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.

Wednesday - Group Run

Run: 5 miles
Terrain: Very Hilly, Lookout Mt. Trails
Time: 01:19:31

Pre-Run BG: 173 mg/dl
Post-Run BG: 243 mg/dl
Intake: 4 PB Crackers
Run Pump Status: 1st 2 miles (0% Basal), Last few miles (50%Basal).

    OK, mountainous trail running is vastly deceiving when it comes to gauging your mileage on very hilly trials. Last night I thought and felt like I'd run maybe 8-9 miles. When calculated with a google map it's only ~5 miles. That's a big difference. So, I checked the BG before I headed out and it was 173. I figured that about 30 minutes into the run the BG would start dropping, so I ate 4 pb crackers for a buffer. My initial pace felt good, but it lead me to the "Diabetes Pain Cave" unbenounced to me. I should note that before the run I was just feeling, I don't know how to say it, but "not quite right"...bit of some head pressure and the belly felt like I'd eaten something slightly disagreeable. I should have picked up on that and taken it out slower with the group. Even if I fell off the back. Instead, I ran headlong into the DPC by tapping the glycogen stores by starting out too hard. So, the BG went up and according to the CG hung at about 200 all of the run. I took .5 units of Humolog during the run and then bumped my basal back up to 50% of norm. I was hoping what little I took would be enough to drop my BG and make the good physical feel of running come back around. It didn't happen. The HR kept jumping up too easily and my breathing was a bit too difficult. I should say our air quality around here right now is not stellar either along with some typical hot southern weather. Oh well, live, learn, laugh, repeat.

It needs to be noted for myself, for later purposes, and for other readers that the following is important floow-up on the above run.

     As can be read, my beginning BG was 173. Under normal circumstances I've come to realize that my sugar will drop within the first few miles of the run and from there it just depends on my effort level and intake. Intake was a problem here. I forgot my gel flask in the car. Duuhh. I also had the understnading that my glucose was trending downward. Hence the snack before I ran and the 0% basal to begin with. Yes, I should have just left the basal at no less than 30% though. The kicker here though, is that while getting dressed for the run before leaving work, I pulled my insulin site out just a hair. It hadn't come out that far, so I re-adhered it to my skin. All I can say is that in the past this has worked. From this point forward I will warn myself to simply replace the site...it's not worth it. This, now non-patent canula, would be the reason for the spiking BG's. My thoughts........that was stupid.