HEAVY METAL AND FREAKING OUT!

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Gillian

I was just going to enjoy my summer I said, I was getting my Ironman over early I said, I was going to take some time and improve my flexibility and get rid of my aches and pains I said, I was going to do some fun bike rides I said (vs. training rides – there is a difference!).

Well guess what it’s freaking September! The marathon is in a month and I signed up for a Leadman  which is next week(because apparently Iron isn’t good enough for me or I want to work my way through the periodic metal table). 

YES I AM FREAKING OUT!

I haven’t been training for the marathon because of my damn foot and I really have not been training for a triathlon.  At least of this magnitude (3 mile swim, 138 mile ride, 13.1 mile run).  The longest I’ve ridden is 90 miles this past weekend with about 6000 feet of climbing, it was painfully slow though – averaged 13 MPH not nearly fast enough to make the bike cut-off for this race and my back hurt afterwards.  The only thing I have to hang my hat on is that they say the last 20 miles is downhill. OH please god let them be right.  So basically I rode only 2/3’s of the distance. I swam the 3 miles in the lake, again slowly and have been in the pool 2-3 times a week clocking 1.5 – 2.5 miles.  What have I gotten myself into! I signed up decided to do it when my friend Hootie suggested it. I’ve never been to Oregon and  I heard it was pretty and thought it would be “fun” …. Well pretty and fun is not going to get me through the mileage!  I put off actually signing up for it as long as I could even although in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to do it.  Sure I could drop down and do the half but why do half when you can do the whole.  YES I love punishing my body! Plus it sort of reminds me of how I trained for my first half ironman.  I think my longest ride was about 36 miles and I bought the bike the day before the race.  I still made it! This race may very well be my first DNF!

Then of course there is the marathon in a month and the NY marathon in 2 months.  For the first time in my marathon running career, I am thinking of DNSing the Chicago marathon. BECAUSE I’m freaking out!  I know it’s not a huge deal in the broad scheme of all things but I guess I’m just disappointed.  My thought right now is to treat Chicago as my long run for NY and try to get back into doing some speed work.  I read an article saying that walking up hill on a treadmill at 13-14% is like running… perhaps I can do that.  At least it’ll prepare me for walking up the bridges in NY!

So, DNF and DNS all in one post, not very inspiring am I.   I expect the same thing to happen in a few weeks when I decide to do IM New Zealand in March ;-p.

I’m sure my FREAK OUT shall pass – look for an update from Bend, Oregon next Saturday if I am alive. http://www.leadmantri.com/page/show/391875   here is the profile – if anyone can gauge the level of diffictuly I’d appreciate any input http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/74504636

My goals for Leadman will be the following

  • complete the 3 mile swim before the 2.5 hour cut-off
  • enjoy the view and the ride, just pretend I am out for a nice long ride with some friends and just see what happens
  • build some resiliance
  • get some practice doing traveling triathlons (ah hem NZ)
  • learn from the experience
  • enjoy the micro-brewerys afterwards!
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Pickles and Athletes

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Gillian

Steelhead race report

I signed up for this race as a motivator to continue to do some training after Ironman Texas.  I also signed up because it also guaranteed me a slot in Ironman Arizona 2013, this means I won’t need to head down to Arizona to volunteer in order to secure a registration in the race since most IM’s sell out within minutes of on-line registration opening and volunteers get first dibs. If you’ve been reading my blog you know that I’ve been swimming and biking here and there but not much running due to injuries.  I really wasn’t expecting much for this race except to enjoy it. 

My mini goals included –  PR’ing the swim, riding hard and having smooth, quick and simple transitions. Oh, and of course to monitor and nail my blood sugars!

I arrived in Benton Harbor checked in and got my chip etc. then headed to the coach house about 2 miles down the road where I was staying.  It was the same place as last year, on a very quiet street overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan next to the beach.  No TV no noise except the waves… it was glorious. I headed to the grocery store because I forgot bananas for my usual morning breakfast.  I ended up buying dinner there instead of going out.  It was one of those cases of going to the grocery store hungry and everything looked great.  Earlier in the day I had pot belly’s which included a big salty pickle.  At IM Texas the sports medicine doctor suggested I load up on salt the day before the race and pickles was one of the things he mentioned.  So this is what I did.  I mean, these pickles are massive! For dinner I ate another fairly salty meal… nachos and salsa for my appetizer, veggie sushi and a Panini.  It was all delicious and I washed it down with a couple of cold Bud Light Limes… yum! 

