Dealing with D's

Here's what I've been dealing with.
Tons of Data entry- it takes forever and I'm sure the research will bring new light into exercising with diabetes.
Dora the Destroyer- that's what I named my bike. She is killing me. I am building up endurance on some long rides. I got in a 50 mile race, a 78 mile ride back from a camping trip which really hurt and another 50 miler earlier this week. All the jokes about guys in tight bike shorts sitting on a tiny bike seat now apply to me.
Dehydration- this one i've got to figure out. planning a little better would help. like last weekend Steve asked if I would pace him in his marathon for a while and I said sure. Well I went to a wedding the night before and only got 5 hours of sleep, woke up low and late (alarm didn't go off) and didn't feel like going but couldn't pull a no show on Steve. I met him 2 miles in and couldn't come up with a decent way to get back to my car without aid and no road id so I decided to just keep running. I was feeling awful about at mile 14 and Steve asked if I'd had enough water. Well i had a cup at each aid station. He was having at least twice that and it worked because I never saw him the rest of the run. Steve and family picked me up at mile 24 of the course. there were no questions about do you want to keep going or anything other than me sticking out my thumb and getting in the van.
Tomorrow - Hydration Training

Experimenting with Endurance and Diabetes

With around 80 days to go til Ironman Wisconsin, this Triabetic has decided to do some experimentation. I read somewhere about other athletes being upset that we could inject extra insulin to keep the lactic acid at bay.
If only it were that easy. I've been exercising with less insulin too keep my bloodsugar in a respectable range and I have also been feeling that ketone feeling a little too. So, I'll just take extra insulin and eat alot i decided. this was a great recipe for the diabetic rollercoaster.
I ran 14 miles with Steve the other morning and didn't have that ketone feeling because I was wasted low and couldn't feel much of anything. As the plan went I was supposed to increase my basal gradually throughout the run and eat a bunch. But before the run I got high so I shot like 3 units and well if you know a diabetic you know where this is going. I got low and hungry. So I ate tons of gels, and my sugar stabilized in the mid 60's. Then I went home and took a nap. Got a monster calf cramp( i swear my calves have doubled in size) which woke me up and after working it out I checked my blood. 310 is too high so I took a bunch of insulin. An hour and a half later I am starving because all i've eaten all day is gel. But my number says 366. At least it wasn't 666. I can't stand it anymore and am about to take tons more insulin but I call Steve and ask for advice and he says eat lunch and take just enough to cover it. It worked. A few hours later I was down to 200.
I should have learned something from all this right? Well yesterday I went to go swimming but was at 310 so I took a big dose and got in the pool. 45 minutes later I swimming at 51 so I go and eat lunch at BK (should of gone to mcdonald's) I eat one of those combo meals take less insulin than I thought I needed and then went for a ride and drank most a scoop of perpetuem. Never got my sugar back above 70 but my legs were feeling great so I got off the bike and went for a run and drank a cocktail of vitalyte perpetuem and tropical gel. My legs feel so strong sometimes when I'm low. I ran fast. Went home and guess what I ended up getting super high again. Go figure.
Well here we go agian. I'm off for a swim.

Some new and old stuff

I just found this online and thought I would share it with those of you who don't read all of the team's blogs. Anne already has it posted. I just got this and some pictures from Ray and Nella of time spent in California at Diabetes Training Camp. Which was awesome back in March. training continues to build. Me and Steve rode 65 miles yesterday and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to do about my insulin and food intake. Experimentation is on the way so be prepared for some more lowboy stories. I don't take this stuff lightly. All this really made me think about what we are doing. It just makes me want to work harder and smarter. By the way my tan is better now. Oh, Today I finally ordered a CGM! Bring on the Ironman.

