Team WILD Does Austin 70.3

My List...

2010-01-15T07:39:00.001-05:00

January 15, 2010
Sarah W.

After the race in October I took a break. At first it was a much-needed break after the long months of training leading up to the race, but then it became a forced break. I ended up having a gastroparesis attack a week after the race and was in the hospital for a week. After I was released it took me a while to build back up my strength to start exercising again. But during that time I realized how much I actually LOVE exercise because of the long list of things that it does for me. Here is what I have come up with so far:

1. Better blood sugars (this is a BIG one- my insulin needs went way up when I wasn’t exercising)
2. Better mood, happier
3. Better sleep
4. Feel like you’re a part of something (ie WILD!)
5. Way to hang out with good friends
6. Way to meet new people
7. Way to try new things
8. Feeling of accomplishment
9. Good feeling about myself in general
10. More energy
11. Can eat treats without guilt
12. Less gastroparesis attacks
13. Way to push yourself, see how far you can go
14. Accomplishing goals
15. Inspire my friends and family

And I’m sure I could come up with 20 more. My point is that this team and discovering the benefits of exercise has changed my life I would never want to live any other way. So add to my list or join a team and make your own…you won’t regret it!

Exercise May Reduce the Complications of Diabetes

2010-01-07T20:11:00.004-05:00

Click the link below to read the great article by
The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine at Diabetes Health.
More proof that exercise holds the key for control!

Preferred Method of Travel

2010-01-03T11:48:00.004-05:00

January 3, 2010
Karyn B.

My preferred method of travel…. 2 wheels – road or mountain bicycle, motorcycle. I like to be by myself, quite honestly.

I signed up, again…. To do a ½ Ironman. In September 2010. In Branson, Missouri. With TEAM WILD!
Why did I do this?

Because, for once, I don’t want to be by myself and I need the support of Team WILD right now to do this.
And because I really don’t swim or run and need the encouragement to start. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a new preferred method of travel?!?!?

Please Help Spread the Word of WILD and Join us in 2010!

2010-01-01T20:01:00.003-05:00

WILD Continues to Inspire

2009-11-10T08:34:00.003-05:00

Thank you Dr. Clark for the kudos and the support!

Click the link above to read Dr. Clark's blog post on Team WILD.

AWESOME

2009-11-03T09:29:00.005-05:00

November 2, 2009
Karen R.

Austin and the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 triathlon. Our A race, chosen many months ago and with many shorter races and rehearsals in between. Race organizers welcomed us, supported us, answered countless e-mails on topics special to us, wrote about TeamWILD in the athlete’s guide and most of all put on a great event. As the inaugural event for the team, Austin holds a special spot in this team member’s heart.

WILD Women do and they don’t regret it--from the song Wild Women Do and one which has played over, over, and over again in my head this year. We did this. Yes, Karen L., we did this. She kept repeating this to me at the end of the race between bites of fajitas and again later that night, each time with a huge smile on her face.

Endurance and energy—needed to complete the 70.3 miles. Our training plan and carbs provided what we’d need to complete this event. So did Energizer bunny aka Coach Yoli, everywhere on the course cheering us on.

Supporters—family, friends, Tony, Keith, Ken, Doug, Nicole, Celeste, Yoli, Marcey, and Dr. Matt were all there to cheer us on, build bikes, drive us and our bikes everywhere, fund our efforts and be there when we needed you the most. We love you all, not just our diabetes educator!

Outreach—on the bike, on the run, and sometimes in the swim corral, we were recognized as WILD team members and cheered for. WILD -- the word is out. To women reading this, lurking in cyberspace, wondering can I do what they did? Should I join this fabulous team? Absolutely, and yes, you should.

Mari—This team exists and we are on this team because of her infectious energy. This would not have come together without her. Her vision, commitment, passion, and dedication inspire me to work harder this next year to promote and compete for WILD.

Empowering—Walking somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd lap of the run, I was behind two women and heard one comment, “What a humbling experience today has been.” Humbling, I thought, was not the word I would use to describe the day. At that particular moment I felt so empowered by seeing all my teammates on the course and by remembering all the training and everything else we had accomplished to get to this wonderful day and race.

AWESOME--Countless times I’ve heard this word. We are an AWESOME team of women. Go TeamWILD.

Dear Friends andd Family....

2009-11-01T09:24:00.006-05:00

November 1, 2009
Kathy Z.

Dear Friends and Family,

Team WILD ROCKED the Longhorn 70.3 Ironman! As for me, personally, I finished the race in 6 hours and 31 minutes, which is a personal best (easy to say as this was my first triathlon at this distance). For the past year, I’ve had my mind set on racing the Longhorn 70.3 Ironman. I fell asleep playing out the swim, bike, run and transitions in my mind nearly every night. I spent countless hours of training calculating how fast I was going and how fast I would be able to finish the race. All that anticipation and the big weekend did not disappoint!

It is impossible to really explain in words what it is like being a part of Team WILD. We truly were a team and we truly were inspiring life with diabetes along the way. This was not only a race to most of us, but as my teammate, Ramona, pointed out, Team WILD made having diabetes fun. We commiserated over lows and highs (blood sugars) throughout training and especially race day morning. We spend the last year preparing and learning how our individual bodies respond to endurance events along with the guidance of expert coaching from head coach Yoli Casas, swim coach Celeste St. Pierre, and bike coach Nicole Freedman, as well as diabetes management care from diabetes educator, Marcey Robinson and endocrinologist, Matt Corcoran. In the days leading up to the race, we spent time with our staff reviewing our race day strategy and how we would handle various scenarios.

Not only were we busy preparing ourselves as athletes; we were also busy promoting our cause. We held a Team WILD “launch” at the Longhorn Expo, took professional team pictures and spent time in front of the camera of our hired videographer to capture the essence of the team for both recruiting and fundraising purposes.

