Lake Placid

I'm telling you, Memorial weekend could NOT come fast enough and boy oh boy was it worth the wait! Heaven, pure training heaven is what I had. Me and my friends rented a house for the weekend it was a total of 5 adults, 1 baby and 2 dogs. We took the 6hour drive up to Placid on Friday morning, very easy, straight run. The reason we went up to Placid was because it was a training vacation getaway. It's a great place for triathletes to train, a bunch of teammates from our local tri group were training up there and most importantly it's where Ironman is held. You know the one. Ironman Lake Placid July 2011. The race of my dreams. The reason I'm doing everything I'm doing. I wanted to check the course out. See if those hills were as hard as I've heard :).

We get up there Friday don't even unpack and I'm already getting my wetsuit so I can go swim in the lake with my other teammates. I was so scared the water temp was going to be like 40 degrees, but I was prepared, I had my neoprene cap so I was good to go. I only wound up swimming for 20 minutes. Of course it was the worst part of the swim because it was more or less a warm up and I felt like I didn't even know how to swim. But I loved the water, and the temp was 60 degrees if not a little bit warmer. The PERFECT temperature! We came back to the house and I felt like a queen. We had fan-freaking-tastic home cooked meals the entire weekend! Sigh :). Dinners were grilled steak and salmon, salads, couscous, grilled veggies. Dessert was ice cream every night. mmmmm deeeeeelish.

Saturday I woke up, went for a run down to the Olympic ski lift and back which was a total of 4.70 miles. I decided to run up this wall of a hill that's straight up and leads to our house. Driving up it I was scared, running up it my pace was 17min mile. I'm sure that's considered walking lol. Point is I did it and it was hard. Got home took a quick shower and got ready for a bike ride. I'm sure you're probably asking WHY would I take a shower if I was just going to go sweat some more...well as soon as I stopped moving it LOOKED like I had taken a shower. It was so hot. Anyway we set off on the road, me and Blake. I warned him I was slow especially on the hills. The first 8 miles was harder than I thought. I was literally going 5mph on some of the climbs. I felt like I was dying (ok not really but you get my drift). I was telling Blake that it was really hard and he said "don't worry we'll catch a break". Well he was right. I started to see the signs that said low gear with a truck on an angle. A clear indication we were going downhill. Oh how I loved that downhill; 7-8miles of downhill, I was flying. Its not easy going downhill for miles on end it takes a toll on your body. You get sore. I was flat backed, low over the handlebars, knees against the bar, pushed back in my seat. There were lots of turns and you had to ride in the road rather than off to the side because there were lots of cracks in the pavement. I was using my breaks a little and I went a max of 41mph. It was crazy! My arms were killing me afterwards. After that break of downhill soaring we keep going and turn onto Route 9N this has some flats or maybe these were the false flats I kept hearing about. In either case it didn't seem that bad. Then dun dun dun dun we turn onto Route 86 17miles til Lake Placid. OMG 86 is where it gets hard, because its constant hills you feel like you never get a break. As soon as I got onto 86 I was riding 5-8mph again. I couldn't understand why it felt so hard. I thought it should have felt easier than what it was. I mean that's the way it looked. I got to a point where I was thinking of stopping. But I kept going. I started wondering if I missed the baby & mama bear climbs I had heard of. But no they were there. They aren't as bad as you imagine and once you get over them it's a downhill into Placid :). It was good to be back home...well almost. I had to climb that wall of a hill to get to the house. Oh lord. So I stuck to my granny gears and went for it. You don't completely understand the meaning of a hard hill until you climb that. Blake and I got to the highest point and then had to pull over. I was so out of breath and then I couldn't stop laughing. I think I had a bout of hysteria. All I kept on saying was "I can't believe we just did that, I can't believe we just climbed that hill. OMG I can't stop laughing". It was hysteria. Seriously. We were done after that. So we walked to the house. We couldn't get back on our bikes.

It was a hard but GOOD day followed by a BBQ across the lake at the team houses. I was so exhausted that night.