I started reading Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek’s biography, if you’ve read the book you’ll know that it starts off with him describing how he was lying face down in the dirt vomiting after getting through ½ of the 135 mile Badwater ultramarathon. While his support team are trying to convince him to get up and carry on.  It describes his thoughts as he was processing in his mind what he was going through.  The pain, the feeling that he was actually being cooked from the 120 + degree temperatures in Death Valley (I guess they don’t call it that for nothing!) and him questioning his abilities as an ultramarathoner. It is described as one of the hardest races in the world. For this guy a marathon is a walk in the park but funny that when faced with near defeat that this super human runner can doubt his abilities, I think this is something we all face from time to time whether it’s running your first mile, marathon or doing an ironman. We are faced with doubt, I know I go through lows of wondering why the hell I thought doing {insert activity here} seemed like a good idea and the words “I am not an athlete” and “I do not belong here” come to mind.  This is where that “mental strength” comes to play.  You can train yourself to be mentally strong to a certain extent but often we are faced with challenges during a race (especially longer races) which can be totally unexpected and nothing you have done previously could prepare yourself for this.  It takes every ounce of energy to carry on and will your body to carry on in the face of pain and discomfort.

PRE RACE

My alarm went off at 4:30 I planned on leaving for the race around 5:00.  I was riding my bike the 2 miles to the race start.  I had everything packed the night before.  I ate my almond butter and banana on whole wheat low carb bread drank some G2 Gatorade and bolused at about 80% for my 7:15 wave start. This one can be tricky because there is a 1 mile walk to the swim start from transition which can lower your blood sugars if you’ve over bolused.  I reduced my basil at about 6 am to 40%.  I racked my bike set out my things and chatted with some of the team to end aids athletes who were doing their first half ironman distance races.  I was so proud of all of them for being there and later when I saw them on the run course gave them big kudos!

I looked at my dexcom and saw that the arrows were pointing down so I ate a gel and tucked a gel in my wetsuit sleeve.  My plan was to have the dexcom and pump in the aquapac as I’d been practicing with.    As I stood on the beach and watched the sunrise listening to the national anthem I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to be able to race and be there at that moment.  The sand was soft and the water was a decent 67 degrees, slightly warmer than the air temperature so it felt great on the bare feet. I also reminisced about my very first half ironman which was this very race back in 2007.  Wow 5 years had passed, how is that possible?  It was only my 2nd triathlon and I remember getting in the water and panicking, I was flooded with a range of emotions, mainly concern about why the hell I was even there to begin with (see above -I am not an athlete)!  I had trained on my own, a few 1 mile swims a few 30 mile bike rides and well I was always a runner.  I am such a different triathlete now, a better swimmer for one.

THE SWIM

I entered the water feeling calm. I started swimming and kept well to the left of the buoys I counted them as I went, there would be 16 altogether 8 yellow and 8 orange.  The water was also calm.  I felt like I was really rocking the swim; however I knew that I was also swerving a bit due to being so far out of the crowd.  I reminisced again about the first time, feeling like the swim would never end seeing the gigantic inflated Gatorade bottle in the distance where the swim out was.  This time I didn’t feel that I just counted down the buoys and felt good and strong.  My arms did get a little tired during the second half I thought that I really was motoring!

Leaving the water, I experienced the typical wobbley sea legs and tried to get them to start running up to transition.  It was tough because the run to the bike was deep heavy sand and was particularly long.  As much as I tried running I was getting a little breathless.  I checked my watch out of the water and it read 45 minutes.  Although that is a great time for me I was slightly disappointed because I truly felt like I was flying in the water and expected to see something closer to 40.

Official swim time: 47:40 2:28/100 meters (includes run up deep sand to T1).  Goal met! PR’d the swim by 6 minutes 20 seconds! Wa hooo! 

T1

I get into transition with plans of being lickety split! Take off the wetsuit check out my diabetes devices to see if they survived the swim.  The Medtronic pump was working fine however much to my chagrin the dexcom was not working.  I was so bummed because I was really looking forward to tracking my blood sugars for this race.  I kept pressing the button in hopes that it would magically turn on but no luck.  Well, I guess I was flying this one blind.  I knew that even if I brought my tester on the bike that I probably wouldn’t test.  In fact, I was so annoyed that I forgot to test in T1.  I ate another gel, got on the bike and left.  Lisa who started in a wave 10 minutes after me flew by me with her superfast swimming abilities.  She must have had a great transition because I didn’t see her for quite some time!

Transition time 7:50 – not the best but pretty good for me.

