Here I sit with frustration. I have a problem. You may also have this problem. Heck, many of us may have it. If you wear an insulin pump it's likely somewhat of an issue for you. My wife has been gone all week out of town on a business trip. The problem....I hear my pump alarms less and less at night now-a-days. My wife is a lite sleeper so it wakes her easily, and in turn she wakes me if I don't get to it by the second round of "personal fire alarm". It doesn't matter whether the pump is on vibe or high, I don't hear/feel all of my alarms while sleeping. I'm a heavy sleeper and it just doesn't wake me up.

Now I've tried a few things to see if we could increase the volume, but to no avail. We tried a baby monitor, but I could hear the alarm from the pump better on it's own than I could hear it through the amplified speaker. Strike 1. I've tried alternating between vibe and high alarm settings and.......strike 2. Whatever trial number three would be, I'm sure it would probably be a strike also.

What I need is for the pump companies "Animas", "Deltec", "Disetronic", "Minimed", or "Sooil" to come up with an external speaker that will recieve data from the pump and properly relay (from my nightstand to my ear directly) a signal I don't have muffled under a down comforter of sheet.

That shouldn't be too hard, right? All I need is a simple 2" speaker at my bedside that's going to wake me more easily than what I currently don't hear or feel as quickly.

Now there are a few things to note here. One, sometimes I do wake-up right away. Two, unless I'm sweating I tend to not wake-up automatically when I have a low BG. Three, I'm a good bit cranky sometimes when I awake out of bear hibernation to check on whatever personal fire alarm is sounding off. Fourth, I've tried to pay more attention to the alarms and force acute alertness...but within a week or so I'm back to unfortunately less then adequate fire alarm response. Fifth, I can wake at 3 AM to the sound of an owl softly hooting in the woods directly behind the house, but don't hear or feel my pump alarms....I have indeed come to the point of non-responsiveness due to my becoming unreacitive to the same alarm types.

Personally, I think this would be a simple way to enhance and make the closed system a bit more secure, esp. for the hibernating bear sleepers.

The Ever Fearful - Hypoglycemia

You don't like it. I certainly don't like it, and no one's spouse or loved ones like having to deal with it either. "It" would be the distasteful "Hypoglycemia". If you've had Type 1 diabetes for very long, then you've experienced some of these interesting/frustrating moments. A fellow blogger and friend posted on this subject and incited my thinking.

I think hypoglycemia has varying levels of intensity depending on, for example, how fast your sugar is dropping, where it started dropping from, what's in the tank, how fast you get some fuel in the tank, and what you're currently doing. Just remember I've had a BG of 24 mg/dL and was still walking around talking as if nothing was wrong. So, I'll arbitrarily make the following categories based on reaction type and intensity (I'm sure some clinical genius has already categorized these): (A) the "Hyper-Alert Genius"; (B) the "I'm Not Really Listening to Anyone"; (C) the "Conscience Paralytic" -AKA OBLIVIOUS; and (D) the "Long Road".

The Breakdown:

(A)Hyper-Alert Genius: Some of us have been here. Many hopefully haven't. This is the place where I think the brain is starving for glucose. It's outcome is a little different for everyone, but essentially it's the feeling of having these grandious ideas that seem to come to you - "Enlightenment". I had this experience while researching ideas for a certain piece of stained glass artwork. I was looking for a few small ideas for a portion of this project, but by the time I realized it was my BG and not my healthy running brain introducing these "never done before in history" concepts, I was already in the "GENIUS" zone. I corrected it, but it sure did take my brain long enough to realize what was going on and relay that correctly to my muscles.

(B)I'm Not Really Listening to Anyone: Those who love us and interact often with us, hate this category. It's very frustrating to them. In this category the individual is usally very ornery, unhelpful, and down-right stubbern. We know we should eat those crackers and drink that milk, that person keeps putting it in my face or asking if I've done it yet, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Why? That's usually the only question I can ask myself for the whole of this category. It's frustrating to me, after having one of these, to realilze I was so ornery. It makes dealing with me a lot harder. My wife gets so frustrated with me I know. I love her and I appreciate her putting up with it.