Backyard Half Ironman

This vacation has been packed full of training for the Ironman. After feeling so good about my swims, I decided to see what a triathlon really feels like. I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 9 months ago and except for the 5 minute triathlon we did at Diabetes Training Camp I hadn't even swam biked and run all in the same day- until 2 days ago. So with all the family support I would need I picked out a route starting at my mom's house and spent a full day tapering for my big event. It was a record breaking day. I did all three events, I set a new high speed record on my bike, I biked farther than I ever have, and I finished up in the highest heat I have trained in up to this point. And my bloodsugar? Rock Solid. My worst number was 204 when I woke up that morning. I dropped to 71 during the run, but other than that I was between 90 and 12o all day. The swim was easy except for a little trash in the water. The bike course was tough. I climbed a little more than a thousand feet up the cumberland plateau, stayed up there long enough to get an excellent sunburn, and then hit 48 mph coming back down. I have been wanting to do that drop ever since I was in high school and biked up it and got caught in a thunderstorm and didn't get to ride back down. I was tired when I got off my bike and it was only just starting. The heat was on. 94 is no joke. And to make it worse my mom and stepdad were following me with water but got stuck in a ditch and I had to leave them behind for a while. I tried to run in the shade when I could, but for some reason shade trees meant yards which meant dogs. I don't like dogs. It didn't take long for me to figure out that actually running the whole thing was not going to happen. Yes, I walked a bit, but dizzy and shivering in the heat I finished and that's just what I plan on doing in September. If I get fast enough to finish or even start the run in the blazing sun I'm ok with that, but I bet the sun won't be much of a factor in the run. Most of my running has been in the dark or twilight anyway.
Oh how long did it take? 7:13 worth of exercise and 45 min of transition and staring at a stuck vehicle and listening to a cop say he couldn't help even though our tax dollars pay his salary- good thing I don't teach his kid.

Endurance Swimming with Diabetes

Maybe that title will get some hits. I've been on vacation for almost a week now. Me and the fam have gone to see my dad in Nashville and stayed several days at my mom's. It's officially summer and training for Ironman has been a top priority. All winter long and even most of the spring I have been somewhat concerned about swimming 2.4 miles. The two big issues were dealing with my bloodsugar for over an hour without my pump and actually being able to swim that far. Well, this week has been amazing. In fact the swim is probably the most comfortable leg of the race right now. Me and Dr. Matt have been wrestling with exactly how to deal the insulin part of the swim for quite some time, and it is all coming together. In the pool I have felt a little pathetic using a pull buoy even though everyone said the wetsuit would help float me anyway. Well the first day I was here I swam about 3/4 mile in my wetsuit and was blown away with how much it helped. The next morning I woke up adjusted my pump and swam over 2 miles while my brother followed me in a canoe. It didn't even wear me out too bad. I had a little hammer gel half way and my sugar was around 1oo when I got out of the water. I am so pumped.

Rock Island Tennessee- a great place to train run out of test strips make crazy breakthroughs do a backyard half.

More to come.

Were you out walking Mr. Shack?

Ever feel like you had an awesome achievement and then been totally killed? I was on a run the other morning before school. It is a route we run frequently with a good sized hill right in the middle. I had always had to walk just a bit right at the top of the hill where it gets steep, but not this day. This day I ran the entire way up to the top and kept on trucking I was so proud of myself. Later that morning I was monitoring the hallway at school and one of my 8th graders says, "Hey were you out walking this morning Mr. Shack?" Ouch! that hurt. Well I haven't walking it since. Except for the day me and Russ ran it the other direction. Shorter and steeper hill that direction.

Butt Tight Church Clothes

Last weekend's workout was amazing. Steve, John, and I met at 5:30 Sunday Morning and went for a 7 mile run which took forever. I was running so slow. My sugar was at 250 when we started and that just doesn't feel good. All the really fun things about running like being tired, your legs aching, getting dehydrated and feeling like the slowest person on the planet all get amplified. Well I felt like almost the slowest person except that John's sugar was doing the exact opposite. He's working on figuring out his new pump settings and was running with his sugar way too low. When he finally stopped to eat I finally got a chance to stop and rest. That didn't last too long and soon enough I was walking- no running really slow- up the big hill and then cruizing the last few miles back to school where our bikes were waiting on us. At that point we got everything set for our ride and I locked my only set of car keys in the car. Great. We rode for an hour and I bummed a ride back to town. Steve dropped me off at church in my bike shorts and jersey. He let me take some mesh shorts from his car thank the good Lord. I just don't know how people would have taken it if I had worn those butt tight shorts in there. Anyway Emily, my wife, eventually showed up with some clothes and shoes. It's a good thing my church is laid back, but you can only push the limits so far. Did you know it costs $45 to have your car doors unlocked. Oh still need to send that guy a check.