Somehow Shenandoah Valley has turned into a giant outdoor sauna. If I was hanging out with a pair of slippers, towels and super models on each arm the outdoor sauna might be nice. However since I'm running and biking my butt off as per Coach E's orders the outdoor sauna is nothing over than a gift from the devil. Last week was also the start of second year courses at Darden, so the sauna was a bit of a pressure cooker - I forgot how tough it was to fit everything in!
The humidity in Charlottesville was topping 80% last week, so each workout performed was way more sweat riddled than it should have been. Even with the extra challenge my blood sugars were fine during exercise! I had a few dozen lows throughout the week during class and other non-exercise times, in large part to my declining basal rate. My basal rate has dropped more than 2 points since I returned to C'Ville 17 days ago. Currently my base line insulin is at 10.4 units per day, a far cry from the 17 units per day my basal rate was in January. The combination of diet and exercise has led to my body becoming more responsive to insulin again.
Now back to the training, on Tuesday I had a 2 hour bike ride which I did between my Sustainability Innovation & Entrepreneurship course and Leading Strategic Change course. I tried to design my class schedule to either start late enough in the day to work out in the morning (early week) or with a large gap in the day to have a few hours to fit in a long run, bike or swim (late week). Last week that schedule worked pretty well, Eric did have to alter one exercise for me; he had an hour bike followed by an hour run for Wednesday, but I had my second year coaches course (a 10 session course over the semester) and there was no way I had time for 2 extra hours of workouts having gotten out of class at 8:30 pm.
The 4 hour gap I have in my late week schedule provided an awesome opportunity to get in a great mid-day ride. The temperature was above 90 degrees and that cool blast of wind I look forward to as I scramble down a hill was anything but cool. With the high humidity and high temperature I felt as if I was riding on the edge of a volcano - holly cow! I was soaked through and through from sweat 20 minutes into the ride, but overall it was pretty solid. And A SNAKE TRIED TO BITE ME!!! I was riding on a slight uphill during a zone 2 recovery from a hard effort, looking at some horses at a farm I was rolling past. I look down on the road and see a small snake, that lifts it head off the road hisses and lunges at me! I'm also pretty sure it wasn't a garden snake - thankfully it missed, because dying on my bike from a snake bite is a pretty embarrassing way to go out!
After 5 days of classes it was time to celebrate Darden style, which means individuals in their mid 20s to mid 30s who were successful before coming back to school acting like college juniors again. Friday I had two of my good friends, Rob and Kent (who happens to be a world record holder in cycling) over for some buffalo burgers, grilled portabellos and drinks. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to drink an entire bottle of Rioja by myself, and then we headed out in Charlottesville. I didn't drink a ton the rest of the night, but getting home at 2am with a 50 mile ride and a 1 hour swim on tap for Saturday had me going to sleep pretty wearily.
Each weekend my goal is to wake up by 8am to get my long ride in and still be able to enjoy the day - um yeah I didn't get my hung over butt out of bed until 11:30 am. Amazingly even with the hangover my blood sugars were only slightly low. I downed the banana - berry - chia seed - odawala super food shake I've been having pre workout and got out the door by 3 pm for my ride. 30 minutes into the ride, I was in rough shape. Sure I was hitting my speed goals, cadence instructions and heart rates but it was hot, I was getting dizzy and I had a huge headache coming on. I checked my blood sugar, was slightly high and took in some insulin. 100 minutes into the ride I decided I needed to take a break, find some shade and rehydrate. I stood in the shade for about 10 minutes letting my view come back into focus and hoping my headache would subside. I rode another 15 miles, and stopped at a deli for a snickers bar and diet coke before I finished the final 8 miles of my ride. That night I was the designated driver, after rididng off my hangover the last thing I wanted was another one! That night my friend's found it hilarious that I had eaten an entire flat bread pizza after my ride, then stopped for an enormous sub at Little Johns in between designated driving bar stops; the benefits of tri training!
Sunday I woke up early as I had an 11am meeting to discuss the business & public policy club I'm founding. Coach el diablo had a 90 minute run on my schedule, with 10, 2 minute intervals at a 7 minute pace, and an instruction to finish the last 10 minutes of the run at a 7:25 pace! With my legs heavy with lactic acid from the low cadence, high speed ride the day before I set out on my run on the flats of Sugar Hollow. I actually felt great at the start of the run, one, two, three interval sets rolled off, and I idiotically held paces of 6:30 for them - ugh I really need to learn to hold back. Interval four became a bit harder, five was arduous and six was painful. But that paled in comparison to intervals 7 and 8. On interval 7, after 70 seconds my legs stopped, my arms kept moving but my legs refused to go, so I walked the next rest interval rubbing my quads hoping to make the lactic acid dissipate. Interval 8 wasn't any easier, actually it may have been the most painful 120 seconds of my life, so painful that I had to hold back vomit; that one last only 55 seconds.
