February 23, 2009
Lorrie

Yesterday was my blog day, but I was more focused on my rehearsal training than writing my blog. So, I’m a day late. My experience with the rehearsal training was awesome. I awoke at 6:30am ready to go. I had a minor setback and had to delay my start time a bit due to a low BG reading of 61. Not sure what could have caused the low; it just happens occasionally, oh well. Ate breakfast and bolused less than half of what I would normally bolus, due to the low. Then, headed off to the gym for the rehearsal, all of which had to be done indoors because of the weather.

My strategy for the rehearsal was to swim for 40 minutes, cycle for 1 hour 20 minutes and run for 30 minutes. Prior to the swim, I checked my BG level, 183. Decided to take a small bolus of .4 units because I usually have post swim highs. Put my pump away, grabbed my goggles and headed to the pool. Jumped in and began swimming. My goal was to swim 40 minutes straight without stopping. As I was swimming, I didn’t concentrate on speed, just form. I would swim a hundred focusing on head down, then another on high elbow, and so on. When I got tired, instead of stopping, I would swim a length turning on my back after three strokes and breathing for three. I considered this my recovering, then I would continue on. I found that the more I swam, the more comfortable I got in the water. I’m usually a one sided breather, but after several weeks of practice, I can breathe on both sides, which I did the entire time. After 40 minutes, I celebrated internally, and headed to transition, which was 5 minutes in the steam room to warm up a bit—the water was cold. I wish they had one for real during a triathlon. Maybe not, I would never leave transition.

Back in the locker room, I checked my BG, it was 187. I thought pretty good, usually I’m in the 200s. It must have been that small bolus prior to the swim that helped. Next up, the spin cycle. I set a temp basal of 80% on my pump and ate a Special K bar. I didn’t bolus for the bar (25 carbs), because cycling tends to bring my BG levels down. Grabbed my IPOD, put on my sneakers and headed off for the next challenge. Set the spin cycle so it would allow for some change in terrain, including a mixture of hills and flats. Instead of listening to music, tuned in on the TV to one of my favorite shows, and started spinning away. Rode at a cadence between 90 and 100 for 1 hour and 20 minutes, almost 21 miles. Felt good after the bike, just a bit sore in the bum and off to the treadmill I headed.

I decided not to check my BG level prior to the run. I know I should have, but wanted to get through the next 30 minutes quickly, plus I was only going to run a short time due to heal problems. I ran for about 20 minutes and walked the rest, only covering about 2 miles.

Finally, it was all done and I felt great. I checked my BG level, which was 80. That was a bit low, and know that I should have checked my BG level and ate something after the cycling portion. I kept my basal rate at 80% for another 6 hours.

After the rehearsal, I was starving and went out to eat. My recovery food consisted of pancakes, eggs, tomato juice and bacon. All the food Michael Phelps eats, but of course, smaller portions. I only bolused for 40 carbs, even though I know it was more like 80. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any lows throughout the day.

Later in the afternoon, I ended up having a burger and fries, and a couple of beers. I was on a high from the rehearsal and just craved a burger. Again, I bolused for half the carbs.

I did struggle to keep my BG levels from going low. I struggled to keep my BG level around 80, even with the temp basal and only blousing half for meals. By the time I went to bed, around 9:00pm, I was back up to 100. A perfect score to end a perfect day.