Sunday was an easier day. Woke up had a great big breakfast of eggs, pancakes, fruit and coffee. Then I needed another nap (hey what can I say it's a lot of work to eat hehe). Everybody met up to swim at 4pm. I wasn't convinced I'd do the whole out and back which was a total of 1.5miles. Thanks to my good friend Ryan I was able to pull it off. When I was putting my wetsuit on I decided to try it with a GU in my sleeve, for practice and for peace of mind. My blood sugar was in the 300's (the entire wknd I was yo-yoing) when I started so I gave a 1.5unit correction and I had a temp basal of 50% for 1.5hrs. Ryan kinda had to convince me to keep going cuz I was scared about not being able to make it back. But she told me to just slow down and take it easy - no rush. So we did. I was able to catch a rhythm, and we would check in every 2 buoys, then 3 then 4. When we got to the end Ryan was singing the rocky theme lol. So we head back I was feeling good. But then the yellow line I was following the whole time started to get blurry so I stopped to eat the GU. Very easy to do let me tell you. Continue on and we're checking every 4 buoys then 6. I felt so good when we came out the water! I checked my BG and I was 142. I had dropped 200pts in the water. scary. Next time I won't take so much of a correction and I'll be sure to swim with 2 GU's. Ryan told me while we were in the middle of the lake that I'd be so happy once we finished. Ya know what? She was right. I've never swum that far. I was so proud of us.

Monday I went for a 42miler with Ryan. I felt much better this time around on the bike course but I think I was still just as slow. Good thing about the ride was that I changed the setting on my Garmin to tell me what the grade % was. So when I mentioned it was hard...it really WAS hard. The grades were like 6-8% on average, thankfully they didn't last more than 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. Route 86...yeah guess what that was...12% grade!!!! Oh the satisfaction. I felt so completely justified in going 5mph. lol Oh yeah and you know what else I did? That wall of a hill I had to climb to get back to the house? Yeah I did it again and I rode it all the way up to the front door of the house. Guess what the % was. You're not even gonna be able to guess it...20% at the highest point then it leveled off at 12%!!! Oh the sweet satisfaction. I felt beat after that.

We thankfully had a huge meal to eat then we were on the road for 6 hours back to the city. Training heaven is what Lake Placid is. My blood sugars were all over the place, my training was crazy hard but it was all a learning time. Right now I can't imagine doing the bike course 2x but that's what this next year is for. To train. To build my confidence. To learn. To become better.

It's gonna be crazy fun! I know it was a long write up so if you made it this far thank you for reading. I truly appreciate your support.

Noah's Ride

On Sunday I did a charity bike ride to benefit JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). The max distance was 37 miles but you could ride as little as 5 miles. I went with a few teammates as well as my former JDRF coach Lewis who happens to be a bike racer for Deno's Wonder Wheel; Lewis also brought his teammate John along for the ride. The day turned out to be fantastic! There were rolling hills, lots of horse farms (I LOVE horses), sunshine and great company, to top it all off there was lots of speed (another thing I LOVE).

There were a couple of challenging hills and one super fast downhill (I reached a max of 43mph). That ride was a turning point for me, wanna know why???!!!! I pacelined for the first time ever!!! For those of you that don't know, pacelining is when you draft or follow right behind the person in front of you. Your front wheel is just a few inches from their back wheel. The benefit of pacelining is that the front person sets an agreed pace for the other riders in the line, they also break the wind therefore making it much easier for everyone else to go faster without expending much energy.

So? Can you see WHY I loved that ride so much??!!! The last 13 miles of the ride I was pacelining, we were going like 22mph! On average I ride 13/14mph, with flats and downhills I can pull 15/16mph but to be able to ride 22mph for that length of time. My god the thrill! The rush of adrenaline! I love speed. It was so freaking cool. I felt like a kid, I felt like (what I imagine to be) a bike racer. I felt inspired to better my riding skills. After the ride was over Lewis came over to me and told me it was some of the best riding I've done, he gave me a high five and said good job. I felt like a puppy wagging my tail who got the pat on the head. So few with his words yet so rewarding when he gives them. That's Lewis.

The ride reminded me of my first century. It's those first moments that you can never forget. The turning points.

I'd like to give a special thank you to Aly, Lewis, John, Lianna, Mike and Lindsay for inviting me, for riding with me and for teaching me. Of course we couldn't have done the ride without Tom and Nancy (the hosts) - thank you for what you do in order to raise money so we can cure diabetes.