Race day started with the alarm sounding at 4:30 AM and didn’t end until after 10 PM, following a celebratory dinner and WILD awards ceremony. My particular swim wave started at 8:20 AM; myself along with four other teammates were in the “pearl purple” 30-34 age swim wave. The swim took me 45 minutes to complete. I felt strong, prepared and well coached for the swim. Following the wetsuit stripping (I just like a chance to say ‘wetsuit stripping’), I proceeded to the bike transition.

Overall, I felt good on the bike and completed the loop in just over three hours. Again, I felt well coached, especially with the training in how to climb hills for maximum efficiency. My blood sugar was aggressively climbing throughout the first half of the bike, likely from all the adrenaline of the race. I didn’t end up fueling as much as I should have and ended up bonking around mile 52. For me, bonking does not mean stopping, but just feeling very icky. Now I know to just give insulin and keep fueling despite my blood sugar, but live and learn.

My blood sugar did finally start coming down at the end of the bike route, and I knew it would be difficult to keep it high enough on the run. I decreased my insulin pump basal rate from 70% to 65 % at the transition to the run and basically drank Gatorade at almost every water station. Overall, I ingested about 300 grams of carbs during the race. My very favorite 15 grams of carbs came in the form of an ice-pop given out on the first loop of the run (Berta and my brother, Andy, know how important ice-pops are to me). The run took me 2 ½ hours (a bit longer that I hoped) and it was a three-loop course. The first loop felt the worst, probably due to my low energy at the end of the bike. During loops two and three I was able to keep jogging and focus on the finish…as evidenced by the vast majority of my race pictures where I was looking down and not smiling.

Here are some of the highlights of the entire event for me:

*Experiencing the calming energy of my two favorite doctors: a phone call to my brother, Andy, and standing next to Dr. Matt prior to the start

*Seeing Berta and cousin, Laura, sprinting along the swim-bike transition to capture pictures

*Hearing Yoli’s cow bell and booming voice above all the crowd

*Seeing Linda (Berta’s mom) cheering along side of bike coach, Nicole, just after getting on the bike

*Hearing Nicole yell, “FOCUS!” from the driver’s seat of an SUV along the bike course while videographer, Keith, taped from the passenger side. I believe she also yelled other encouraging things, but FOCUS really stuck out to me.

*Yelling, “Go WILD!” at my teammate along the coarse, at least when I had the energy to do so

*Running through the Team WILD tailgating area three times and hearing our rock star WILD fans

*Seeing my favorite shirt of nutritionist, Marcey – “I LOVE CARBS!” and “Love your diabetes educator” on the back while hearing her say, “EAT and DRINK!”

*Learning that Celeste (who also competed in the event) got third in her age group and qualified for Nationals

*Watching teammates cross the finish line…or even tap dance, in the case of Jennifer Smith

*Seeing pure joy on the face of team founder, Mari Ruddy, as she watched her dream come true before our very eyes…a team of 20 women, most of whom have diabetes, cross the 70.3 finish line

Mari and team, now we have indeed done something! WILD fans and friends, you were instrumental in helping us. Thanks a thousand times over for your support. The WILD adventure has just begun…

As always, Peace, Love and Insulin,
Kathy Ziegert

All Things Considered for 7:56:16

2009-10-28T08:09:00.006-04:00

October 28, 2009
Jennifer S.

I DID IT!!! I can’t even explain how it felt to cross the finish line with 70.3 miles under my belt (feet, arms, etc.)!! But, I can personally explain what it took to get to this fantastic finish line. A combination of People, Places and Things!

People: Like most people, when I am invited to do something or encouraged to try something I usually grab the opportunity. Such is the case with my decision to join this fantastic group of women. I met Mari, our team founder at DTC last September ’08 and by the end of the week was convinced I could swim/bike and run 70.3 miles with the support of a team. Not only were my teammates priceless in my journey and on the course on Sunday, but also the expertise of our medical and coaching staff went above and beyond. I can’t imagine how many miles Yoli put on her feet on Sunday as she cheered for each of us on each lap of the run, or Matt who was out there making sure we had checked our BG and were OK. Behind the scenes are the often-unmentioned type 3’s - supportive family and friends who make our journey in life with Diabetes manageable. We had the best…THE BEST.. supporters on Sunday. No one else’s compared!

Places: Every journey starts somewhere….mine happened to start in Snowmass, CO at Diabetes Training Camp. Rather than continuing to “go it alone” in my diabetes management during exercise, I decided to take the recommendation of one of my clients and attend the camp. I learned so much about diabetes and exercise during this camp, and felt more confident in training for endurance events after returning home.
After meeting Mari at camp and making the decision to join Team WILD, I then attended camp in San Antonio, TX last April. Training was specific for our 70.3 Ironman and included swimming in Decker Lake, biking part of the course (I don’t remember the road having so many gaping cracks) and running part of the course. All essential elements as I look back on this journey.
I also think of my favorite running routes, and bike trails I took while logging the miles to get me to the start line. Thank goodness for the George Washington Parkway trail, the W &OD trail, Capital Crescent Trail and yes, those virtual trails when the weather outside didn’t permit activity and I had to resort to my local gym!
And finally the couch in my house, where I took all the Sunday night team organization calls, was another essential place. Here, via teleconference, we as a team planned not only training strategy and BG/insulin/food strategy, but also how to build our team into an organization that could empower more women in the coming years to join and make a healthful change in their diabetes management.

Things: Along with healthy management come a lot of “things”. BG monitors, test strips, syringes, insulin or pills for blood glucose control, measuring cups, carb counting resources, pumps and supplies, continuous glucose monitors, glucose tablets and on and on! Throw in the swim goggles, bike helmet and shoes, running shoes, heart rate monitors, cadence monitors, hydration and fuel needs of endurance athletes and we should need a small U-Haul truck to follow us on every outdoor adventure we take. But, we figured out how to include and use all of these things while training for and finally competing in this endurance event. Without these things and the technology behind them I wouldn’t have finished the race.