Thankfully I had some extra water with me and was able to recover for intervals 9 and 10 reaching my goals. I ran at zone 2 for 15 minutes and then hit the gas for my 10 minutes at the 7:25 pace. I was shocked that I had enough in the tank to push the pace, must be the chia seeds. 5 minutes into the set I started to slow a little and thought "no way, not today, I'm finishing this thing." I threw everything I had left in the tank and pushed as hard as I could for the next 5 minutes - my pace never slowed past 7:55 at that point - freaking awesome!
With tired legs I tried to fit in my hour swim that I had skipped on Saturday but I couldn't keep my hips up without a pull buoy, 1000 yards into the swim I couldn't keep my arms up anymore and figured if I survived the snake attack, I shouldn't tempt fate and decided to leave the pool. Eric is pushing me harder than I've ever been pushed before and I'm loving it. I'm getting leaner, eating healthier and every workout is faster than the previous. Whatever Coach el diablo is doing, its working.
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Devil Is My Coach
I am pretty sure Coach E had every intention of killing me this week. In my two years of triathlon training, this has been BY FAR the hardest week I have encountered. Although the volume isn't huge - just over 10 and 1/2 hours; the intensity of the volume is insane.
Last week Coach had sent me an e-mail telling me to get my rest in because next week would be hard. I in my idiotic nature decided I needed to mock Eric for being the only person in "Born To Run," that McDougall, only praised his amazing coaching ability, not his looks. Throughout the book McDougall mentions how good looking specific members of the ultra community are. So I think I provided Coach E with all the incentive to turn into the devil this week.
Monday started innocently enough with 2, 35 minute runs and an hour lift; although the heat and humidity down here didn't help matters. Tuesday was when the fun started - hill repeats on my bike! 6, 2 minute repeats, 6 1 minute repeats and 6 30 second repeats. I had never done hill repeats on my bike before and holy cow are they tough! I decided to ride over to Free Union so I could ride the long hill for the 2 minute intervals and a short and steep for the 30 second intervals, by the time I finished I thought my legs were going to fall off.
But Coach wasn't done, he had more in store for the quadzillas. On the menu for Wednesday was a 70 minute run including 6, 5 minute intervals at a 7:20 to 7:30 pace. I left my apartment at 9:15 am and the temperature had already cracked 85 degrees and headed over to the shadiest road I could find. Showing my complete lack of intelligence, I forgot that there was one huge hill on this road, and I of course had to run up that hill for intervals # 3 and # 6. This run seriously kicked my butt and I was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day - but somehow managed to rally to close out the bar with my Darden friends that night!
Yesterday Satan had me doing swim speed intervals and a recovery ride on the bike. The UVA pool has weird hours right now so I had to bike before I swam - bad idea. I got into the pool with my legs feeling pretty heavy. I made it through the warm up ok, and the first three, 100 yard intervals (in under 1:35) weren't awful, but then I thought my heart was going to explode on the next two. I then did my 50 yard kick set and on the first interval of my last set, I bonked, HARD. 75 yards into the interval I had to choke back vomit as my legs dragged behind me like dead fish. I danced with the devil and the devil won.
At least I close the week off in style, Sunday I have a nice easy brick which consists of a 2 hour ride and a 10 mile run!!!! If someone can drive through C'Ville on Sunday to scrap me off the side of the road that would be awesome. But the best part is - no blood sugar issues during the workouts this week and my basal rate is dropping like a penny from the Empire State Building. This is fun!
Last week Coach had sent me an e-mail telling me to get my rest in because next week would be hard. I in my idiotic nature decided I needed to mock Eric for being the only person in "Born To Run," that McDougall, only praised his amazing coaching ability, not his looks. Throughout the book McDougall mentions how good looking specific members of the ultra community are. So I think I provided Coach E with all the incentive to turn into the devil this week.
Monday started innocently enough with 2, 35 minute runs and an hour lift; although the heat and humidity down here didn't help matters. Tuesday was when the fun started - hill repeats on my bike! 6, 2 minute repeats, 6 1 minute repeats and 6 30 second repeats. I had never done hill repeats on my bike before and holy cow are they tough! I decided to ride over to Free Union so I could ride the long hill for the 2 minute intervals and a short and steep for the 30 second intervals, by the time I finished I thought my legs were going to fall off.
But Coach wasn't done, he had more in store for the quadzillas. On the menu for Wednesday was a 70 minute run including 6, 5 minute intervals at a 7:20 to 7:30 pace. I left my apartment at 9:15 am and the temperature had already cracked 85 degrees and headed over to the shadiest road I could find. Showing my complete lack of intelligence, I forgot that there was one huge hill on this road, and I of course had to run up that hill for intervals # 3 and # 6. This run seriously kicked my butt and I was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day - but somehow managed to rally to close out the bar with my Darden friends that night!