The Bike

My nutrition for the bike included two packets of cliff blocks and a gu.  I also had heed in my water bottle and water in my aero bottle.  I also had a container of endurolytes.   The air temperature was pretty cool still.  There was cloud cover as well.  I remember feeling my feet were a bit cold and numb at certain times.  I went out pretty fast. I was chastising myself for not testing my sugar in T1.  I truly had no idea what it was and I felt worried that it was going low.  I ate another gel about half an hour into the ride then grabbed another from an aid station about an hour after that. I gave myself a couple of mini boluses after each gel and left my basil as is (approx. .8 units/hour). I drank the heed every so often and drank probably 3-4 aerobottles of water at about 32 oz per piece.  I probably had about 8 endurolytes.  I didn’t really take them consistently.  During the second half of the bike I ate a packet of cliff blocks.  I felt great on the bike for the first 30 miles or so then I think my blood sugar started rising or I had gone out too fast, I felt slower and struggled.  This is where I start questioning and doubting myself and why I do these races, wishing I was somewhere having brunch and a bloody mary instead of pushing hard on the bike.  Well clearly I didn’t rest and clearly I finished I just dug myself out of the dark mental hole I had dug for myself and clipped along nicely but new something was up as I was starting to urinate often.  I am happy to report that nothing fell off my bike this time!  Small victories!  Heading in I saw Tina and Roger, they’ve supported me at each steelhead half ironman I’ve completed J. 

Official Bike time: 2:54:53 19.21 mph.  I PR’d the bike by 2 whole seconds, not including last years steelhead race where the swim was canceled.

T2

I rack my bike, the first thing I do before taking my helmet off and my shoes was test.  Yep, I knew it.  I was 284.  Nailing blood sugars goal – FAIL! Ugh…. Dexcom why did you not work!!!!  I quickly gave myself a mini bolus of .3 units.  I grabbed another sleeve of blocks and headed out. 

T2 time: 5:50 – again not my fastest but not my worst. 

The Run

I started off pretty cautiously I didn’t want the plantar fasciitis to start flaring up right away.  Plus there is a huge hill at the start.  I also didn’t eat anything for the first 5 miles because I didn’t want my blood sugar to go up even further.  The temperature was getting warmer  and I had some endurolytes.  I made the mistake of taking about 4 endurolytes in my mouth then filling my mouth with ice then water.  Well I couldn’t swallow the endurolytes because my mouth was full of ice so I had to spit the whole mess out !I finally started drinking Gatorade at some of the stations and had a few blocks.  At about mile 9 I was so hungry that I ate some banana and half of a chocolate chip cookie.  I also had a few sips of coke. On the second half of the course as my sugar leveled off and I felt great, like running should.  Neither the foot nor the hamstrings were really terrible.  Although the part of the course that  was on a trail winding through a park really affected my cadence and stride, the turns and bends and down hills made me cautious since these things typically set off the heal pain.  I tried to slow myself down during this portion.  Outside of that, I felt great (see photo of happy runner).  happy runner!I had a good cadence and actually got faster as I went running miles 12 and 13 in less than 8 min miles.  I ran the last mile really strong however about ½ mile from the finish my shoelace untied!  I had to decide if I was going to stop and tie it up or run with hopes that I didn’t trip.  Knowing that if I stopped then I probably would have a hard time starting up again, so I ran and sprinted to the finish without tripping!

Official Runtime 1:52:13 8:35 mph

My overall time – 5 hours 48 minutes and 48 seconds a PR by nearly 8 minutes.   

Afterwards I had some cold beers hung out with the Trimonsters and got to cheer on the awesome Team to End Aids group as they finished their first half ironman. It was so inspiring to see them finish! What a great day!

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Running: the gift and even more races!

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Gillian

The entire month of July I was chained to my desk.  I tried to get the odd work out in here and there but it truly was just here and there. This makes for a very unhappy Gillian.  During this time I was unbearably miserable and miserable to the people around me. Not a good place to be.  I actually was a little concerned at how much of an impact it had on me.  I suppose if I ever am truly unable to run or exercise for that matter I would come up with another hobby.  This is why when I saw this post on facebook I had to share it as it resonated with what I was thinking:

 

A little update on my long list of injuries, despite my continued efforts to fix the plantar fasciitis it still is very much a daily pain.  I’ve been rolling, stretching and wearing my foot brace.  I have not been back to my ART guy just from lack of time in July but last week I started something new – Muscle Activation Technique.     Here is the link to what it is exactly : http://www.muscleactivation.com/  .  The procedure seems to work while I’m on the table. I notice huge differences when we test the strength in the muscles being worked on.  Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to carry over into actual running.  I’ve been a few times and have been doing the “homework” exercises so I will give it sometime.  It’s just, like everything, costly so when I don’t see results translate I get frustrated.  I continue to suffer from extremely tight glutes while running and pain in my heel.   The closer and closer it gets to the marathon date which is October 7th the more my dream of PR’ing this year is unlikely.  Right now if I can actually run the entire marathon it will be a miracle.  I did run two races in July – the rock n’ roll Half Marathon and the Terrapin 5K in both cases I was finished at about 30-50 seconds slower than my PR pace. 