There is absolutely no I in TEAM and there is a reason this is true. All of these people, all the places and all the things used to get me here, were a compilation of a TEAM effort. I couldn’t have done this alone, and frankly, I don’t think I would have finished without the commitment of every team member. We learned so much together and hopefully we can continue to inspire women everywhere to live healthfully with Diabetes.

THANKS TEAM!! (Said with a huge smile on my face!!)

We Love Our Type 3 Supporters!

2009-10-28T07:35:00.002-04:00

October 28, 2009
Susan Y.

All events leading up to race day at Longhorn 70.3 were an education for me. As a type 3 supporter, I was a fly on the wall, listening to all the gals talk about their strategies, plan A, then plan B, pre-race plans, checking in with Matt, Celeste, Nicle, Yoli, Marcey about their nutrition, bike/swim strategies, insulin levels, monitors, lancets, sensors, etc. I was feeling a little out of the loop there.

I knew what my race strategy would be - don't go out too fast, pace yourself on the run, drink water at every station, cheer everyone on, don't get cramps. I think out of all of those, I only did two of them - drink water at every station and cheer everyone on. I was so antsy waiting 7 hours (arriving at 5:45AM) before my run leg to start, that I went out too fast on the first loop, then every mile and loop thereafter was progressively slower. Well, duh, isn't that what always happens to me? Note to self - talk to Yoli about pacing strategy...again. Dang, after 15 years of triathlons, you'd think I would get it straight by now.

I was really happy when Sarah Worah needed someone to hold her sensor while she was doing the swim. She was worried about how she was going to get it after the swim. Me, me, me! Let me do something important...which it was for her and I was happy to do so. While waiting in the swim to bike relay exchange pen with Karyn Brown, Sarah's sensor was vibrating so that was making me nervous. Karyn explained what it was doing and that it was nothing to worry about, so I relaxed. Sarah soon came running up the ramp from the swim, I handed her the sensor and off she went on the bike. Yaay, I did my job.

It was fun seeing all the orange/blue Team Wild uniforms along the run course. We would see each other, give thumbs up, high fives, smiles and words of encouragement. This happens all the time at Team CWW events, but there is something more special with Team Wild - it's almost like they have a little secret - diabetes - that they share with each other and no one else. I felt honored to be part of that secret.

Running though the Team WILD support tent!

It was a great time for me and I'm not going to complain about how my quads were sore the day after and even a little today. It was a humbling experience this past weekend. Being humbled is good, puts you back in your place, but in a good way.

Team Wild, thanks for sharing your experience, pain, friendship and reality with me these past few days. Looking foward to the next event and congratulations to a great accomplishment!

Austin Public Radio Covers Team WILD

2009-10-28T07:18:00.003-04:00

Team WILD got some great coverage during their epic race weekend in Austin!
Click the link above to hear the story and see some great photos.
Thanks KUT 90.50!!

The Longhorn 70.3

2009-10-27T17:31:00.005-04:00

October 27, 2009
Karen L.

Triathlon is an individual sport. I can swim, bike, and run with others, but on race day my performance is all me. There’s tremendous comfort in the fact that others are out there working their butts off, too, but theoretically we are each in our own little pain bubble dealing with our own personal demons.

In the same way, diabetes is an individual disease. Most of the time I’m the only one in a particular group dealing with diabetes, and even if I weren’t, it’s up to me to take care of all of it solo. While people are sympathetic, most don’t get it (and to be fair, I don’t ‘get’ many of their challenges, either), and it makes for an isolating experience.

Sunday’s Longhorn 70.3 race was an amazing day for me in so many ways. The race was a huge personal challenge that I’ve been working on for months. But it was NOT a solo journey. First and foremost there was the big concept of team, and it was powerful and moving. Yes, we had to accomplish each physical feat in the race on our own, but in the same way that a wetsuit helps in the swim, we were buoyed by our amazing coaches and medical staff out there on the course. I kept seeing energizer bunny head coach Yoli on the run course, and surely she must’ve run a comparable distance to us so that she could spot each of us many times. Nicole was yelling from an SUV as she drove our videographer out to get good shots of us grinning through the pain. Celeste set an amazing and focused example as I spotted her coming in to complete her third loop of the run as I was heading out on my first. Marcey seemed to be head cheerleader from the tailgating tent in her pink “I (heart) carbs” t-shirt, yelling out nutrition and hydration tips as we turned to complete each loop. And Matt risked extreme sun exposure to see us twice on each loop, checking to see how our blood sugars were doing and how we were feeling.

Also, our support people. We had partners, parents, siblings, and friends of teammates out there rooting for all of us. Some of our loved ones sacrificed meals to get out on the course and take as many picture of the team as they could. We had Texas connections who helped out our team with race logistics and no doubt suffered cheering-related injuries such as bruised clapping hands and lost voices. Thank you, supporters.

Then there were the other racers. We’d been written up in the Athlete’s Guide that we picked up in our race packets a couple days before the race, so many people had read about us. Because we also had a booth at the race expo, people had seen the news about our team, or perhaps they’d been there when we had our team launch on Saturday. In any case, many, many times out on the course I was cheered on by other racers. “Go WILD!”, or “keep it up, Team WILD!”, I’d hear as I was pedaling hard into a brisk headwind or considering slowing to a walk on my trudging run. Yes, this was an individual event, but so many people were interested in seeing my individual effort become a success, and I loved loved loved that they were willing to take a small bit of the energy that they desperately needed for themselves in this race and spend it on my team. Thank you, racers.

