Another Thursday- Another Rant

Just finishing another non-Thursday workout morning and really enjoyed the rest and waking up a tad later this morning. Anticipation of getting Bri and Tommy off to school and getting ready for another day of work only to be pleasantly interrupted by coming home for Bri's track practice makes the day much more palatable. Up til today, hit 100% of workout plan from Coach Dave notwithstanding the broken toes on my right foot that is causing a bit of discomfort, yet manageable pain. I am thankful to God for giving me the ability yo continue to do this stuff day and day out. Also, I am fortunate that a contact I made about a year ago is allowing Triabetes and IronKidz to be in the Capitol Chapter of JDRF! Thanks Jonathan, a future Triabetes hopeful! Just heard Bri's alarm going off so the sun is really about to shine on today!

Rantings

Just felt like blogging instead of working out this morning. In keeping with my training, I really began looking at things a bit differently. When all is said and done, it is me who effects the outcome. I am responsible for how I execute training, my nutrition plan, and approach race day. I think all too often I can fall into the trap, "well if I didn't go low or I my blood sugar is too high." I am stupid but not stupid enough to believe there are many intangibles in working with my disease, but there is so much that I can work with to limit those problems. When I DNF'd the Great Floridian, I was the one responsible for my sub-par training, my horrific nutrition plan leading up to race day, my challenges on the bike course and ultimately my 563 blood sugar. Fear of failure and blaming this result on other matters really is a temporary fix, but ultimate responsibility lies on me. I was fortunate to hear a long time well respected member of my community, George Giese, speak last night that resonated with me as he talked about his "senses."
1. Sense of Responsibility- doing the training, following a sound nutrition plan, managing blood sugars as best as possible, understanding my trends, representing Triabetes
2. Sense of Humor- After all it is just a race! Don't take myself so seriously
3. Sense of Pride- Triabetes is a worthy cause, it is a calling.
4. Common Sense- I will do what I can to effect a positive outcome within my God given abilities

This fellow who did this talk gave me my break early in my professional career and set me up for future success. I am deeply indebted to George once again as he has kept me up all night last night re-thinking things in my life, but also give me an opportunity and framework to take on this challenge.

Brandywine Du

Well it is in the bag! The first multisport raceat the Brandywine Du. Started the day waking up at 120 and feeling like I was dropping. Leaving my home at 4:20 am, I ate my oatmeal, I gave myself 75% of my normal bolus and drove sipping water and coffee on the 2 1/2 hour drive to Coatesville PA. Prior to the race, I switched out my normal road bars to tri bar set up and race it for the first time. I was surprised at how comfortable the new set up was and my propensity to stay in the aerobars longer. Not sure what I will do for Ironman, but at least have some options. The vibration and buzzing of my DexCom reminded me that my initial hunch of racing low was apparent as at 7:50 am before the race, I registered at 60. A quick downing of ClifShot Bloks and I was off for my first run. I felt the previous days 1 hr and 50 minute (33 mile) ride in my legs. I pushed but stayed within my self-prescribed limits. I completed my Pre-Preformance Plan highlighting my desire to race relaxed and paced with taking no risks physically. That said, I plodded along and got to my bike with a less than stellar first run. The bike was cold, windy, and technical with more climbing than I originally thought. The end result was my bike legs came to me at mile 10 and felt good rolling through the final 3 miles. Then the last even less stellar run bookended the day. Oh by the way, a gel and second round of shotbloks, suspending my pump at the start of the bike, and a second gel topped off a end race blood sugar of 72 , I left my DexCom attached to my bike. UGH! All in all, not at all wasted from the race and should have a decent week of training

The best part of the race was seeing Triabetes teammate Brian Foster! He recently moved from PA to upstate NY, where Polar Bears seem to make their home. Unforunately I wasn' t able to connect with him earlier due to cell issues, but caught him in the transition area after the race. He too seemed to be facing lows. I was also forutnate to meet his wife. I met Brian in Madison at sign ups and really am inspired on how he takes running to a higher level. He will be sucessful in this journey and as with all my Triabetes teammates, I will enjoy the results!

The Past Week

Being back and training smarter, I have done the past week on Base Training mode and been more aware of heart rates. Gone is the glitz and glamour of high heart rates and power numbers, and back on pace are the long slow runs and rides, keeping within the aerobic range. This past weekend, riding a hilly 25 mile bike course and c, I kept my heart rate under the prescribed 155, and trudged up the climbs, sitting and even during my runs over a cross country course, I walked a few time up hills. Overall, it felt like cheating, but I realize that I have been training far too long in the gray zone which has impacted my max heart rate negatively. I hope backing off a bit now will give me a boost latter in training or when LT training begins. The sins of 2006 keep coming back.

Back from Camp

Back in Maryland after a peaceful but busy week in at DTC in California! I was able to meet a few more of the Triabetes team (Peter, Anne, Bill and Nate) and reconnect with 2 of the Boone boys (Ahn and Dave). A reemergence of my old nickname, "Chopper" and a push up to Painted Cave, were highlights, as also the volumes of knowledge I gained about Diabetes and exercise. I have been using my new found knowledge and excited about seeing the impact on my performance in training, racing and life. All in all I was very happy about the week, but happy to get home to Denise, Bri and Tommy.

Filling Newspaper space

Here's the link to my 15 seconds of fame: http://www.eldersburgadvocate.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=2984&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1323&hn=eldersburgadvocate&he=.com

I appreciated the opportunities the Triabetes project has offered me and being able to work the press to draw attention, albeit large or small, seem important. I was very happy the reporter talked with Michelle and Nate, as this fulfilled my desire for the article to be more about Triabetes than me.

Hitting it again

I took some time after fighting illness twice within a month and began reemerging into life, I scanned my teammates blogs, and found, wow it really has been a difficult cold & flu season! And found the inspiration to get moving. Unfortunately due to my inactivity I put back some weight and will be reworking my diet and hopefully get things moving again and restarting my already slowing metabolism, a misfortune of turning 40 soon.

Spoke with Coach Dave yesterday, and is always a great conversation and prepared for my next block. What impresses me the most is that Coach Dave is able to take from our conversations and develop a spot on training plan. I think this has been one of the keys to my continued motivation and successes in completing training blocks as the challenge me but fit well with all that is going on around me.

As I restart once again, I am happy with most of my sugar control. Some craziness when sick, but in general been running well within the 100- 180 range. I have had a few extreme highs, but that was stupid carb counting on my behalf. When I have worked out, balance in blood sugar has been much easier. So the point is to keep moving!

In close, I was fortunate enough to get a story about Triabetes in a local community paper. I pointed the reporter in the direction of ID and Michelle and heard from her that she spoke with Michelle and Nate which I feel capture the heart and soul of our team! I am reminded that the purpose is so much larger than one individual, yet owe Michelle a lot for her vision of this adventure!