June 11, 2009
Mari

The countdown to the Longhorn feature I signed up with on my Facebook page told me the other day that there are 144 days until the race in Austin. That usually would sound like a long time to me. After all, 144 days is almost 5 months. Somehow, when I saw the number, I realized that this race is just around the corner. I had a one on one chat with Yoli, and she said, “Now it’s time to get sport specific and get serious.” Oh yes it is.

I generally don’t do diabetes record-keeping every day. I did during the months I was focused on weight-loss. My diligence during those four months paid off. My weight has remained stable at 146 lbs since the weight-loss phase ended on April 4th. In over 28 years of managing diabetes, I know that record-keeping is something I’m able to do in spurts, with a goal in mind. So, I have taken off the past few months, to give myself a break and prevent record-keeping, diabetes burnout.

When I saw that we have only 144 days until the race, I realized it’s time to step it up again and record-keeping is as important as having a plan before I go out for a long session of endurance, sport-specific exercise.

With that in mind, I had a meeting with Marcey today, it’s Wednesday. We reviewed my race strategy and records for the Colfax Half Marathon I did on May 17th, about 3 weeks ago. The Colfax was a great race for me: I had a PR, I ate and drank the right amount and my blood sugars from start to end ranged from 126 to 174. Looking at my plan and the results from the Half Marathon, helped us co-create my strategy for this coming weekend, on Saturday, June 13th.

I’m doing a solo five hour rehearsal. My goal is to focus. No distractions, thus I’m doing the rehearsal essentially alone. (The swim will be at Chatfield with the triathlon club CWW of which I am a member.) The rest will be on my own, at my own pace. This is by my own choice. It’s part of the strategy. I plan to “keep moving” to quote Yoli, for the full five hours. I intend to have my gear all ready in the car and I intend to keep the transitions to under 10 minutes. Focus.

I’m counting on the weather to cooperate. Assuming it does, here’s the plan:

Oh, and remember: this plan is based on what ALL ATHLETES do! All this food I’m eating, and all the focus I am doing: this is what athletes who do 70.3 events DO!!!! My plan just has to account (by taking insulin) for eating all this food so I can perform. In not being gluco-centric, I plan the food THEN plan the insulin strategy to match the food! This is a powerful mind shift I am making as an athlete with diabetes. In other words, I’m not first a person with diabetes who happens to be an athlete. Nope, it’s the other way around. I like this mind shift.

Friday day and evening: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Pack all clothing, gear, food and beverages I’ll need. I already have the cooler poised and ready in my kitchen. I’ve got my list out and I’ve started to gather and check my gear already.

Saturday
5 AM Wake up, Eat 60 grams carbohydrates, take full insulin dose for 60 CHO. Food will be: 3 egg whites scrambled, oatmeal with fruit and milk, tea with some sugar.

7:00 AM Get in car with all necessary “stuff” for the rehearsal. Drive to Chatfield.
7:30 AM Lower my basal rate to 70% for 6 hours.
7:50 AM Take hit off asthma inhaler. Test BG: if needed eat gu
8:00 AM Start the swim. Take off insulin pump and wear it in a waterproof pouch during the swim. Hopefully the CGM sensor will continue to work. Goal: swim 2100 yds. This is assuming I do okay with asthma in the potentially very cold water.

9:00 AM Transition from swim to bike. (if it’s cold, take another hit off the inhaler)
Plan A if BG under 140: eat 25 CHO gu immediately, drink water & start cytomax
Plan B if BG over 140: don’t eat gu, just start on cytomax drink
Plan C if BG over 200: consider taking .5 bolus to cover the cytomax and replace the basal insulin I didn’t get while on the swim.

Start BIKE, which will be a 3 hour ride up Deer Creek Canyon (very very hilly, in fact, it’s a big Colorado mountain ride!)
Food plan on bike: During the three hour ride, goal is to eat 100 grams of gu and cliff bars for kids, plus 90 grams of cytomax in my water bottle, for a total of 190 grams of CHO during the ride. The carb total is on the slightly high side because I don’t like to eat too much on the run. I find that harder to do. We’ll see how this goes. Plan: drink water or cytomax about every 10 to 15 minutes. Eat a gu or ½ cliff bar every 30 to 40 minutes.

Hydration plan: I will have the two bottles of cytomax and two bottles of water for the 3 hour ride.

I plan to stop twice (at least but not too much more) to check my blood sugar with my meter. I will have on the CGM so I can check that too and see how the meter and the CGM are syncing. If needed, but I will ONLY do this if BG goes soaring high, take mini-boluses of .5. Likely will square wave them over an hour, rather than get it all at once. But I will be very careful about this as the exercise will likely keep BG’s in range despite the amount of food I’m eating.

Finish bike ride at about 12:10 PM. Transition to the run.
Start the RUN. Plan is to run for 1 hour.
Food goal while running: eat 2 gu’s: 50 grams of CHO.
Hydration: I will run with one water bottle. (Can’t do cytomax at this point, tastes too sweet)

Finish rehearsal around 1:20 PM
Immediately eat lunch of 60 grams of CHO. (this will be in my cooler in the car waiting for me!)
Monitor blood sugar levels with great care the next 24 to 36 hours.
Make sure I am using my Pattern A basal rate which is about 10 – 15 % lower than my Standard Basal pattern. Pattern A is what I use when doing multiple days of endurance exercise or when I start to step it up and do longer exercise sessions.

Go home. Unpack the car. Take a shower. Nap. Write down all the data. Celebrate. No matter how it all goes, it’s going to be amazing!

I look forward to telling you how it actually goes. I am remembering that even this Saturday is really just an information gathering day. This helps me stay calm and stay centered.