And my teammates. Except for our swim coach Celeste, this was a first 70.3 for each of us, and we entered the race with a certain amount of trepidation. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging to each other, and helped out when there were malfunctioning meters and forgotten snacks to hide in the wetsuit just before the race started. We commiserated on each other’s highs and lows (blood sugars, that is), and when three of us ended up in the medical tent (temporarily!) after the race we had teammates there for support. Because of the way the run course was laid out, I saw most of my teammates at least a couple of times on the run, and it was wonderful to share high fives and status updates. Who couldn’t be spurred on by the infectious smile of JennyS, Ramona’s absolute bald glee, or Lyndsay’s focused determination? Diabetes may be a very individual disease, and triathlon may be an individual sport, but we, as a group, did this. We did it!

So how did the race go? Wonderfully. I was manhandled more than usual in the swim, didn’t like the condition of the roads at some points in the bike, and could’ve done without the 4 visits to the porta-potties (kept well hydrated!). On the other hand, I was grateful we could wear wetsuits, there were a ton of volunteers that made sure every turn was a success on the twisty bike route, and the cold wet towels to wrap around our necks on the run were a lifesaver. There were icky weeds in the lake, icky headwind on the ride, spectacularly slow transition times, and by the end of the race my whole body smelled like feet. And a great swim time for me, really nice weather that could’ve been much much worse, and of course a PR (personal record), as this was my first race at this distance. Not to mention all the fantastic support and encouragement detailed above. I had fun! 7:24:38 worth of fun!

Was it a success? Abso-freaking-lutely. Thank you, Mari, and rock on, Team WILD.

We’re Here!!!!

2009-10-23T05:52:00.002-04:00

October 23, 2009
Sarah W.

I have just arrived in Austin and the big day is only 3 days away!!! At this point I don’t even know how to describe how I am feeling because there are so many emotions going on at once. I am excited, anxious, nervous, giddy, inpatient, sad, happy, and any other adjective you can think of!

But no matter what happens on Sunday the important thing is what we are doing to reach out to other women with diabetes, the impact we are making, and how far we have come as a team in just a little over a year!

I was talking to my mom on the phone right before I got on the plane this afternoon, and was a little upset. I was bummed that after a year of so much hard work, training, and build-up to all my family and friends that I wasn’t going to complete the entire race (I hurt my hip about a month ago and cannot run). I felt like I wasn’t going to accomplish the goal I had been working towards and that is always disappointing. But then my mom reminded me of the bigger picture. It really isn’t about the actual race, but more about everything we did to get here and the impact we will have on the diabetic community. We are setting an example for women of all ages with diabetes that they can do anything and diabetes does not have to stop them in any way! The year of training has also had more benefit than completing the run in the actual race will ever have. I have learned more about my body, my diabetes, my health and my mental well being than I ever have before. I have overcome so many health obstacles and am the healthiest I have been in years. And that means so much more than the race itself.

So no matter what happens on Sunday, for all of us, it’s the fact that we are all here in Austin to do what has never been done before- 20 women with diabetes coming together and racing in an event together! All while managing diabetes and all the other crap that life throws at you!

I know I will look back on this weekend and be amazed at what we have accomplished as a team, not dwell on the fact that I couldn’t do the run!

OPEN LETTER TO LANCE ARMSTRONG

2009-10-20T17:24:00.006-04:00

October 20, 2009
Mari

This is a letter I wrote to Lance Armstrong a month ago. I sent it to him about eight different ways. I don’t know if he ever got it. I haven’t heard from him. Since it tells the story of the past 5 or 6 years, I have decided to make it an open letter to everyone. Even if Lance doesn’t make it to the race and he doesn’t run that last ½ mile with me, and he doesn’t meet the team, I’ll know that he and all my other heroes helped me and Team WILD get to where we are now. And for that I am grateful.

And, today, October 20th is my 5 year anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer. What a journey it has been!

OPEN LETTER TO LANCE ARMSTRONG
September 21, 2009

Dear Lance,
The way you live life, the way you ride the bike, the way you speak about surviving, and the way you push yourself to excellence, these are powerful inspiration. In fact, the way you have inspired me is so potent and so intense, it moved me to action. I want you to know how you have influenced me and what action I have taken because of you. This is a long letter because it’s a long story of how you, without knowing, have been in my life the past 6 years.

At the end of this story, I have three things to ask of you. They are: ONE: if you would be willing to meet my team, TWO: if you have any ideas for how we might better promote ourselves and THREE: the request near and dear to my heart, if you might come run the last half mile of a 70.3 triathlon in Austin with me. Here’s the story.

THE WRISTBAND
It all started in June 2004, when one of my cycling buddies gave me one of the first yellow LiveStrong wristbands. My friend knew I was a huge fan of yours. I wore that bracelet on the Bicycle Tour of Colorado (BTC), a 400 mile ride over 6 days. This was a major accomplishment for me, since the day the ride started, June 26, 2004, was the 23rd anniversary of my diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes at age 16. I rode every mile thinking that if you could ride in the Tour de France as a cancer survivor, I could figure out my diabetes to ride across the mountains of beautiful Colorado. (I know you spend lots of time in Colorado and know what I’m talking about!) The BTC was a successful ride and I was officially hooked on cycling.

That wristband was with me on October 20, 2004, just a few months after the ride across Colorado, when I found out that I had breast cancer. Again, like my life with diabetes, I knew survival was an option. You and others before me had survived with courage. I too could access the strength to face the edge of death. I rode my bike all during chemo. Since it was winter and my balance was compromised, my bike was mounted in my living room, facing a poster of you and the Blue Train riding the Team Time Trial at the Tour de France. Your expression of utter determination in the face of such intensity and voluntary suffering (as the Tour most certainly is!) reminded me I too could find the depth and stamina to endure this moment at the doorway of death. I imagined that I was part of the Blue Train, part of your team. After chemo, I rode my bike to radiation, as Spring had arrived. The daily 8 mile round trip was some of the hardest riding I’ve ever done, but it was worth it to feel the wind, the sun and the spinning pedals healing me.