(C)The Conscience Paralytic - Oblivious: You just know something is wrong, but whether you know what's wrong or not, you can't seem to do a dang thing about it. Either you're staring out the window at a piece of grass profusely sweating (as if your using all of your being to try and get that blade to bend), or it takes 30 minutes to drown those crackers with a glass of milk. So, 30 minutes ago I was in the garage working on some project when I knew my sugar needed attending to. I started heading up stairs, but hey (in my head)"What's that on the rug at the garage door? I've never seen that there before." (Ten Minutes Later) "Oh, hey, I was headed upstairs to get a snack. I better get there." Four steps later, "Wow I've never seen the sun shine in the window like that before. Neat. I wonder how often I pass right by here and never see it like that? I was headed somewhere wasn't I? Snack. That's right." (15 Minutes Later) "Well, I finally made it upstairs. Oh, I should pet the dog. I've been in the garage for a while and I'm sure he's been missing me." (5 Minutes Later) "Hey Dufuss, get your mouth wrapped around some crackers would ya!" We can laugh at this, but it really can make the low even lower if we take too long to address it.

(D) The Long Road: The only name most people tend to give to this road is "siezure", and that's never a road we voluntarily go down. No one wants to be here...ever! It's only once you realize that you have gone down this road (you're usually blindfolded - seizing and unconscience while headed down this road) that you begin the long trek back up it. This is the road trip that takes so much energy it takes days to recover from it...to get back to feeling normal again. It's ugly and you usually end up with a tongue scar for going there. I haven't been down that road in years, but for those of us who have, we never forget how it feels. You never forget how your loved one explained what happened. Were you driving (I hope not - I was during one of these in college - scares the crap out of me even to this day. It's why I finger stick before I drive). Were you sleeping, or was it out of the blue? What did those around you do to help you get out of it? I know that my CGM is a huge relief to my wife because of the potential for these to happen during sleep. She actually sleeps at night now!


So, what are your thoughts? Can you clarify any of these definitions? Add to them? Share?

CAFFEINE

What does it do to you?

   Well, sure you get the wide eyed energizer feeling from it. But I get a little more than that from this stuff. I drank a home-made cold Chai latte this AM. It tasted great. I actually let the tea bag brew over-night -which might be why I felt the way I did this AM.

So the second thing it does to me though is more like caffeine over-dose, super high BG level feeling, restless leg syndrome, and A.D.D. - all wrapped in a rather unpleasant package. This toon pretty much says how I feel afterwards.

   Now, to be clear, this appears to happen with certain quantities of caffeine. For example if I drink a Mt. Dew too quickly, or that Chai this AM and the afforementioned is the result. If I slowly enjoy a cherry Coke, no problem. But I have to say I'm kind of affraid of feeling like I drank a Mt. Dew (x10) and knowing it's going to be hours before it gets better. All I can usually do to help is hydrate.

   So, do you drink any of those energy boosting drinks (say for a race)? How do they make you feel?

The Life of Mike

I'd like to say life is humdrum or hunky dory right now, but we all know that that's rarely the case for a perfectionist busy-body who never has enough hours in the day to get all of the things done rolling around in his head. That's me in a nutshell. So, I'm checking off project after project as I complete them....buuuutttt, I swear that list isn't getting any smaller.

On the other side of that sheet of paper though are some things that are a little more important to me. Like running, cycling, and co-leading a team of folks to the Tour De Cure this year.

RUNNING: I love it. It clears my head and calms me. I continue to do the basics for right now...a 3.3 mile very hilly trail run done 2-3 times a week. Call it maintnance running. When I can check off a few more items on the other side of this sheet, or after the tour whichever comes first, I'll start longer runs again.

CYCLING: I've got a nice hill training route I do almost every Friday. It's about 13 miles and has an elevation gain of about 1300 feet. And the ride back to the house ends with a nice large hill too, so this is not a slacker ride for sure-(at least for this pup). I'm also doing more training rides with the group little-by-little and getting in mileage on my own also. The best thing so far to happen to me is that one of our local gas stations agreed to allow me to do a fundraising event at the gas station. We're going to advertise in advance and the day of, and provide full-service for all clients (pump thier gas and wash front and back windows) for the price of the regular fuel. We'll be taking donations for the American Diabetes Association for this service. I don't know about anyone else, this station use to have a full service option, which is gone now, but there is nowhere locally that provides full service anymore. So,I'm excited to see how this works. We'll do this on a Friday in about two weeks.

And then there is mowing the lawn, powerwashing the pool deck, planting, getting the irrigation systems up and running again this year, finishing the rain water barrel collection system, getting the facsia and soffet repairs finished, getting a new pool liner installed.....yadda yadda yiippa yappa...ackkkckaa. Anyway, to put it generically "I'm awefully busy".