Yesterday Satan had me doing swim speed intervals and a recovery ride on the bike. The UVA pool has weird hours right now so I had to bike before I swam - bad idea. I got into the pool with my legs feeling pretty heavy. I made it through the warm up ok, and the first three, 100 yard intervals (in under 1:35) weren't awful, but then I thought my heart was going to explode on the next two. I then did my 50 yard kick set and on the first interval of my last set, I bonked, HARD. 75 yards into the interval I had to choke back vomit as my legs dragged behind me like dead fish. I danced with the devil and the devil won.
At least I close the week off in style, Sunday I have a nice easy brick which consists of a 2 hour ride and a 10 mile run!!!! If someone can drive through C'Ville on Sunday to scrap me off the side of the road that would be awesome. But the best part is - no blood sugar issues during the workouts this week and my basal rate is dropping like a penny from the Empire State Building. This is fun!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Slowly But Surely
My basal rates continue to creep down each week. The day before the Ironman my basal rate was 6.25 units of insulin/ 24 hour period. Two to three weeks after that my basal rate over a 24 hour period climbed to 13.5 units of insulin. While I know other Type 1s who have a much higher basal rate requirement the doubling of my basal rates led to blood sugars that were less stable and less reliable. Today, after slowly easing myself back into a regular workout routine my basal rates have dipped to 10.3 units/ 24 hour period.
The best news out of all this is that maintaining more stable blood sugars hasn't required training 18 to 23 hours a week. Each day I'm afforded about a half hour to get into the gym, or get out for a run. The Darden case load is simply too demanding to do any more than that. Over the past two weeks I've been on two half hour runs, lifted for 45 minutes 3 times, gone on a 42 mile bike ride and playing a rousing hour match of racquetball (with a former pro triathlete!). Not only has this helped stabilize some shaky blood sugars but it has also done wonders for my mental state.
Since March I've been dealing with an Internet stalker. Normally I don't get too personal on this blog as I try and keep it as professional as possible as I look to be an outlet to help people with a chronic illness. However, after yesterday's encounter, enough is enough. In the days leading up to IMLP this person had left me dozens of comments asking what my "excuse" would be for Placid, after I became an Ironman they consistently harassed me over a time I'm very proud of. This individual has consistently e-mailed me and began to sexually harass a person who is very special to me via the web. They have obviously compromised my e-mail account because they have made some comments that no one but me and one other person know about.
I confronted whom I had hoped this person to be last night, but was not shocked when that person convinced me it was not them. The person who has been leaving these comments and harassing people I know is someone from my past and totally inconceivable that after all this time they still spend this much time on me. I find it disgusting that someone who has set up a non-profit to help children try to derail the efforts of someone who has put himself in a public forum to help so many.
The anonymity of the Internet provides an outlet for cowards everywhere to have a voice. No matter what public service you are trying to provide immature individuals will try to detract from those efforts with insane comments that can best be described to acting like a 7 year old. I've stayed silent for too long about this and simply want to say I'm disgusted by this person's actions and believe it speaks volumes about their character and is truly pathetic.
The best news out of all this is that maintaining more stable blood sugars hasn't required training 18 to 23 hours a week. Each day I'm afforded about a half hour to get into the gym, or get out for a run. The Darden case load is simply too demanding to do any more than that. Over the past two weeks I've been on two half hour runs, lifted for 45 minutes 3 times, gone on a 42 mile bike ride and playing a rousing hour match of racquetball (with a former pro triathlete!). Not only has this helped stabilize some shaky blood sugars but it has also done wonders for my mental state.
Since March I've been dealing with an Internet stalker. Normally I don't get too personal on this blog as I try and keep it as professional as possible as I look to be an outlet to help people with a chronic illness. However, after yesterday's encounter, enough is enough. In the days leading up to IMLP this person had left me dozens of comments asking what my "excuse" would be for Placid, after I became an Ironman they consistently harassed me over a time I'm very proud of. This individual has consistently e-mailed me and began to sexually harass a person who is very special to me via the web. They have obviously compromised my e-mail account because they have made some comments that no one but me and one other person know about.
I confronted whom I had hoped this person to be last night, but was not shocked when that person convinced me it was not them. The person who has been leaving these comments and harassing people I know is someone from my past and totally inconceivable that after all this time they still spend this much time on me. I find it disgusting that someone who has set up a non-profit to help children try to derail the efforts of someone who has put himself in a public forum to help so many.