2:55:12=13.1miles

I know I'm late in supplying you with a race report. Sorry I'll try not to let it be so long before my next post. Can I just tell you that it was amazing!!!

I got to the race a little early (surprise surprise), I was super paranoid about me missing the start lol. The temp was a nice 47 degrees - and pouring. It was raining since I woke up. I was very disappointed, guess that weather man was right for once :P. The day before, I was able to find a rain jacket to run in, I put my CGM in, and had my new Garmin 310xt so I felt totally prepared for the race.

So the bell goes off and I was pumped. It was so nice to be surrounded by 5,000+ women all doing the same thing - running a half marathon. Whether it was their first, tenth, or they PR'd we were all running 13.1 miles.

I forced myself to stay with my 5:1 run/walk ratio, what can I say I was paranoid about burning out in the end. The first 3-4 miles are torture and it was no different this time around. I tried checking my blood sugar close to mile 4 and my strips failed me cuz I think they got a little wet. I wasn't too worried though because I had the foresight to hook up my Dexcom CGM so if my meter failed I'd at least have my CGM and know what my blood sugar was at all times. Being able to check your blood sugar during a race is soooo important not just because you can see where you're going (high/low blood sugar) but it's a major piece of mind factor. We've got enough to deal with just staying hydrated, fueled and running the entire way. To not have to worry about checking my blood sugar is priceless.

During my training leading up to the half I realized I liked running longer distances - anywhere from 6-9 miles. I also felt like I became a little faster during those mile markers, and you know what? During the half marathon I did! My pace on average was 13:33 minute mile and during mile 9 I dropped it to 12:31!

I felt like the last 2-3 miles were hard especially the last mile. I couldn't really stick to the 5:1 ratio so I dropped it 3:1. I felt really really good throughout the race though. Never any pain, no shin splints. Nothing. Despite it being hard I finished strong. I wanted to make sure I was running hard to the finish - I mean who doesn't right? You've got all those people watching you.

I was all smiles. Running hard. In the pouring rain. My first half marathon.

When it was all said and done I finished the race with a negative split which means I finished faster than when I started (always a good way to run), my blood sugars were high throughout the race and when I finished I was 150! My goal was 3hrs and I ran it in 2:55.

I did it. WOW :)

Night before my 1/2

You'd think I'd be in bed by now right? Well since it's only 8:30
I figure I still have a little time before I need to hit the sack. The weather has been great all week and guess what the forecast calls for tomorrow? Yeah exactly - rain :(. I Hope it happens in the later part of the day and not in the morning, that would be ideal! But hey, I rode 100 miles in the rain this past fall I figure I can get through running in the rain for 13 miles :). I did buy a light rain/wind jacket though so I'm prepared.

I am excited and nervous. I thought I was going to run this week but I just wasn't feeling up to it and time got away from me with everything else going on. I was tired. I did go swim 2 days though so that's good; and I got a sports leg massage on Wednesday to loosen me up so that was very, very good. Going again tomorrow afternoon after the race. It'll feel so good although I'm sure I'll be sore.

I'm a little shocked actually that I'm doing this race, it feels kinda surreal. You don't understand how much I dread going running - it's my least favorite of the three sports. It is so hard that's why. But I think I'm getting better and get this yesterday on my way to the grocery store it was so nice out that I actually THOUGHT about going for a run. I'm serious I said "tonight would be a nice night for a run" - as my sister said to me the other night "what's going on with you?" haha Maybe I'll start enjoying running after all. We'll see. There is a certain sense of satisfaction you get from a run (at least I do) BECAUSE it's so physically hard. It's like "wow I did it".

So my game plan for tomorrow:

Have a run/walk ratio of 5:1

Do my best to avoid a low blood sugar during the race

I'd love to finish at 3hrs or less but I think it'll take me 3hours

If for some reason it doesn't look like I'll get there in time for 3hrs then 3:15 is 2nd best

Finish with a smile on my face!

Ok good night!

9 days

I'm getting excited!!! 9 days til my race and you know what? I think I'm actually going to be able to do it!

