Races & Places

I've been a little lazy with posting with so much going on of late.

First I'm going to give an update for the Philadelphia Marathon. This was a race where I thought everything was in place. It was, until I made a rookie mistake. I know that you're not supposed to change anything on raceday. I did, and I paid for it. The week leading up to the marathon I was going a bit low every day, so on raceday I decided to decrease my basal rate by 20%. The first five miles couldn't have gone better, it was about then when I looked at my pump to see what my CGM was looking like 220 trending UP. Normally I would have looked sooner, but everything was going so smooth that I forgot. I immediately took 2 units, and then continued to look every couple of minutes. It consumed me. The miles were going by pretty easy and I felt good, but I knew that each time I saw a higher number on my CGM the more I was going to pay. Still, the miles were clicking off pretty easy and I felt pretty good. I passed the halfway point in about 1:38:30. This is about where I started to come down. All told, I took about 5 units. As you might guess, I then came crashing down and was officially on the dreaded diabetes roller coaster. It was a battle from about mile 19 to the finish. Around mile 24 I started to feel a bit lightheaded and realized that I needed to walk and take in some additional carbs. I finished in 3:27:45 a new PR!

About a year ago, my (then) "internet" friend Marcus Grimm, told me about how Team Type 1 was forming a Running Team. I was definitely intrigued, and I applied. I ended up not joining them because they wanted a 2 week commitment to Run Across America and I couldn't do that. Fast forward a year and they've now completed the amazing task of Running Across America, and they are looking for additional team members. When they told me it wasn't imperative that I participate in the RAA, I jumped at the chance to join the team. They notified me that they were having their "Training Camp" in Tucson, AZ the weekend of December 10th & 11th and they wanted us to run in the Tucson Marathon or Half Marathon. My next post will be about Team Type 1 and my experience with the guys & girls of Team Type 1. Right now I'm going to give a recap of the Tucson Marathon.

The Tucson Marathon was exactly 3 weeks after Philly. I've never run 2 marathons this close together, so I really didn't know what to expect. Throw in the fact that the Tucson elevation chart was a bit intimidating, (starts at 4,800 feet elevation, and ends at about 2,600 ele.) I didn't know how my body was going to react. The bonus was that I was going to be in Tucson anyways, and I had the offer to run with my internet coach Missy Foy, and my best internet buddy Marucs Grimm, how could I resist? The plan was to run a 3:20:00 or approximately 7:37 pace, Marcus and I were both wearing garmin's and tried to keep our pace in check. Our first 5 miles we averaged around 7:35 pace. From miles 5-10 we closer to 7:30 and I could tell that these miles were a bit labored. It was a major net downhill, but there were some inclines and they seemed most difficult, we think because they weren't used to the higher elevation. It was around the 10 mile mark that Marcus and Missy were pulling ahead of me a bit, I told them I either needed to slow to a 7:40ish pace or they could go ahead. They weren't in any hurry so they said they had no problem slowing down a bit. It was around here that I realized the miles weren't going by as easy as the first half as Philly went. It was time to work!

Miles 10-13 consisted of a little out and back that had some significant roll to it. We had 1 really slow mile, 8:16, but over these 4 miles we averaged about 7:47. The rolling temporarily stopped at the half way point and we started a long downhill. Miles 13-18 were probably the most comfortable miles of the whole race and we averaged about 7:30's. Around mile 18 I noticed Marcus was leaning to his left, I asked him what was up, he had a side stitch, soon after this moment Missy was about 10 or 15 feet in front of us and she called me up beside her. I scampered up ahead and she promptly massaged my shoulders and told me to relax my arms and take a deep breath about every 5 - 10 minutes. She pulled me along from mile 18 - 21, but I was fading. Around mile 22 there was a waterstop and I took in a few glasses of water, and WALKED through. Missy kept going and I wasn't complaining because I was BEAT. Over the course of the final 4.2 miles I averaged around 8:30's, and it wasn't easy. I felt almost every muscle below my waist twitch to the point I thought at any moment my legs could completely seize up. I tried to keep my stride short and kept motoring ahead.

I finished in 3:24:39 a new PR. So many things were great about this one, most notably running with Marcus and Missy. My blood sugars were a bit of a problem but to my knowledge never really slowed me down. I had to disconnect from my pump from miles 9 - 14 because I was getting a little too close to the low 90's. Overall, I ran with new friends and PR'd! It was a great day!

