After reading my brother's comments on Wide Open, I just had to give him some credit. since he called me a warrior I'll just have to let everyone out there know that he is a true hero. Heros do amazing things like save the same idiot's life over and over and over again. They also see and pull the potential out of people like me when no one would consider it. Nate has been pushing me to take care of myself for years, which had to be hard when I was refusing to listen. Anyway two Novembers ago he signed our friend Skud, himself and me up for an adventure duathlon. It almost killed me. My blood sugar was all over the place and I even cramped and fell off my bike during the race. After being roped into this Triabetes Ironman by Steve Ahn I decided we should try the duathlon again this past November. This year's race started out so much better. Skud gave me a heart rate monitor as a prerace gift. It was a great excuse to slow down. My heart rate seemed a little high, but when you are running and biking up a mountain it seems normal to be working hard, right? So, the first hour was great and the second hour wans't so bad. My blood sugar during the entire 5 and a half hour race was between 89 and 132! But, by the third hour I was hurting. Wait, something besides my diabetes was slowing me down? Sweet. Apparently I have much to learn about how to keep my body going for hours at a time. Loading up on gels and powerbars and gatorade did a fine job on my sugar, but my muscles were trying to cramp from the fourth hour on. And we just kept pushing. I never had a wreck and I told my son Elias that we have to have helmets in case we wreck. Well, as Icrossed the finish line and pulledinto the parking lot both of my quads locked up and Elias got to see me use my helmet. I laid there for at least 5 minutes totally immobilized and hurting, bad. Nate and Skud wandered off to try and find something for me to drink. Finally a racer from another team that had obviously finished much earlier came to my rescue. All I needed was a massage.
6 comments:
congrat's!! those are some pretty awesome blood sugars. Sounds like a fun race.
I know that Dave's going to do an Ironman and all but let's not take for granted how amazingly well he did in the Currahee adventure race. It was night and day from a Nov '06. This was a tuff 25 mile race on very hilly and rough trails and I think at mile 18 his blood sugar read a perfect 100! I think I was even getting low at that point and I'm an IP. Just to put some perspective on this... Dave and I did a 5k at the end of May '07 (I think his 2nd race all time not counting 7th grade cross country) and he was barely able to finish! Did I mention it was a flat 5k? It was a funny race looking back b/c we kept reasessing our goals. "Let's not walk became let's not let this old lady (like 102 yrs old) pass us,..opps..ok let's catch the old lady, darn...ok let's not let her get out of sight... and so on. Dave did a awesome job at this years adventure race, he has already come so far...this is so cool!
Dave, tell some high school wrestling stories!
After our last couple of short runs together Dave has complained about being high afterwards. Looking over the data from his duathalon I think that Dave is just built for endurance events not short training runs. Solution only work out for 2-3 hours minimum. Russ
I'm so proud of you Dave! But to Nate - keep up the blogging and KEEP SUPPORTING YOUR BROTHER ON HIS ROAD TO IRONMAN! Dave is my "ace" when it comes to being the guy everyone is going to want to watch in the documentary. Because he's a "real" guy. And you make sure every one of his family members and friends knows about this. The race day itself is SO incredible. I hope you will join us to watch him finish. You only have 17 hours to complete the race, but what you take away from it, lasts a lifetime. I promise.
Hello to the blogging world, this is Dave's wife Emily. This is my first attempt at all of this chatting on line, so bare with me. I just wanted to tell Dave and the rest of you all that Dave is my hero. I am so proud of him for what he is doing right now to get ready for this race. BUT this is just one of many things that he has done to impress me. Signing up for this Ironman is not out of character for him, it fits right in with all of his dream chasing! Nothing is too crazy for him and honestly I have never seen him go after anything and not only succeed but excel, even if it as intense as an IRONMAN.
I will tell all of you out there that it has been interesting to being married to a diabetic. My marriage is like a constant triathalon in that with Dave when he wakes up you are going to get one of three personalities to greet: lowboy, normal Dave (NOT ALL THAT NORMAL, or Highman. Each one comes with its own benefits and struggles but it does keep me on my toes. Fortunately, I am in love with all three parts that make the whole man and will take it all as it comes. Can't wait to meet all of you racers and see Dave do one more thing to amaze me.
We get where we are, because of the people we are blessed to know and be able share our lives with. These people may have a title of brother, uncle, sister, mother, friend, husband, wife, father, etc. These people are of varying personalities and temperaments but all have a common thread. This common thread is simply that we are a better person for knowing them.
Dave I told you that you have always been an 'IronMan' in my book. All the training and preparation will bring many things to light for you. Not just physical and mental capabilities which will awaken from your inner dormancy; but moreover your reintroduction to what is most important in life. That is one of the many reasons why this medium of training/racing is so positive for you, and moreover makes Emily, Elias, Faith, your third child to be, and all who know you (or may hear about you) better people.
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