The anonymity of the Internet provides an outlet for cowards everywhere to have a voice. No matter what public service you are trying to provide immature individuals will try to detract from those efforts with insane comments that can best be described to acting like a 7 year old. I've stayed silent for too long about this and simply want to say I'm disgusted by this person's actions and believe it speaks volumes about their character and is truly pathetic.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Back In The Saddle
The early days at Darden certainly took a toll on me! From getting used to how to analyze a case study, understanding the dynamics of my learning team, sitting in class for 6 hours a day and trying to fit in all the meet & greet events Darden offered my time was limited. For two weeks it was next to impossible to get in a schedule; essentially 334 dynamic, bright individuals were ripped from their prior life and placed into a chaotic, demanding system; mind you we all asked for this! Blood sugar management, fitness and health all took a back seat to my acclimation of the high touch, high tone, high octane lifestyle.
It may be strange to hear me say that for just over two weeks the person who has tackled diabetes with abandon let his health take a back seat to othe priorities. However I've begun to understand there comes a time when priorities have to be reorganized even if just for the short term. By focusing on the acclimation to the Darden lifestyle I shortened the time horizon to getting back to my regular schedule. Had I tried to do everything at once as I had tried to do so many times in my past I would have become overwhelmed and potentially failed at all facets.
Yesterday after I hung up the phone with my Mom after my full on b*tch fest about the dynamics of the acclimation process everything seemed to slow down. I attacked my cases with an understanding that I hadn't demonstrated last week. I was able to draw parallels between past cases and the new ones and eloquently argued my points at learning team.
I knew if I could force myself out of bed at 6am to run that I was well on my way to getting "comfortable" again. By 6:18 I had my Sauconys on and ran for the first time since the Ironman! Part of the reason I waited so long to run was that I had a stress fracture in each tibia at Placid; but the bigger and more relevant reason was I simply didn't have the time. Today was the dawn to my return to triathlon training (even if it's just short-distance for now, I had aspirations to compete at the 2009 IM Cozumel but there's no way I can train to go long right now) and focusing on my blood sugars. For the first time since I arrived in C'Ville I'm feeling like me again - that's bad news for the blood sugar demons.
It may be strange to hear me say that for just over two weeks the person who has tackled diabetes with abandon let his health take a back seat to othe priorities. However I've begun to understand there comes a time when priorities have to be reorganized even if just for the short term. By focusing on the acclimation to the Darden lifestyle I shortened the time horizon to getting back to my regular schedule. Had I tried to do everything at once as I had tried to do so many times in my past I would have become overwhelmed and potentially failed at all facets.
Yesterday after I hung up the phone with my Mom after my full on b*tch fest about the dynamics of the acclimation process everything seemed to slow down. I attacked my cases with an understanding that I hadn't demonstrated last week. I was able to draw parallels between past cases and the new ones and eloquently argued my points at learning team.
I knew if I could force myself out of bed at 6am to run that I was well on my way to getting "comfortable" again. By 6:18 I had my Sauconys on and ran for the first time since the Ironman! Part of the reason I waited so long to run was that I had a stress fracture in each tibia at Placid; but the bigger and more relevant reason was I simply didn't have the time. Today was the dawn to my return to triathlon training (even if it's just short-distance for now, I had aspirations to compete at the 2009 IM Cozumel but there's no way I can train to go long right now) and focusing on my blood sugars. For the first time since I arrived in C'Ville I'm feeling like me again - that's bad news for the blood sugar demons.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Keep On Trucking
Momentum in training is a funny thing. One day you can feel like everything is going perfectly, your confidence will be at all time high only to be ruined during the next training session by a blood sugar low, bike breaking or otherwise feeling totally run down. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to experience all those things in a 48 hour period!
Friday evening I was tremendously excited for a huge training weekend. That evening I met with Cliff to discuss some IM nutrition strategy and go over some of my other fears about the race as a type 1 and as an athlete. The best advice he gave me was to write everything down in a schedule for the 72 hours prior to the race - leave nothing to chance. By following a schedule I essentially don't have to think about anything and can just focus on the race. I've noticed that in the workouts where I write down my nutrition and pace strategy I'm vastly more successful than in the workouts that I try and do all that via memory - so I think Cliff may be onto something!
Saturday morning I was up at my parent's house nervous as anything for an open water swim practice. After the disaster at White Pond I went searching for a new OWS venue and came across Putnam Lake at the suggestion of Jordan Rapp (a professional triathlete and part of the Slowtwitch.com family). Putnam Lake is a private lake near Patterson, NY; I contacted the community board president to ask her permission to swim in the lake. After explaining my story Barbara was tremendously supportive and simply asked that I sign a waiver and have someone follow me along in a row boat. So Saturday morning I entered Putnam Lake with my Mom & Dad rowing close behind.
Putnam Lake was beautiful! For an hour and 10 minutes I swam to my hearts content, was relaxed in the water and FINALLY felt comfortable in an open water environment. If only I could have added 2,000 people hitting me in the head while swimming I really would have gotten in a great practice. My parents were a bit less successful in their rowing as I had to re-enter the water to drag them into shore. Although a huge heart felt thank you goes out to my Mom & Dad for getting in a row boat (probably for only their first or second time ever) just so I could chase down this crazy dream. After the swim things took a horrible turn however.