Those Winter Days

That is "those winter days" that are almost gone...for we in the south at least. I'm finding myself low on the need to write in the blog right now. What can I say, I'm running a little, and ramping up my cycling a bit for a metric (maybe century) in May....Tour De Cure calls again. So, 8 of us escaped for an Olympics/Valentine cabin long weekend get-away. Man, if you can't take a real vacation and leave the country or head out a few states, then a long weekend near home is always a good thing. We got snowed in the night we got there, so my run the next AM was rather cold, peaceful, and beautiful. Good time - good friends. The next weekend we had sunny weather in the 50's, so you couldn't pass up a bike ride in weather like that.

...and life goes on.

Lackadaisical Running

     "lackadaisical". I feel like that's my word for the month, as for getting my tail out on the trail and burning some calories. It amazes me the number of things that can happen in an individuals life to avert their attention from the necessities of balance. Taxes, Holiday's, getting ready for spring planting, financial adjustments, and even a friend from college days passing on. It's at moments like this that I marvel at those who can handle more than this very calmly.

    So, it is I find myself feeling a bit more lethargic currently, about getting out to run. Not every time, but enough it's annoying. Man, I never use to be this way. If writing this junk down is healing, then I feel better. So, on I go running 2-3 times a week, and yet it still feels insufficient. Probably because at the moment I feel way out of my training zone and barely ready for a 5K. I'm probably wrong and just whining. Usually by the first or second mile I'm warmed up and feeling better about the run. It's funny though, 2 weeks ago I had a Sunday run and it was like 15 degrees (F) outside. That Tuesday I ran again and it was about 55 degrees (F). That just messes with my mind man. I mean I'm wearing cold gear one day freezing my tail off until I get to the tree buffer, out of the wind, and warm-up, and then the next run I'm wearing shorts and a T. Tennessee weather is physcotic. Next steps, keep running (increasing long runs), and get back on the saddle. It's been like two months since I've touched my bike. Poor thing is lonely out there in the garage.

Christmas Vacation - Runs

Distance: on 2 runs totaling about 6.5 miles
Temperature: -16 or -17 C or for some that's 1-3 degrees F

Before I left for Oshawa, CA for a little break, I set a goal of getting back on the trail weekly. It took two runs in insanely cold temperatures to quell that thought until I got back home. Honestly, it would have been OK, but I was definitely unprepared for such low temps. I was adequately dressed from my feet to my armpits. However, on the second run, the one with temps at 1-3 F, I hit my turn around and knew it was important to get back soon. I would realize just how important that would be when I hit the first open field and understood that I had to keep running/moving otherwise I would be in trouble. I forget what it's like to live near large water. The breeze comes in at night and goes out in the AM, and this place was no exception. The breeze across the open areas was brutal. I'm guessing with everything added up the temp going back was close to -3 to -6 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn't have enough layers to sufficiently protect my arms and face. My hands kept warm and my head was OK, but the arms are still a little numb in areas. This was the first time I've made a pretty serious mistake in quite a while. NOTE TO SELF: when it comes to running gear and vacation - ALWAYS take more then you think you'll need.

I did show myself that I was still in pretty good condition though, even after not running for a few weeks.

Well Wishes

First of all...the role call: Some of these folks I've read about their training throughout the year and others not. Some folks I've talked with while others I hope to see at the start line at some future event.

Anne Findlay - Annetics
Kevin Burgess - Diabetics Can't
David Bourdon - Fueled by Insulin
Heather Warren - The Strength is in the Struggle
Jerry Nairn - Type 1 Diabtic Runner
Denise Ricci - We get to do thi! ON Insulin
Bill Carlson - Type 1 Bill Carlson Diabetics Endurance Pioneer
Brian Foster
Sean McKendry
Jim Murphy
Mark McCullough
Reid Stewart
Sebastien Sasseville


Second of all..."Good Job to each of you for extending your capabilities and training your tails off to get there". Good luck and focus this Sunday. As I tell myself sometimes..."Dream it, du it, push it." Have a good time this weekend and laugh a little during the event, you've earned it.

Wednesday - Notes

    Well, it's the downtime of the season for me now. While others are close to it with tapering for IM Arizona, I'm in a slightly longer taper mode. I've got a charity ride this Saturday, but that's about it. I'm looking for a few fun runs to do this winter and planning out my schedule for 2010. The Wednesday night runs will be the norm for a while, except this next week when I'll have some pleasant running around Vegas and hopefully at the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park also. I'm looking forward to this trip. It's funny, most people really seem to be pumped about going and experiencing Vegas, I however look forward to checking out all the parks I can see. I could care less about the music, shows, glitter, stars, gambling, and all of that other hooha. I just want to go get lost in a few parks and enjoy views I've never seen before. If I luck out I'll take some great photos also.

