T1D

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Gillian

JDRFThe past two weekends I have attended two different diabetes related fundraisers.  The first one “The Santa Speedo Run”  is a 1 mile jog around the magnificent mile area on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  We meet at a local bar, have a few beverages then head out in our speedo’s or whatever festive costume you choose to wear, do an unorganized run around the streets of Chicago, around cars, around  Christmas shoppers and the like.  High fiving people as we go and yelling out various “diabetes” related sayings.  It has become an annual thing for me and my triathlete friends and some of the girls from team WILD to do.  Yes, it gets a bit crazy but it truly is the one day where I can say “i feel a little special here” because all these people are gathered here to help me!  I wear my pump and other diabetes equipment with pride! I am not sure how much money they raise but it costs $40 per person and I have to say there was anywhere from 2-400 people? http://www.chicagosantaspeedorun.com The proceeds go towards the Chicago Diabetes Project a global collaboration in search of a cure for diabetes through islet cell transplants. http://www.chicagodiabetesproject.org/.

IMG_1467 IMG_1472 IMG_1473 IMG_1492

This past weekend  I volunteered at the JDRF Chance of a Lifetime Gala http://www.jdrfillinois.org/gala/index.html.  A completely different animal.  Here the who’s who of Chicago who have some connection to diabetes gather to bid on expensive high end silent auction items such as signed sports jersey’s, wine, dinners, art, weber grills and vacation packages.  In the past pre-dinner speeches are made by govenors or mayors of Chicago.  Guests are usually all glammed up for the night.  I love to watch and see all the outfits. After dinner everyone filters into the auditorium where NBC 5’s Allison Rosati and Rob Stafford MC the event. Auctioneers start the bidding on fabulous packages donated by individuals and companies such as African lion safaris or Grammy Award VIP passes and weekend packages.. or a chance to sing on stage with the band playing that year.  This year it was Kool and the Gang, the lucky winners got to sing “celebration” on stage.  The winners were the daughters of a well off family who paid north of $10,000 for the opportunity. This year we volunteered, the individual tickets are a helfty $375, volunteering was fun and we still go to enjoy the show.

Speeches are given by chosen individuals who are meant to inspire and give hope. Every year I sit and listen to these people talk about this disease that I have and every year  it reduces me to tears -EVERY time.  Somehow hearing about the constant guessing of dosages, the highs and the lows, the 24/7 attention required, the difficulties of adjusting dosage for hormones, exercise, stress, pizza, beer, and frankly if your baby toe hurts, makes me realize what I do day to day.   It’s one of the few times where I let it all out, all the frustration with this damn disease  pours out of my eyes in the form of sobbing tears.  Generally I can carry on day to day not thinking about the burdens of living with diabetic, its just my life. Yes, on occasion i will let it out on Facebook but directed towards my diabetic friends because only they would understand. Here diabetes looks me straight in the eye and smacks me in the face and says “this is hard” and “hey, you have a disease and it sucks”.  It’s not all doom and gloom though, especially hearing about how not long ago a diabetic had an average life expectancy of less than 60 and the stories of what people used to do prior to all the gadgets we have now, having to sterilize and reuse needles (wow).   Now THAT was hard! I am grateful for all the research the JDRF has been involved with and for all the new technology that helps me manage this disease day to day.

They raised over $3 million dollars that night.  One night.  The outpouring of generosity whether it be through volunteering, giving or bidding thousands of dollars is just astonishing.

JDRF is the global leader in diabetes research and the illinois chapter is the largest in the country raising millions of dollars through events such as the gala and the Ron Santo walk.  It provides funding for research to find a cure, improve treatment and to prevent type 1 diabetes. http://jdrfillinois.org/help-cure-diabetes/aboutJDRF.html

Two completely different events, two very worthy causes.

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OVER BOLUS AND TRAIL RIDES!

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Gillian

THE OVER BOLUS AND STUNNING TRAIL

The past two Saturdays I have rented a cyclocross bike – a lovely Trek ION from Trek of Highland Park Trek ION attempted to join the group cyclocross ride.  The first Saturday was warm  in the 60’s I headed out with the group.  We snaked through some residential streets to get to the trail enterance.  We started out by doing some loops of a small trail cyclocross style.  I lagged in the back and ended up off course losing the entire team.  I figured out how to get to the main trail after that and headed out on my own.  Having a wonderful  55 mile bike ride on the Des Plaines gravel trail North towards Wisconsin.  It was totally awesome.

This last Saturday I did the same thing.  I was in the changing room figuring out what layers to wear since it was 34 degrees vs the promised 50 degrees.  When I got to the front entrance they all had left! So again I found myself on my own.  I packed my camel back with 2 small cliff bars, a hammer bar and a sleeve of cliff blocks. I had woken up with extremely high blood sugar (358) due to a meal of ribs, onion rings and drinking gimlets the night before.  So I had bolused for correction and breakfast which I didn’t feel like eating so just had a tiny homemade paleo pumpkin muffin. I realized after I bolused that it was probably too much.  I ate a gel prior to setting off. I headed down the path and felt the unmistaken low feeling. I had taken far too much insulin in the morning and the gel hadn’t helped.  I tested with a BG of 65 I stopped and ate a cliff bar and several blocks, contemplating on turning back to go to the CVS for gatorade.   I convinced myself that I’d be ok.  I set off again trying to find the same residential streets to the trail without much luck.  I eventually found it several miles North of where I should have been. I thought of working my way backwards to see where I should have gone but decided I’d rather head on my way. This was about an hour after my original test so I tested again before setting off down the trail I was at 90.  I ate a few more of my blocks.  I didn’t reduce my basal because typically on long rides I increase my basal for the food so reducing just didn’t connect.

