I'm so excited!

Just two days away – Hooray! No, not the Super Bowl pre-game hype; that started the second the Giants beat the Packers two weeks ago. I’m talking about The Diabetes Day in Iowa on Saturday! (I talked about it in a previous post.) Yours truly is gonna get the chance to rub elbows with 2,000 other people (most of em’ diabetics). There’s gonna be a host of speakers to talk on diabetes issues like carb counting, using an insulin pump, and family dynamics; I’m lucky enough to be talking about diabetes and exercise.

So this is my last plea for people to come visit me if you’re in Iowa! Here’s some easy links.
Info and Registration (3.2MB)

Brochure (3.7MB)

Register online

Plans with the Best of Intentions.

So I have yet to meet with the doctor who’s going to help set up my training. (Gulp! And we’re at the 9 month mark – I’ve got to get motoring!) It’s not his fault, he’s busy, I’m busy, we’re all busy. (That’s why I don’t keep a BG log). It’s not like I’m not training, (I’m always in training) but I’d say my training right now is mixed without purpose.

But hey! I know a lot about this training stuff. Who’s run five Boston Marathon’s in a row? Who’s qualified for New York. Who went to Triathlon Nationals (and the Powerman Duathlon Nationals) Me - that’s who! So yesterday I decided that I knew enough about all this physiology stuff to set up my own plan (oh so bold am I). So picked up my (big) head off of the pillow on the couch and headed off to find my training materials

I couldn’t find my Triathlete training bible, which isn’t a huge shock, I haven’t been able to find it for weeks. So I went into the garage and dug up an old notebook I had when I got certified as a Triathlon Coach from USAT. I pulled out a couple of plans and looked up some info on a could of sites and wa-la! I had a plan. It’s still far from finished but you can see it here . I hope to have it finished this weekend and will post it in one of the sidebars so you can see it all of the time.

I was thinking to myself during the last half of my bike ride this morning that I wish some health club would step up to the plate and try to encourage those with diabetes to take action and join a gym. Then low and behold! When I opened my e-mail this morning I got an e-mail from good ol’ ADA, announcing a partnership with Gold’s Gym. ‘What a great idea’ I thought, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ Here it is. Sign on up!

Get Fit. Fight Diabetes. Make a Difference.

As a supporter of the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure or Step Out to Fight Diabetes event, you know that regular physical activity and eating healthy can help prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes as well as help in the management of complications of the disease. That's why Gold's Gym (a National Strategic Partner of the Association and the number one fund-raising team in the country for Tour de Cure), wants to give you an opportunity to continue your efforts in living a healthy lifestyle.

Gold's Gym recently launched a special online membership offer for supporters of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as well as for their family and friends. With a goal of making fitness more accessible and supporting the fight against diabetes, the company has substantially reduced its enrollment fee and will donate a portion of every enrollment to support the mission of the ADA.

Consumers who take advantage of this special online enrollment will also receive

• A complimentary personal fitness assessment


• The "Get Started to Fitness" guide that was developed by Gold's Gym & ADA

This special offer is only available online, so visit http://main.diabetes.org/site/R?i=1tJOLSkK_-McsWfnf-y3Wg.. for more details. Don't forget, feel free to forward this email to your friends and family members that could benefit from starting an exercise program.

The American Diabetes Association thanks you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the next Tour de Cure and/or Step Out to Fight Diabetes event.

Went biking this morning for an hour on my trainer. It took almost half of the time to get in the mood to do actually do it. I was really dragging to get it done (and I mean dragging, I’m considering putting only ½ hour ride in my log instead of 1 hour). Funny how I’m always been able to just jump out of bed and run, while biking actually takes some time for me to rev up. It may be that I just need time to wake up, but I’m not going to get up a half hour earlier when I’m already getting up at 5am to wake myself up. I have a nice bruise from the site that was so horrible yesterday but it doesn’t hurt. A small price to pay for insulin pump therapy – it is absolutely 200% worth it. Talk soon….

Diabetes Action Center

I just got an e-mail from the American Diabetes Association’s Action Center. Please read and if you want to make a difference click on the Take Action Now! link below.