   Secondly, in my thoughts of late would be insulin issues. I switched to Apidra for the duration of one bottle, and then went back to Novolog. During the one bottle use of Apidra, I #1 was sick during much of it's use and #2 was experiencing many prolonged highs. I cannot rule out certain factors during this period of use, so I will again use another bottle of Apidra after I've finished the current bottle of Novolog. I would like to know how this will react in my system in a baseline environment.

Wednesday Nights with the Nuts

     There are those in society who thrive on pushing themselves, pushing hard sometimes, and even pushing in a group setting. Heck, share in the pain right? Camaraderie is a great thing when you know you won't be alone in the pain cave. That's what I see Wednesday night trail runs as. The horn blows and you're all off down the trail, jibbing each other, letting the faster folks pass, trying to pace yourself or just pushing mad, monitoring your heart rate for zone limit, and waiting (OK resting for some of us) at the turns to make sure the last runner makes the right turn. Afterwards, slapping a fellow runner on the back as you laugh ridiculously at what you've just done...rock and log hopping in the dark, light-footing it down technicals through mud slop and wet rock, avoiding the lanky outstretched fingertips of the green thorn vine just waiting to draw blood, and all of this on a wet trail that's covered with freshly fallen leaves. A surprise with every footfall. Funny how this makes a person feel good.

    So, last night we did about 6 miles worth of mild trail torture. Thanks Dreama, a route well chosen (no sarcasm). Man, the fall colours were rockin' last night. The sun was going down at the beginning of the run, lighting the arms of the amber and yellow infused tree tops as if beams of sun had been absorbed by the leaves. With this above us and the broad view of the sprawling city in the valley miles below us...we had a rather beautiful run. I wish I had trails like this off of my back porch.

    I got all but one thing correct last night...I forgot my gel flask. I started with a BG of like 126 and the basal rate was at 40% of norm. So, I ate 3 PB&J crackers and started stretching out, forgot my gel and left with the group. About 1/2 mile into the run, I mentally slapped the side of my head b/c I knew what I had just forgotten. So, I monitored closely and pushed hard so that my efforts were more then typical and would get the liver to help me keep my BG at a sufficient level. Man, it worked like a charm. While I would never forget gel on purpose, the tactic that I applied worked very well to maintain my BG. When I got back and did a finger stick it was 130. Freaken perfect man. So, I bolused 3 units and bumped my basal to 150 % for 2 hours, as I could feel the BG going up already, since the liver keeps doing it's thing even when you don't need it anymore. This is the formula that seems to work for me post run. All-in-all....a great Wednesday night run...in fact the last one to be started in daylight, as time falls back one hour Sat. night.

Sunday - Atomic Duathlon

PRE-RACE:

     Today I was not optimally ready to go, pre-race. First, we were a bit late to the race location and 2nd, my bg was ~350...auggghhhh! Not a good place to start. Pre-Race adrenaline got to me more this time then last race. It wasn't breakfast that was for sure. Breakfast, along with the bolus for it, were gone about 2 hours beforehand. Oh well, I got everything set-up in trans and ran into a few familiar folks from our local multi sport/cycling club. I walked to pick-up and got my goods and numbers and then hoofed it back to my transition spot. This would be the fastest prep before a race I think I've done yet. It helped to have previous race experience. So, I was ready to go in about 5-8 minutes.



RACE:

    If I had failed to mention yet that the weather was a bit less than optimal....well it was a good bit challenging, that's for sure. So, just keep in mind that during this race the temp was like mid to high 40's and the wind was kickin from the Southwest at ~ 25-30 mph. Line-up and off goes the horn/gun. The first run was nice. I wasn't warmed up yet for it, but hey I was late. I was doing about an 8:15-8:30 minute mile for the first 2.4 miles. Transition to bike. Let me say that I had no delusions of having any stellar bike time. It was windy as heck out there no matter which direction you were headed. Once I warmed up after about 5 miles, I kept it in the big ring for as much as I could, except hills. That helped me a bit and it wasn't killing me. My hands and toes were a we bit cold and numb when I got back, but that warmed up in the sun on the second run. It took me about 23-25 minutes for the second run. Man I hate that cement leg feeling when you start your second run.