I headed down the trail seeing frost on the grass and was grateful for the neck gator I threw in my bag at the last second and the thick gloves vs the thin ones I had planned on.  Despite 2 pairs of socks and neoprene booties over my shoes I felt the unmistaken burn of cold toes. I wiggled them and moved them as much as possible but the cold was sinking in- the wind was cold. As I transferred on to the main trail  I decided to test again – yikes  51!  I ate my last mini-cliff bar and the rest of the blocks.  I only had 1 bar left with about 27 g of carbs it was a hammer chocolate and cashew bar – love those.  I told myself that I would ride to the small lake that had indoor bathrooms about 5 or so miles in.  I arrived at the lake with cold feet.  I got off my bike and walked around.  I felt the warm sun on me and went into the heated bathroom.  I looked at my mileage I had only gone about 17 miles.  Being a fan of round #’s I told myself that I would ride 3 more miles and turn back.  The warm sun at the lake gave me a nice little zap of energy.  I headed down the trail and actually felt like I had ridden through a weather shield, my feet unfroze and my hands felt a little sweaty.  My original goal that day was to make it to the Wisconsin border – the end of the trail .  As I rode I enjoyed the forest and the wildlife!  I felt great.  I passed the point where I turned back the week before.  The trail crossed a couple of main streets with a couple of gas stations – somewhere to stop to refuel ! Bonus!  I made it to “the cheese curtain” .  I tested and was at 77.  I ate my final bar and started heading back, passing some beautiful horses on the way (it is also a horse trail).    Despite having the bar, I felt uncomfortable being completely out of food.  I stopped at one of the gas stations and bought a stash of goodies.  When your sugar is low everything looks good!  I downed most of the Gatorade, ate some salted almonds and part of a chocolate bar.  I headed back and stopped at the lake again.    Boy, the big bolus prior to start really put me on a downward spiral!  Looking back I probably should have decreased my basal on the first low but I honestly though if I ate enough it would fix itself. Anyhow, I finished the bar and went to open the second but it seriously looked stale, the chocolate had white powdery stuff on it and it just looked bad. I stuck it back in my bag just in case and downed the rest of the Gatorade. I also changed into my thin gloves.  Believe it or not I was hot!

As I headed down the final stretch, a paved path next to a railway, I felt myself bonking again. I took the less scenic ride home because my phone had died and I wasn’t 100% sure how to get back using the other trails.  I finally made it back to the start, handed off the bike and fueled up.  I tested at 86.  It was a long day with lessons learned but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am now on a mission to buy a bike that I can ride trails on.  Although the trails were not mountain biking trails I am leaning towards this so that I can start mountain biking and still ride the horse trails on the same bike. Stay tuned as I add to my growing bike family!

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The un-marathon race report

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Gillian

The NY ING UN-Marathon Race Report

In April 2012 I ran the Chi-town half marathon in 1:38 which qualified me to get into the NY marathon.  I had never entered the lottery to get in but had always wanted to do it.  It has been on my list for a long time. I had already signed up for Chicago at that point but decided to make a trip of it and make it a fun run.  The race goes through five boroughs of New York.  What better way to see a city than to run through it.  I had been to New York but never Brooklyn, Staten Island  or Queens and had only been in the Bronx to see the Yankees.  Needless to say I was really excited about it.

I came out of the Chicago marathon feeling pretty good that I had run better than I thought I was going to.  I did a few medium length runs and some strength training leading up to NY after Chicago.  I wanted to make sure that my legs were well rested for NY.  I didn’t care about my time but I didn’t want to be absolutely miserable either.

So of course as you all know Hurricane Sandy slammed into NY and the East Coast the very week of the marathon. Airports were shut-down, power was off, people were flooded and some died. It was very tragic.  I stood by the TV watching as people were being forced out of their homes.  First, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run it and second, we were not sure if we were even going to be able to fly in. LaGuardia was the last airport to open on Thursday, the day of our flight.  The talk began on whether or not the marathon was going to be cancelled.  I was very torn about the whole situation but assumed that the people who were making the decision ultimately knew best.  Even on Thursday morning as I was packing watching the recovery efforts on the TV I cried.   We kept an eye on the flights and it was on time.

We arrived on time in New York at LaGuardia on Thursday November 1st.  I had just filed our financials at work and was very stressed about the race and if/how it was ever going to happen.  How do I run through these areas and enjoy it while people don’t have electricity?  We took a bus and train to midtown.  It was a long wait, the bus was packed and people were yelling at each other. Stressed!  Other than that it went smoothly. Mid-town and Broadway seemed business as usual-Tourists walking around, entertainers on the streets, packed restaurants and busy full bars.  I though oh, I guess it will be ok after-all.  Whenever we were out I spoke to as many locals as possible, just to get their opinion.  Most, despite being out of electricity said it was ok, some said it should have been cancelled.  Our friends Jamie and Scott who live there didn’t seem to mind.  Scott, a paramedic and Jamie, a nurse were no strangers to disaster in New York.  Facebook was a frenzy of opinions.  I took the opinion that I would do what the city wanted, if the city (i.e. mayor) wanted people to come to the city and run then I would.

Friday, came and we walked to the expo.  Down near 34th and 12th at the Javits convention center.  I picked up my race packet.  Like any expo it was full of runners and lines for everything.  You couldn’t help but notice all the foreign accents.  Thousands of the 47,000 expected runners were from overseas (as many as 20,000 runners are international)  I looked at the official race merchandise and spent about $70 on a t-shirt and arm warmers as a momomentomento.We left the expo and walked through Hell’s Kitchen and ate at 5-napkin burgers.  We sat beside a guy who worked for Nike.  He had ridden his bike into the city 17 miles for an event then was going to ride it home again that evening after the event because he had given up his room to a friend with no electricity.  He was upset that the marathon was still going on but as I expressed how bad I felt he told me not too.  After our late lunch we walked back to the hotel room with my race bag.  I did my normal thing and dumped everything out sorting between keep and throw away.  I turned on the TV at about 5:00 pm or so and saw the banner on the bottom.  New York Marathon Cancelled.  I thought it was some joke, I seriously stared at the TV for some time reading it and re-reading it.  I called Tom over just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things, I told him that it was cancelled, we both sort of stood in disbelief.  Finally the newscaster came on with the “breaking” news.  I of course posted it on FB right away and sure enough people came back saying the same thing – and since if it’s on facebook it had to be true 🙂  it finally sank in.  It was cancelled and that was that. The first cancellation in 42 years, not even for 9/11 was it cancelled.  I was not upset about it being cancelled I was upset that they waited so long.  We would not have made that trip if it wasn’t for the marathon.  For the money we spent we could have stayed at an all inclusive 5 star hotel in Mexico which would have been luxurious! (Sorry if this sounds selfish, I have done my fair share of mission work so I’m non completely oblivious to disaster and people in need) I love New York but 5 days is a lot of time there.

We made the most of the trip.  We had fun hanging out with our friends  Scott and Jamie, we went to see a Broadway show with Al Pacino which was cool and we ran in central park several times.  I had never really done the full 6 mile loop, the weather was cool but sunny most days, perfect running weather.  The full 6 mile loop is quite hilly but very pretty, hard to believe it’s in the middle of Manhatten. We walked to the East side on Sunday (marathon day) through the park and saw 1,000’s of runners running “Plan B” the marathon that did  4 and bit loops around the park.   There was even people cheering the runners on and mini-aid stations.  If NY’ers want their marathon – they will get it!  Ironically we ended up in at a bar watching the Bears game.  The next day I did two loops of the park and also saw several other runners doing multiple loops.  There was definitely a sort of camaraderie on the streets of New York between people who looked like runners or were wearing their orange marathon shirt.  I wore mine for my run on Monday.  I am sure for those runners who had trained hard for this particular race they felt like they needed to do it.  Other runners went to Staten Island to help with the relief effort. It isn’t confirmed but I believe we have guaranteed entry into it next year but I can’t do it because I will be doing the Arizona IM 2 weeks later.  Hopefully they will extend the entry to 2014 :). I just want to run the New York marathon, some day and make this finish line picture real.