FIRST TRIATHLON – Celebration of cancer survival
A week after radiation ended, I participated in my first triathlon. It was a Danskin Sprint. I fell in love with the sport. I decided that this was how I wanted to live: in my body and with others choosing life. I started doing more and more events, including Livestrong events, and I began to experience the healing power of recognition of participants who had survived cancer. The celebration: a special shirt or jersey, a Survivor finisher water bottle, yellow roses at the finish line, all the incredible cheering, healed some of the deep pain and suffering of having gone through the cancer treatment, and in my case, survival, process.

WHAT ABOUT DIABETES?
I then did my 10th Tour de Cure ride. Tour de Cure’s are bicycle rides all over the United States put on by the American Diabetes Association to raise money and awareness to stop diabetes. At that 10th ride, I noticed that I had no idea who on the ride had diabetes. And there was no recognition or cheering. Diabetes was something people hid. My father, who was diagnosed with Type 1 when I was one year old, never really told anyone. I did not want to follow that lead. Instead, following the lead of groups like Team Type 1, I realized it was time for me to contribute to changing that silence.

Diabetes is a challenging health condition that must be managed every moment of every day. It is an epidemic and it is killing people at high rates. One of the key management components for diabetes is to exercise, as exercise is one of the best ways to prevent heart disease and other devastating diabetes complications.

FOLLOWING YOUR LEAD! Go Lance!
Taking your lead of recognizing participants with cancer, I approached the Tour de Cure of Colorado and joined their organizing committee and I brought them the Red Rider Recognition program. My training partner Sandria came up with the name and I came up with the recognition elements and philosophy. The foundation of the program is that riders wear cycling jerseys that declare across the back, “I ride with diabetes!” and as others see them on the course, they yell, “Go Red Rider!” in celebration of the dedication and courage it takes to be someone with diabetes who gets out there and exercises and takes charge of their health.

RED RIDERS take the nation by storm
The Red Rider Recognition Program first rolled out at the 2007 Tour de Cure Colorado. In 2008, about 12 Tour de Cure’s did the program. In 2009, over 58 Tour’s did it and 2010 it will be implemented at all 78 Tour’s. In addition, the Step Out for Diabetes Walks are rolling out the Red Strider Recognition Program. As you know, an idea sometimes touches a cord in people and it takes off. The time was right for this idea.

Through the process of launching the Red Riders, I realized I have a special passion for reaching women who are searching for ways to get active but who have diabetes and are hesitant about how to figure it out. I didn’t really start exercising until I was 35, and that was because I was scared of low blood sugar as my father had almost died many times when I was a child from uncontrolled low blood sugar.

CONTROL OF HEALTH – Exercise
Once I did start exercising, I gained tremendous control of my health. I felt better than ever and it’s what helped me survive the challenge of Stage IIa breast cancer. I want all women with diabetes and their close supporters to have a team of peers with whom to share the exercise and wellness journey. I also want them to have access to top of the line coaches and medical staff to show the way about how to get active safely. I want women to have what I desperately needed and wanted when I first started exercising.

Team WILD is born
Thus in November 2008, Team WILD: Women Inspiring Life with Diabetes, was born. Our first team is a 70.3 Triathlon Team. We have 20 women on the team, 15 of whom have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. With our coaches and staff, we will all come to your town, Austin, Texas, to compete in the Longhorn 70.3 Triathlon on October 25, 2009.

A few things about the 70.3 Team WILD Triathlon Team: We range in age from 25 to 55. We live in 10 different states and Canada. We have 3 coaches, an endocrinologist and a sports nutritionist on staff, and we are officially a project of the non-profit Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association. We had a training camp in April 2009 in San Antonio and we meet twice a month on the phone to discuss training, nutrition, diabetes management and to support one another. Our head coach posts our training schedule on-line and we all track our training for our coaches to review.

Mini PARTNERSHIP??
Lance, I am writing this letter to you now because I’m wondering if you would like to meet us when we come to Austin? I really hope you might like to, since in a fairly direct way, you are why we exist. Simply put, in case it’s not clear from what I’ve written so far, you are one of my heroes. And I am really proud of this first Team WILD team of women – this is the first 70.3 triathlon for ALL OF US! We have worked really hard to get ready to race and we exist to inspire, educate and motivate women to take charge of their health. It would mean the world to me if we could meet you and you could meet us.

What do you think?!

And, going out on a total limb, I just have to tell you, I have a wish that you might come and run the last ½ mile of the 70.3 with me. It would be the absolute coolest thing to cross that finish line with you. I imagine it on every training run I do, it keeps me going. I am fairly certain you can keep up with me!

My mom, who took care of me during my cancer treatments, and I are going to walk the Livestrong 5K on October 24, 2009 in Austin. Beyond launching Team WILD, for me personally, the Livestrong event and the Longhorn 70.3 are to celebrate my 5 year anniversary of being diagnosed with cancer, 28.5 years of living successfully with diabetes, and 44 years of life living every moment as joyfully as possible!

Launch of Team WILD
We are planning a media event for Saturday, October 24 at 2 PM at the Travis County Fair Grounds which is the site of the Longhorn 70.3 Race Expo. This will be the official launch of Team WILD. We are working closely with the race organizers and the Austin chapter of the American Diabetes Association to make this media event a big success. Any ideas you have for how to make this event awesome, would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mari Ruddy
Team WILD Founder & Athlete
Type 1 Diabetes since 1981
Breast Cancer Survivor since 2004

Marty Ruddy, me, Mo Ruddy (my brother & sister) New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2004
A few days after all my hair fell out from 2 chemo treatments.
That’s the exact Livestrong wristband I mention in this letter.