FINISH:

    This is where things were different for me for the first time in a race. I usually finish with hardly a soul around me and no one every really close to me. This time was different however. All but the last 1000 ft dash to the finish were uphill, so I kept pacing myself reserving...it was my last race of the year so for what I don't know, but I was pacing myself none the less. Up the last hill 2 guys that looked my age pass me. Then 2 women pass me and then pass the 2 guys who had just buzzed me also. The girls were moving pretty fast. So, I made a quick decision to hold the gap with the guys....10-15 ft...not a problem. Meanwhile, I'm telling myself "pace it or got for it. Pace it or go for it. Pace it or go?" Then on the last 100 ft of the hill I decide I remember I have nothing to loose here so I kick it in gear and pass the 2 guys going up the last of the hill. I'm on the heels of the first girl and were going downhill now to the finish...."that's it man...Go!Everything drop it in right now". So I did. "This is cool" I'm thinking. I pass the first gal and and on the heels of the 2nd girl and she knows it. We're flat out for the finish. She holds the gap and we finish about 1 second apart from each other. "Man that was fun". I need to get faster so I can have more of that experience more often. I finish at 01:58:...and change and a bg of 87mg/dl. I'm good with that. I finished, I didn't walk or crawl, and I wasn't injured. All was good. I got 3rd place in the beginner category. Cool. This will be my last beginner race. So, now I have to race for the prize with the big dogs, and my AG is very competitive.

Insulin Temperature - The Review

This is of course purely from the users mindset. Having come to cooler temperatures this fall, the issue of body temperature and external temperature factors effecting my insulin and its effectiveness have come to mind again.

All three of the more familiar insulins, (Apidra / Novolog / Humalog) for type I Diabetics, appear to all be on the same page as per temperature levels for storage and insulin pump use.

New Bottle to Insulin Pump Use

• Apidra-------------------- 36 - 98.6 degrees F
• Novolog------------------- 36 - 98.6 degrees F
• Humalog------------------ 36 - 98.6 degrees F

So, a poll of user issues with this is not really necessary I feel. What I do feel is necessary is to do some testing myself. So I shall proceed and write later about this when I've obtained some results later under varying conditions. The main question here seems to be in my head..."What is the percent of deterioration, in effectiveness of the insulin, over time in an insulin pump cartridge while being exposed to an average variance of daily temperatures"?

I may not be able to obtain data about remaining effectiveness for the insulin, but I can obtain data about temperature levels from environmental and body variances on the insulin in my cartridge. After all, most of us are very active individuals and throughout our daily routines I'm sure we all come into contact with environmentals that exceed the temperature limits for our insulin. Let's see what I find.

Transitions

    Well, I'm on the last bottle of Novolog I'll use for the warmer part of the year. It's cooled down significantly here and so training doesn't get so hot anymore. Time to transition back into Apidra use in the pump. I brought this issue up back in April and made some notes and changes because of it.

   I'll post a survey on here about insulin usage that I would be very interested in reading results from folks. Let me draw it out and make sure it's appropriate and it will be posted sometime today. Thanks.

Sunday - Mystery Mountain Marathon

Pre-Race:

• 04:30 - 05:00 - "Get up Soldier!!" BG was 137 "Awesome". Ate the pre-race meal that works for me (fresh ground wheat pancake topped with "peanut-only" natural peanut butter, dribbled with maple syrup, and some 2009 applesauce I made a month ago). reserved for Friday's only and race days. Bolused the normal dose of insulin before 05:00.
• 05:00 - 05:45 -Since my gear was packed the night before I did a review of gear and ran through the checklist. Good to go. I answered the phone twice before leaving home as nature calls early on race days. Packed the pooch and the wife and I left for Funville at about 05:50.
• 07:00 - 08:00 - As we pull into the park, "Fort Mt. State Park", we see a long line of cars waiting to get past the gate. Registration was suppose to start at 06:00, but the ranger responsible for opening the gate I think slept in a little. Oh well, ends up we didn't start late. The gate opened as I just finish walking to the front of the line to see what was happening...ha. Registration was moved to a larger building this year overlooking the lake and was much more suited then the smaller one used last year. My phone rang again...nature had called one last time before the start. Good that sets me in a good place for GI issues. Picked up my packet and goodie bag. Finished dressing for the race and stretched for a bit. BG check and I'm at 136 mg/dl...."praise the Lord" perfect! My buddy Ed had decided to run the first 12 miles with me....but he left his shoes in the driveway...nice. Lucky for him a fella there had a spare pair that barely fit. Awesome. I was very pleased so far..my friend was able to keep me company and my BG and GI issues were in check compared to last year. We're good to go and head to the start line. Quite instructions, a few pictures, and off goes the start gun. My wonderful wife takes a few snap shots of us as we slug by her in the crowd and I step back and give her a kiss before I leave realizing "I can't believe I almost began the most difficult run of the year without thanking her and getting a good-luck kiss". Duh.