The New York Road Runners didn’t send a notification to its runners until the day before the marathon. The last communication I have received from them was on November 7th which said this:

Dear Runners,Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time in New York City. The cancellation of this year’s marathon was an unprecedented event, which we know has left many unanswered questions for all of you.Please know that our priority is to address your concerns. We ask that you give us a little time to work out the details and make thoughtful decisions. We are very grateful for your continued patience.We will do all that we can to have these issues sorted out in the coming weeks.

Thank you,
New York Road Runners

The NYRR rakes in $22M in entry fees, $10M from sponsors and $8M in dues then spends about $22M on the marathon, $13M in wages and benefits and $9M on advertising and other races. Wettenburg alone makes over half a million a year, not bad for a race organizer. Apparently this does not translate into fast thoughtful decisions.

 


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Feeling alive at five!!!!!

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Gillian

I spend most of my days indoors in an office.  The office has a nice view but its indoors and well its boring most of the time.  As I left my office today, Friday, it started to rain.  No, let me re-phrase that, it poured and pelted.  I wait beside my bike for a bit and it finally let up enough for me to get on my way.  It was also fairly cold 50 degrees or so.  As it let up I got on my bike with my raincoat zipped up and my laptop secure inside the paniers. My helmet on of course.  About 5 minutes into my journey it started to pour again.  I guess I was following the storm.  I stopped and put my hood up under my helmet and started off again.  As I was riding in the cold miserable rain,  I couldn’t help but think how awesome it was that I was outside and facing the elements, finally feeling alive.  From eight + hours of boring mundane work into half hour of peddling through the city being peletted by cold rain, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In other news, an update on my training plan for the NY marathon in 2 weeks?!!!! Yikes. I have run a grand total of 3 miles since the Chicago marathon.  Ooops!  I did, however, do a myriad of other “good for me activities”  squeezed between long hours at work.  I swam twice, I did a bootcamp, I did pilates, I had a massage, and I had ART done on my hammies and foot.  I have to say, it feels good. 🙂 Tomorrow morning I plan on running about 8 miles to the gym then bootcamp.  I’ve been fairly successful at keeping to the Paleo diet with only one slip up at work when someone brought in chocolate cake for a birthday, I had a really teeny piece.  We made some good dishes early in the week – butternut squash soup and a shredded chicken soup which was great. I had a really intense high blood sugar Thursday morning which brought me to my knees…I was taking a Dexcom break and I guess I paid for it.  New sensor has now been started and the receiver will be placed close to my head so that I can hear the blasted alarm screaming YOU ARE OVER 300 WAKE THE F*CK UP!!!!!!

Have a good night and great weekend everyone!!!!

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5,000 Kettle Bell Swings

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Gillian

I swear I did that many yesterday.  It was brutal.  It was something completely different from my last 18 Saturdays.  I did a bootcamp.  If you don’t know what a kettle bell swing  is – here is a link http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/eow-kettlebell-swing .  Recently I have gotten away from any type of core/strength training work so while there is a break in coaching on Saturdays I thought a bootcamp would be a fun change.  I can really use some strengthening in my hammies, glutes and lower back.  I followed the bootcamp up with a short hill run and a swim.  I’m hoping these all round efforts will build some strength for those NY marathon hills. Today, the next day, I’m sore but not so sore that I can’t function :). Doing some things out of your comfort zone can only make you stronger!

I’m also complimenting this bootcamp / strength training strategy with a 26 day paleo type diet.  Not a diet to lose weight but a diet to gain strength.  So far its going ok but I have fallen off the wagon once or twice.  Last night I was at a birthday party and well, drank beer.  Then early this morning I woke up with a blood sugar of 60 and had some glucose tablets and a cliff block.   If I can follow it 80% of the time I will be happy.  Today is a new day! I followed a paleo diet once before and I honestly think my body did feel better.  So I thought I’d try it again.

Yesterday I watched the amazing battle of the women competing in the ironman world championship in Kona.  As I was thinking about this post I thought about Leanda Cave,   Caroline Steffan and Rinny battling it out to be 2012 IM world champion.  I wonder how many times that day they were outside of their comfort zone.  What an amazing race. I think about Natascha Badman who at 46 came in 6th overall. How many times this year did she get outside of her comfort zone in order to pull off such an amazing performance.  This led me to think about my friend Linnea who year after year competes in Ironmen and places in her age group.  She has competed in at least 20 of them, how many times did Linnea have to get out  of her comfort zone in order to perform so well.  She is responsible for planting the ironman seed in my brain as I watched her compete in 1 of her first IM world championship races in Hawaii nearly 10 years ago, where funnily enough I watched the very same Natascha Badman compete and if I recall correctly she won that year. Finally I think about fellow Vision Quest triathlete Rhonda  who at the age of 56 and cancer survivor placed 3rd in her age group at Ironman Wisconsin.

I’m all about comfort but sometimes you just need to try something different.

I thought this a pretty interesting fact:

In bullfighting there is a term called querencia. The querencia is the spot in the ring to which the bull returns. Each bull has a different querencia, but as the bullfight continues, and the animal becomes more threatened, it returns more and more often to his spot.
As he returns to his querencia, he becomes more predictable. And so, in the end, the matador is able to kill the bull because instead of trying something new, the bull returns to what is familiar. His comfort zone.”

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Weed Farm

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Gillian

As I rode my bike to work today, I passed the location where I learned how to swim.  I think of it as the birthplace of Gillian the triathlete.  It was at the New City YMCA at the corner of Halstead and Clybourn.  I took lessons with my friend Medora and her husband Kevin.  We went every Wednesday for several sessions at least a year.  It was a large 25M pool in a big room with lots of light (not like the Lakeview Y pool) .  There were a ton of programs at that Y where those who couldn’t afford a fancy gym could enroll in programs and enroll their kids too!  I’m sure it provided a great diversion for many inner city kids who lived in the area.  We were taught by an awesome young kid from Guatemala.  He poured his heart into teaching us because we went so diligently.  Until then I couldn’t even swim a lap.

