Monday - Dog Run

Run: 3.3 Miles
Terrain: Very Hilly
Time: 00:27:44

Pre-Run Glucose: 129 mg/dL
Post-Run Glucose: 104 mg/dL
Intake: 10 oz. Choc. Silk (before Run), Sandwich and milk (post-run)
Run Pump Status: Suspend


   I had a family member walk the dog during part of this run (Es). I took "Riles" (thanks Mira) for the last mile. This helped me keep the time down to less than 30 mins. Easy run, no endurance, just short and pumpy. No problems as things were in line and I really didn't push hard.

Friday - Dog Run

Run: 3.3 Miles
Terrain: Very Hilly
Time: 00:33:14

Pre-Run Glucose: 189 mg/dL
Post-Run Glucose: 99 mg/dL
Intake: 8 oz. Gatorade
Run Pump Status: Suspend



   A simple leash lead run with Riley boy. Glucose came back to within range and was perfect. I felt good and this run wasn't anything great. Just a little bit of hill and this 3.3 mile section is gettting a bit easy now-a-days.

Sunday - Long Run

Run:_____16 Miles
Terrain: __Mostly flat and gentle hills
Time: ____02:40:33

Pre-Run Glucose: ___155 mg/dL (Had a glass of chocolate silk)
Post-Run Glucose: __162 mg/dL
Intake:__________2-4 oz Gel, 12 oz Gatorade, 4 Endurolite Caps
Run Pump Status: __Suspend


   This is the longest run I've done to date. I'll do an 18 and a 20 miler, and maybe a 22 miler, before the Mercedes Marathon in February. It wasn't an "ice on your face" day, but the wind did make it hard to stay warm sometimes, even wearing all black as I was. It didn't help that the three of us ran along the river.I have come to realize that I Must monitor the CGMS readings at every mile. It is extremely crucial for me to stay on top of that game, because it can go bad very quickly. I've also come to realise that there is a thin line between exhaustion and VERY high glucose readings. Just like with caffeine intake I really can't tell the difference. At about the last four miles of this run I noticeably stated feeling less energetic. I checked the CGMS reading "162" with one up arrow. OK, I took it off of suspend and kept running. It was gradual, but I was losing speed. I went from a best of about an 8.5 min mile to about an 12 min mile. The last four miles were taking too long. I checked the CGMS reading again at mile 14.5 and it said I was trending upward very sharply. When I forced my legs to run back to the car I did a finger stick glucose check and found it to be 162 mg/dL. At the same time the CGMS said I was 325+ mg/dL. "What's up with that! The CGMS site soon after kicked the bucket and I had to start a new one at home. That dang $30 site was only put in and started the day before the run. If that's what's going to happen every time I do a long run, then they(long runs) won't happen very often. I have to admit I'm depending A LOT on these CGMS sites to give fairly accurate trending data to me. I can't afford mistakes like that.

   Once all was tidied up it was recovery time. A good meal, lots of hydration, and a nice nap in the sun can do a lot for the aching legs. This wasn't too bad for the longest run so far. I look forward to seeing what happens next time...18 & 20 milers.

Saturday - Mild Long Run

Run: 10 Miles
Terrain: Hilly Road (5.5 miles), Wet Park Trail (4.5 miles
Time: 01:30:23

Pre-Run Glucose: 92 mg/dL (Had 1 pkg PB&J crackers, and a glass of milk)
Post-Run Glucose: 128 mg/dL
Intake: 1 Gel, 12 oz Gatorade,
Run Pump Status: Suspend


Not a bad run. I was much happier with the time on this run and how I felt afterward than I was with the 12 miler two weeks ago. A 9 minute/mile pace is good for now. Having a running partner along on the long hauls is a great thing. The weather was perfectly complacent. I had no real probs with glucose levels, they dropped a bit, but that was easily taken care of. The feet performed very well, thank goodness. I think I'll do another long run 12/19 it's supposed to be like 70 degrees. Perfect!

When to Run - Some Things From My Experiences

   This is when someone with Diabetes shouldn't run. Anything above 200mg/dL is (1) not going to feel very good for at least a little while and (2) if it's trending upwards will probably bring your system to a much worse place. You DON'T want to exercise heavily when your glucose level is this high. I indeed speak from experience. I made my first trail marathon attempt this year with a pre-race high glucose level. A pretty bad experience and avoidable at all costs.