I returned to my parents house, loaded up my bike with the day's nutrition and headed up Dahila Dr. ready to attack Bear Mountain. 2 minutes into the ride disaster struck:
Now if you look closely at the picture you can probably notice an essential piece of my bike is missing - I'll give you a hint; THE FING AEROBARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I climbed the steep hill out of my parents drive way I snapped my deck right off the front fork and crashed to the ground. If my Mom wasn't arleady nervous about the Ironman, witnessing her only son crash to the pavement did nothing to alleviate her fears. Thankfully I was going up hill or I would have gotten pretty badly hurt. Strictly Bicycles replaced the fork for free but this ruined my Saturday workouts.
Stupidly, I tried to go out for a run Saturday afternoon after bringing my bike into the shop. However, my nutrition plan for the day was shot to hell. Starving I had a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch which has far too much fat (from mayo, bread and cheese) and protein in it to digest quickly enough for the carbs to be absorbed 2 hours before a long run. However, I arrogantly thought I could beat physiology and proceeded to follow my nutrition protocol. As I left my apartment for the last time for a run(I moved up to my parent's house Sunday for my final days before heading to UVA!) I was greeted by a monsoon.
For the first 45 minutes of the run I felt strong, but then could tell I wasn't digesting my nutrition properly. An hour into my run my blood sugar was 95 and I could barely maintain a 9:45 pace (my E pace is 8:50). So workout # 2 of the day had to be scrapped. The digestive and fatigue issues had me fighting off lows throughout the night on Saturday and all day on Sunday where I took a self prescribed much needed day off.
Ironman training is a grinding process, I knew I still needed to get in my long run and ride so I spoke with my boss letting him know I'd be in late on Monday and out on Tuesday to do my long run and ride respectively. Monday morning I woke up at 5:30, was out the door by 6am and completed my 2 hour run. Tuesday I hopped on my bike for a 70 mile ride followed by a 30 minute brick. Each workout went as well as they could have but my performance in those 2 workouts isn't really the point. Ironman training requires adaptation and life as a diabetic requires adaptation. Environmental factors, life events and stress all effect how my blood sugars will react to certain foods and my ability to complete workouts. Each day presents a new challenge and if I just keep on trucking I'll find success in both.
Friday evening I was tremendously excited for a huge training weekend. That evening I met with Cliff to discuss some IM nutrition strategy and go over some of my other fears about the race as a type 1 and as an athlete. The best advice he gave me was to write everything down in a schedule for the 72 hours prior to the race - leave nothing to chance. By following a schedule I essentially don't have to think about anything and can just focus on the race. I've noticed that in the workouts where I write down my nutrition and pace strategy I'm vastly more successful than in the workouts that I try and do all that via memory - so I think Cliff may be onto something!
Saturday morning I was up at my parent's house nervous as anything for an open water swim practice. After the disaster at White Pond I went searching for a new OWS venue and came across Putnam Lake at the suggestion of Jordan Rapp (a professional triathlete and part of the Slowtwitch.com family). Putnam Lake is a private lake near Patterson, NY; I contacted the community board president to ask her permission to swim in the lake. After explaining my story Barbara was tremendously supportive and simply asked that I sign a waiver and have someone follow me along in a row boat. So Saturday morning I entered Putnam Lake with my Mom & Dad rowing close behind.
Putnam Lake was beautiful! For an hour and 10 minutes I swam to my hearts content, was relaxed in the water and FINALLY felt comfortable in an open water environment. If only I could have added 2,000 people hitting me in the head while swimming I really would have gotten in a great practice. My parents were a bit less successful in their rowing as I had to re-enter the water to drag them into shore. Although a huge heart felt thank you goes out to my Mom & Dad for getting in a row boat (probably for only their first or second time ever) just so I could chase down this crazy dream. After the swim things took a horrible turn however.
I returned to my parents house, loaded up my bike with the day's nutrition and headed up Dahila Dr. ready to attack Bear Mountain. 2 minutes into the ride disaster struck:
Now if you look closely at the picture you can probably notice an essential piece of my bike is missing - I'll give you a hint; THE FING AEROBARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I climbed the steep hill out of my parents drive way I snapped my deck right off the front fork and crashed to the ground. If my Mom wasn't arleady nervous about the Ironman, witnessing her only son crash to the pavement did nothing to alleviate her fears. Thankfully I was going up hill or I would have gotten pretty badly hurt. Strictly Bicycles replaced the fork for free but this ruined my Saturday workouts.