When we learned that the Y was selling the land to developers who were going to tear it down we were heart broken.  Hugo, the instructor also would lose a source of income.  We continued to go right up until they closed it. We even went to Hugo’s house for dinner, where we met his wife and dad! I often wonder what he is up to these days and would love to show him how far I have come :).  I watched as each day brought the building further and further into the ground and as the signs went up advertising the opening of more stores.  I could see what was once the pool being filled with landfill.  It was just what the area needed MORE stores! It was so sad.

Each time I ride by I shake my head in disgrace as I see that five years later there is still nothing but a giant weed farm where a wonderful inner city Y once stood.

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Chasing “down” the blood sugars – The Chicago Marathon Race Report

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Gillian

This was Chicago Marathon #7 for me and my 23?ish marathon in total.  Was it a PR-no, but damn I felt really good.  I really wish I could explain why.

I had never run a marathon without officially training for it.  I mean following a marathon training program.  Was I in shape?  Yes Was I capable of finishing? Yes.  Yes I had completed an Ironman, a Leadman and a few other races here and there but running a marathon is such a different beast than doing those other events.   If you don’t carefully pace a marathon that infamous “marathon wall” can hit you hard. So, I had no idea what to expect. I guessed conservatively that I would run between a 9 – 10 minute pace based on some race times and my long Saturday runs I coached.

I picked up my race packet on Friday after work then headed out for a post “Leadman” pre”marathon” dinner with Tom.  Saturday was the first in a long time I’d actually get to sleep in. Well, despite the late night festivities on Friday night I found myself unable to sleep in.  I got up at 6 to do some work.  I tried to go to bed later but ended up reading magazines and not sleeping!  Sitting around made me feel  stiff and sore so decided to get out and do something. I went to the gym to hit the pool and sauna.  I swam a few lengths and got my heart rate up for a few.  I also did some pool jumping jacks and some pool running.  I really felt like it stretched out my muscles. I would highly recommend it.  It was just what I needed.  I got home and ate various snacks – sushi, a bowl of soup and some leftover pasta.  Then headed to bed at an early hour.

My alarm did not go off so I bolted up at 5 realizing I had slept in.  I got ready and ate my bagel, almond butter and banana with a reduced bolus of 80% with a 238 BG so about 5.5 units.  I had been having a rough week with inexplicable late night highs. Perhaps from the lack of working out that week?  Tom dropped me off at FFC South Loop, I put my disposable layers on and got to greet all the runners and wish them luck.  The temps were to be in the mid-30’s.  I wore my trimonser triathlon kit with a sheddable jacket then a throw away long sleeved top with a hat and gloves.

Plan:

I packed two packets of blocks, a gel to eat early on in the race, endurolytes and a $20 bill (in event that my plantar fasciitis kicked in or my tight hamstrings gave out or anything else for that matter!).  I had my dexcom with me.  I decreased my basil to 60%. My plan was to go out easy at a 10 min / mile pace or so then pick it up for the last 13 miles.

The Race:

As we lined up to start at around 7 I looked at the Dexcom reading.  It showed my BG’s going up.  I thought, that is ok it is just the mismatched timing of the bolus and my food.  I felt confident that it would go down.   The race started, I shed 1 layer of clothing went on my way.  I saw my friends Katie, Jay and Rob at the 0.5 mile and gave them hugs and kisses not worrying about the time (see picture they took above).  At about mile 2ish I was looking for my friend Erin at State and Lake because I knew she would be there.  Well, she saw me first and screamed so loud, scarying me half to death!  It was pretty funny.  My insulin pump actually popped out of its clip and dangled from the cord! Ha! At mile 3 or so some people were handing out little Dixie cups of beer, so I thought maybe it would settle my stomach. I had a few sips.    With continued high blood sugar’s I gave myself a  bolus of 0.4 units then knowing how important nutrition is early on in the race at mile 8 I took a gel and bolused 0.6 units. I was still very high at that point. I was pretty upset about it but tried to just keep enjoying the run.  I still felt ok so that is all that mattered.  I also ate a few blocks and drank some Gatorade and water at each and every aid station.  All the while, I would catch myself running faster than my planned pace and tried to hold back.  I could see that I was knocking time off my pace as I ran by each clock at the mile markers. I saw my friend Jeff at Merchandise Mart which gave me a little boost. I had hit the halfway point at 2 hours which put me at a 9:15 pace or so.  A little faster than I had planned but I still felt good.  Knowing that the tough part of the race was yet to come I still didn’t think I was in the clear, however, at this point I thought I’d pick up the pace, as planned, and deal with crashing at the end. At that point my blood sugar started to drop tank.    The blood sugar dropping is good, dropping fast is not so good. At around 10 am or 16+ miles in I felt it and inhaled several blocks at once and drank a couple of cups of gatorade. Finally it leveled off. The next 4-5 miles I felt really good and I took in all the sites, sounds and cheers.  I high-fived and smiled the entire way. Passing the 17.8 mile gu station was a great milestone however I was still waiting for that wall to hit me in the head.  I kept running and kept picking up the pace.  As we turned South on Ashland off Taylor I heard the unmistakable booming voice of VQ’er Dave Noda, so I ran over to give him a high five.  I passed through Pilsen with the mariachi music and dancing.  Then one of my favorite spots I think near mile 21 where there was a group of older folks playing Gangnam style and dancing the dance. Holy Hilarious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0.  I continued with eating blocks and drinking Gatorade and water and each aid station.  I started to turn it up even more dropping to an 8:30 pace.  At mile 23 I passed the “hashers” friends of my friends Steve who serve beer on the course and took some nice gulps of the cold beverage.  Just enough to savor the flavor and the bubbles, sort of like drinking a coke during an ironman 🙂 .   With the little boost from the beer,  I picked up the pace finishing off the last 5k in 8 minute miles.  I ran past my cheering section (Tom, Katie and Helen <3) at their usually location 1 mile from the finish just outside of Krolls ( a bar of course).  Headed up Roosevelt I cheered on one of my fellow ADA runners and sprinted to the end to finish in just over 3 hours and 50 minutes.   I felt great the entire time, I didn’t hit a wall, not even a fence.  Again, I think there is something to be said for not racing under time pressure and of course negative splits! Here is my Dexcom report for the marathon:Chicago Marathon 2012 Dexcom_1

Finish time 3:50:03 Boston Qualifying time for this old gal 3:55:00 wa hooo!  Here were my splits:

I also learned a few things:

  • Hitting the pool the day before does wonders physically and mentally.
  • Biking a lot does translate into running fitness!
  • Proved again that a good pacing strategy works.

Check out this chart on the average finish times and gender split!

