Building the Team

I had an amazing visit to San Diego this weekend for my first visit with the Triabetes team. Several of the Triabetes athletes met up at the TCOYD conference, as well as Michelle Alswager, the project founder (and an athlete herself) from Madison JDRF, and Nate Heintzman and Peter Nerothin from Insulindependence. Peter is also an athlete on the Triabetes team. Kudos go to Amy Tran, one of the officers of Insulindependence, who also volunteered all day. It was a great pleasure to meet Bill Carlson, who inspired the world by defying conventional medical advice and completing in the 1983 Hawaii Ironman and many more to follow.

In the morning, a group of us enjoyed running together along Mission Beach, starting at the south end and running up for several miles before turning around. After a bit of kelp-dodging on the sand, we moved to the boardwalk. My sock had done that annoying thing where it creeps down your foot. The pace was fast and I didn't want to stop since it would be tough to catch up. Oh, well, I didn't want my sock all scrunched up either. I stopped quickly, unlaced and fixed the sock. There was Bill C. waiting patiently. Oh great! Now I would have to run fast! I joined him and we made good time catching up to the rest of the group. We all stuck together for the first third or so and then split off, but I have to say it was one of those runs that leaves me beaming. And Nate was following us along catching some footage and taking some snapshots. Thanks, Nate! I am sorry to say that I did not win the best blood sugar contest at the end. The early intense pace had popped my BG up a little, and my 0.2 U correction bolus midway didn't knock it down. I started the run around 150, was 280 by midway when I took the correction bolus, and was about 265 at the finish. I didn't eat anything during the run, nor did I reduce my basal rate. I was a bit dehydrated, which didn't help.

It was also great meeting up with some folks from DESA and some Insulindependence members, and reminded me of the feelings of camaraderie we had up at Whitefish this September for the JDRF Ride. I look forward to meeting the rest of the Triabetes team, and working with them as we train for Ironman Wisconsin. It is going to make working out for 10-20 hours per week much more enjoyable!

Also, you can see the awesome Triabetes T-shirts in the photo above. Here's a picture of the back. Let me know if you would like one!