I'm Ready

A lot has happened since my last post. First off, I wanted to recognize the amazing accomplishment of Team Type 1 and their Race Across America. If you've been living under a rock, and haven't heard about these 10 men, please click on the aforementioned link and read about them. In a nutshell, they started in Oceanside, CA on October 27th, and finished today in New York City. That is 10 men, 3,000 miles, in about 17 days, oh, and they all have an in curable "condition" Type 1 Diabetes. On this same note, just before they started on this journey, they invited me to join the team, needless to say, I'm very excited.

Right now I'm sitting on my couch instead of running because of thunderstorms, yes thunderstorms in November. Luckily, I'm in the thick of my taper and the miles aren't that important right now, because as they say, "the hay is in the barn" (at least they say that where I'm from).

I'm running the Philadelphia Marathon this Sunday November 20th. My gaol is 3:15:00, here are some reasons I think I'll meet my goal. Recent races: I blogged about my PR in the Columbus Half of 1:31:47, and on Saturday November 5th I finally broke through the 20 minute barrier. I ran a 19:48! Another reason I think I'll get it is because of what I've out into training this season. I've run 4 runs of 20 miles or more, with 1 of those being a 24 miler. An additional4 of 18 to 20, and 3 more 16 to 18.

I'd be remised if I didn't mention my latest appointment with my specialist. I always schedule the first available appointment and I got there last Thursday at 7:50. I was very disappoint when they told me that Doc Parilo was out sick. They gave me the option of rescheduling or seeing another Doc. After mulling this, I decided to stay, get the A1C checked and hit the road. Well, they came back with the A1C at 7.1 and I kind of freaked out. I asked if they were sure, I was pretty sure it was going to be in the high 5's or low 6's. They said they were sure, I asked if we could retes, long story short....it was 6.3.

Keep Running.

Beginning Taper

The Philadelphia Marathon is 3 weeks from yesterday. I'm ready, bring it!

I have some very exciting news to announce. I am a proud new member of Team Type 1, as I type there are 10 courageous Type 1 Diabetics on there way across the country. They started in Oceanside, CA on Thursday October 27th, and they hope to end on November 14th WORLD DIABETES DAY in New York City. That is 10 men 3,000 miles in less than 3 weeks! What we do is raise awareness for Diabetes, and show that with proper care and treatment, there are No Limitations. I'm very excited about what lies ahead.

I did participate in a 5k on October 22nd, and there is a reason I am just now mentioning it. It was ugly. The race was supposed to start at 8am, I met a friend down by the start at 7am to start our warmup. We did a couple of slow miles, and a couple of striders. Then we went back to the car to drop our warmup clothes. When we got back (at about 7:54) there was no one at the start line. We asked a few people who looked like race officials if we were at the start line, they laughed and said you missed the start. I was not happy, but we went anyways. My performance was terrible, hard to even know an official "chip" time because they only chip timed the finish, not the start. So, my official time was 24:xx. So I ran an almost 1 minute per mile pace SLOWER than my Half Marathon PR the week prior. I will get this 20 minute mark, and I hope to get it before 2012 comes.

On another note, I have my quarterly appointment with my Specialist. As always, I'm very excited to see Doc Parilo and his wonderful staff. I'm expecting a sub 6 A1C because this whole diabetes thing has gotten so much easier with all of the miles I'm logging.

Keep Running!

Race Report

In preparation for the Philadelphia Marathon I raced in the Columbus Half Marathon this past weekend. Coming into the weekend my Half PR was 1:35:28, my goal was anything better than this, but I kind of had 1:32:30 as a number I'd like to hit.

I got up at 4:30am to get "ready" for the race. I ate my pre-race PB&J, then drove down to the Arena District at around 6am to park the car near the finish. The start is very close to the Columbus Convention Center which is very convenient. I was able to stay warm in the Hyatt until about 7am. I then checked my BG 120 and ate my pre-race protein bar, and promptly started my warmup of approximately 1.5 miles.

I arrived in my corral at about 7:20 for perfect timing. I was able to get a couple of quick strides in, in front of the corral. Soon after the start I was a bit surprised to see a 3:05 pacer, but then quickly realized that is the new BQ time necessary for men younger than 35 years old. Mile 1 was 7:09, Mile 2 was 7:01, and the pace didn't feel comfortable, at this point was staying a little ahead of the pacer but felt too much pressure of the pacer and pack being on my butt. So around mile 3 I decided to fall behind them. Mile 3 was 7:03. It was somewhere around Mile 4 (7:15 ) that I started to settle into the pace. Mile 5 was 6:59, 6 @ 6:49, 7 was 7:14, 8 @ 7:01, 9 @ 6:49, I kept reminding myself to stay in the mile and not think about the end, but I was feeling pretty confident. Mile 10 was a little labored hence the 7:10 time, but I knew it would pass and at mile 11 I decided I'd push the pace. Which I did and clocked a 6:50. I was a little surprised by my mile12 pace 7:03 ( I thought it would be faster), and 13 was 6:53. I saw the clock was counting down to 1:32 and went into an all out sprint. The last tenth was about 31 seconds. I finished in 1:31:47 and I felt great at the finish.