This is a much, much more preferable glucose level. After

talking with a fellow athlete, the founder of TeamType1 - a Pro US Cycling team, I've come to realize the great necessity of having your sugar in a very specific range for endurance training. For someone with Type 1 Diabetes their glucose needs to be between 140-180 mg/dL. This does many things, but I think most importantly is that it creates a high and low end buffer zone. As long as one is not trending too quickly towards the high or low end of the buffer zone, you should be able to maintain decent glucose levels during heavy training, of course placing the insulin pump on "Suspend" for the duration of exercise under most circumstances.

   By maintaining your glucose withing this buffer zone, you actually place yourself in a peak performance zone also. I've noticed the tank running low on fuel during endurance training and it's because glucose levels were definitely dropping. Protein bars are great long-term sustainable energy in circs like this. A faster bump would also be a gel pack. Sometimes both are needed. Of course if you're headed out of the buffer zone on the top end, then a fraction of the normal amount of insulin you would take to drop from that glucose level is needed. Be EXTREMELY cautious taking insulin to re-align your high glucose during endurance training. A little goes a long way. There is something else I've learned about this kind of training. When I'm done with some endurance training, let's say my glucose is like 133 mg/dL, I almost always have to take a "Temporary Basel Rate" of like 120-135 % for usually about two hours. This is my recovery window. This happens regardless of my having some chocolate Silk for a recovery drink and or eating something.

These are some of the tricks I've learned to use in tweaking my performance and making life a bit easier...and safer. I am stating this about running, however I follow the same practices for cycling, and for bricks or double bricks (a "Brick" is bike/run/ick! and a "Double Brick" is run/bike/run, AKA a duathlon).

Sunday - In the Park Run

Run: 7.55

Terrain: Very Hilly

Time: 1:48:42

Pre-Run Glucose: 139 mg/dL

Post-Run Glucose: 142 mg/dL

Intake: Sinckers Energy Bar

Run Pump Status: Suspend

   Nice 28 degree clear winter day run. A very hilly run in "The Hideout". The breeze was a little bit of a kicker. No problems. I have solved a problem however. That ole plantar fascitis I had issues with, I've figured out what it was from. Running form would be key here. I tend to land on the heel of my left foot a little too heavily, and not transfer enough to the ball. I changed this for this run and stayed very contious of it. I also kept doing a new stretch which helped. No real issue the next morning with foot pain, so I' know I'm headed in the right direction.

Pics above are some of the views I get during the run, hence why I tend to like it so much.

Thursday - Dog Run

Run: 3.2 miles
Terrain: very hilly whoville
Time: 31 mins

Pre-Run Glucose: 142 mg/dL
Post-Run Glucose: 98 mg/dL
Intake: glass of chocolate Silk (revovery drink..mm,mm,mm!)
Run Pump Status: Suspend

   Just an average dog run in whoville. Run, run, run, stop so dog can pee, run, run, stop dog from pooing on someone else's lawn, run, run, stop so dog can pee, run...you get the idea. It was wet outside and I will not do a dog-run in wet and cold weather again. Not too good for the pooch. Pretty good run though.

Wednesday Run...or the lack there of.

   Didn't run tonight. Just took the pooch for a swift walk. Family in town and gotta work tomorrow and it's Turkey day also. Just switched up insulin. I'm on Apidra now. Let's see how that goes.

Sunday Long Run

November 23rd

RUN: 12 miles
Terrain: Mostly flat road
Time: 01:48:33

Pre-Run Glucose: 100 mg/dL
Post-Run Glucose: 124 mg/dL
Intake: 1 cup Choc. Silk (pre-run), 2 gel packs during run
Run Pump Status: Suspend

   I ran a long road run yesterday with a friend. The first few miles are always not so pleasant when it's pretty cold, but after warmed up life is good. Lots of stretching. I ran a little low on fuel at one point realizing I was slowing down. Downed a gel and kept plugging away at it. Downed the second gel 5 miles to end. It makes one feel like a lab rat constantly looking down at your pump keeping a hawks eye on your trending glucose levels. Thanks to my friend for pushing me. As we both stated at the end of the run, "I wouldn't have pushed that much on my own". That's the beauty of running with others. Tomorrow, and of course this afternoon, I'll definitely be doing lots of plantar treating.

