May 29, 2009
Karen L.

Racing season has begun, and the past two weekends I completed a triathlon and a 10K running race.

My diabetic plan for both races was similar: have (first) breakfast 3 hours before the race, bolusing 75% for the meal. At 1-hour pre-race, I’d set my basal to 75% from that point until the anticipated end of the race. If I was lower than I wanted to be before the race started, I’d eat accordingly. For the triathlon, I planned to eat 16g CHO at 3 points in the race, and for the running race, which would take me a shorter time, I didn’t expect to eat. In the tri, I had a GU in the sleeve of my wetsuit, shot blox and a meter in the Bento box on my bike, and a GU in the pocket of my tri shorts for the run, which was just a 5K. For the running race, I carried my running water belt that also has a big pocket on it that carries my meter and lots of shot blox.

First up was my first triathlon, a small Sprint distance race in a neighboring town. I thought there was a decent chance that I’d be the last out of the water, and was pleased that I wasn’t (although I was close!). This second open water swim was more successful than my first one at camp, in that I was able to get myself to just put my face in and swim a much larger percentage of the time. The bike was fast and fun, and I even passed a couple of people, although I don’t think any of them were on road bikes. The run was really hard, as I’m sure all of them will be after biking. I have a lot of improving to do on my transition times. Most of all, I’m glad to have my first official triathlon under my belt, and the race was really FUN, which is great, since I’m committed to training for this sport for the next 5 months…

Diabetically speaking, I wouldn’t really call this day a stunning success, as many of you heard on the call last Sunday. Although I woke up at 100, I was lower than I wanted to be an hour before the race, was 189 when I connected back to my pump after the swim, and a whopping 414 after the bike ride (having eaten only 2 shot blox). I shot it down some during the 5K and was back down to 86 a few hours later. Other than the pure numbers, there were a couple of logistics issues: this time, I handed my pump in a plastic bag to my coach before I warmed up in the water, and he handed it to me as I left the reservoir after the swim. That worked well, but the way I put the pump and tubing in the Ziploc lead to some knots in the tubing in T1, which added to my excessive transition time ☺.

On Memorial Day, I ran my 4th Bolder Boulder. This is a huge 10K road race here in Boulder, with wave starts and chip timing and lots of goofiness on the race course: bands and belly dancers and bacon and slip ‘n slides. This year I noticed less of the fun stuff than usual, since I was working hard to try and achieve a particular time, but it’s fun to see people running by you dressed as Where’s Waldo or with crazy wigs on, anyway. The course is hilly, but the weather was perfect: cool and overcast. I had some moments when I could’ve used a little more toughness, but I checked my watch just before I entered the stadium (the course ends inside the university football stadium) and saw that I could make my goal time if I really pushed. I sped up and was delighted to achieve that, with the added bonus of not throwing up the partially digested and multi-colored shot blox that were in danger of returning from whence they’d come on this final push to the finish line.

As a diabetic athlete, I’d call this race more successful than the previous weekend’s triathlon. Last year I’d had problems with lows both before and during the Bolder Boulder, and I was freaked out about that happening again. I woke up high at 248, and was lower than I wanted to be pre-race at 77. 4 shot blox later I started the race and was feeling strong until the 4K mark, which is where I was low during the race last year. Although I didn’t want to have to walk to test my blood sugar this year, at this point I was working hard and couldn’t tell if the shaky sweaty feelings I had were a low (like last year) or just me exerting myself (in a race, in the humidity – both somewhat unusual conditions). I slowed to a walk and tested, saw that I was 125 (not low, yay!), took 2 more shot blox, and continued on to the end of the race. Post-race I was 159, which I’ll call good.

All in all, a good start to the racing season!