The Race

• Miles 0-11 - The warm-up loop around the lake is always an enjoyable first mile. I'm in no rush and my buddy is running my pace. It's flat and rooty, a little wet, and crowded, but par for the course. Chatty and relaxed every one still remains. Ed and I keep a decent pace passing and being passed by a few speedies who took a wrong turn. Only saw two falls on this race and both were in the first 11 miles. No body hurt so no big deal. We carouse through rocky, rooty, cambered, and wet trails with varying elevation gain and drops...but by far not flat, yet not difficult. In fact, the first 11 miles are like any typical moderate trail run I've done dozens of times. We stop and take a look at an overlook deck that gives us a view of the cloud filled valley that seems thousands of feet below us. That was the view of heaven. Climb a few sets of trail deck steps, trudge up sections of 200-500 ft rocky uphill trail, dance a quickstep downhill many times, and in a blink we're at the half/full split aid station. The Gahuti was good to us. Sweet! Ed's got a mile left, so we say goodbye and good luck and he powers home the last mile passing many around the lake back to the finish. Just before he leaves he got a good look at what I had next. About 1000 ft of pure uphill in the distance of about 1/4 mile following a power line. Now it may be a little less then that, but from my viewpoint it looked pretty big.
• Miles 11 - 18 - The first big uphill after the break wasn't all too bad. It was however only the beginning of my fun. I thought that when I got to the top of that big hill I'd meander around it a little bit, maybe where the radio tower was, and then somehow head down and around the mountain a bit. Silly, silly boy. "Don't you remember talking and reading others notes of the difficulty of this race?" This is where I remind myself that I am a man among giants. So at the top again here I am. I turn right and maybe run 100 feet. I head up a small heavily bouldered hill and begin the ~1 - 1.5 mile downhill. Downhill that is a good bit steeper then the uphill I just did. Now, at this point I'm thanking a few friends I run with for maybe unknowingly giving me a little pre-warning about downhill running. I'd run hard downhill before past a few in our group runs on Wednesday nights and they laughed a little at me, but I knew there was more to that then met the ear. So, during the first 11 miles of the race I had adequately reserved my strength and had only powered down one small downhill section of railroad tie steps. I wanted to play it safe and I'm glad I did. In retrospect...I should have probably taken even longer up and down this section of the mountain and remained even faster and feeling better for other beautiful running sections of trial. Well, by the time I got to aid station, I think it was #5 or #6, my knees were aching and pretty much becoming hamburger meat. Dang it...that's not what I needed...but I wasn't going to let it stop me. At the farthest out aid station on the 301 loop I make the turn around and return to the top of the mountain. At this point I'm walking down hill and doing moderate running uphill. My knees are done for and my feet, which are sporting a pair of Injinji toe socks, are getting a bit sore...but they're not really the problem. It's the knees. Man I haven't seen this portion of the pain cave before.
• Miles 18 - 26.2 - At this point I should note that I was paying very close attention to two other important things. #1 being my BG levels and #2 being hydration and nutrition. In the end, I felt like I paid good attention to this and did the right things, except for forgetting to take enough insulin once after refueling and the BG getting to about 230 mg/dl. In total, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 1.5 bananas, 2 nutrition bars, a handful of pretzels, 1.5 oranges, 5 Endurolites, 4 oz. of Hammer Gel, and 7 liters of fluid (both plain H2O and powerade) during the whole run. Moving on...the volunteer at the 18 mile aid station was so right. The next 3.5 miles uphill felt like 5 miles. In fact, it seemed, time wise more like 6 or 7 miles. I power walked...though it probably looked like power crawling, up the distance with some occasional fits running. At the top, and now at the second to last aid station, I was told I had 3.9 miles left. Don't ask about the math here. Those are the numbers I was given. So, I refueled and headed off a little happier...thinking "Man the worst is done. You're headed to the home lane bro. Good job. Now don't stop and keep your feet running or moving quick and for goodness sake, "Don't fall or trip". I ran what seemed like the 2.9 miles I had before the last aid station and came upon an aid station, or what kind of would have appeared to be one, but things just didn't seem right. I made a quick attempt at contacting my wife again, as I knew I was at one of the higher points of the mountain again and signal strength would be good, and left her a message that I felt I was about 1 mile from the finish. Don't take everything you hear for truth Mikey boy. I ran another 1-1.5 miles uphill and came to an opening in the woods that looked familiar. As I got closer I couldn't help myself. I said it out loud like the trees would talk back to me or something..."You've got to be shitting me". I looked around almost embarrassed I'd said it out loud..yet at this point I really didn't care. I was at the top of that beautiful ~1000ft hill I had climbed earlier right at the half/full trail break. Guess what I had to go down? As soon as I got to the opening at the top the volunteers at the bottom start yelling..."Runner...whao hooooooo!!!! Come on down! Come on down!. At this point two thoughts go through this thick skull of mine. One, "they have no idea. They really don't." Two, "This is the most torturous thing you've done to your body every...to date...Mike. Don't do this one again. Once is enough. Now finish this damn thing." At this point my knees and feet were in so much pain...I just didn't care. Not a lick. Crawling down that hill I'm also thinking..."How is it the folks who did this in like 6 hours and came across the finish line smiling did it. I mean this is where I really do feel like a man among giants." At the bottom of the hill I stumble and trip through and somehow do not fall into a small creek crossing before the last aid station. I don't stop. I head toward the lake for the last mile home. There's a babe at the finish line waiting for me and someone better have saved me a bowl of that promised hot chili. I run 3/4 of the loop around the lake. I finish the run across the line to a crowd who, picks up from my wife my name and is screaming, "Come on Mike...good job!" I crossed the line. I cracked. Someone, a girl I guess, handed me a glass. My medal for finishing. I tried to say "thank you", but I couldn't breath in. I felt like a fish out of water. My face felt wet but I just thought it was sweat. I started hyperventilating. I just wanted to hug my wife and sit down. 20 seconds later I was breathing like a human again and headed for the lake. Soke those legs and then get your chili.