Wednesday Night Run

Wednesday 19th

Run: ~ 6 miles
Terrain: Hilly Park Trails
Time: 58 mins

Pre-Run Glucose: 112 mg/dl
Post-Run Glucose: 172 mg/dl
Intake: 6 glucose tablets (each has 4mg carbohydrate/tablet)
Run Pump Status: Suspend


   A nice run in the dark through the park. Some really steep hills, great for warming the legs up that's for sure, and mostly soft and insulated with all of the recent leaf downage. Our group (four guys) split from the larger group (a mixed group of about 10 people) and we did a slightly more challenging section of the trail. We were basically suckers for a little extra torture on the steep hills. The highlight, literally, of the run for me was when I realized I could light up the trail enough for all four of us. That Black Diamond "Icon" is the shnizzle with its 3 amp power. I recommend getting yourself one.

   Problem Spot: I've now taken care of my toe bruising sessions, thank goodness.
However, I continue to have something happen on most of my runs which I need to figure out how to address. My left heel gets quite tender to walk on the morning after a run. Throughout the next day it does feel better by about noon, but man getting out of bed and walking on that thing first thing in the AM sucks.....a little reseach shows this to be your typical Plantar Fasciitis.

Wednesday's Run

Wednesday 12th

Run: 6.5
Terrain: Mostly flat, one small hill.

   Ran @ Redoubt soccer fields with some friends and my new running buddy "Riley" (our handsome newly adopted Golden Retriever). He ran two miles with me tonight before tiring, and a total of five this week. The track surrounds the soccer fields and is a great way to get in a quick run on the way home. The loop is one mile in length. Just another ho-hum run to keep putting miles in the bank.

November - Mystery Mountain Marathon

Sunday 2nd

Run: ~2:58:00
Terrain: Very steep elevation gain and loss

Pump and Glucose Status: Read below

   Those pictures, along with a thousand others will be burned into my mind until next years M3. Let me devulge. How to BONK MAJOR! First, come to race day and have four bowel movements before you hit the start line. Yahooooo! Second, make sure your blood glucose level is about 350 mL/dL. Now start running. Your first 3-5 miles will be OK. Feelin pretty good they will. Then, your system will start dumping lactic acid into your muscle tissue because your sugar is out of line. You may have taken insulin to bring it back into line, but that won't help you know. The Lactic Acid Dump Truck already has your address and he's got plenty to dump. Now, keep hydrating because you know that even under normal circumstances you need to, but under the rules your playing with today you need to even more. No worries, the water won't help you anyway. Your getting tooo much lactic acid way to quickly. First, your calves start to feel it. "Keep it steady...pace,pace,pace. Maybe II'll run through it." you tell yourself. You probably won't be so lucky. Sure enough, mile 9 and you can now feel the lactic acid in all zones from calves to shoulders....oh shittttakeee..this is gonna hurt big time. "Keep running" you tell yourself, because you ARE NOT a quiter. Besides, you're in the middle of the woods with miles to the next aid station. "Oh look, the insulin is working, great it will bring you back in line and give an element of stability." Ah, but you will drop far faster, possibly dangerously so, than you think. Ok, stop do a finger stick....crap man you're at 81 mL/dL you better eat something like quick. Eat, walk, eat, run, eat....keep going. Man these freakin hills feel like someone tore off your calf muscles and left you to run with out them. You think to youself..."OK, I ran Wednesday night. 7 miles in 41 minutes, so I know I can keep up with this." No matter how bad you feel, and this is the worst you have ever...EVER, felt keep going. Oh and when you reach "The Decision" point of no return...let me tell you it's a million times smarter to forget your hopes of finishing an actual marathon and just limping in so you can live another day. This is a fraction of what went through my head yesterday. Truly, it was the sweetest poisoned apple I've ever eaten. Thank goodness I had someone like Cat there to back me up and watch out for me. Cat....I'd run through hell with ya. Let's do it again when my glucose is on target, and I can then actually not slow you down but keep a good click. I trained my taiil off for this and got punished pretty bad...welcome to the club officially now Mike....right!

