Early Bird Crit...I Should Have Slept Late

My goal for the first 6 or 7 months of 2009 was to spend a lot of time on the bike. Things were going along as planned until February 1, the day of the Early Bird Criterium Bike Race in Fremont, CA. There was a lot of aggressive riding and the field was large at 62, so I was relieved to finally hear the bell signaling the final lap. I took the 3rd of 4 corners wide and had a clear path ahead of me--I had decided to stay away from the pack for the final corner and sprint to the finish. Out of nowhere someone was down in front of me and with horror, I ran into the woman and flipped over the handlebars, landing flat on my back according to a witness. From what I have been told, the other rider had some mishap in the pack and darted out to the left and crashed right in front of me. Laying curled up on my right side in agony, I was screaming bloody murder. The first words out of my mouth were, "Why do I do these things?!" and "I think the tip of my finger is missing! Ahhhhh!" I am not impressed by my bravery at this moment. At least I didn't curse. After receiving very caring help from friends, race organizers and a nurse named Katherine, I was quickly taken with the other rider to a hospital by ambulance.

thumbs-up from the spine board

readmitted the day after for more testing and happy drugs!

Since then I have been diagnosed with 4 broken ribs and other fractured ribs on the left posterior side, a broken left clavicle and fractured L2 vertebra (transverse process). Additionally I have a small region of collapsed lung on the left side which I am hoping is not too serious. There is something wrong with my left hand and left calf although I am told that the hand is somehow related to my clavicle injury (??) and I haven't really had the calf checked out yet. I had some pretty nasty contusions and the expected road rash and weird pains that make me wonder if the bike hit me as I went around. (Why wouldn't it?) There is a big patch of numb skin and something is still funky with my gluteal muscles. My helmet was cracked and I had a very sore spot on the back of my head for days due to being strapped down to the spine board for 4 hours. Fortunately, I escaped with no traumatic brain injury. I won't lie--this has been by far the most painful experience of my life, easily beating out my tonsillectomy in my late twenties.

trying to cushion the broken bones

On a more positive note, I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of teammates, family and friends. I appreciate every call and email that I have received. Once again in my life, I have been reminded that one of my greatest blessings is an abundance of wonderful friends and family members. Also, I have made steady albeit slow progress and the most severe pain seems to be making its way to the past. I finally have some medical appointments lined up that are giving me more confidence that I will be thoroughly examined, which is a huge relief.

When my left arm regains a bit more functionality, I will write up the story of how my Animas pump survived its own test, coming away a bit scathed but still doing its job to keep the ketones at bay.

Ride through Marin

Stinson Beach from Panoramic Highway
Originally uploaded by annetics

After puttering around this morning, I finally made it out the door for my ride through Marin County today. My plan was to start in Mill Valley, and do a loop through Nicasio, Point Reyes Station, and then head south on Highway 1 to Stinson Beach. From there, I would climb up Panoramic Highway and head back down to Mill Valley.

After my recent tune-up to my bike, I was surprised that the shifting was still acting up and by the time I reached Ross, I couldn't get the bike to shift to the big chain ring. The guys at Paradigm Cycles in San Anselmo quickly diagnosed the problem as a frayed cable, ready to snap completely. Yikes! They were able to make the repair in less than 30 minutes while I had a nice chicken salad at a cafe across the street. I was very happy that they were able to do this repair on the spot, and I was back on the road in about 40 minutes, with much snappier shifting. Thanks!

I continued my ride as planned and enjoyed the warm day. I stopped here and there to take pictures. My goal was to go for an easy ride but if I'd really been serious about it, I wouldn't have chosen to ride through Stinson. I just couldn't resist with the clear weather! More pictures can be seen at my flickr site here.

The blood sugars behaved. I ate about 1 gel per hour and left my basal rate at 100%. My blood sugars were all between 89 and 115; I checked about once an hour. I had taken 0.5 units for a bar I ate right before riding, and another unit for the chicken salad (which had some carbs in it); I was worried that the 1 U might do me in but it seemed to work out pretty well. I don't usually exercise in the afternoon, so it was a bit of a guess.

