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!

Water Warming Up in Lake Coeur d'Alene

A day of warm sunshine has helped Lake Coeur d'Alene to warm up a bit, and my swim this morning was pleasant. Either I am acclimating or else the water is definitely much warmer than Aquatic Park. I felt comfortable and had just a little regret that I was only supposed to go out for 8 minutes. The course is a 2-loop rectangle, with 9 buoys out and 9 buoys back. I'm trying to figure out a strategy that will help me pass the time, similar to a structured pool workout (vs. swimming a million laps for an hour). Maybe I will think of the way out as a 1-buoy warmup then 2 sets of 4 out, a crossover set, and then 2 sets of 4 on the way back + beach finish. Then repeat. Mentally I get in this mode where the swim seems to last forever! I think it's partly because it's hard to really mark distance out there unlike on the bike or running.

Okay, time to get my bike + transition bags ready! I call this T0 and it tends to be a lengthy "transition" for me!

Update from Coeur d'Alene

A quick update from Idaho... Pictures will have to wait since my digital camera broke and I am using one of those Walgreen's 35-mm disposables! Too bad!

We took a swim this morning and the water is cold. My first reaction was, "This is colder than Aquatic Park." They mentioned that it was around 57 but it felt colder to me. Anyway, at least the water was much calmer than last year and I think it will be okay. The official word is that booties or aqua socks will definitely be allowed, and a volunteer told me they will have hot tubs and warming huts available after the swim. So don't be surprised if you see a lot of long transition times! We were wondering if they might also be serving us drinks in the hot tub?

Waiting in line to register, I spied a girl with an insulin pump and decided to say hello. Her dad is racing Sunday (Rod, bib #1611 I think?) and we chatted about pumps and triathlons. Sarah was her name and she said she was thinking of doing an Ironman someday and she has already done some smaller events. Go for it Sarah! I feel a little odd accosting people with insulin pumps but I can't help it sometimes.

Later this afternoon, after going for broke at the Ironman gear store, we went on a ride along the run course. The memories of last year came flooding back... "This is where I got really hot..." and "Hmm, this is about where I crashed & burned on the run for 30 minutes." But mostly, I was reminded what a beautiful location Coeur d'Alene is. I am planning to take some moments on Sunday to enjoy the experience. It should be easy since I will be keeping it mellow in heart rate zone 2, right?

Oh and I just heard some pretty juicy gossip that a certain cycling hero who started out in triathlon may be testing the waters with us all on Sunday...

Off to CDA!

Well, my bags are packed and all I have to remember after work is to grab my wetsuit, which is drip-drying in the bathroom. I swam one more time at Aquatic Park in preparation for the cool temperatures forecast for Lake Coeur d'Alene. I looked over some notes and last year the temp. was 64 degrees F; in the past few days Lake CDA has been closer to 54-56 according to the USGS. My swim this morning felt great, though; once I warm up, a swim in the Bay is pleasant on a sunny day.

I have bumped up all my basals by 0.2 U/hr because of the taper this week; and that may not be enough. My BG's were pretty much rock-solid around 90 last night, once I came down from a high because I accidentally canceled my bolus! (Duh! Next time the pump alarms, don't ignore it! I assumed it was a "low insulin" alarm and canceled it without looking.)

Anyway, I am excited to see how things go this year with more insulin. Incidentally, when I was looking over my race plan from last year, I had written in red letters: "may need to bolus on the run." Wow. I sure don't think I remembered that during the race, but that's exactly what I did need to do. Before the race, I had calculated the total insulin and the total carbs and come up with a "total carb to insulin ratio"--it was something astronomical like 1000:1. Last year, I was really afraid I would get in a situation where I couldn't eat with too much insulin on board. I guess that is possible, but I think it is likely that I can almost always get some carbs in, even if I have to gag it down.

My plan at this point is to take the swim at a steady pace, and to be attentive to sighting. Between laps, I will check my BG and probably eat a GU unless I'm high. On the bike, I want to conserve and keep it to low heart rate zone 2 for as much of the ride as possible, letting my heart rate drift up on the climbs. For the first half of the run I plan to keep a conservative pace and then will allow myself to pick it up a little for the rest, if I feel up for it. My primary goal for this race is to concentrate on diabetes and nutrition, and not worry about my pace too much. We'll see if I can do it!

A Taste of Triabetes

Since Diabetes Training Camp in March, I have made a lot of progress but am still struggling with certain challenges. This promo video, produced by Nella and Ray and their production company, Andiamo, couldn't have come at a better time. This is what I will think about during those long miles of the marathon on the 22nd. And next time I will definitely wear a more colorful shirt ala Bill Carlson. (By the way I had a chance to see the high-def version and I realize now it must make film people cry a little inside to see what YouTube does to their work. The filming for this documentary is amazing!!)

