150.
Weird thing, but the high level of HDL good cholesterol offsets the other bad numbers and still puts me in the 'lowest risk' group, according to the results summary. My risk for heart disease is determined by the following formula:
CHOL / HDL = 227 / 75 = 3.0
A chol/hdl ratio of less than 3.5 is considered 'lowest risk'. Still, I'd say my overall cholesterol level is unhealthy, especially the LDL level. I guess it's best that I try to better my diet and exercise. The results were certainly motivating.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Winnie Cooper wrote me back.
Danica McKellar replied to an email I sent her months ago. (*smile beaming*head spinning*) Aside from praise, I asked what other branches of mathematics she has yet to study. And she mainly replied:
. . .
Thanks for your kind words. There are lots of topics I haven’t learned much about- for instance, PDQ’s (partial differential equations), Manifold Theory, and many others. Math is a whole big world that would take a lifetime to master completely, I think. Even professors have their specialties, they would not understand many other math professors’ research. :)
...
Good luck!
-Danica
"Good luck!" she said! And then my heart went googly gah gah. She truly is one hip problem solver. Now who would think math could be such a cool and sexy thing? Ooops, silly me. Danica did.
Inspired again. Gotta calc!
. . .
Thanks for your kind words. There are lots of topics I haven’t learned much about- for instance, PDQ’s (partial differential equations), Manifold Theory, and many others. Math is a whole big world that would take a lifetime to master completely, I think. Even professors have their specialties, they would not understand many other math professors’ research. :)
...
Good luck!
-Danica
"Good luck!" she said! And then my heart went googly gah gah. She truly is one hip problem solver. Now who would think math could be such a cool and sexy thing? Ooops, silly me. Danica did.
Inspired again. Gotta calc!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Trick or treat!
"Mommy, I had the best day of my life! I had candy, chips and soda!"
--Tina
It seemed that Halloween this year was a 4 day festival. Starting last Friday, all the kids visited their "pumpkin patches" at school to pick out their little handheld pumpkins. Saturday had a dress up party at the YMCA. Sunday had a huge town costume celebration at the local university campus (the kids played "Frankenstein Says" and other games). And Monday was the big treat-or-treat deal to cap it all off. On all the days, Tina dressed as a princess, Mindy as a fairy and Miguel as a ladybug or Teletubby Dipsy (he had two costumes).
No doubt the kids'll have their daily sugar rush for the next three months.
Happy Halloween!
--Tina
It seemed that Halloween this year was a 4 day festival. Starting last Friday, all the kids visited their "pumpkin patches" at school to pick out their little handheld pumpkins. Saturday had a dress up party at the YMCA. Sunday had a huge town costume celebration at the local university campus (the kids played "Frankenstein Says" and other games). And Monday was the big treat-or-treat deal to cap it all off. On all the days, Tina dressed as a princess, Mindy as a fairy and Miguel as a ladybug or Teletubby Dipsy (he had two costumes).
No doubt the kids'll have their daily sugar rush for the next three months.
Happy Halloween!
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