I headed back to the gym where all our runners I had coached were going to arrive within the next hour or so.  It was the icing on an already awesome cake to see them all arrive one by one and to hug every single one of them.  We had spent nearly every Saturday together for the last 18 weeks.  They had all worked so hard to get that medal around their necks!  I was prouder than punch!

Another awesome part of the day was getting to see my TEAM WILD friends!  I love love love seeing these guys. I feel so blessed to have them all in my life. We had all trained together for Ironman Wisconsin, all Type 1 diabetics and 1 Type 3 (10 of us!).  We all support each other in our athletic endeavors along with all the Type 1 crap that we deal with each day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking bud lights and munching on Pizza watching Da Bears! Great Day!

The following couple of days were pretty brutal.  I was fairly sore and walked like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I my Plantar Fasciitis was pretty bad but feels ok now- a few days later.

Next up is the NY Marathon in a little less than a month.  My plan for the next few weeks (after this recovery week). Is to do a lot of swimming, some hill work, some speed work and some strength training and no long distances…. we will see how this pans our.

Posted in Race Day Tips, Race nutrition, Race Reports, Training, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Leadman 2012 Race Report

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Gillian

Background

This race was brought to my attention by my friend Hootie who works for lifetime fitness.  I think it was shortly after I had finished Ironman Texas.  It appealed to my sense of adventure and my love for travelling.  I’ve always wanted to visit the Pacific Northwest and have been told more than once that I would LOVE Portland.  Looking at the pictures of the area peaked my interest as did the many micro-brews in the area!

I was committed (sort of).  I spoke about it and I had it on my list of races for this year for sometime.  I didn’t sign up, book a flight or hotel really until the very last minute.  Hootie and my friend April also committed to doing it as well. Hootie and I were to do the full 250K and April was doing the half at 125K.  The distances were as follows 3.1 mile (5k)  swim, 138 mile (224k) bike and a 13.1 mile (21k) run.

Training:

My fear of committing revolved more around fear of training for yet another long triathlon.  I wasn’t sure I had it in me.  To that end, I had no formal training plan. After IM Texas I wanted to take the summer easy from triathlon training and focus on PR’ing the Chicago marathon.   Unfortunately,  I was still suffering from plantar fasciitis and my marathon training was put on hold. My runs consisted of sessions I coached. I ran with my group and different paces with little speed. I felt like speed work would injure my foot and destroy my already tight hamstrings.  So I “rested” on the running part.  I ran Mondays 4-7 miles and Saturdays up to about 17 miles at a slower than normal pace.  I did some long bikes… a few 90 mile rides and some shorter ones. One big 95 mile ride in Wisconsin on Ironman weekend where I did about 6000 feet climbing riding Robbie Ventura’s Gran Fondo course 3 x.  I got on the computrainer about 3 x since IM Texas. I raced Steelhead 70.3 my favorite half IM and PR’d :).  I swam quite a bit (2-3 times per week) but without as much intensity as for IM Texas.  I swam both in the lake and in the pool doing 1 -3 mile swim several weeks prior to the race. The swim had a 2.5 hour cut-off for the 3 miles and was I worried about making it. So that was the training. I knew I wasn’t racing this race but could I do the distances within the cut-off ranges and could I even ride 138 miles after swimming 3 miles? These were the questions that floated through my brain as time grew near race day.

Packing Decisions:

Once I actually signed up for the race I had some decisions to make.  Do I fly to Portland and rent a car, how long should I stay, should I rent or ship my own bike.   Some decisions were easy – I had waited so long that flying into Portland was the cheapest despite the car rental.  Some were harder, I could rent a bike for $60 or ship my bike for 5 x that much;  I didn’t think of actually fedexing the bike until it was too late! Doh! This was the breakdown of the cost:

Case rental $75;Bike packing/repacking $100; Extra fee on Southwest $100; packing/repacking at location $80; climbing cassette install and tune up $85; car upgrade to fit the bike box $100.

Not exactly pocket change! I decided not to rent racewheels to save a bit of money there.  I did what a lot of people do in this situation, I went to the book of face to ask my tri friends what they thought.  Most said take my own bike because of the distance.  A couple said to rent. I ended up bringing Paddy and was happy for it in the long run despite the extra cashola.

This was also the hardest race to pack for.  We would be facing temperatures anywhere from 30 – 80 degrees. With about 3,000 feet of elevation changes plus some grueling uphills and cold speedy downhills. I ended up packing a ton of cycling gear and barely any “real” clothing.

The Trip:

I arrived in Portland on Thursday afternoon, I rented the car and started the drive to Bend.  Portland was overcast with temperatures in the mid 60’s. It got me worried that I didn’t bring enough warm clothes.  I ended up being really happy that I decided to drive from Portland, it was beautiful.  I was stunned at the varying terrain.  One minute your driving through huge pine forests of Mt. Hood in a scene from Twilight the next thing I know I’m driving through the desert in The Treasures of the Sierra Madre!  Here is the view as I was driving towards Bend: Crazy changes in temperature too.  I got to Bend and the car read 91 degrees. I got out and sure enough it was crazy hot.  I dropped my bike off at the bike shop then checked in to the hotel.  It was in the “old mill” district of Bend and was a short walk to stores, breweries and to the athlete check in.  I walked down the hill to pick up my race packet.  As I am walking back up I realize how out of breath I am.  Thin air!  How was I going to do 138 miles on a bike if I can’t even walk up a short hill!  Also the “sisters” area was being plagued by forest fires and there was a slight haze which left a burn in my chest and the air was SOOOO dry. I was constantly parched. Meanwhile, the entire time before the race I was questioning my decision to stick with the 250, Hootie had dropped down to the 125, and was feeling like he was the smart one.

Pre Race:

Friday morning I worked (Boo!).  Then headed to the course talk at noon.  My doubts were doubled as I saw the uber athletes gather and not to mention that the head referee called us all elite triathletes hehe! Hello!!!  We went through the rules and regulations and logistics of race day.  After the course talk I picked up my bike (where I got to talk to Matt Lieto – holy hotness), packed my transition bags and ate lunch. By that time it was time to head up to T1 which was 60 miles away at Lake Cultus in the Cascade mountains:

The bike got racked and my HUGE T1 bag got dropped off.  I had clothes for all eventualities. I already noticed the temperature drop from Bend to here.  Bend’s elevation was about 3,400 feet while Cultus was at about 4,400 feet. By the time we got back it was quite late so we all just retired to our rooms and ordered room service.  I had a nice pasta and meatball dinner with a glass of fine oregon wine of course.  I watched “The Bucket List” pretty appropriate. Snapped a pic of the finish line before heading in:

Race Day:

The alarm went off at 4 am.   I  got up, made my room coffee and my bagel, hazelnut chocolate spread and banana. I gave myself a full bolus for the meal, roughly 5 units. I got dressed grabbed my special needs bag and my morning clothes bag and headed out to meet April and Hootie at 5:15am.  It was still pitch black outside, luckily I had my handy headlamp (which Tom always makes fun of).  We all thought we knew where it was but ended up having to back track slightly to get to where the buses were.  We finally arrived at the bus around 5:30 with an hours drive that got me to the start at 6:30 not much time to get ready but doable.  We rushed on the bus after they took our number down, once it was full it took off.  Luckily there were several others on the bus who were also doing the full and had a 7am start (the 125k’ers had a 8am start).  The bus moved off, then all of sudden 15 minutes into the ride it did a 3 point turn, it had gone the wrong way!  Not the only bus that had done that we later learned.  Well now I was beginning to panic but luckily since other buses got lost the race started 15 minutes late.  Whew! I quickly got off the bus, filled my aero bottle and mixed my nutrition bottle.  I headed into the heated changing tent to get into my wetsuit.  It was 35 degrees or so. It was cold.  I decided on wearing my neoprene booties but opted not to wear the neoprene swim cap because it felt tight around my throat.  When I got out of the tent I started looking for the special needs bag drop. It got brought to my attention that I was supposed to have dropped it at the shuttle start area, no-one had said anything as a reminder and in our rush I forgot .  I saw the race director and immediately went over to him. I told him I was a diabetic and the bag absolutely had to be at special needs.  He told me to take a deep breath and that it would be there. Yay for small races!!!

The Swim

As we were waiting to start you could see your breath. So wrong in so many ways…. we were about to get into water whilst so cold. Brrrrrrr!  For the swim I had reduced my basal an hour before the start to 40% of normal approx .25 units/hour.  I ate a lara bar prior to the start and tested at 180. I had two gels in the sleeves of my wetsuit.  Once in the water it actually felt warm at a balmy 58 degrees :).  The “over 35 women” were the last to go and there were only a handful of us.  We waded out and gave each other props for being there and wished each other well.  So civilized!  The announcer gave us a great send off. I started off with the group on the toes of the other women, which lasted about 5 minutes, gradually the group was off in the distance and I was left in their wake swimming my pace. The lake was beautiful and clear and farely flat.  I started counting the buoys at about the 7th one I see the lead swimmers heading back on their first loop and I knew before long that I would be lapped and despite all the open space around me I cringed thinking about it.  As I looked ahead I could see the steam coming off of the lake. Very Cool!  Sure enough shortly after I made the turn back I see the sea-doo following the lead guy.  Not long now until I get lapped.  Well as it turns out I didn’t feel a thing. I saw them pass and was grateful not to have been bothered.  Although now I had to worry about possibly being lapped by the 8 am starters.  I got through the first lap and got out the water as per the race course, I ate a gel and had some water. I looked at my watch and was shocked that it was only 45 minutes woo hoo! I head back in the water for my last lap.  By that time the 8 am’ers had started and were in front of me.  Again, I was by myself and last.  It was awesome. So peaceful.   As I headed back I could no longer keep my fingers together.  I was like a cat clawing at a rug. They were numb.   I had a nice procession of  paddle boarders guiding me in though.  The swim out was hard to find because the sun was glaring in my eyes.  I got out and the announcer called my name and started joking about Chicago sports.  I didn’t really have enough brain power to carry on any conversation with the guy but smiled and laughed as I headed into the changing tent. Well I think this is a laugh or it could be a cry!

Swim time: 1:43:45 – the swim was short so no I didn’t kill the swim.  No-one has said exactly how long the swim was but my garmin said 2.8 miles that probably would have put me just under 2 hours if it had been the whole thing.

Transition 1

Made the swim cut off! woo hoo.  Now I had to make the bike cut-off. I wasn’t sure if it would still be 7 pm or if they would extend it due to the late start. Anyway that was 10 hours away. Plenty of time to worry about that later.  After my hands warmed up in the heated changing tent I tested my sugar. I was at 181! Wa hoo!  And I’m happy to report that my pump made it through one more swim in the aquapac.  I didn’t bring the dexcom with me on the swim this time because it rarely reads well in the water and last time it crashed and burned on me.  I slowly got changed into my bike shorts (first time wearing bike shorts in a tri normally I wear tri shorts).  The sun was out but it was still cool at about 55 degrees.  I decided on a technical t-shirt base, my bike jersey,  compression calf sleeves and my old nike running jacket with removable sleeves.  I wore a thin skull cap under my helmet and long finger gloves.  Good to go! I ate another gel.  I had no problems finding my bike since it was the last one there.  I think they were actually dismantling T1 around me.  🙂

I really took my time at a  whopping 23:25.

The Bike:

My nutrition plan was as follows: I carried cliff blocks and a couple of gels; I had a bottle with 5 scoops of Hammer Sustained Energy and 1 packet of Hammer Mandarin my goto for long distance races.  That puts the bottle at 570 calories and 126 grams of carbs.  I ate my blocks as needed and sipped my bottle.  I refilled the bottle with another 3 scoops of SE and another packet of Hammer Mandarin at the 80 mile mark. I also ate a few small halloween sized snickers bars  and had some coke that they supplied.  I grabbed another pack of blocks at special needs as well.  I pretty much refilled my entire aerobottle with water at every aid station and dropped Hammer grapefruit fizz tablets in each time, so I knew I was hydrated.  I swallowed several endurolytes every hour, so with the fizz tablets probably had at least  30 in total. I estimate I had about 340 g carbs in total or 40g per hour.  I know I had more in there somewhere. I adjusted my basil by increasing it to 120% while on the bike.  Unfortunately it was too little too late.  I was at 300 plus for the first three hours of the ride.  I baby bolused several times between 10 am and 1 pm and finally it started to come down.  I  began to think the connection was faulty.  I realize that having hardly any insulin for 2+hours followed by a gel without additional insulin on board was not good. It took me a while to catch up. Here is my Dexcom report for the race.dexcom leadman 2012