Lessons Learned on the Trail...

2009-10-20T17:20:00.003-04:00

October 20, 2009
Karyn B.

So, this past August I went to a women’s bicycle maintenance clinic at a local bike. They gave us a couple of glasses of wine and then proceeded to show us how to change a tire…. Something that I had NEVER done! All of the sudden, it turned into a contest – I won! I did the fastest tire change (even after that wine)! I felt very confident and cool…. Until……

Yup! Not just a tube flat but a tire BLOW OUT at mile 55 of a 62 mile ride! I got to practice my skills (I put a folded dollar bill between the new tube and the busted tire!) on the trail/road. I made it back with no problems other than going REALLY slowly…
This weekend I did one training ride although with tapering it hardly felt like anything at all. I got about 1.5 miles from my house and saw a guy walking his bicycle down the sidewalk in his bike shorts and bike shoes (no helmet). Of course, I stopped to help! I asked if I could help and he said that it was just a flat… I offered my spare tube and we (as in, I) got to work! He had a tube in his tire that was folded over a few times because it was WAY TOO large for his rim. Hmmm…. He looked very uncomfortable while I got to work and changed that tire and got him back on the road. He said ‘Thanks, how do I repay you?’…. I thought of all kinds of clever responses….
‘Learn how to change a tire and get yourself some tools!’
‘Don’t worry about it, Team WILD is here for ya!’
‘Just tell people the diabetic girl that’s about to do a ½ Ironman helped you out’

Instead……
‘Help the next person that you see that needs help. In a car, on a motorcycle, bicycle, walking, needing change, etc. Just help them.’
I continued on my route and he started walking his bike down the sidewalk again…. I rode out a few miles and turned around to head back home (same route) and saw him about 3 miles from where I had left him with a giant smile on his face (and riding the bike this time)! And I was off to the bike store for another tube and more CO2….
That flat clinic in Texas? I’ll be there…. Never hurts to practice!

It's Race Week

2009-10-20T17:03:00.001-04:00

October 20, 2009
Ramona

When I signed up for this almost one year ago, I figured by the time race week rolled around, I would be in the best shape of my life. Well, I’m not, and I’m struggling with that. I wish I felt lighter, faster, more agile and more confident. Instead, I’m worried that I won’t finish in 8 hours, or at all for that matter.

I’m trying to remind myself of a couple of important things, though, to temper my glum thoughts. First, from the beginning Team WILD appealed to me for its inclusiveness and mission to inspire. Sometimes the greatest inspiration comes from the person to whom one can most easily relate. For those women who best relate to lean, muscular, tour-de-forces – women who manage to workout 5-6 days per week no matter what – there are some amazing women on the team to choose from! But for women who need someone else – someone who ends up missing more workouts than she’d like to admit and feels as insecure as they do running in spandex – there is me. If by crossing even the STARTING line I can inspire one woman like me to push herself to the limits of her endurance, whatever those may be, then I will be happy.

Second, the magical thing about training with Team WILD has, in fact, very little to do with how I will perform on Sunday. The magic, for me, is in the experience with exercise and diabetes I have shared with my teammates, not only this year, but in the many years before we even met: when we were diagnosed as children, when took dance classes or went to summer camp, when we got our first pumps, and when we figured out what to do with them during our first triathlons. Sharing those experiences, helping each other develop strategies for new experiences, and building confidence and clarity along the way have been the most important outcomes of this experience for me. And those will remain, regardless of when or how I cross the finish line.

Scenery, Tire Levers, and Tapering (oh my!) (in which I use more exclamation points than a teenaged girl)

2009-10-19T10:03:00.003-04:00

October 18, 2009
Karen L.

It’s getting close to race time (one week!). This weekend I am once again amusing my neighbors by practicing transitions in my cul-de-sac. This involves such exciting tasks as shimmying out of my wetsuit in one tiny patch of front grass, hopping on my bike and riding the 1 mile around the circle drive in the neighborhood, and returning to the other tiny patch of front grass (to simulate the two different transition areas we’ll have in Austin!) to leave my bike and change shoes before I head out on a less-than-a-quarter-mile run to the park and back. Multiple times.

Last weekend wasn’t the best for training here in Boulder, as we had some snow. While this might bode well for the upcoming ski season, I didn’t really relish taking the road bike out on slippery roads when the temperature was below 30. I had the opportunity to join friends on a road trip to Moab, UT, where the forecast was 70 and sunny, so I took it. Saturday I did a run along the road to Dead Horse Point:

Sadly, my blood sugar tanked not far into my run, so I was battling that for the rest of the workout. Nice distracting scenery, though.

Today I did a brick (bike, then run) with a friend from my local training group who’s also doing a half-Ironman next weekend (one week!). We practiced changing tires at the end of the brick. I was having some serious difficulty putting the final part of my tire in the bead until she lent me her Crank Brothers Speed Lever: it’s like magic! I went out and bought one this afternoon. You can find a review of this fine lever and some pictures of it in use at http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001005.php

Note: tire lever picture and Dead Horse Point picture are not on the same scale!

Since the race is so close (one week!) we’ve all begun to taper in our training program. Interesting things happen in taper time, I’ve found. New aches and pains appear where there were none before, and then disappear just as randomly. I feel alternately energized and sluggish, and wonder if I’ve done enough training. But I have; essentially, whatever we’ve already done will have to be enough!

Did I mention: one week!

We’re just about there, Team WILD!!

Nike Women Marathoners Inspire ME!

2009-10-19T09:58:00.001-04:00

October 18, 2009
Kathleen

I didn’t get to swim and run with my local group today (boo hoo!) so I went out on my own for a 6 mile run. Well, not completely alone. If you read my last blog you know, Cat Stevens is always with me. I can usually count on him to keep me going but today I was feeling blah, maybe a little lonely and definitely anxious to get to Texas. My mind starts wandering and I loose focus. I start thinking about blood sugars and blisters. Once I head down that path, not much can bring me back.