I finished the RNR half in 1:49:06 an 8:20 pace about 50 seconds off of my planned pace and 33/996 in my age group.  Granted, it was a stinking hot day, which is always hard to PR in. The lack of speed training and training overall really showed here.  However, I surprisingly felt better than I expected :).   My BG’s can be found here:    RNR half dexcom 72212      as you can see I got off to a bit of a rocky start mainly as a result of the timing of my bagel and the insulin kicking in then I forgot to bolus for the plethora of post-race snacks being handed out. Doh!     I finished the Terrapin 5k in 23:11 a 7:29/miles pace or about 30 seconds/mile off my PR.    Had I started closer to the front I may even have done a little better and I had a shoelace retie mid mile, totally forgot to double knot. My BG at the end of this one was dreadful at 391 L. I really only entered this race because I got to see our swim coach Trevor’s band was playing at the end of the race. The boyfriend also ran it so it was nice to do a race together and have some fun afterwards.  I was so proud of him, he managed to maintain a 10 minute mile which was great!

I’ve also been getting in some 80+ mile rides in an “attempt” to train for the Oregon race (see race schedule) .   I don’t have any set goals for the race but I also don’t want to fall flat on my face! I have been enjoying these rides because they are not part of a training plan and I have no time goals, its just riding for the sake of enjoying riding my bike.  I’m mostly worried about the 3 mile swim.  I’ve been getting in some decent 1-2 mile lake swims but I’ll need to do at least two 3 milers in the next few weeks to feel comfortable with that distance.

Next up on the race schedule is a half ironman this Sunday.  Not expecting a PR here either given the injuries.  I will look to improve my swim time and will ride the hell out of the bike though! The weather is suppose to be nice and cool it should be a great day! You can track me here:http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/steelhead70.3?show=tracker#axzz23evEc5Ie

In other exciting news I have officially signed up for my first cyclocross race!!! Its on August 26, 2012 and I am doing it as a relay with my friend April.  I know nothing about it except that its on dirt, you have to get on and off your bike and carry it over barriers and/or sand etc.  Should be a cake walk right?  Right? See video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZOa_E9Qs8  Oh and they also toss beer at you/to you while you are riding.  This could also mean a new bike is in my future :). Stay tuned!

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More bang for my exercise buck?

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Gillian

Yesterday my workout plan included a long(er) swim.  So I packed up my wetsuit and swim gear and loaded them up in the panniers and went to work.  During the day it came to my attention that their were rip current warnings in effect.  The beaches were not closed but people have been warned that it could be dangerous and were given instructions on what to do should you get caught in one. Rip currents are caused by excessively strong winds and waves.  I found this helpful blog on what to do should you get caught in one:http://david-benjamin.blogspot.com/2012/07/flip-float-and-follow.html .  Anyhow, I wavered back and forth on whether or not I should do the swim in the lake or in the pool. It was killing me to think of doing all those boring laps in the pool so I decided to go check out Ohio Street Beach location for my swim.  It is generally more protected since it has a sea wall surrounding the area. You can’t really see the wall from this picture but for those of you who are not from around here what a backdrop! The alternative is what we call Ladder 1 or L1 which starts not from a beach but in a deeper area just north of here where you just jump in and there is no sea wall. I arrived and assessed the water there were other swimmers and I thought it looked doable.  So I put the wetsuit on (a little difficult this day because it had rained slightly and I was a little wet!).  I started off with the thought that if I at least get a mile in I could mange another mile in the pool if need be.  It was pretty tough,  I was being tossed, slapped and pummeled by the waves.  I made it to the half mile mark and swam back.  I got out of the water then decided I’d swim out to the quarter-mile buoy to get another half mile in but once there I carried on to the 1/2 mile buoy.  All in all it was a little over two miles per my garmin.  I wondered if swimming two miles in rough water really equated to more in calm water.  I have swam in the lake when it was like glass and it certainly was much easier.  So in my head at least, I’m counting this as a longer swim.  My goal last night was to test myself and my endurance before I sign up for a triathlon which involves a three-mile swim!  I think I passed the test. I didn’t do three miles but I did two in rough water.  From a diabetes standpoint I nailed it! Went in the water with about .5 IOB and about 160 BG I reduced my basil to 60% and ate a chocolate gu prior to going in.  I came out at 185.  I had my pump and dexcom packed in my waterproof aquapac. The dexcom showed a pretty steady line!!! OH yeah!