The scenery was just as I imagined- fabulous.  I was able to take the jacket off at special needs on the first loop as it was getting warm, the sky was blue and the sun was out. The view carried me through the ride even up the gigantic hill twice.  The ride up Mt. Bachelor started around 4,200 feet and peaked at about 6,100 feet and lasted over 20 miles before we got some down hill for a total of nearly 7,000 feet of climbing.  As I started my second loop I didn’t really feel dread or wish that I was only doing one loop.  I actually wanted to do it again.  I loved the long hills, they were challenging yes but I just slipped my bike into granny gear and went one pedal stroke at a time.  Then the down hill right after that were crazy fast.  I reached a maximum of 49 miles per hour and had a guy say to me at the next aid station that I was flying, he saw me just take off and questioned why I wasn’t scared of going so fast. Ha! This honeybadger ain’t afraid of zipping down a hill at 40+ mph!  It was awesome.  A bit of crosswind had my heart pumping but it was fun.    On the second time around, there was an awesome spectator in silver jeep who would drive up the mountain and wait for me to cheer me at the top of each peak.  He even offered me his jacket at the bottom of the big downhill since the sun was going down at that point and it was getting a little chilly.   I figured I’d be ok though. But how nice! Temperatures ranged from 54 to 82 on the bike. After reaching the bottom of one of the big descents with about 25 or so miles to go I finally looked at the time and started to calculate whether or not I would make the cut-off.  Until, then I didn’t care, the only person I was racing against was myself I was just out enjoying the ride. I realized I had an hour.  As I made my way toward Bend I figured I better push the pace and as promised by the race director the remaining mileage was truly all down hill. Yesssssssssssssss!  I pulled in to T2 with minutes to spare (from 7pm) at dusk, only to see the best sight ever.  Hootie and April were there waiting for me god bless them!  To see their smiling faces was just heart warming.  I felt good.Total bike time : 8:55:39

Transition 2

I headed into the tent to change for a third time that day.  I grabbed a snack and tested I was a sweet 150! Yessssss! I was handed a headlight and a glow stick… apparently it was going to be dark!

Total transition time 10:44 – not bad!

The Run

Here I go! By this time the temperature was cool but nice for running. (Finish line is just behind me here in this picture). I didn’t really have a nutrition plan.  I reduced my basil rate to 60% or 0.3 units per hour.  I had my blocks with me but didn’t eat any. The run started along a river trail with a lot of hills, which  I walked up the steep ones. It continued along a trail then entered into a residential/farm area.  By about 3 miles in I turned on the light, it was getting dark.  I ran aid station to aid station and drank coke and ate chips at each of them. Still feeling great.  I chatted with the volunteers then headed onward.  At one point my light stopped working, it was near pitch black out. So much so that as I was running along I thought I was on the road with a white line between me and the cars so I decided to cross over to the sidewalk.  Well, it turned out the white line was a sidewalk and I almost took a header into the street.  At another point the path ended and turned into gravel where I nearly tripped and fell over large rocks.  Finally a girl at the aid station fixed my light and I could see again.  At about mile 8 or so I got off course.  I was running along the path and looking down just followed the path along and wasn’t looking up, you really couldn’t see the signs until you were about a foot away anyway.  I came across a 5.5 mile marker and thought oh, I guess they made a mistake.  I continued on, about  3/4 mile later I asked at the aid station if that was a mistake  he said no and tried to tell me that I needed to do another 8.5 miles (not bloody likely).  Instead I headed back where I came from to see where I went wrong.  I arrived at a roundabout and saw a marker in the middle of the roundabout which is why I didn’t see it.  It was about 20 feet across the street with arrows to go straight vs. me following the path.  SAG cars passed and asked if I was ok and if I needed a ride.  Hell no!  I may be in almost last place but I’m finishing this thing! I continued to eat drink the coke and eat chips and had a couple of baby chocolate bars and water here and there. The people at the aid stations were fantastic.  Especially the kids! I still felt good! As I approached the finish line there were a few people leaving and giving me cheers I neared the finish line where again I was greeted with the awesome duo of Hootie and April.  I finished Chris Navin style with a jump in the air. I am a leadman – goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.

Total run 2:30 including the extra 1.5 miles 🙂

Summary:

Total race time 13:43:50.  There was definitely something to be said for doing a race without pressure.  It made it much more relaxing.  In reviewing my original goals for as published here –HEAVY METAL AND FREAKING OUT I feel like I succeeded:

  • complete the 3 mile swim before the 2.5 hour cut-off-YES!
  • enjoy the view and the ride, just pretend I am out for a nice long ride with some friends and just see what happens-YES!
  • build some resilienceYES!- I conquered my doubting and did it anyway!
  • get some practice doing traveling triathlons (ah hem NZ)-YES! Definitely clued into some things!
  • learn from the experience – See Above!
  • enjoy the micro-breweries afterwards – See below!

Did I nail my blood sugar?  No.  I goofed.  I’m not entirely sure why it took so long to come back down after the swim. My guess is that I should have decreased my bolus for less time in the water but with not knowing how long I would be I didn’t want to risk it.  I also should have mini-bolused for the gel right after the swim.  Live and learn. As you can see by the dexcom report above after it came down to normal my blood sugars were in the zone for the rest of the race!  I would also like to declare that I was actually civilized in this race and pee’d in the portapottys and not on myself.  So nice to be clean at the end!

Would I do this race/distance again? Hell yes!

I was definitely looking forward to spending the next couple of days hanging out with April, Hootie and Lora drinking some great craft brews!  We hit a few of them while in Bend which I would highly recommend here are the links if you ever find yourself in the area: http://www.boneyardbeer.com/boneyardbeer/Boneyard_Beer.html  and http://cruxfermentation.com/

We also got to see Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Decathlete Ashton Eaton who is from Bend. They had a parade for him.

On Monday April, Lora and I headed into Portland where we had dinner with April’s friend at a local brew pub there.  We stayed downtown so on Tuesday morning I wandered around a bit to get a feel for the city.  Couldn’t help noticing all the bike racks and the commuters heading to work.  Also noticed the sizeable hills they had to climb to get there.  I will no longer complain about my commute, except when it is zero degrees out! Sadly, I headed to the airport lugging my bags and my big bike box.  Me and Paddy made it home safely (even after airport security took apart the box that I paid so dearly to have packed!)

Next on my list is a long training run called the Chicago Marathon.  Part of my training for the NY marathon in a month!

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My tips on running a marathon in colder than expected weather

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Gillian

Image

One of the many challenges of preparing for a long distance race is facing the “unknown” or the “uncontrollable”.  You put hours and hours into training and it all comes to a peak on just one day or 4-6 hours of your life.  It’s a small window.  We can all be affected by events which simply cannot be predicted. Cold weather or extraordinary hot weather is one of these uncontrollable events.  As far as I know no-one has control over mother nature! Some of you may be looking at the temperature predictions for Sunday’s marathon and may be a little concerned about what to do.  Here are some tips you can use on race day if it does end up being as cold as they say at the start.

