Tuesday, February 26, 2008

What I learned Last Week - Training & Blood Sugars

Last week a series of random occurrences helped me gain confidence in my training and taught me some foods that will shoot blood sugars through the roof without a bolus.

1 - Baklava and Sweet Potatoes unbolused give a body all the sugar it needs: Prior to my swim workout last Thursday I had lamb gyro over rice without a bolus and added a delicious piece of baklava for good measure. Just an hour after eating my blood sugar spiked to 310, after an hour of a pretty tough swim I was down to 115 only to return to 185 on my subway ride home. 310 can start to compromise performance but I wasn't too upset about being that high - didn't want to have to sit out my first workout with my new triathlon team. Last night, I had a sweet potato unbolused before my hour long trainer ride, 40 minutes after eating my blood sugar was at 280 - however the high was short lived and didn't provide the long term negative effects the baklava did. I finished my ride with a blood sugar of 97 - it stayed there through the night; apparently a dessert covered in honey isn't as healthy as an orange potato - who knew!

2 - I can still lay down the hammer: During my 2 and 1/2 hour run on Sunday one of those female runner types - decides to pass me like a bat out of hell then slow down about a foot in front of me, I go to pass her and she speeds up again. I don't know if this was runner speak for I'm a 16 year old girl who just got her drivers license and I'm going to full around with the cute guy in the car next to me or if she was just a freaking idiot. 2 hours into my run I was in no mood to flirt or be held up by a 90 lbs. person, so I decided to see if my quads still could do what god meant them to do. I dug deep and sprinted for about a 1/4 mile, leaving the sultan of skinny in my wake. I was SHOCKED that I could still lay it down after 2 hours and even more amazed that I didn't throw up all over myself after finishing my display of machismo.

3 - Triathlon related; My jumbles aren't as tough as I'd like: I'm currently riding the Selle Italia NTI saddle, this saddle has a ton of padding, especially on the nose - so much padding that the nose kind of curves up a bit and provides a bit too much pressure on some very sensitive areas. I'm headed to the shop this weekend to try out some new saddles so I can get comfortable on the new bike - while the NT1 is comfortable while I'm sitting a bit further back, the second I get up on the nose all sorts of things start hurting.

4 - My old football coaches were right, drinking makes it harder to practice! A week ago I had just returned from a bachelor party in Miami and a few days in Key West - the workouts immediately after my return were PAINFUL. However, last week more than 120 hours removed from any alcohol my workouts were tremendous! Last week was without question my best week of workouts, my nutrition was spot on which I think has as much to do with it as any physical fitness.

5 comments:

Shannon said...

Even I could've told you drinking makes it harder to practice! ;p

Anne Findlay said...

congrat's! glad to hear training is going well. Have you tried adjusting the seat angle?

Unknown said...

You should also look into the Adamo saddles. Tom made the switch last year and really likes it. You'll see a bunch of them at tri's as they are starting to be more popular choices for men (and women).

Unknown said...

you inspire me! I am amazed you could sprint like that after 2 hours of running. I don't think I could even walk let alone sprint after all that!

Your description was pretty funny. Thanks for the laughs!

Good tip about the sweet potatoes!

Jamie said...

WOW, I'm amazed you can start exercising at 310! If I was 310, I would be feeling too crappy to do ANYTHING. Are you starting to exercise like an hour after bolusing? Cause I guess if I did, even at 310, I would probably drop that fast too... I always wait until 3 hours after last bolus to begin exercise, and find I can then start with a normal BG, and (with the help of some carbs) not bottom out.