 

>> Forward to a Friend

Dear Diabetes Advocate, As you may know, Stephen Orr, a pharmacist at a Wal-Mart in Nebraska, was fired for taking lunch breaks to eat and manage his diabetes. Yet he was never able to remedy this injustice. The reason? Courts have been throwing out diabetes discrimination cases because of an absurd Catch 22, siding with employers who claim that a person with diabetes is "too disabled" to do the job, but not "disabled enough" to be protected by the laws! That's what happened to Stephen. Congress has still yet to act on closing the loophole in the law that continues to allow discrimination again people with diabetes. Tomorrow, the House Education and Labor Committee is holding a hearing on the bill that could close this loophole in the law. Ask your U.S. representative to support the ADA Restoration Act (H.R. 3195). The stakes are huge: if a person with diabetes isn’t covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), then it's perfectly legal to fire or refuse to hire that person explicitly because of his or her diabetes. Help Congress get the message. Click on the link below and ask your Representative to protect people with diabetes from discrimination and to support H.R. 3195. Take Action Now! http://main.diabetes.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=1167

 

It's an I-pump, not an I-pod

So yesterday while I was running on the side of a road and I had to change my basal rate. I had pulled out my pump and while jogging along I was trying to lower my dose. Some guy almost ran me over (I actually think he swerved on purpose). He had his window down and I heard him yell ‘get rid of the %^&^$# i-pod’! So I did what any other sane adult would do….I picked up a rock and threw at him.

 

Ok, so maybe that was the wrong thing to do (especially since that was on mile 18, and was beginning to slow down). But that brings up an interesting point. And since I had another hour of running, I decided to ponder it. It’s always been discouraged in running circles that you should not run outside with headphones. In fact, many races have outlawed them. Although it’s not strictly enforced, people can be disqualified for their use.  And although I had never thought about it – had redneck Robert decided to swerve another foot, he might have gotten me. And worse yet, had I been wearing headphones I never would have heard him coming.

 

Don’t get me wrong. Music during exercise is awesome. I’ve used it many a time to get through a workout when I just don’t think I could have without it. I think that listening to a favorite song can get lots of people to exercise – and if that’s how it has to be done then so be it. But after this experience, I think I will be sure the i-pod is kept either in the gym or away from oncoming traffic. It’s just not worth the risk.  I hope others will do the same.

 

Plus I want to make sure I have every chance to make that rock hit its target.

 

 

 

I've had better...

Last night was awful.

 

I’m talking about sleep of course (get your mind out of the gutter would you?) Last night before bed I realized I only had about 10 units left in my cartridge and did not want to start using a new infusion set before bed. So I put one in (a set that is) but kept using the other one, thinking that I would wake up and insert new cartridge into the pump and hook up to the new site and be that much closer to getting on the bike for my one hour ride. It was actually a good idea.

 

But I should have known it was going to be bad when the set hurt going in – I should have been smart and pulled it out right away – I should have thought ahead. But I didn’t (of course). And thought to myself the pain will subside. It did, but it didn’t go away entirely.

 

I was so exhausted I fell asleep right away – I had biked at a pretty goof clip for about 45 minutes right after work and when you add that to the three hour run yesterday, I was falling asleep through dinner. But every time I turned onto my left side (and I’m a turner) I felt the site, and although it didn’t wake me fully it kept me from sleeping soundly. I ended up sleeping right through my alarm for my ride (darn) and when I finally managed to drag myself up and tried to use the site this AM and it was just unbearable. I pulled the site out only to be met with a nice stream of blood. Yea – nice move Guru.

 

The area hurt so bad that when I tried to insert another set an inch away from the old one it was still too painful – nice and bruised too. (My modeling career will have to be put on hold). I ended up moving the site to my right side.  So I missed my morning ride, my left side hurts like h$ll, and for the first time in two weeks I’m actually having coffee in the morning (and I thought I had almost kicked the caffeine addiction.

 

The insulin pump is wonderful. I’ve said it once, twice, three and one million times. I’d trade my car for it. But it isn’t always a bed of roses.

 

 

The Long Run

Today’s goal for the run was at least 3 hours – I got 3.17 in. I tracked the mileage on USA Track and Field’s mapping system, and it was about 25 miles give or take a mile.  I was surprised at how well I felt after, I was sore but was able to run errands, do the laundry, etc.  Then as I was writing today’s entry I realized I didn’t have one BG over 150 today and it hit me like a tone of bricks – when my body’s BGs are in range I recuperate twice (probably even three times) as fast as when I have a high after a long run. Let’s hope I’m in range while I’m sleeping tonight – I want to bike tomorrow.