Grateful for Family

Since receiving the news that my Grandma Findlay passed away on Saturday, I have been reflecting on her life and our relationship. I am grateful that I was able to visit with her and my grandfather over the holidays, when she seemed as strong as ever. With my grandfather currently recuperating from surgery in a care center, she was dissatisfied that there wasn't a better place to go for a walk. "I wish I could do some digging in my garden!" was her sentiment. At 89 years of age, she was still going strong. I have many, many good memories of times together over the years, and will deeply miss her chuckle as I share with her my latest adventures. Recently, we enjoyed trading stories about swimming, since she had done that regularly for many years. Always, I knew she cared for me and wished for my continued happiness and well-being. She had an unbending sense of integrity that I hope I can emulate, and a tough and hard-working spirit that was also a great example to me. She had her share of struggles in life yet continued onward with hope and determination. I will miss her greatly.

Race Report: Disney World Marathon

Although the temp's were actually warmer in San Francisco over the weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling to Florida to meet up with friends from Children With Diabetes for the Disney World running weekend. Races included a 5k, half marathon and full marathon. Brian Foster gets the award for running both the half marathon and the full marathon, one day apart. Way to go!

Diabetes-wise, things went well. I managed the taper by boosting my basal by 20% in the couple days leading up to the race. I was having some big oscillations 2 days before, likely related to traveling across 3 time zones, not eating normal meals and getting too little sleep. Things settled down and the day before, my BG's were good. I continued with my regular Symlin dose of 6 U before meals up until race morning. Because the marathon started at 5:50 AM and we needed to be on the shuttle at 3:45 AM (!), I had to get up around 3:15 (that's 12:15 AM Pacific time, mind you). In order to help with breakfast and pre-race adrenalin, I had pre-programmed my basal rate at 0.75 U/hr beginning at 3 AM until one hour before race start. My normal rate at that time is 0.5 U/hr but with the 3-hour time change, who knows what "normal" really was.

There weren't a whole lot of options for breakfast at the Coronado so mine consisted of a container of soy milk for some protein and a banana. Typically I don't eat a whole lot before a marathon anyway. I took 2.5 U (which was unintentionally a little more than I would have normally bolused for my 32-g breakfast) at 3:25 AM for the food and watched as my BG remained close to 90. Sometime around 4, it started to climb. I watched it on the Dexcom, looking to see it plateau, but it was climbing steadily. When I tested at 200 at 4:30, I decided to take 0.5 U to nudge it down a bit. By the race start I was at 132 and felt comfortable starting there, since my basal had been reduced back to 0.65 for an hour. (Normal for that time is 0.7 so it was not a big reduction.)

The blood sugar was holding steady around 160 and I was eating 1 gel every 45 to 50 minutes, as well as sipping some of the sports drink here and there. About 90 minutes into the run, I saw the BG come down to 128 so decided to lower my basal to 0.50. This worked great and I relied mostly on the sports drink, along with 1 or 2 more gels, for the duration of the race. I finished with a BG of 143 (narrowly losing out to Peter's 139!) but promptly started to rise into the 300s. I'm not sure if this post-race spike is because I'm not paying attention to what I'm eating (and bolusing for), or if there are some calories hanging out in my stomach that suddenly get digested, or some other reason. Anyway, I need to remember to increase my basal right after the race.

I increased my basal rates by 30% until I got the BGs down. Interestingly to me, the stiffness in my legs started to feel a lot better once I got the BGs under control.

Thanks to Peter, who ran with me the whole way, even when I was not feeling so speedy. At times, I was probably even not very friendly! (Sorry!) The pacing on the race was a little less than ideal for me. Three weeks ago, I ran 22 miles with no problem, and was able to kick it in the last few miles. But during the race, I was feeling sore by mile 18 and feeling like I would be happy to finish after the 20 mile mark. Against my better judgement, I allowed myself to run at a faster pace the first half of the race. My heart rate was creeping up to the mid-170s by the 3rd mile or so, and it never really dropped below 170 for the rest of the race. My original plan was to keep it closer to 155 or 160 but my average HR ended up being 174 and I actually hit my max at some point. Silly Anne! I think, had I stuck to my plan, my finish time would have been about the same, if not faster, and I would have experienced a lot less pain. The race surface was asphalt but also a lot of concrete, which is also pretty tough on the body. Also, I don't think I tapered too well, unless doing 3 rides of about 50 miles each less than 2 weeks out counts as a taper.

I am satisfied with my time of 4:11. It's 21 minutes slower than my most recent non-IM marathon (Boston in 2006) and 32 minutes slower than my PR, but I knew that I would not be running at that pace for this marathon. It was great meeting up with some old friends and making some new connections with people in the diabetes community. Thanks to those who organized this event!

With the marathon done, I am anxiously recovering, if that is possible, and looking forward to doing a lot of cycling in the next 6 months! I can't wait!

