I'm Abbie Normal

My long awaited lab results from my recent blood work are in. I have to say all the numbers, acronyms, and technical terms are pretty confusing to me, so I forwarded them to my race director/team doctor/facial hair stylist Mike Piazza.

Mike Piazza says other than the fact that this information should have been printed to his scale most of what he sees looks good. Last year in June (right before I left for Breckenridge) my hematocrit was that of a sad couch potato, but now (as of February 19th) I'm slightly closer to being a normal adult male... as far as hematocrit goes. Unfortunately there is a lot of (mis)information on the internet regarding normal values when it comes to hematocrit, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and just about everything else. One website said a hematocrit level of 49% was optimal for adult males, but considering elite cyclists were doping to stay as close to the 50% mark (you were suspended when you hit 51%) I kinda think that number has to be off. Like most folks I search the internet until I find information that makes me feel good, and I did find a few sites that had more attainable numbers, numbers like "for men 39 - 49%". I'm just about in the middle there, so I'm not gonna look into it any further.

Of course not all news was good news. In an attempt to raise my iron levels I jacked up my cholesterol. I used to have amazingly low LDL cholesterol (the bad one), but now I'm at the lower limits of "You'd better watch your diet Mr Dillen". Meh. I can easily identify that culprit, and changes will be made to get my veins flowing freely again. Also I have a slight vitamin D deficiency, but I wonder who doesn't have a vitamin D deficiency this time of year. The human body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed (5 to 30 minutes of exposure to the skin on your face, arms, back or legs (without sunscreen) twice every week) to the ultraviolet B (UVB) rays in sunlight. I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when, so I'm stuck in supplement prison. At least I get to go back in six months to see where I'm at after making yet even more dietary changes and a little sun bathing. Wonder what I'll screw up next.

Race news???

There are only a few (less than ten) spots left for the 2010 PMBAR. If you want in now is your chance.

Hoffencross is back on. April 17th in the Dupont State Forest. There will be no drug testing or French scientists looking for doper/hackers, so bring your syringes and centrifuges for an all out smack down of epic proportions.

What would Riccardo Ricco do?

That's right, I'll be bringing some matches and burning some bridges.