10 minutes into my run I see women….running….everywhere. 20,000 women are running the San Francisco Women’s Nike Marathon today. At first I think this is going to be bad for me. There won’t be room for me to run my regular route in Golden Gate Park. Like I said, my focus was zilch and I was looking for an excuse not to run.

Then, in a sea of women I notice one gal with a familiar body language. She is walking fast and her left hand is squeezing a finger on her right. Her shoulders, back and face are all working this “finger”. She is checking her blood sugar and she’s got one of those tough fingers that won’t cooperate and give her enough blood for a quick blood sugar check. I laugh, I’ve so been there. Then I see another woman with a sign that indicates these women I’m watching will finish the marathon in 6-7 hours and this was the halfway mark.

WOW! I realize that if I were doing a marathon, these would be the women I would be running with. I wanted to shout out to the woman checking her blood sugar, “Women with Diabetes Rock!!!!” but I already lost sight of her. I wanted to jump the barricade and join these women on their journey to the finish line but I assumed that would be against some rule and maybe I’d get arrested. That would be bad AND embarrassing. I can see the headline now “Woman with Diabetes chasing down another Woman with Diabetes in Golden Gate Park”.

Instead, I am engulfed by the energy of these woman and the volunteers and spectators cheering them on. I see many support people jumping up and down waving inspirational signs as their “woman” passes them. I see runners with big smiles as volunteers yell out “Let’s go Ladies, Great Job, You Can Do It”. I turn Cat Stevens off (a first!) and continuing running along side these women (from the other side of the barricade).

I imagine that the cheers are for me. I feel my feet moving just a lit bit faster as I listen to “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang blasting through speakers larger than my kitchen. I imagine I’m in Texas and I’ve already finished the swim and the bike and this is the third loop of the run. I feel good. Really good, strong. I look at my watch and I realize that it’s been almost an hour and I’ve done 5 miles. That went fast.

I turn out of the park and away from the marathon route to finish my last mile, alone and in silence (no Cat Stevens). I take several deep deep breaths and think that next week at this exact time I WILL be in Texas doing IT!!!

WOW!

Thanks to all the Nike Women Marathon runners I saw today especially the gal checking her blood sugar! You are a WILD woman and inspired me!!!!!!!!

WILD Gets More Help Spreading our Cause!

2009-10-19T09:48:00.004-04:00

Personal Trainer, Jamie Atlas posted an article AND video about Team WILD on his awesome Fitness Insights web page. check it out! Big thanks to Jamie for helping get the WILD message out there. Great interview Karyn!!

Teams Gone WILD-Active Women Tackling Diabetes

The Journey

2009-10-15T09:36:00.007-04:00

October 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

During our team call on Sunday, Yoli mentioned how tapering is important as it’s not necessarily what we do now to prepare us for the race next weekend, it’s about the journey we’ve taken to get there. The journey… I thought about that statement and wondered what the journey has entailed. So, I looked through my work-out log… had time to kill since we are tapering. Although we signed up for this journey about a year ago, I didn’t start logging my work-outs until February. The earlier work-outs seem simple compared to what we have done in the past few weeks with our rehearsal, the sprint and Olympic distance triathlons, and ½ marathons.

Below are the approximate miles and hours of work I tallied up since February:

When I signed up, I made the statement, “I know I can do the run, I think I can do the bike, I don’t know about the swim.” Looking at the hours spent on my training, I spent the most hours on the 2 sports I now do the best, biking and swimming. Yes, I said it… swimming. I know I did much more swimming that I should or was in Yoli’s plan. But, I actually found swimming relaxing and a good stress reliever. Who would have thought that I would like swimming so much? I have also come to realize why I now struggle with running. I’ve spent fewer hours on that sport than I should have, whether due to injury or pure dislike. But, I feel I am prepared and up for the race. So today, I say, “I will bike fast, will swim hard, and will finish the run!”

Good luck to all my teammates! Go Team WILD! I can’t wait to see you in Austin!

Local Shout Outs and Thank Yous

2009-10-13T22:25:00.007-04:00

October 13, 2009
Kathleen

By the time race day arrives it will be more than 15 months since I made the commitment to do a Half Iron Man Triathlon. People ask “How do you handle life with a challenging condition like type 1 diabetes?” My response, “It takes a village” and I am fortunate to have supportive friends, family and coworkers in my life.

As an athlete (that’s right, I said it!!) with type 1 diabetes, “Kathleen’s Village” has expanded greatly to include many more loving, caring, supportive, dedicated friends, neighbors, coworkers, family, coaches and even strangers.

To my Steady Freddies Antoinette, Liv and Martha: Thank you for letting me come to your homes empty handed and plop on your couch while you cook me dinner and serve me wine. Thank you for understanding every time I canceled plans b/c I was too tired from training. Thank you for recognizing how hard this has been for me and telling me that I am an inspiration!

To Dave (Martha’s husband): Thanks for being my biggest cheerleader and lending me your truck so I could do the Santa Cruz Olympic Tri.

To Kari, my longest friend in SF: Thank you calling me back after I called you in complete tears my first night at track. Thank you for telling me that I WILL “get” the “athletic” lingo and not feel like a complete idiot each and every week. Thank you for taking my calls each and every week thereafter to hear all about my new fancy words and that I’ve run a half mile further or ran 10 seconds faster.

To Nicole & Tony: Thank you for opening your home to me the night before my very first sprint triathlon and for driving me over at the crack of dawn. Thank you for being a riding partner, teaching me road etiquette and how to clip in and out of the clipless pedals without falling over, breaking a leg or getting hit by a car. Thank you for your support during a very challenging time for you.