Stupidly, I tried to go out for a run Saturday afternoon after bringing my bike into the shop. However, my nutrition plan for the day was shot to hell. Starving I had a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch which has far too much fat (from mayo, bread and cheese) and protein in it to digest quickly enough for the carbs to be absorbed 2 hours before a long run. However, I arrogantly thought I could beat physiology and proceeded to follow my nutrition protocol. As I left my apartment for the last time for a run(I moved up to my parent's house Sunday for my final days before heading to UVA!) I was greeted by a monsoon.
For the first 45 minutes of the run I felt strong, but then could tell I wasn't digesting my nutrition properly. An hour into my run my blood sugar was 95 and I could barely maintain a 9:45 pace (my E pace is 8:50). So workout # 2 of the day had to be scrapped. The digestive and fatigue issues had me fighting off lows throughout the night on Saturday and all day on Sunday where I took a self prescribed much needed day off.
Ironman training is a grinding process, I knew I still needed to get in my long run and ride so I spoke with my boss letting him know I'd be in late on Monday and out on Tuesday to do my long run and ride respectively. Monday morning I woke up at 5:30, was out the door by 6am and completed my 2 hour run. Tuesday I hopped on my bike for a 70 mile ride followed by a 30 minute brick. Each workout went as well as they could have but my performance in those 2 workouts isn't really the point. Ironman training requires adaptation and life as a diabetic requires adaptation. Environmental factors, life events and stress all effect how my blood sugars will react to certain foods and my ability to complete workouts. Each day presents a new challenge and if I just keep on trucking I'll find success in both.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Lessons From Mooseman: Pass The Salt
Last Thursday I met with Lauren to discuss where my nutrition plan went wrong during the Mooseman Half Ironman; here's what we found out:
1 - Too much protein for dinner the night before the race; the red meat I had with my pasta was too hard to digest, causing my early morning blood sugars to be very unstable. For Placid I'll be having regular whole wheat pasta with turkey meat balls. The combination of Barilla Protein Plus Pasta and Ground Beef was a really bad idea.
2 - I need to have about 40 more grams of carbs in my Pre-race nutrition, and some additional protein (currently at 14 g she wants me at 20 to 25 g). Protein helps delay the absorption of carbohydrates, the additional grams of protein will help my body more naturally maintain a blood sugar of 150 to 160 rather than having the peaks and valleys I experienced at Mooseman.
3 - Add some protein to pre-swim nutrition for bs stabilization. I'm still working on my pre-swim nutrition as OWS is vastly different from pool swimming; currently my pre-swim bottle has 2 scoops carbo pro and 2 scoops cytomax, replacing one of the scoops of cytomax with pro-formance should help maintain a healthier sugar level.
4 - I lost three pounds during a 70 degree morning run on Wednesday. This tests out to my needing 75 oz of water/ hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's not going to happen - just too much fluid for someone my height and weight to take in but Lauren thinks I can handle 64 oz per hour. That means the 5 bottles of water I took in during the bike leg weren't even close to fulfilling my hydration needs.
*****5 - Salt, salt, salt and more salt - I tested out to need 2,500 to 3,000 mg of salt/ hour my sports mix only had about 1,500 mg of sodium on the bike and 1,100 on the run; after 3 hours on the bike I had only taken in 3,000 mg of salt when I needed 7,500 to 9,000 mg (probably closer to 9,000 in that heat), in total on the run I only took in 2,000 mg of salt when I needed 5,000 to 6,000 mg; so in total I had a salt deficit between 7,500 and 10,000 mg! Lauren hooked me up with a product only available to nutritionists that has 710 mg of salt per serving; the Succeed tablets I was using had only half that amount of salt per serving.
I was able to put the nutrition plan to test this past weekend. Friday called for a continuous swim of an hour, Saturday for a 100 mile bike ride and Sunday for a 13 mile run. The new plan led to no blood sugar issues, no cramping, quicker recovery and less fatigue during the workouts!!!! Additionally, I mapped out my nutrition needs for each workout rather than trying to do all the math in my head. By mapping out exactly what I needed to ingest per hour forced my nutrition to be a point of major concentration for all my workouts.
1 - Too much protein for dinner the night before the race; the red meat I had with my pasta was too hard to digest, causing my early morning blood sugars to be very unstable. For Placid I'll be having regular whole wheat pasta with turkey meat balls. The combination of Barilla Protein Plus Pasta and Ground Beef was a really bad idea.
2 - I need to have about 40 more grams of carbs in my Pre-race nutrition, and some additional protein (currently at 14 g she wants me at 20 to 25 g). Protein helps delay the absorption of carbohydrates, the additional grams of protein will help my body more naturally maintain a blood sugar of 150 to 160 rather than having the peaks and valleys I experienced at Mooseman.