Wednesday Night Run

Wednesday 5th


Run: 4.5
Terrain: Mostly flat around lake

   Tonight, was the first night I've had to really depend upon my headlamp. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't found my Petzl Duo yet and decided to grab what I had...a $10 3 LED bulb light. I was not amused or impressed. It slowed me down. I felt like I was walking on air to clear the roots and terrain. A friend ran behind me to make-up for the lack of adequate light. Thanks to him for that. I will buy a better light and have it for the next night trail run. I'm not playing with my safety like that again. Lesson learned. I'm thinking a Black Diamond 3amp will do just nicely!

Catch-up

   So, my first real post here is kind of a catch up for things I've been doing and have just done.

First, I've been training with some great folks Wednesday nights on some great trail runs. This has helped me to get much better at runnig. I love trail running and it's great to do it with some groovy folks. This would be thanks to the encouragement of irondreama. This has helped me to get some needed extra miles in the bank also.

Second, was my first (attempt) at a trail marathon (Mystery Mountain Marathon - M3). For reasons uncontrollable I was able to complete 13.1 half marathon, but could in no way complete the full 26.2 as I had so wished and trained for. That's ok. I will nail it next year. The following is my post on the SCV forum about that event.

Cat took a few pics along the way that I hope she doesn't mind me stealing.

   "Those pictures, along with a thousand others will be burned into my mind until next years M3. Let me devulge. How to BONK MAJOR! First, come to race day and have four bowel movements before you hit the start line. Yahooooo! Second, make sure your blood glucose level is about 350 mL/dL Now start running. Your first 3-5 miles will be OK. Feelin pretty good they will. Then, your system will start dumping lactic acid into your muscle tissue because your sugar is out of line. You may have taken insulin to bring it back into line, but that won't help you know. The Lactic Acid Dump Truck already has your address and he's got plenty to dump. Now, keep hydrating because you know that even under normal circumstances you need to, but under the rules your playing with today you need to even more. No worries, the water won't help you anyway. Your getting tooo much lactic acid way to quickly. First, your calves start to feel it. "Keep it steady...pace,pace,pace. Maybe II'll run through it." you tell yourself. You probably won't be so lucky. Sure enough, mile 9 and you can now feel the lactic acid in all zones from calves to shoulders....oh shittttakeee..this is gonna hurt big time. "Keep running" you tell yourself, because you ARE NOT a quiter. Besides, you're in the middle of the woods with miles to the next aid station. "Oh look, the insulin is working, great it will bring you back in line and give an element of stability." Ah, but you will drop far faster, possibly dangerously so, than you think. Ok, stop do a finger stick....crap man you're at 81 mL/dL you better eat something like quick. Eat, walk, eat, run, eat....keep going. Man these freakin hills feel like someone tore off your calf muscles and left you to run with out them. You think to youself..."OK, I ran Wednesday night. 7 miles in 41 minutes, so I know I can keep up with this." No matter how bad you feel, and this is the worst you have ever...EVER, felt keep going. Oh and when you reach "The Decision" point of no return...let me tell you it's a million times smarter to forget your hopes of finishing an actual marathon and just limping in so you can live another day. This is a fraction of what went through my head yesterday. Truly, it was the sweetest poisoned apple I've ever eaten. Thank goodness I had someone like Cat there to back me up and watch out for me. Cat....I'd run through hell with ya. Let's do it again when my glucose is on target, and I can then actually not slow you down but keep a good click. I trained my tail off for this and got punished pretty bad...welcome to the club officially now Mike....right!"