Similarly I rode home from the swim on my commuter bike.  My panniers were packed to the gills.  In case, you wondered what a bike packed with: work clothes; a wetsuit; shoes; a laptop; about 5 or 6 pieces of tupperware;  a rain jacket; and other useful(less) things looks like- here it is.  It was also windy and my brakes in this old bike are misbehaving and keep rubbing on the wheel rim.  This 6 mile ride felt like 12! My legs and arms were also beat from the swim.

So, I guess my point being, even although you are not purposely adding resistance or weight to your body while working out like in this picture it is sort of the same idea. Right?

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The Last Drop on Earth

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Gillian

Image

We all know that when you are training and working or working and doing whatever else takes up your time that you end up sometimes doing things that others may think of as absurd or gross or whatever.  Like for instance my tendancy not to take the time to shower or my neighbor commenting on how awful my toes look (no time for pedicures!)

So today started like every Monday, get up, do my business, make my protien pancake catch up on facebook, a blog or the news.  I pack up all my crap for the day, which includes work I brought home, clothes to wear at work, my running gear for coaching and my lunch.  All is packed in my bright orange Ortleib Pannier.  I attach it to my bike and look at my pink water bottle in the holder and think oooh that has been there for 3 days in the garage in the heat… can’t be good. Oh well if I need a sip won’t hurt and i’ll change it before i go home.  Well after a day of work and 2 hours coaching I hop on my bike at 8pm with said water bottle.  When I think of the water in the bottle and all the warnings of plastic and water I think to myself I bet if there was some sort of apocolyptic disaster or pandemic  and there was no water to be had people would beg, borrow and steal to get this water.  After putting it in that perspective I drink the water.

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The “see”food diet

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Gillian

So lately I’ve been working a ton of hours, for instance today I arrived at the office at 7:30 with my workout bag, fully expecting to escape during the day to make up for my missed swim this morning, fully knowing that this will never happen. It is now 12:30 in the morning the next day and I’m still here, writing my blog mind you. But still you get the picture.  When I’m sitting at the desk, doing boring office work all day, I find solace in food. I can’t even look at facebook because I don’t want to see how much fun everyone is having and what workouts they have done. (Ya know when I’m not looking at FB its bad!)  So not only do I NOT workout but I am also gorging. To top it all off I get so busy I don’t test my sugar.  3x today, each time it was in the 240’s.  When I say work is killing me I really mean it!

Anyway I’m not going to bitch and moan about my sucky job but here is the thing. On occasion we have lunch meetings, today was such a day.  They ordered food in.  A few things I think of when they do this.  1. I bet they don’t have anything healthy or diabetic friendly 2. I can’t believe I spent time this morning packing my roasted chicken and sweet potatoes. 3. I can’t wait to see what yummy food they have.  A contradiction of course but the inner foody always comes out when the food is spread out buffet style.  It turns out they had: build your own sandwiches, fresh salads and of course massive cookies.  I tend to over indulge at buffet’s as much as I fake myself into thinking I won’t go back for seconds, I know I will, not because I’m hungry but because it’s there.  It’s like an open bag of doritos – no matter how much you fold it up nicely and put the clip back on – you keep going back for more.  Because they are calling your name.  Gillian, gillian… eat me.  Am I the only one with the issue of Doritos talking to you?  After the main course and after the meeting was over I peered over and saw that the plate of gigantic cookies was still there.  Oh, I thought I will just go over and grab one for my office mate,  I sidled over only to see that these cookies have massive chunks of chocolate in them and they were oozing with everything terrible but good at the same time.  I quickly grab two and put them on a plate and bring them to my office.  I give the one to my office mate and leave the other one sitting on the plate. Well, that lasted about perhaps 5 minutes because it too called my name and begged me to eat it. Nasty!  Since I’ve been feeling sorry for myself and down in the dumps from working eating it gave me some temporary joy.  Of course I bolused about 60 grams of carbs,  not even enough.  The “temporaryness” of the satisfaction really is that, in fact, the joy then turns to sorrow is 10 fold because you are still sitting at your desk; you still haven’t worked out; you’ve now eaten a 5000 calorie cookie; and your sugar is high. Yay!

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Stay motivated

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Gillian

I am stealing   sharing this picture because I can’t think of a truer statement.  You really do need to stay motivated and not let bad numbers get you down.  It’s much like endurance training, if you are injured and not performing as well (ah hem!), your power numbers on the bike are not increasing, or you feel sluggish at the track you just need to keep motivated and set small goals.  Here are some examples of how lately I’ve had to use small steps/goals .

  • I am injured, so I’m backing off BUT I’m still getting to the pool and biking. I see other runners and I am in serious envy but I need to listen to my body.
  • This week I’m working 12+ hour days but I still get up early –knowing that I can’t get out of work on time to do a small workout even if it’s swimming for half an hour or doing a few sit ups.