Dave Shack, Ironman Extraordinaire!

Triabetes team member Dave Shack was featured in an article in the New York Times today. Check it out here and be sure to listen to the audio on the left side. It has been great getting to know Dave and his family over the past year. It took me many years of running and a couple years of triathlon to get the courage to sign up for my first Ironman; Dave tackled it all in one year of training. Congrat's, Dave!

Note: I thought I would add a note for those who may be interested in supporting Triabetes. You can currently do so through the Triabetes website here. If you are associated with a business that may be interested in sponsoring Triabetes, you can send a note.

Thanks, IronKidz!

A new video has been released from Andiamo Productions, featuring the "IronKidz"--our young training partners leading up to Ironman Wisconsin. Thanks to Marissa, my IronKid, for her support before, during and after the race. Not only did it spur me on to the finish on race day, but her support also kept me going in the weeks and months leading up to the race. Thank you Marissa and all the other IronKidz!


The Triabetes IronKiDz Project from Andiamo Productions on Vimeo.

Back in San Francisco

Sliver of Moonshine on the Bridge
Originally uploaded by annetics

After a wonderful visit with my family over Christmas, I am back in San Francisco, and was welcomed with this sight from Fort Baker yesterday evening. I am looking forward to ending 2008 with a bike ride through Marin, and am grateful to live in a place where this is easy to do on December 31.

Break in the Weather

After many days of cold and wet weather, we should have some sunshine tomorrow. I look forward to getting a ride in before visiting some snowier climes over the holidays.

As far as training goes, I am still working out my race plan for 2009. I had wanted to do the Race Across the West but decided to hold off for logistical and financial reasons this year. It seems like I would need to find a sponsor for the event and I just don't have the time to organize that. I would really like to do this in the future and am targeting 2010. Maybe by then I could find a group of 8 and shoot for the RAAM relay instead! Although from listening to the experience of TT1 guys & gals, it sounds pretty brutal! I am a big fan of sleep so it would definitely be a challenge!

So far on the calendar I have the Death Ride in July and of course Ironman Arizona in November. I also will be doing the Oceanside (California) 70.3 triathlon in April, some version of Wildflower in May, and the up-coming Disney World Marathon in January. In 2006 I made the mistake of signing up for too many races, which left me drained--I have found that I don't take the "Treat it like a training day" line too seriously. So I'm trying to not pack it in too much. (Hmm, maybe it's too late!) Plus, each of these races is expensive, especially the triathlons. (Triathlons are becoming way too expensive in my opinion. Come on!)

My general strategy is to focus mostly on cycling and swimming between Jan and June and to not get too worked up about any triathlons I have during this time. I've never really taken a break (more than a few weeks post-marathon or during injuries here and there) from running since I started running 20 years ago, so I'll probably still try to work in a run now and then. I've entered a couple other cycling events, including one double century, in early spring to keep me motivated, and the Death Ride in July will definitely be a big incentive for doing some serious training. I may also enter some local road races and plan to attend some clinics and introductory road races in January. (I had better get my old red road bike tuned up!) Cycling is generally my best method for weight loss and also has a significant, positive impact on my blood sugars. My heart rate on the bike is nearly as high as it is during running, although I can stay out longer with less impact, so I tend to burn more calories. And I do tend to enjoy it as well.

I'm not sure what the best approach to structure my training for all of this would be. Figuring that out is my next step.

My goals for Jan-May '09 are:

1) to get my weight down to my target "race" weight before the start of Ironman training in June, which will help me with my other goals
2) to improve speed/power on the bike;
3) to improve speed on the swim by 15 sec/100 m (as a start);
4) and to increase my endurance so I can be more "fresh" (in the Ironman sense) after the bike leg of the triathlon.

Any suggestions are welcome! I'm still having a hard time letting go of RAW but I think I have enough on my plate at this point...

Triabetes 2009

The day before the big race, September 6, 2008 (courtesy of Blair Ryan)

When Peter Nerothin asked me whether I'd like to continue with Triabetes in 2009, I knew the answer was inevitably "Yes." A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of reuniting with some friends from this year and meeting the new Triabetes team captains for 2009, as we volunteered for Ironman Arizona 2008 and signed up for the 2009 race. We have another group of amazing people, including some first-time triathletes coming from various athletic backgrounds as well as others who have already completed Ironman races. Okay, and I have to admit that I am pretty impressed by Seb, who decided to do an Ironman after CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST! I remember when a woman spoke to our high school class and told us how she had lost a toe or two to frostbite climbing Mt. Everest, and that pretty much sealed the deal for me not doing it. I love the mountains and I love a good challenge but worrying about my insulin freezing on the top of a mountain that birds can hardly fly over (have you seen the Planet Earth episode on that?) seems pretty tough. As Seb said about the prospect of an Ironman, he is pretty good about dealing with blood sugar issues "under adverse conditions." Enough said!