Last week on Sunday I ran 11 miles, and THAT is why I think I'll be able to do it, smiles galore thinking about it :). My time was 2:24:55 I was very pleased with that. Plus I figured out my race strategy for the half marathon. I'm going to run for 5 min and walk for 1 so 5:1. It gives me a break and I'll be able to pace myself better.

My first half marathon. wow. I think about a year or two ago I was on a training bike ride and I saw some runners and you know what I said while looking at their grimacing faces? "Why would anyone want to run - it just looks painful". Now I'm that person, although, I'm hoping my face isn't a grimace and more of a smile haha.

It's almost here!!!!

HOLY CRAP!!! 3 Weeks til I run in my first half marathon! I know I know I've been remiss in writing and I truly apologize! I'll try not to let it be so long next time.

On Friday I ran 7miles. 7 miles!!! This time last year I was in physical therapy (PT) trying to be able to walk for blocks at a time without shin splints...now I'm running 7miles. Let me tell you, it ain't easy.

Saturday I went for a 4-5mile hike, during the first mile I was suffering from shin splints but after that I felt really good. It actually helped my legs a lot. They were less sore from Fridays run.

On Sunday I did the longest distance ever! 8.92. I had only planned on doing 8 so I was surprised when it turne dout I did a longer distance but also made me feel better that the reason I was feeling the pain WAS because I was almost at 9miles. I didn't have a plan when I did the distance...I was just running. I've been battling with the idea of trying to run continuously or continue with my run/walk plan. I kinda get stuck on trying to push myself and run as much as I can but then I get tired and have to walk and in the end I suffer.

Good thing about all this is the miles are increasing!!

Wknd of exercise lows

Woke up Saturday with a normal BG of 104. Bolused 4 units for my PB sandwich 2hrs before computrainer class. Running out the door I felt weird so I drank remaining bottle of Revive Vitamin Water, In cab on my way to the bike class I check and BG is a lovely 51. Now I've got 30 min til I start cycling and 3 units on board :(. So I eat 4 blocks have 2 bites of my friends muffin and am on a temp basal reduction of 70%. Start cycling and I'm 113 CGM says I'm 94 and rising. Better but I still feel low and don't like riding with that #. It was a 16.5 mile bike ride. It took me 1hr 17 min. (longer than norm) Avg. watts were 124 (normaly 150-160). The whole time I was riding I felt low. My CGM said I was a steady 114 almost the whole ride but at one point I felt like my vision was going a little blurry my friend looks over at me and is like "dude you ok?" He's also a T1. So I check my BG and I'm 89. I drink some gatorade and he gives me a bag of Jelly Belly sports beans. Later he tells me that my power watts had dropped to 75 and that's when he looked over at me. All I wanted to do was finish the ride. The last 2 miles were an uphill climb of 6.3% and I powered my way through it riding at 9mph pushing 180-190watts.

The whole ride I felt so weird. Like if I had been outside I wouldn't have kept riding but because I was inside there really wasn't any reason to stop moving especially if I was'nt technically "low". After the ride I was 144 (beans started working I guess). I felt disappointed with my bike performance because I KNOW I could have done better. However I also know I felt crappy the whole time I was riding. Zero energy. Next time I won't bolus as much, I had just been concerened about going sky high (as has been the case in the past).

3 hours later having eaten a sandwich I went for a 3.13 mile run. My goal was to do it within 45min. When I started running BG was 156 with 1 unit on board so I temp down 50%. Halfway through I had to pull over and stretch my legs out they were real tight - probably cuz I never stretched after cycling. I resume the run and feel 1,000x better from that stretch. I finished in 40 min. I had hit my mark!!! :) That made me super happy and I felt good after the run. 30min later while sitting at brunch with my girlfriend I was 63...never even felt it. After brunch I went home and showered and just watched TV. I felt so completely drained. But it wasn't even like I did THAT much exercise. I felt physically and emotionally drained from the low BG feeling.

