Happy in Coeur d'Alene

Thank you to all those who were supporting me in Coeur d'Alene and virtually through the Ironman website. I had a great experience Sunday and learned a lot of valuable lessons that will help me in Wisconsin. I improved my time from last year by 50 minutes for a PR of 13:52:19, and felt incredibly better at the finish line. The time came off in all legs of the race, including (I am happy to report) the transition times! I took 12 minutes off the swim, 5 minutes off the bike and about 28 minutes off the run. Weather was pretty much perfect race day and the water warmed up to nearly 60 degrees for the swim. My BG's weren't perfect but were much better than last year not only during but also before and after the race. For the swim, I was happy to see a BG of 149 after the first lap. As usual for me, my BG popped up the first couple hours of the bike, but I was able to recover smoothly. During the run, I struggled to keep my BG above 80 to 90 and felt much better after shutting off the pump for a half hour towards the end. Once my BG rose a bit and I made the last turnaround, I was able to pick up the pace for the last six miles, and finished the race smiling and happy. So far the recovery has been good--I am more sore than last year but feel less beat up. Anticipating a change in insulin needs, I have boosted my basals by quite a bit and am doing pretty well. More details and pictures will follow as soon as I get a bit more rest!