By doing this I get the following awesome results: I know I have done something for myself that makes me feel good knowing that otherwise I might get depressed having to work a ton of hours sitting in an office; my body feels better and more alive after a good little swim or bike and my blood sugars stay in better control since it is used to exercise not doing so can cause fluctuations.  Its win, win, win!  That’s a lot of winning and I didn’t even have to buy a lotto!

I just think that if you set small doable goals for yourself the benefit will grow exponentially, the impact on your body and your mind is a powerful thing.

Do you ever plan on a certain activity and adjust your schedule/your mode of transportation/ your alarm/ you basal rates only to have the activity fall through?

UUUUUUUUUUUUrg!  This happened to me this week.  I got up early, I DROVE to the lakefront to go and swim.  Now, I’d heard there were rip currents but I thought how bad can it be!  I really wanted to swim (see last week’s OWS the drug post and you’ll understand why https://endurancediabetic.com/2012/07/05/my-report-card-and-ows-the-drug/ ).  So I made my coffee, decreased my basil to 40% ½ hour before the swim, ate a banana and almond butter with no bolus (I was in the low 100’s)  and off I went.  I got there suited up and looked at the waves slapping about.  My swimming buddy Nic was with me.  He jumped in and all of a sudden the waves looked ginormous against his tiny little head (he has a normal sized head but it looked tiny against the waves).  I had already warned him that I was having my doubts (after a bad incident last year in the lake where I truly thought I was going to drown).  I jumped in.  We started to swim, he made quite a go at it.  I got about 5 yards only to turn back.  We were being tossed about like the olive in my salad today.  I swear it took me 10 minutes to swim back to the ladder.  He also turned back.  We were done. I was still pleased at myself for getting up and attempting the swim so reveled in that euphoria for a while.   I went on with my day, of course FORGETTING to re-adjust my basil back to normal for the no swim.  So my BG skyrocketed up to 345….stay motivated.

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My report card and OWS the drug

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Gillian

Last week I came up with a list of things that I needed to do in order to try and repair my body and make it able to run pain free again.  Here is how I did:

  1. Skip track work out and swim instead: A+, went for early morning swim last week and swam early morning this week and didn’t run track.
  2. Do more ART/massage: F, no massage and had to cancel my ART appointment for allergist appointment (another exercise induced ailment) I thought this was supposed to be healthy!
  3. Cold/heat treatment/wet heat application: C, Did the hot cold once and applied cold pack regularly.  Didn’t try the wet heat application.
  4. Continue to coach my group on Saturdays and Mondays: A, Saturdays run was painful, developed new pain in knee.  Mondays run however was great!
  5. Self treat and track on calendar : B, I have been rolling, stretching using the lacross ball on my foot – a lot! Wrote down the first day and dropped the tracking.  I’m not good at record keeping despite being an accountant J

Since mending different types of injuries doesn’t happen overnight my plan is to continue the same treatment this week. I won’t be getting my usual workouts in since I’ll be out of town.  I am flying to Toronto this week for a funeral.  My 92 year old Uncle Archie decided he’d had enough of this life and moved on to the next.  All I can say is look out women in heaven, he is a rascal!  This will give me an opportunity to rest and stretch although  of course I packed more workout clothes than regular clothes and I also packed  my mountain biking shoes with a hope of mountain biking on Saturday as a change of pace.  After next week I will decide if I’m going to still run the RNR half marathon on July 22nd.

When Hootie suggested a 2 mile lake swim on Tuesday morning I was game, knowing that I’d have to work late that night, to make up for lost travel time.  I arrived at ladder 1 or more affectionately called L1.  This is an alternative starting location from ohio street beach (OSB) where most of the triathletes go to swim.  If you swim from L1 to OSB and back it is about 3 miles.  The nice thing about L1 is that you jump in and you immediately need to tread water and start your swim so it can simulate some of the race starts.  Before I jumped in I tested my BG was 85.  Hmmm low for swimming.  I had already eaten a banana and almond butter about 15 minutes prior to the swim with no bolus but I’d forgotten to decrease my basil so I would have been going in with an 85 and full basil insulin on board (IOB).  So what did I do?  I ate a gel that I obtained from one of the other swimmers and reduced my basil to 0.  It’s weird how a low BG combined with swimming can make you do such irrational things!!!!!  I mean I probably didn’t need to eat the gel AND reduce my basil to zero, especially with swimming where the adrenaline is usually a little higher. 

