Swim Low Psychology

Due to a rare thunderstorm, I had to skip my morning outside swim today, and decided I would drop in on the evening Master's team. My blood sugar was 133 and rising after eating a GU; by the time I got in the pool, I was up to 165. "Great!" I thought, "I should be good to go for an hour." I decided to leave my meter in the locker because of my rising BG and because, well, I just didn't want to bring it. Also, if my blood sugar is low enough during a swim to get out and check, chances are I will be done for the day anyway. I usually can't tell if I'm low while swimming until I'm really low (somewhere around 40), and I don't like swimming until I am back up to a normal level (whereas I might be able to walk for awhile if I get low during a run). I can usually tell I'm low only by watching my times start to slow on the pace clock, or else I will just have a sudden thought, "I'm low. Um, I'm really low."

Well, I guess it's clear where this story is headed. I did the warm-up and some gal joined my lane who should have been 3 lanes over (in the faster, and only, direction). But anyway, I proceeded with the workout for about 35 minutes, and was feeling some pain where I broke my collarbone as well as pain in a my right shoulder that has resurfaced from last year to join in the injury party. I started thinking, "I hate this pain!" and feeling really sad, like it might even come to tears. It did occur to me that my response was a little over-the-top. I mean, there is some pain there but it usually doesn't make me want to cry in the middle of a swim. I tried to swim a couple more laps when I suddenly had the feeling, "Oh no, can I make it to the wall?" I got out and ate a chocolate GU, but still wasn't convinced that I was low. Maybe I didn't eat enough during the day? Or maybe I have been overdoing it this week? I tried to do a few more laps, and paused for about 5 minutes in the water. I thought, "Come on GU, do your thing," and then, "What would I recommend someone else to do?" I was wishing I had my meter handy so I could just hop out and settle the issue right away. If the BG were normal, I would feel better, mentally, and dare to finish the workout. I had another GU on deck but this was already a 2-GU workout and I was hoping to not make it to 3. I do not like to abandon a workout over low blood sugar, but decided I would give diabetes the win on this one. "Fine! I'll get out." After showering, I got to my locker and tested, twenty minutes after eating the GU: 74. Although I'm not usually relieved to see a low BG, I was happy that the reason I felt so horrible was easy to explain, rather than some sign of an impending downward spiral into over-training and weariness.