Sunday comes along and I planned on a swim. start the swim with ~1.6 units on board but my BG was 226. I kept my pump on normal basal. I wasn't too concerned about going low since I drop slowly during swims. At the end of the 45min swim I was 70. My focus during the swim was to work on my catch and focus on my rotating. It was like a lightbulb went off during that swim because when I was reminding myself to rotate I felt how EASY it was! I had a continuos motion AND my shoulder blade didn't hurt when I turned to breath (which it has been as of late). It was such an "Oh my god" moment. Of course I won't know for sure if it's as right as I think it is til I see my coach next week. But after all this time it felt right. I was so happy :).

All in all over the weekend I felt low either during or after my exercise. It's almost more exhausting dealing with a low than it is from exercise. I was wearing my CGM the whole week so I noticed on days I exercise I need to change my settings overnight because I drop so much. Days I'm not exercising I STILL need to drop my overnight settings just not as much.

Trial and error right? I do have to say though I'm not swinging as high as I was before but I gotta get rid of these lows. They're screwing me up :).

Out of Control

So I decided to get the Dexcom in Dec. because I felt out of control. Too many swings high and low. I was anxious about what my A1c would tell me despite the increase in exercise. I got the results this past Tuesday and they were just as I expected...not good. My last A1c back in April/May was 7.3 almost a year later and it's 7.7. I missed a test somewhere in between.

I mean I guess I shouldn't be so surprised or upset but I am. Yes I know 7.7 is not THAT high but I think I was kinda hoping for a miracle in that my assumptions were wrong. My other issue as of late is that I'm becoming so paranoid about lows. I'm having a bit too many and they are scaring me cuz I feel like I'm half dead when they come on...like I can't do anything. Once I'm on the up though I still feel drained. Mentally & physically.

I almost feel like I'm starting all over again. But I will keep plugging away. Testing, tweaking, watching, staying active. My CDE made a lot of minor changes so we shall see how it works out. I just need to stop the lows...it's messing me up. I don't like being constantly paranoid about it. I feel frustrated.

Swim Level 2 Class

So I'm into my 2nd week of my swim level 2 technique and endurance class and I absolutely LOVE it!! It is completely different from swim 1 in that I am swimming with other people who already know how to swim and can swim at a good pace. Last week we focused on posture. I only practiced 1 time (yesterday) before we had our new class (today).

This week he had us swim a 200 in race pace (at thispoint we had already swam approx. 600yds)...I was soooooo SLOW!!! My time was 3:51. I felt good for the first 125/150 but the last 50 I felt like a mess! My arms felt like bricks. I was definitely using my legs more to get me through it. I just emailed my coach to find out what the fastest time was for both girl and guy. I want to beat it!! I figure it'll motivate me to get my legs swimming more. After we all did our 200 he had us do 100 to cool off. Then we did kicking drills (my favorite!) I am a strong kicker. This I know. So I volunteered to go first and kicked my legs out BUT I don't think I was the fastest! I could hear my coach yelling "kick harder Davino!" Then you should have seen me...I shot out like a bullet haha. I think I need to go find out who the fastest kicker is and go watch them so I can pick up a few pointers.

So I admit it. I feel like I'm being competitive in this class. I want to get up there with the fastest swimmers! I can't help it. I guess the way everything else is....practice, practice, practice.

Winter Firsts

Well this afternoon I did it. I feel like I have officially conquered any issues I've ever had about training in the winter because now I've done it all (ok close to all). Here's the list:

* I'm swimming more than I've ever swam since I was a kid and on the swim team my freshman year of HS
* I've run in the cold
* I've run in the rain
* I've ridden in the cold
* I've done my first ever computrainer class...today

That computrainer class was pretty sweet. I can definitely see how it can be addicting in the winter. I'm definitely going to start keeping track of the results and see if I can make some improvements especially since I really want to shave my time for next years JDRF century. Despite the expense of EVERYTHING, I LOVE all these classes I'm taking to improve in the three sports. If there is one thing I wish college offered it would be classes like these. I'd be begging the teacher for all types of tips and critiques etc. lol Homework and finals would be in on time or even early...unlike now and the dreading of it all:).

Here's my results from the computrainer class:

* It was the Orange County Tri Course
* 23.90 miles
* Avg pace 15.6mph
* Avg WATTS 141
* Finish time: 31:49:92...I think this translates to 1hr and 35min...but I could be wrong

Anyway I have to go now and finish my 3 part art final that's due tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and encouraging me throughout this process!

Jen