Each teammate brings a unique background and I am honored to be training with all of them. Furthermore, it is a pleasure to continue with Triabetes to help support other diabetics in their desires to live active lives. I hope to stay connected to the 2008 crew as Triabetes continues to expand and reach more lives. If you or anyone you know with diabetes wants to get involved with Triabetes, it is now open to triathletes and wanna-be triathletes of all abilities and for all triathlon distances, and I would encourage anyone interested to sign up on the Triabetes website.

Triabetes 2009 Team Captains after signing up for Ironman Arizona 2009. We're committed now!

Run, Anne, Run!

I have some posts to catch up on but for now, her's an update of my on-again, off-again, now on-again marathon training. Earlier this year I was contacted by a friend with Children With Diabetes to run with them in January at the Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon weekend. Reluctant to commit to a marathon after a season of 2 Ironman races, I resisted. But as they say, "Resistance is futile!" I'm a sucker for signing up for races! And I loved the idea of running with CWD. I could have signed up for the half, but since I was traveling all the way to Florida, you know, I had to get my money's worth. (?)

Soo.... after Ironman Wisconsin was over and I gave myself some time to relax, I started to pick up the running again. I felt a little weary of training but figured I could get by with a weekly recipe of one tempo run, one track workout, one long run, maybe another easy run, a long ride and a couple swims. After all, I only ran 3 days per week for the entire season leading up to the Ironman events. Oh and I should say, I also planned on a couple days of light to moderate strength training. I get injuries if I don't include that. Well, despite not being Ironman training, it sort of felt like I was still training for an Ironman. I was losing my motivation.

But then, I saw the movie, Run Fatboy, Run, with my sister and her husband, and my game was back on! For some crazy reason, this movie about a guy who decides to run a marathon in order to get his girl back (after leaving her at the altar) inspired me to keep training! I can't exactly say why, because the main character isn't that inspiring as far as training is concerned. And he even had Mr. Ghoshdashtidar's spatula to keep him moving. But I guess, somehow, it reminded me why I love these events and I recommitted myself by running with my friend Rita a few weekends in a row, getting my mileage up to 18 for a long run. (Rita, by the way, just qualified for the Boston Marathon by killing her PR at the California International Marathon in Folsom/Sacramento. Congrats!)

I skipped my long run the weekend I was in Arizona, meeting my fabulous 2009 Triabetes teammates and racing through the desert in the Tour de Tucson 109-miler. (Much more on that soon!) I returned home eager to get some peak training done. I decided to add an extra run after my early-morning swim one day. I was running along, approaching an intersection when I had that horrible sensation of tripping, flying through the air and watching the pavement come up fast and hard! Argh! I was crumpled on the pavement and in a lot of pain. It sounds funny now, as tripping and falling usually does, but it was agonizing! I couldn't get up, really, and just lay there until a fellow runner came and helped me up. I had only been running about 60 seconds when I tripped, so I hobbled back to my car. I was bleeding and my elbow was very swollen.

When I got home, I was sure I had broken my arm but after a while the swelling went down. I think the pain was due to my landing hard on the nerve that runs along the outside of the elbow. My knee was another story. It was stiff so much so that I couldn't walk much for a couple days, and wasn't able to really do much for about 5 days. My blood sugar was going wild and the no-exercise moodiness was in full force. I was feeling pretty much done with the whole affair. I decided to give it one last shot last weekend with a long run. With the race a month away, I would need to get in a few more unless I wanted to be completely miserable on race day. My 19-miler went much better than I expected and I actually enjoyed my run through Portola Valley. And being out there for a few hours did not seem as long as it did in pre-IM days. My knee has remained a bit achy, but seems mostly healed.

So, I am back in. I received my sweet Nike race shirt from Laura at CWD and am going to give it a spin this weekend. I don't expect to pull in a Boston qualifying time in January, but I do look forward to meeting up with the CWD folks and having a chance to run with Goofy for a bit. And I definitely would not have been doing intervals on the track this morning without a marathon looming close!