Tuesday - More History

   So here I am, a geeky looking 12 year old with few friends, and not really headed anywhere all too fast. In June (1983) I come down with what seems like a late season cold. By the time school starts back up in September I still have slight symptoms of the cold, but even weirder are the other things I have going on now. I'm losing a lot of weight (during a teenagers growth stage - not good) and peeing like a thousand times a day. I'm drinking water like a water truck with a hole in it that you're desperately trying to fill. I'm eating like a Sumo wrestler, but i look like a pale boy with Bulimia Nervosa. Unknown to me (hey I'm only 12) I'm also pitting badly on the calves. So, my school kindly asks my parents when I last saw a doctor. Hmmm, it's been some years they say. Unknown to me, my folks couldn't necessarily afford to get me to our family doctor (or at least this is what I believe is the main issue). So they waited....until December, and finally gave in as I was not getting any better and took me to good old Dr. Buchanan (the man who delivered me). The wise man he was told my parents they either needed to return tomorrow (he was awaiting some blood work results) or take me to the hospital that night. They talked in his office, of what I will never know, but that's when my folks realized their son was really sick. That's when Leukemia crossed their minds in a bad way. So, off to Hurley Medical Center I went that night. I didn't see home for another three weeks. They took more blood from me. Heck I didn't have a clue as to what was happening. My folks weren't much better off (though by the time I was 20 I knew then that my parents should have known better). That night I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes with a blood glucose level, not to be matched for some years, of about 1200 mg/dL. I was lucky I had no kidney damage. It was at this point that my internist told me, rather bluntly, "No Sugar, No Salt, No Life" (today I know that I have a life, but that's how I felt when he said that). So I get a room, a nurse, and some diabetes education. That CDE was the first person I ever remember showing me how important it was, let a lone how serious this was, to take very good care of myself. She was very self-empowering. That was VERY important to me. Even at the age of 12 I felt I had more control over my diabetes then my folks. I think back on this and even today wonder if that women knew that I would have been better off taking full control, even at such a young age, than to have let my parents control it for me to start out. Dawn of day one, I get an orange and a syringe (huge compared to what we have for syringes today) and I get to start practice sticking. I think they're kidding when I first start and still remember taking it half-heartedly. Then they gave me a plastic doll, and I realized this was no joke. I could never laugh at this. I never did again. So, Christmas morning roles around and my folks stop in to my room. This was my first Christmas away from home. I felt a little alienated. My folks, I think brought a gift up for me, but what will always stick out in my mind is what I know they brought me....the contents of my stocking. I don't know what they were smoking before they came up to see me, but man that action upset me for years. I could care less today, but it was a rather thoughtless action on their part. I have to admit I resented them doing that for some years afterward. I still remember breaking down shortly after this when Easter had rolled around and my four siblings got chocolate and the likes, but there really wasn't anything for Mikey. Oh, I snapped. That's when my dear mother introduced me to angel food cake. I can't stand the stuff today, but back then it was as good as it gets, so I loved the stuff. That became my personal, private, Mike only treat. After leaving the hospital we had one or two in-home nurse visits to make sure things had been applied as they were taught to both my folks and myself. I was given an Accu-Chek meter for in-home glucose monitoring. These, I did not know for several years, were fairly new. Monsters compared to our Ultra Mini's of today. Of course most of our hardware has shrunk and become far more functional, thank goodness. And so began some years of acceptance and denial.

A Day with a Pump

   So this is what's in my nutshell. I've had Type I Diabetes since I was 12. It was the spring of 1983. For the first 20 years it was injection upon injection and a ton of carb counting. The last four years I've been on a insulin pump. For the last year and a half I've been using a Continuos Glucose Monitoring System. For the last year and half I've also been competing in races and other events that challenge my more highly tweaked body. This blog is a chronicle of those trials, training events, and accomplishments through it all.

2008 Switzerland Trip

June 20th - July 12th

Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France

   Spent 3 awesome weeks in Europe this year.
One of the Best parts of it was the "Via Ferrata" or "Iron Way" ,Swiss-German "der Klettersteig". If you EVER get a chance to do one of these, jump on it. It's worth the hurt. Ours was an F5 in the southern region of der Suisse. We had everything on this climb from the steel cable, steel ladders, 200 ft steel cable bridge, to a challenging steel rope ladder (like on an old ship). It would be pitiful of me to forget the 40-50 ft verticle climb after the steel rope ladder. Rough stuff. Totally enjoyable. I look forward to doing more.

   Also, got to go the the Matterhorn. Beautiful rock. Huge range. Got up to 12740 ft. Awesome and breathtaking. What a view.

   Now to that Diabetes thing. It must be said that during ANY trip we took, from hiking thre ancient watrerways to doing the Via Ferrata, my insulin pump was on suspend and I had to eat about every 30 minutes to keep my glucose levels up. It was amazing. Whenever we got back to the room I was staring, but we ate like kings. Some good endurance training for me this summer in the Alps. Sometimes the trips were as long as 10 hours, which makes me feel good that I can handle the glucose levels and the endurance.

Don't forget the goat. Bahhhhhhhh! All with bells on too.