The lake was beautiful – very flat and a little chilly.  Three of us (hootie, nic and myself)  swam just over a mile following the wall and we stopped and chatted for a while, treading water.  Then we swam back, about an hour and 5 minutes in total, probably just less than 2 miles.  I got out walked over to the North Avenue beach house and rinsed off in the showers.  Walked back to the car dried off and put my work clothes on in the parking lot. Triathletes develop a certain knack for changing anywhere.  I tested my sugar and of course it was 250!  Oh well, better too high than too low in the water is my motto! Luckily there was no bike and run after !

I got to work by 8:30 knowing I had about 12 hours in front of me.  What amazed me and my whole point of this post is that I was so giddy all day!  If you all know how I feel about work you know that is not how I usually am, I’m usually darn right depressed!  It was like I was on some sort of happy drug from the swim. If I could bottle it up and sell it I’d be a millionaire! Now I just need to remember that feeling for next time and keep this workout on my schedule.  It’s never easy, at least for me anyway, to get up early to go swimming…..but thats why we have fellow triathlete friends to get each other out of bed!

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Pleasant Prairie Race Report

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Gillian

Happy Finisher!Pre Race

I decided to sign up for Pleasant Prairie Olympic distance triathlon just to get more triathlon experience under my belt. We all know i need transition experience and open water swimming.  This meant a 3 am wake up… youza!  The race was about an hour a way and started at 6:30am.  I went to bed at around 10:30 I had given myself 2 units of insulin for my +200bg reading, i don’t really recall why.  I heard Tom come in around 2 am from his usual watering hole so I looked at my Dexcom and was surprised that i was still up at around 250.  I gave myself more insulin – 1.1 units.  My alarm went off at 3 am and  I snoozed until 3:30.  I was again surprised to see that I was still at 254bg, the unit of insulin didn’t budge it. I waited before dosing again just in case the unit of insulin decided to kick in.  Nothing.  So I bolused for my breakfast which was a almond butter and banana sandwich and coffee (of course) at 35 g and by this time my bg was 305 so bolus was 4.9 units.  By this time it was 4:30 and I was late.  So off I went like a crazy driver North on 94 towards Wisconsin all the time feeling like I could just close my eyes.  In true Gillian fashion my printed directions blew down the side of my passenger seat so couldn’t reach them and I was driving my old beetle has no gps.  I drove past my exit and ended up at 2 exits away.  Luckily I was able to take the back roads there.  I arrived at 5:30, parked, pumped at my tires and rode Paddy to transition.  Everything was going pretty smoothly considering.   I racked my bike set up my shoes etc. The whole time watching my dexcom .  My bg was on its way down and was getting into the danger zone before swim as it was in  the 100’s.

The plan

For today’s race I decided to wear my medtronic pump with the acquapac in the water.  I had planned on leaving my dexcom at my bike but since my wave was one of the last I really wanted to know what my bg was pre-swim.  I had an hour between transition closing and my swim.  I ended up taking the dexcom with me and leaving it at the special needs table.  I also planned on reducing my basil pre-swim to 40% as normal and not going with my regular basil rates for the rest of the day. 

The swim

As I said I reduced my basil to 40% at 6:30 about 45 minutes before the swim start so about 0.2 units per hour. My bg as I was watching it went down to about 80 so I took a gel.   I was 190 going into the water I handed my dexcom off as we were all lined up ready to go in the swim in chute.  I felt fairly relaxed since the water seemed calm and it was a small lake, although it was the same scenerio at Leons and where i had panicked.  I belive there were only about 50 of us in my wave.  We ran into the water and I calmly started my swim.  Of course forgetting to turn my watch on.  I only had a small amount of anxiety for a short time and it pretty much went away.  I felt pretty good. I couldn’t see squat though since my goggles were totally fogged up.   I stopped to dunk them in the water to remove the fog.  I had trouble seeing where I was going.  At one point on the first leg of the triangular swim course I found myself swimming across the middle of the triangle and it took some time for me to figure out where I was supposed to be!  I finally figured it out.  As I rounded the last bend I could see the finish  about 1/3 mile away and picked it up .  It was a straight shot and I felt good.  I think the tarzan swimming and power kicking that we have been doing in swim practice helped me out a lot this time.

Total Swim time (found out after i wrote this) 36:09 about 10th from last in my AG! ugh… I felt so good!

T1

If you’ve been reading my blog  you know that I suck at transitions.  I got out of the water and grabbed my dexcom and jogged to my bike and past my bike then back to my bike. ( yea i ran past my rack).  I actually felt a little chilly and for some crazy reason was worried about being cold on the bike.  I stripped down put my socks, shoes helmet sunglasses on then decided to wear my arm coolers. I swear I don’t know what goes through my head in transitions, but things i do seem to make sense at the time.  Well, they were so tight that I strugged to get them on, over my garmin and over my wet arms.  I must have spent a good 2 minutes trying to get them on then I ended up pulling them down anyway because they were not on fully and were all twisted and it was NOT cold .  doh!  My bg was at about 209.  I ran with the bike to bike out.

