yearly medical check up now done...funny, my yearly check up was last done 5 years ago so shame on me. anyway, all looks good, great BP, etc... except LDL!!!...which was bad, very bad, alarmingly high. I was not expecting a number like that since I exercise often and we eat a decent/balanced diet: whole grains mostly, fresh greens veggies and fruit everyday. We've been eating the barilla pasta, cook with olive oil, etc. Looks like maybe job stress and family genetics have caught up with me. Dr. started me on 10mg/day Lipitor and will go back for more blood work in a few months (hope the Lipitor doesn't attack my liver). I had an EKG that was normal, however, given my heredity with heart disease, my doctor has scheduled a stress test and a calcium heart test in a couple weeks to look for blockages. (my dad had his 1st heart attack when he was 42, so I'm concerned). I'll be counting cholesterol more actively from now on for sure. Anyhoo, my doctor (who runs) gave me the okay to train as much as I wanted and sees no reason why I can't tackle training toward marathon distance events. But still, I can't help worry a little until the stress test is done.

Ask to have the test rerun. Cholesterol screenings can easily give false highs. They use a teeny tiny sample and it is not uncommon for a little cluster to throw the whole reading off. Especially if this is significantly different from the last time you had it done or it is your first test I have a friend who lost a ton of weight and was crushed when her cholesterol came back off the charts. She got retested a week later and it was totally normal. lemme go look up her #'s it was astonishing. MTA: ok here it goes...she lost 70 lbs, went and got tested and her results came back 388 (total cholesterol). She got retested and it came back 180 I personally will not start any medication on the basis of one test...even if I have to pay out of pocket, I'll ask to have the test repeated ...I've seen too many lab errors.