That was it. 7 hours, 41 mins, 56 secs, 14,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, 26.2 miles of heaven and hell, and a year of training to do it right...and here I was. I'd won a small victory on the pathway of giants. And that's really what it is. I am a man among giants. I've just not paid attention to the footprints left by them as they too have followed the same hallowed and painful path to where it is they are headed.

Wednesday - Group Run

   Tonight's run was to be an easy taper. 2 things here...#1 I ran a PR instead of tapering (I know , I know), and #2 my glucose dropped a little too low for my liking. According to the CG it hit 97, so I assume it was somewhere a little below that since I was a bit low on energy and the HR was a little too high. Downed some gel and off I went. Fixed it within a few minutes. In fact, after taking gel I realized I could PR the run, so I pushed it a little. I wouldn't have, but all felt well and I don't feel like I put in a hurtful effort. This AM I'm feeling like I do after a mediocre run, so all is good. I also tried a new sock tonight. Man I like'em so far. I'll try them one more time and probably use them Sunday. It's made by Injinji: and called a toesock. I received a pair of socks like this years ago as a Christmas gift, but hadn't thought of their possible use for trail running. Saw a friend with a pair the other day and asked where she got them. So, I snagged a pair before the run last night and tried them out. They wicked well and felt better then most of my current running socks. We are folks who not only as runners but as diabetics have to take good care of our feet and this is a great way to do that. I'll say if you have problems with blistering, these will help significantly.

Monday - Farther Between

     That is the distance in between my posts of late. This I can easily not care too much about. Why, because how does blogging about training effect my trail marathon on Sunday? It doesn't. So I care little about missing some posting as I have missed much. I do however want to post a few things to remember.


    I'm on taper. I'll run a little Wednesday or Thursday night...but a little and just as a reminder to my legs. I seem to find my body handles race day if I taper for a little longer then the average Joe.


    A week and a half ago my insulin pump died. It was like it was having a seizure of it's own. Buttons systemically quit working, etc. and it was a nostalgic weekend. From losing the pump for the day to not having up-to-date basal rates at the house. Two notes here for myself.

#1 - It's probably a good idea to be able to fall back on insulin shots if ever necessary. Don't forget where you've come from!

#2 - For goodness sake keep an up-to-date copy of your basal rates in the supply closet. Get one printed every time you see your Endo.



    So, I'm reviewing and preparing for this weekend. I've had a few daunting realizations during this period. One being the following statement on Marathon Guide dot com..."Ankle-twisting, knee-popping, quad-burning, face-planting, diabolically relentless climbing... in other words, GREAT!!!! Thanks to all of the support staff and organizers. I have run 40 marathons and this was by far the hardest course, but the most beautiful I have done!!" This along with an 3 time IM and ultra trail running friend, I run with Wednesday nights, saying that M3 was definitely the hardest on her list has me laughing a little at myself. I am not a seasoned athlete/marathon runner in the slimmest, and yet I somewhat naively sign-up for this behemoth. HA!!! That settles it...I've proven to myself that I've got more than one screw loose.

    Details, details. #1 - I WILL finish this 14,000 ft elevation gain and drop marathon. It will not kill me and my diabetes management will work. It's just a long trial run! Enjoy it.

#2 - I'm estimating 6 or less hours, but we'll just see about that won't we.