3 - Add some protein to pre-swim nutrition for bs stabilization. I'm still working on my pre-swim nutrition as OWS is vastly different from pool swimming; currently my pre-swim bottle has 2 scoops carbo pro and 2 scoops cytomax, replacing one of the scoops of cytomax with pro-formance should help maintain a healthier sugar level.
4 - I lost three pounds during a 70 degree morning run on Wednesday. This tests out to my needing 75 oz of water/ hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's not going to happen - just too much fluid for someone my height and weight to take in but Lauren thinks I can handle 64 oz per hour. That means the 5 bottles of water I took in during the bike leg weren't even close to fulfilling my hydration needs.
*****5 - Salt, salt, salt and more salt - I tested out to need 2,500 to 3,000 mg of salt/ hour my sports mix only had about 1,500 mg of sodium on the bike and 1,100 on the run; after 3 hours on the bike I had only taken in 3,000 mg of salt when I needed 7,500 to 9,000 mg (probably closer to 9,000 in that heat), in total on the run I only took in 2,000 mg of salt when I needed 5,000 to 6,000 mg; so in total I had a salt deficit between 7,500 and 10,000 mg! Lauren hooked me up with a product only available to nutritionists that has 710 mg of salt per serving; the Succeed tablets I was using had only half that amount of salt per serving.
I was able to put the nutrition plan to test this past weekend. Friday called for a continuous swim of an hour, Saturday for a 100 mile bike ride and Sunday for a 13 mile run. The new plan led to no blood sugar issues, no cramping, quicker recovery and less fatigue during the workouts!!!! Additionally, I mapped out my nutrition needs for each workout rather than trying to do all the math in my head. By mapping out exactly what I needed to ingest per hour forced my nutrition to be a point of major concentration for all my workouts.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Time To Taper
After 3 consecutive 20 hour training weeks it is time to taper for the Mooseman 1/2 Ironman I'm competing in this weekend. For most triathletes the taper brings about restlessness and unease as they transition from workout out 4 to 5 hours a day to at most an hour and 1/2 a day. The extra energy normally contributes to the pre-race jitters and neurosis but at least provides fresh legs on race day. But for a diabetic, the taper week brings about a whole different level of worries. It is essential to match carbohydrate intake to the reduced workload. If I increase the amount of my bolus or basal insulin too much to compensate for the reduced activity load my muscles won't recover to the level they are supposed to. However, if I keep the ratios I have for a 20 hour exercise week I'll most likely run high blood sugars all week which will reduce the effectiveness of the taper.
To make this transition a bit easier, Coach Egg and I have decided to ease into the taper period. For the first 3 days of the week 70% of my week's prescribed exercise will be completed. Coach Egg also gave me a killer weekend to ensure that I got in as much work as possible without totally burning out my legs for Mooseman. Yesterday I had mixed results shortly after lunch my blood sugar was in the high 200s but after dinner my blood sugar plummeted to 42. This week I'm going to try and eat foods that I know the carbohydrate content of so I'll be cooking most of my meals this week. I even plan on being a huge tri-dork and bringing my own food to the pre-race pasta dinner on Saturday night! In this sport you try and limit the unknowns as much as possible and since this is my first real taper week I'll be learning a whole new part of the game.
To make this transition a bit easier, Coach Egg and I have decided to ease into the taper period. For the first 3 days of the week 70% of my week's prescribed exercise will be completed. Coach Egg also gave me a killer weekend to ensure that I got in as much work as possible without totally burning out my legs for Mooseman. Yesterday I had mixed results shortly after lunch my blood sugar was in the high 200s but after dinner my blood sugar plummeted to 42. This week I'm going to try and eat foods that I know the carbohydrate content of so I'll be cooking most of my meals this week. I even plan on being a huge tri-dork and bringing my own food to the pre-race pasta dinner on Saturday night! In this sport you try and limit the unknowns as much as possible and since this is my first real taper week I'll be learning a whole new part of the game.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Now We're Training!
Ironman lore is filled with stories of training day in and day out for hours on end, of the ability to consume an entire pizza without putting on a pound and of body aches that would make Earl Campbell wince in pain. After months of building a base I began to beg Coach Eggers to push me, to make me scream in pain and to scratch tooth and nail to the end of each training week. For me the journey is alot more special if it's hard as hell, by giving something your all you truly know what you have accomplished. To drive home my desire for her to bring the pain I sent Coach Egg this simple e-mail:
This morning as I sit here with my quads on fire, knees swollen, back screaming and eyes dreary, I know Coach Egg brought it, but each moment I push myself, each drop of sweat is a step closer to the finish line at Placid. My training week was in a word, ridiculous, and it's only going to get harder from here.
My 16+ hours of training last week included waking up at 5am a few days to ride in Central Park or go for a run. The nice weather finally arrived in NYC which definitely gave me some extra incentive to wake up early. My 14 mile run on Saturday and 85 mile ride on Sunday were awesome. I met my target pace and blood sugar goals for each activity and felt strong at the end of both.
