Life's been busy and I never finished my race report. I guess I'll sum it up here--it went great (mostly)! My swim was slow as usual but I didn't feel too tired afterward. The bike and run were both comfortable, and I was happy to keep my BG's in a decent range. My finishing time was 6hours20min.
Now for more recent news. Last weekend, I did my first 100-mile ride in preparation for my Ironman race. I started in Santa Cruz, rode up Route 1 along the Pacific to Moss Beach (a small town just north of Half Moon Bay) and back. The ride up took 4hr40min. The ride back took 2hr30min. Yes, there was a headwind! (My actual ride time was 6:29 but I took some BG testing breaks!) I was lucky to have a good friend who volunteered to sag me the whole way--what a champ! I tried Hammer's drink, Perpetuem, for the first time. My approach was to eat sort of steadily, instead of ingesting huge carb-bombs every now and then. I figured out the total grams of carb in the whole bottle (162 g) and used a carb ratio of about 50g:1U insulin and spread it out over about 4 1/2 hours. I didn't think of this idea until about an hour into the ride, when my BG was climbing. But, it seemed to work pretty well. I also supplemented with gels and bananas as needed. Perpetuem has protein and a little fat in it, and is more like food than sports drinks. I liked the flavor (orange creamsicle) and it is actually pretty filling. I didn't have any GI discomfort from it, either. Yay.
After the ride, I decided to calculate the total amount of insulin used and the total amount of carbs eaten; I then calculated a "biking basal rate" that assumes I will be eating 47 g carbs per hour. This turned out to be 0.7-0.8 U/hr. I'm thinking of just setting my basal rate to that level and not bolusing at all for any food. Actually, that rate probably will need to go down the longer I ride.
If I can do enough testing, and I can estimate my times reasonably well for the race, maybe I can set up a race day basal rate profile based on what I plan to eat throughout the day, and just avoid bolusing all together. (My biggest fears are dropping low during the race and being unable to absorb carbs.)
I also did some calculations to figure out my carb:insulin ratio during the ride and, depending whether I take into account pre-ride insulin and food (and BG corrections), and whether I lump the basal rate into everything, the rate varies from about 55g:1U to 85-90g:1U. More testing is definitely needed.
Currently, I am predicting about 1:30 for the swim, 7:00-7:30 for the bike and 4:40 for the marathon. Well, we'll see about that last one. My best marathon time is 3:39 but that was not with a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile ride beforehand!
9 comments:
OK, Anne, I leave nearby and am training for the ADA Tour de Cure. Just got a new bike today.
When are we going to get together?!
- Amy
(amy@diabetesmine.com)
Anne - you are FANTASTIC. Exercise and D are so terribly difficult and your determination is TREMENDOUS! I wish I could give you a prize, but I' ll send you a huge (((((HUG)))))! I have no where near your determination - I just walk walk and then walk some more. Heavier stuff just totally messes me up! YOU ARE AMAZING! BE PROUD!!!!!!
I'll be very interested in hearing how this goes for you. Getting in better shape has become a big goal and lifestyle change for me over the past year, and in some ways I've been finding it a bit frustrating to find detailed accounts by other diabetics on how they handle exercise and training.
Ack, my comment got eaten by the word verification!
I'll be very interested in hearing your account of how it goes. Personal fitness has become an important goal for me over the past year and sometimes I'm dismayed at the paucity of accounts by other type 1 diabetics in handling the demands of exercise, carb intake, and insulin.
Thanks! I agree that it can get complicated trying to work out exercise & diabetes. My challenge is eating enough when I exercise. If I wake up in the morning, and don't eat any food and don't take any insulin, my blood sugar is usually pretty stable for up to a few hours of exercise (I might need a little gel or something.) But then my performance is worse because I'm hungry! So I am trying to figure out the best ways for me to incorporate more calories.
When I first started doing triathlon, I kept a log book of my exercise and all of the food, insulin and BG measurements surrounding it. I found it to be quite helpful. I am trying to do that somewhat now, and it does help.
In a way, diabetes motivates me to keep exercising, because if I stop for a few days, everything goes haywire! (ie, basal rates, carb ratios, correction factors are all off!)
Amy, congrat's on getting a new bike! How exciting! I will send you an email... There are so many great places to ride here.
Thanks,
Anne
What awesome dedication to figuring all of this out.
I think that sometimes I get discouraged when trying to wrap my head around all of the variables.
But we are very good at figuring things out when motivated to do so, and it sounds like you are doing awesome.
Thanks for being another source of inspiration for us!
GO ANNE!
Anne, you are phenomenal. So inspiring. GOod luck with training. We are so proud of you for so many reasons-- beware of alligators...
I know I'm a little late to comment on this... but I just found your blog and I'm psyched!
Like reflexively refluxtastic said, i like reading other detailed accounts on figuring things out, and feeling like i have some sort of community/people with similar lives.
I had wanted to do a triathlon and kinda given up on the idea, but when I realized how much I'm already biking a lot & running, maybe I should just go for it while I'm in shape.
My question for you: how to deal with the pump during the swim part? Do you have to have someone bring you your pump in the transition area?
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