T1 time – completely unacceptable at 4:46 2nd to last … this is starting to get annoying.

The bike

Never to ride my bike without a mishap I had 4 this time.  The first thing that happened as I was running out my pump with aquapac fell out of my shirt.  I had forgotten to take the aquapac off since it was inside my shirt.  So there i was with bike and my dangling pump and aquapac, not wanting to go back i just stuffed it all  safely down the back of my pants.  The second bike mishap was as I was mounting my bike.  My chain fell off. Here I am with this beautiful fast bike and I’m struggling to get my chain on… so rookie!  Finally, I thought i had avoided my issue with my bike computer falling off by just not using it.  I was going old school.  Well I did have my garmin but didn’t look at it.  I had my blocks and my dexom in the side pocket of my jersey.  Once I got going I felt great, the temperature was great and I started to pass a lot of people. This time I was going to have a good ride not getting off, or so I thought.  Well,  I had thought too soon.  At about 5 miles in to the bike  there goes the dexom out of my pocket on to the road.  I just can’t win with this computer equipment!  So, not wanting to leave a $1,000 diabetic device on the road, off the bike I go to run back to get it only to have to wait until there was no bike traffic to pick it up… i was so mad! :-Z as all the bikers i had just past whizzed by me.  I get back on the bike and start passing people again.  There was one guy with the exact same bike that I must have passed 4 times, he probably thought I was doing loops around him! So I rode hard and fast feeling great.  Then mishap # 4, I was riding along and I guess none of the people in front of me were on their first loop or they were doing the sprint because I totally missed the turn around for the second loop.  It was not well marked and they didn’t have anyone calling it out.  I saw some letters on the road but just figured the turn around was coming up.  I ended up heading to the bike in and stopped to tell an official that I missed the turn around and where was it.  He sent me back where I came from so I had gone about 1.5 miles extra 😦 .    As I headed off I felt like I was last on the road.  There was NO-ONE!  Well I did see the guy with my bike again.   I caught up and past some people but I really felt deflated.  During the course of the ride  I ate about 6 shot blocks 260 calories 40 carbs with a basil of about 0.8 units per hour. My Bg was about 233 not great but not bad.

Bike time with extra mileage – 1:12:31 avg heart rate 143

T2

I wanted to make this quick so, I took the aquapac off checked my dexcom and I was pretty steady at around 200.. a little high but for racing I don’t mind so much.  I grabbed my marguerita shot blocks and off I went.

T2 time 3:28 only third from last – really ugh!!!

The Run

I have been having terrible trouble with my body these days see my previous injury post.  My glutes and hamstrings have been EXTRA tight and my plantar fasciitis continues to pain me.  I felt pretty sore.  I thought to myself well, it doesn’t matter anyway since you screwed up the bike results.  I kept going with small slow steps my calves were burning. My first two miles were just under 9.  As usual around my 3 I started to warm up. So did miles 3 -6 at around 7:30’s closer to my usual pace.  I grabbed gatorade at each station but that was about it and left my basil at 0.8 units per hour.  I had a good finish on the run.  My bg ended at about 185.

Run time: 49:50 avg heart rate 156ish

Here is my dexcom report for the day: PP dexcom

It took me a few days to get my results becaue they had not registered me properly and I also took my chip off at mile two because the race strap was  about to slowly cut my foot off it was so painful.  Finally the official timer found me and emailed me my total time at : 2:46:41.

My goal for this race was really to get more practice, and help me figure out all the stuff that I need to be thinking about in transitions and with my blood sugars.  I am learning! That is for sure but these tranisitions are totally killing me.  It was fun seeing coach Jay and his partner Rob cross the finish line together, Jay went step by step with Rob for his first triathlon! It was also fun seeing the VisionQuest team win prizes and to see Robbie and Dave racing!

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Technology and diabetes grrrrr!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Gillian

So I just had my computer rebuilt at work because it crashed.  I use my work computer to download my cgm and pump activities since I only have a mac at home and those things of course are never mac compatible!  I now have a newer version of windows and since work built it none of my “home” software got installed.  I  spent the better part of a  few hours trying to install software/usb drivers , java….. etc. etc… the list goes on.

I’m now down to uploading my pump activity for my race last week so I can finish my race report but of course I can’t seem to get the darn USB drivers it needs installed. FAIL! I FRUSTRATING!  As if diabetes wasn’t frustrating enough!

I so wish I was more computer savvy!

 Although the wine helps, any suggestions are welcome!

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