Best of all, the EFS and Carbo-Pro electrolyte mix I'm currently using helped me avoid ANY blood sugar lows during training throughout the week. The highlight of the week was eating an entire pizza (small) from Two Boots last night and bolusing for it perfectly!!!! Insane training weeks have their perks.
However, with all the positives from last week there are some things that without question need work:
1 - Improve my climbing ability on my bike. I'm a strong cyclist especially on the flats but my speed suffers (in comparison to others) on hills. I'm working with Cliff this week on cycling technique so that should help.
2 - Stop being discouraged in the pool. Since my debacle in the water at Bassman I've been frustrated by lap swimming. I just don't see how I'm preparing myself for open water swimming by training in a controlled environment. I'm going to look for places near my parents house in Putnam County this week to practice open water swimming on the weekends. I know I just need to prove to myself that I won't drown when the water is cold; but that is easier said than done.
3 - Hydrate more, especially on the bike. I saw Lauren last week and she is still worried that I'm not taking in enough water. Both Lauren and Brian have stressed to me that electrolyte/ carb drinks are not hydration sources; endurance athletes need to take in pure water to hydrate properly. I may buy one of those damn aero-bottles/ jet streams this week and try it out on my 100 miler this weekend, hopefully that will keep my legs fresher towards the end of the ride.
And a huge congratulations to Coach Eggers for her strong performance at the Gulf Coast Half Last Weekend!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Power of Protein
Over the past week something fantastic has happened. I've been able to complete all my workouts, dual workouts haven't been as big of a problem, I've been able to feel my legs on all runs, am not afraid of drowning in the pool and relish the opportunity to get on my bike trainer. Lauren made one simple suggestion - have more protein before I work out. Prior nutritionist had tried to suggest this but each of their suggestions relied around my blood sugar spiking into the 200s for a workout.
Yesterday I started a 1/2 hour swim with my bs at 154 (the lowest I had ever started a swim workout). However, I was confident I could complete the swim because my bs had only dropped 7 points during the walk from my office to the gym. In the past I have lost as many as 35 points off my blood sugar during that walk. Lauren suggested I have at least 30 grams of protein an hour before my workouts to help maintain my blood sugar and it really seems to be working. The protein is slowing the absorption of the carbs into my body allowing a time delayed release and giving me the energy I need to finish the exercise.
Now it is premature for me to say I have all this worked out but for the first time I feel like I'm on the right track and love the fact I don't need a bs of 210 just to go for a jog.
Yesterday I started a 1/2 hour swim with my bs at 154 (the lowest I had ever started a swim workout). However, I was confident I could complete the swim because my bs had only dropped 7 points during the walk from my office to the gym. In the past I have lost as many as 35 points off my blood sugar during that walk. Lauren suggested I have at least 30 grams of protein an hour before my workouts to help maintain my blood sugar and it really seems to be working. The protein is slowing the absorption of the carbs into my body allowing a time delayed release and giving me the energy I need to finish the exercise.
Now it is premature for me to say I have all this worked out but for the first time I feel like I'm on the right track and love the fact I don't need a bs of 210 just to go for a jog.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Watching The Meter
Inspired By Soul Asylum – Somebody to Shove
Diabetic watches the glucose meter
And the number hasn't looked right for so long
The time slows down to a stand still
Suddenly he breaks into song
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Waiting by the treadmill
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Hello, please go up, it just isn’t fair
These lows are keeping me down In a life where I just want to battle
You act unfair and keep me from running through the town
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Cause I want to break a sweat
I need to break a sweat
I want somebody to make me sweat
You're a nightmare for me
Preventing me from being me
All the difference in the world was made on that day
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Cause I want to break a sweat
I need to break a sweat
I want somebody to make me sweat
Cause I want to run free
I need somebody to show me how to run free
I want somebody to tell me to run free
Cause I want my glucose to be fine
I need somebody to show me
I want somebody to be there with me
Diabetic watches the glucose meter
And the number hasn't looked right for so long
The time slows down to a stand still
Suddenly he breaks into song
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Waiting by the treadmill
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Hello, please go up, it just isn’t fair
These lows are keeping me down In a life where I just want to battle
You act unfair and keep me from running through the town
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Cause I want to break a sweat
I need to break a sweat
I want somebody to make me sweat
You're a nightmare for me
Preventing me from being me
All the difference in the world was made on that day
I'm waiting by the pool
Waiting for you to go back up
And tell me I can be free
Cause I want to break a sweat
I need to break a sweat
I want somebody to make me sweat
Cause I want to run free
I need somebody to show me how to run free
I want somebody to tell me to run free
Cause I want my glucose to be fine
I need somebody to show me
I want somebody to be there with me
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