#3 - Think about this for a minute. I'll be packing about 3 qts of water, 2 (6 count) pkgs of PB&J crackers, 2 full gel flasks, Endurolite, 1 insulin pump, one full bg meter set-up, cell phone, and the bladder pack that's going to carry all of this. Now, the cell phone may be a little much, but it's a necessity in my mind. Think about what kind of weight this is going to be, roughly 8 lbs. Now think about the weight of what the average Joe will be carrying. You could easily drop 1-3 lbs depending on the individuals level of dependency on aid stations. Over 26.2 miles that starts to make a difference. So, I'm gonna have to work harder and maybe in the future learn how I could lean down a little. I may even only carry 1.5 qts of H2O and just refill between aid stations, but I need to think about that.

Any thoughts to share here?

Much Running

    I'll skip the data intro and just post the runs. Last Wednesday I got out to group trail run a little earlier and did a very pleasant 13+ miler. It's a ridge line run, out to Edward's Point, with some hills down to the water every once in a while. OK, so you cross water 16 times, but it's all good and enjoyable. I'm liking those long Wednesday runs, but most of the time the group isn't with me when I do that, so it kind of defeats the purpose of a "group run"...then again I'm the slow one in the group and usually don't kill myself trying to keep up anyway.

   Friday - I'll just say that I hate missing a good run. I hate it even more when it's on a Friday (I don't have to work Friday's) and it's a brick I miss as was the case last Friday.

   Sunday's run was in the neighborhood. I don't like doing this too much anymore, but it had to be as nobody would have been out there on the trails I would have preferred to run...so safety and big hills were the winners. Did 5+ miles and pushed hard. The calves were a little painful, but that's probably because I started out too hard. I also had some other issues which forced a short run, which are explained below.

   It's never fun, when the device you rely so heavily on every day, fails. And that's exactly what mine did Saturday night. So, there were a few events throughout the weekend that waylaid a good workout. I also forgot to apply the post-run bolus and temp. basal after Sunday's run. This in turn put my glucose through the roof. Before the run I was low, compensated very effectively for it, did the run, and then just slipped and forgot to take the bolus/basal step.

   In addition to this, I'll also note that there are phases I go through that sometimes have my system requiring the same amount of insulin and other times much less insulin post exercise. Right now, I'm in a phase that requires much less insulin. It's tricky. I'm not able to keep things as exact when this happens. It has a tendency to give me what I call the "Summit to Sand" effect. In other words, my glucose levels will peak and drop often. Touchy times that's for sure.

Thursday - Oops!!

   The Summer. Where did it go? I'm at least not the only one whose training gets in the way of blogging and who has just not had time to blog. I'd rather run or ride than blog any day. So, I've lost a month of posts. Oh well. I've gotten some good training in. I'm enjoying the speed workouts at the track and had some enjoyable rides afterwards. Bricks on Friday. Those Sunday runs have gone well. At least until I pushed 3.5 hours Sunday and got some nice micro-tearing. Hmmm that's fun. It'll slow me down but not stop me. Wednesday nights have continued to be enjoyable trail runs with the gang up on the mountain. I had a steller run a few weeks ago. I was in the zone legs, cardio, blood sugars, and all. Man that was a heavenly ~12 mile almost 2 hour run. I wish I could have more like that. Just changed out the trail shoes last night also...as Sundays run tortured my feet and I knew it was time. So I slipped on a new pair of Brook's Cascadia 4's.....man those bad boys are awesome.Funny thing is it's been raining the past few days so I knew Wednesday night's trail run was going to be a degree of sloppy. The runners store had a grey and darker grey model of the shoe on the wall. I thought that would be great because man I'm gonna probably trash these poor shoes within the first 10 minutes out. Wouldn't you know it the shoe I like happens to be the Cascadia...trick is it's not grey..it's bright yellow and with with some black striping on it. I laugh to myself knowing their beauty is doomed. It's gonna happen at some point on the trail anyway, why not the first run out. Who cares my feet were in heaven at least.

Friday - Track Repeats

Run: 4.75 miles
Terrain: Flat Track
Time: 0:46:13

Pre-Run BG: 89 mg/dl
Post-Run BG: 151 mg/dl
Intake: 12 oz mango juice
Run Pump Status: 40% of normal basal

    First track session. I was soooo not feeling in the groove. The legs calves just felt like they were full of concrete. I pushed and did what I could anyway. 6 x 400 was scheduled. I eacked out 4 x 400 with 20 min. warm-up, and a 200 rest lap between pushes. I kept my 400's at 3:15 and that felt hmmm a little slow to say it modestly. I just don't feel fast these days. As if I've lost something. Oh well, I'll keep moving.