Also, this is an open solicitation to anyone who has connections with an organization/company/foundation that may be interested in funding the documentary and research arms of this project, at any level. We have some incredible sponsors already--thank you!--but the scope of the project could be greatly expanded with more funding. It's tax-deductible!

Cheers, all! Check out the Triabetes page to see what some of my teammates are up to!

Preparing for the Swim

The water temperature at Lake Coeur d'Alene, which was in the 60's last year, has barely budged above 51 lately, and it probably won't warm up all that much before June 22. NA Sports sent out an announcement regarding the temperature: as long as the water temp is below 60 degrees F race day, wet suits will be required. And they are allowing swimmers to wear aqua socks/booties. Now for the "real" swimmers out there, this will just prove once again that triathletes are wimps! I've seen the annoyed looks from swimmers sans wet suits at those triathletes clogging up the buoy line at Aquatic Park!

I've been trying to get in some solid time in the Bay and had a brief recurrence of mild SIPE on Monday, which has only served to increase my nerves for the event. If I have trouble with SIPE during the race, my race will be over. But last year I had no problems and I believe that, if I am well rested, I should be okay. At least I hope so! I've solicited swimmer extraordinaire Jen Alexander for some cold water swimming tips and I will be taking her advice (among other helpful suggestions) to wear an extra cap during the swim and also some sort of cap during the bike, and to stay very warm before the start.

By the way, I'm a big fan of the USGS for providing such great info!

Rather, Don't Be an Underweight Type 1

I am glad to read a bit more on the study here. I was happy to read that this report states that there was no difference in mortality rates between normal weight and overweight subjects. Also, the study participants were all diagnosed between 1950 and 1980 so had been through many years of managing diabetes without many of the improved tools we have today. I also wonder what the quality of life and ease of control etc. was for people at different weights. Too bad I couldn't go to the conference and hear the talk myself. Did anyone else catch it?

An excerpt:

"'Although weight gain in adulthood is typically associated with increased mortality, this may not be the case for those with Type 1 diabetes,' said Trevor Orchard, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, in a release.

'Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates.'

The study also found that those participants with a normal BMI of between 20 and 25 and those with a BMI in the overweight range (25 to 30) had no differences in mortality.

However, participants who had an underweight BMI of less than 20 were much more likely to die prematurely.

The researchers caution that gaining weight with Type 1 diabetes is not advised as a protective measure, but they feel the findings cast a new light on weight recommendations for people with the disease.

The study was presented Friday at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco."

Weight Gain May Be Beneficial in Type 1 Diabetes

The authors of this study presented at the ADA Scientific Sessions found that some weight gain in type 1 diabetes reduced mortality. I would like to check out this study to see if those who gained some weight had a better A1c, since keeping blood sugars lower increases episodes of hypoglycemia, and those little Junior Juices sure do add up. Here's an excerpt from the ScienceDaily.com report: "Gaining body fat may be a good thing, at least for people with type 1 diabetes, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Their study, being presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco, followed 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years and found that patients who gained weight over time were less likely to die." I still want to get my weight down for personal competitive reasons (i.e., I can run and cycle faster at a lower weight), but perhaps I should not be overly concerned about it for health reasons. I guess it probably depends on what is causing the weight gain. Does anyone have the skinny on this study? :)

Aquatic Park Swim

As a quick note, I swam at Aquatic Park yesterday morning. I hadn't been in the Bay for quite some time and the cold water was really a shock. The temperature was somewhere around 55, and the water temperature yesterday at Lake Coeur d'Alene was 53-54. There were more swimmers than usual there in preparation for Sunday's Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. I also noticed, for the first time at Aquatic Park, small jellyfish washed up on the beach, as well as some blubbing their way through the water. No one seemed to be complaining about them so I just hopped in. After getting out, I noticed a seal swimming around a bit. He disappeared under the water when a group of swimmers approached...

Big Swim

Today's workout was about 2.4 miles (actually 4200 yards)--the same distance as for Ironman. I woke up this morning at 80, ate some Luna Moons (24g) before and one chocolate GU (20g) midway through the swim. BG 15 minutes after finishing was 124. I think I may have been low before I ate the GU but I didn't want to get out of the pool to check. I felt okay, a little tired, but got through it. I plan to eat a GU midway through the swim at Coeur d'Alene, since it is a 2-lap course. My basal rate this morning was 0.9 one hour before and throughout the swim. This will probably be a good rate for the race, especially since I will be both more rested and anxious.