If you would have told me a 2 years ago that I had this time in me, I'd have called you crazy. Now I'm thinking I have a sub 1:30 in me.

My BG when I got back to the car was 120, perfect!

I can't wait to run in the Beat the Pumpkin 5k in Cincinnati this Saturday. This is when I go for my first sub 20 5k. I now have the confidence that I can break through that mark.

Keep Running!

Running...The Perfect Drug!

It oftentimes annoys me when people find out I have Diabetes, and they say: "My uncle has diabetes". Then I ask a couple of questions, and come to find out that they're Type 2. I then explain the difference, but usually add in: "Type 2's have a choice, if they eat right and exercise, they can almost eliminate the disease, I don't, my pancreas no longer produces insulin". Now I know there are cases where they can exercise till the cows come home and eat right, and they still have the complications.

Type 2's aren't the only ones that can benefit from exercise. RIght now, I'm in the thick of marathon training. On Saturday, I had my best ever long run. 24 miles 3 hrs. 17 minutes, 27 seconds. The structure to this run was 30 minutes easy, 10 x (1 minute (about 7 minute pace) followed by 5 minutes easy), this was immediately followed by 5 x ( 1 mile pickups (about 7:20 pace) followed by 5 minutes easy). The run ended with about 45 minutes easy (around 8:15 pace). After finishing this run and feeling great, I was reflecting about how "easy" my diabetes has been recently. It's almost as if the more miles I run, the easier it is to control my BG's. I see my specialist every 3 months, and right now I'm about midway between appointments. A few weeks ago I purchased one of the At Home A1C kits, I thought it would be a good time to check. The result, 5.8, and this is with VERY FEW highs and lows.

Now I realize, there are certain cases where Type 1's or 2's can eat right, exercise, and it's still almost impossible. In most cases, I think that exercise and eating better can send you on your way to exceptional A1C's!

I'm hopeful that these great workouts of late will translate to some PR's in the coming weeks. The ultimate goal is the Marathon, and I've finally picked one. I'll be running the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20th. Leading up to this I'll also be running a couple of key races. The Columbus Half Marathon on October 16th, and the Beat the Pumpkin 5k in Cincinnati on October 22nd.

I don't want to end this post without giving a shoutout to Marcus Grimm, and the rest of the Team Type 1 athletes that will be running in the Chicago Marathon. I look forward to meeting these fine men and women soon. They are doing some amazing things!

I'm Ba-aaack

Now it will be interesting if anyone notices!

Since my last post in May of 2009 I've completed 3 marathons. The two immediately after The Flying Pig were Columbus (2009) and New York City (2010). The Flying Pig was a personal best on a difficult course, so I was confident I'd run a great race in Columbus. It wasn't my day. I ran a personal worst 3:48:55, then followed that up in NYC in 2010 with a new personal worst in 3:51:47. So after running my first three marathons and getting a personal best in each, I had these two subpar performances. Back to the drawing board I ran the 2011 Louisville Marathon, and did finish with a new PR, 3:29:38, not quite what I was shooting for, but a PR none-the-less.

I'm now working with the AMAZING Missy Foy, and per her recommendation I've signed up for 2 marathons in the fall, the Marine Corps Marathon and California International Marathon. I will only be running one of these, and that depends on when Missy and I think that I'm peaking. Missy is well known in Diabetic Running circles as she's the only diabetic I'm aware of that has qualified for the Olympic trials. She is amazing to work with and has helped me immensely.

On the diabetes front, thankfully not much has changed. My last A1C was 5.9, I've been recording my numbers on index cards recently, and I've noticed much more consistent numbers. I'm anxiously awaiting Medtronic's update on the sensor that has gained approval in the EU. I think I'm building up some pretty nice scar tissue in my abdomen from the harpoon like insertion for the current sensor. Here's to the FDA wrapping this one up quickly!

That is all for now, I'm going to try my best to update on a regular basis, please check back soon.