CLOTHING

The key is cheap disposable clothing for the start (which eventually gets to charity) you will eventually warm up and shed these layers.  A good rule of thumb is to dress as if it is 20 degrees warmer than the actual air temperature or if you are sweating indoors getting ready then you have too much on!:

  • Wear an old throw away long sleeved cotton tee.  It’s a great opportunity to get rid of that old not technical cotton shirt that you never wear.  All disposed of clothing goes to charity.
  • Buy a cheap winter hat, also disposable.  You know what they say heat escapes through the top of your head. So cover it up!
  • Buy cheap gloves; these are usually available at the expo.
  • Use hand warmers like at the Bears game or cross country skiing.  You can buy them at most sports stores, pharmacies or even target! http://about.pricegrabber.com/search.php/form_keyword=grabber+hand+warmers/topcat_id=99/Search.x=9/Search.y=13/mode=about_running/
  • Wear a garbage bag at the start.  This will block the wind and keep you toasty.
  • Use arm warmers. You can either buy real ones or you can cut the toes off of old socks and wear them on your arms.
  • You can also buy sheddable jackets and pants at the expo.  Usually they are $10 a piece or so. http://sheddableshell.com/
  • There is no prediction of rain, but if it changes bring a light running jacket or you can use the sheddable jacket above.
  • Have a friend or family member meet you at miles 3-5 to take any unwanted clothing from you.

Based on the temperature predictions (39 at start) do not deviate too much from what you know.  Wear what you were planning on wearing but use the layers to buffer any start line heat loss. 

Also, while waiting in your corral move around to stay warm. 

HYDRATING

Because of the cold temperatures you may forget to drink.  Do not do this. Hydrate early and often no matter what the temperature is. The cold air will just mask the fact that you are still sweating!

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Inspirational Athletes

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Gillian

Oh weekends why must you disappear so fast.  It was such a great weekend, full of exercise, food and lots of friends.

On Friday, I made the decision to ship my own bike to the race and dropped it off at Trek Highland Park.  This meant more decisions, changing out my cassette to a climbing cassette, renting race wheels or not, and choosing how to ship it.  I need to learn how to take my bike apart, pack it and put it back together.  This will save a ton of money on shipping since I have to actually pay someone to do these things for me.  Trek wanted $100 to pack it up and another $100 to put it back together, that is crazy.  I also realized that with the big box I need to rent a bigger car so all of  a sudden my car rental goes up.  I think I may purchase a bike box so I don’t have to rent or beg to borrow one.  (I think that would make a mighty fine Christmas present) hint hint (Tom).  Someone recommended this one: travel bag.  So Paddy has been dropped off and is currently being re-taped and tuned up for Saturday’s Leadman Race.  This time I’m getting black tape, the white is nice and all but man does it get dirty! It no longer looks pretty after a day of riding.  I guess I have dirty hands?

I finally saw The Hunger Games. I thought the movie was a little lame compared to the book.  I guess it was just missing her introspection and I think they miscast Peeta.  I’m sure this is old news to people.

Saturday morning was the marathon group’s  longest training run – a 20 miler.  I woke up bright and early at 4 and got up 4:30, only to discover that I had a sore throat. If you have been reading my blog you know that prior to every big race I get sick. Apparently this time was not different except that I got it a few days earlier.   My plan for today was to not tire myself out for the race and from the cold so I was going to run 9 miles then do the rest of the coaching on bike.   However, as I started running with people I couldn’t leave them I wanted to help see them through it.  So I kept running.  I ran back and forth running with people at their various paces, everything from a 7:45 pace to a 15:00 min pace.  It is so hard for me to alter my paces like that.  My body has difficult picking up speed immediately after doing a 15:00 mph pace.  You learn though, as a coach, that it is not about you it’s about your athletes and what it takes to get them to the finish line with a smile on their face!  Everyone finished, pretty elated and we all went for brunch afterwards.  I loved hearing all their stories about how they felt, the good, bad and the ugly.   Sometimes on these slower runs I think about doing Ultramarathons, I’m almost through Ultramarathoner’s Scott Jurek’s book  which is probably where I’m getting this crazy notion from.  I am at the point in the book where he gets Plantar Fasciitis, sort of good to know that even an Elite runner like him can get it and survive.  (Not that I was happy he got it but still made him seem more human).  I am going to make it my goal to do one someday. Saturday afternoon led to a wonderful Italian dinner with Tom. Lots of good food and wine!

Sunday we got up early and headed out to the South suburbs.  Friends of mine Bryant and Dave, also triathletes, put together a casual ride from their house in the burbs.  It was such a blast.  We headed out along a trail and some roads and about 29 miles later we ended up in a town where one of their family members lived.  We greeted with a meal of wonderful quiches, fruit and banana bread and all sort of treats.  The best rest stop I’ve ever attended by far!  We then had the choice of getting a ride back or riding.  I thought for sure Tom would choose to get a ride since until then his longest ride was 30 miles.  He surprised me by saying that he would ride back.  So there we went back along the trail me on my commuter bike and him on his hybrid with shocks too boot!  I must hand it to him he did a great job.  Who needs a fancy bike?! Not Tom. Back at the start we were treated like Kings and Queens with a buffet of chicken, pork and beef kebobs, potato salad, corn on the cob, garlic bread and of course we had coolers of beer.  It wouldn’t have been a trimonster event without the beer.   For dessert we had mini-cheesecakes with chocolate chip shell and apple bunt cake. Awesomeness!  None of us wanted to leave.  But alas all good things had to come to an end plus there was that work thing in the morning and I could feel my cold getting worse.

I got home, unpacked  and inhaled some vitamin C and cold medicine and went to bed.  The first time in a while I remember going to bed before 10! I was out cold!

The best part about the weekend was an email that I got from one of our marathoners.  A year ago this woman would never have dreamed of running a mile this past weekend she ran 20 miles.  She has Type 2 diabetes.  She wrote to tell me that she finished the 20 miles and how good she feels, I wrote her back and asked her about her diabetes, she said that since she started exercising a year ago and started the marathon program that she’d lost 60 pounds and the she was reducing her medication for diabetes gradually!   I wanted to share with you the words that she used as she describes running and the impact it has on her.

“Runners are very passionate about running and bodyfit. We’re so supportive to one another on the road. I love the culture. I love pushing my body and just seeing so many people out here is constant inspiration.  The private time of strength training and stretching, listening to my body, parts I would’ve never tried to move for fear of pain.  Yeah. I cry in joy. I think you guys hear this all the time. Personal trainers hear it, but we, the participants are privately introduced to our-selves. It’s an individual experience no words can describe.”

I think she puts into words how a lot of us feel about running.   It is such an individual sport yet somehow the running community inspires us to do more and to push ourselves a little further.  The feeling of getting back from that run that you thought you couldn’t do is like a drug that can’t be bought.

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