Hypoglycemia or Coyote?

Stress, getting sick and not being able to train as much in the past couple weeks have taken a toll on my blood sugars and my mood. Today, I increased my basals by 30% and have still been running high. (This is also despite spending the whole day Saturday on the bike during the 125-mile Death Ride near Lake Tahoe.) So I squeezed in a longer ride after work today in one of the cycling hot spots of the Bay Area: Portola Valley. The climbs here are gradual and most consider this a basically "flat" ride (although almost no sections of it are truly flat). I didn't worry about dropping low since I actually had to increase my basal rate to get my blood sugars down while climbing 7-9% grades last weekend.

About an hour into the ride, I stopped at one of the large parks in the area to hit the bathroom. I set my bike by a woman reading a book and her border collie (mix?), who started whining when I approached them. I asked the woman if the dog was friendly, and was assured she was. When I reached out to pat the dog's head, she turned and walked away. As I came out of the bathroom, the dog started whining again. The woman was perplexed by her dog's behavior and I asked whether she was acting strangely. She agreed that this was very unusual behavior for her dog. I just wondered, could this dog be sensing that I have low blood sugar? Am I even low? I didn't think I was, but after checking in at 65, I had to wonder. I mentioned this to the woman, that some dogs can sense low blood sugar. We both agreed that the dog didn't seem too concerned about me in particular, but was more interested in getting the woman's attention. Anyway, it was probably wishful thinking on my part that this creature would take notice of my blood sugar; but it was an interesting coincidence, regardless.

Or, perhaps there was just a coyote nearby...

Picture from http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/05/coyotes-the-wild-becomes-urban/