To Colette, my coworker and now dear friend: Thank you for helping ME develop numerous diabetes strategies over the last 15 months. Thank you for letting ME talk about ME so much. Thank you for running with ME at MY pace so I could feel successful. Thank you for being a giving, accepting, supportive and non judgmental person.

To my amazing boss and coworkers Steve, Veronica, Jeanne, Kathy, Mary, and Nicole: Thank you for your genuine interest in my athletic endeavors. Ok, what I really mean to say is: Thank you stopping what you were doing at your desk to listen to me talk about my latest athletic achievement and my various diabetes challenges and successes. Thank you for making me feel that life really does revolve around me.

To Becca, my diabetes “Lil’ Sister”: Thank you for joining me on this journey that started in March 2008 at the Diabetes Training Camp . You have been and continue to be there with me every stroke, every mile, every step of the way, especially when I cross the finish line on 10/25!

To Vicky Morse, my new friend from the Golden Gate Triathlon Club (www.ggtc.org ): Thank you for your encouraging words my first night at track, “Every journey starts with the first step”.

To Sergio Ruiz, my strength trainer (www.sfbodymatrix.com): Thank you for your commitment to help me achieve my goals even though I was cursing you under my breath during every squat, lunge, jump rope, push up and dozens of other exercises that I will never remember the names for.

To Neil Fraser (no relation), my local triathlon coach (www.trimorefitness.com): Thank you for knowing when to push me hard and when to tell others to leave me be while I’m dealing with diabetes stuff. Thanks for always “checking in” and having my back. Thank you for acknowledging my challenges b/c only then could I overcome them. Thank you for believing in me b/c only then could I start believing in myself.

To Fran Vogel, my parents oldest and dearest friend: Thank you for taking me to San Anselmo to that very specific athletic store so I could purchase the new “no blister” sneakers. I will be wearing them on race day and thinking of you!

To my sister Patti: Thank you for coming to Texas!! I knew I could count on you! I so wish Mommy and Daddy were here!!

I wish I could personally thank everyone b/c there are so many others that have made a difference and inspired me and supported me over the last year. Each person had a role in my success and I would not be where I am today without those mentioned above and countless others, including my fellow WILD Women and our amazing athletic coaches and medical team.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Cat Stevens, the singer, for his Greatest Hits Album. When I say I listened to it on every run, I mean EVERY run, the same album, each and every time I ran, I ran with you!

My favorite song which I find so very appropriate for this time in my life:
“WILD World”

Now when people ask me “How do you live your best Diabetes Life?”

I say: “It takes a WILD World”

Go Team WILD!!!!!!!

WILD Makes the dLife Calendar!

2009-10-13T11:47:00.004-04:00

Team WILD is making strides to further our cause.
dLife has posted our Austin 70.3 event in their calendar.
This will hopefully be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!!
Click the link above to read!

Women Who Get It!

2009-10-10T15:29:00.002-04:00

October 10, 2009
Mari

Recently I was riding with my Type 3 training pal and fellow team mate, Sandria. It was a ride where she just listened to me and every once in a while she’d ask a probing or clarifying question. After quite some time, she’s a really good listener, which means as you know, I can be a pretty good talker, she said, “I think I have it, our tag line is: Women Who Get It.” It hit me like lightening! YES!! Team WILD is women who get it!

To “get it” what does that mean? When someone gets something, to me it means, understanding, deep understanding. It means empathy, heart connection, deep feeling of relating and a shared sense of purpose in life. We on Team WILD are women who are connected and who get it on at least three important levels.

The first level on which we get it is that expert coaching is where it’s at. We are women who are embracing an athletic lifestyle, and athletes, whether expert or novice, have coaches. And not just any coaches. Nope, we deserve and have amazing, dedicated, passionate, smart coaches. We have some of the best in the world coaching us. And why not?! May as well learn from the best!

The second level on which we get it is that expert diabetes education is crucial to athletic and wellness success. We are a team of women who have diabetes, and diabetes is a complex condition. One that is highly individual, ever fluxuating, and requires a mind-set of scientific experimentation. Whether new to the condition or if one has lived many, many years with diabetes, those who are most successful over time adopt a positive mental frame of continuous curiosity and flexibility. To assist in this mind-set, we have on our team, experts in exercise, women and diabetes. These experts work with us in a group setting using case study and lecture and they are available for intensive one-on-one support. Our experts help each woman better utilize her at-home diabetes medical support team.

The third and very important level on which we are women who get it, is that we get how important it is for us to be on a supportive and fun team of like-minded women with a goal! Each of our teams is a closed group of women that start together and finish together. This way, the team gets to know one another and support each other along the way. Each team keeps a team blog and each woman agrees to find a way to tell her story and the story of the team in a public way, as our mission with WILD is to start a revolutionary wave of women with diabetes who embrace exercise as a key component to overall health and wellness!

We get it that we will create this wave of well, fit and healthy women, one woman at a time, and one WILD team at a time!

Dear Athletes!

2009-10-10T15:25:00.001-04:00

This email came today from our Head Coach, Yoli Casas Just in time, as a few of us are freaking out today!

Next week we start sharpening! YOU ARE READY!! REALLY!

As we get close to the race, we will get nervous. Even feel a bit tired. Wonder if you have done the work. TO THINK ALL OF THIS IS NORMAL!

THE ANSWERS :
It is ok to be nervous: go over your race strategy, do your visualizations.
Feeling tired is normal at THIS stage in your training! you are finally slowing down, you have trained hard and your body needs some good rest and healing from the GREAt workouts! that is why we are going into the sharpening phase now.

REST, REST, REST and sleep more than usual if you have the chance. Drink plenty of water. Maybe some vitamin C here and there.

Are you ready?? YES YOU ARE! ....You have done the work. Go over your notes from the beginning, see where you were last October and see where you are now.

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME !!!

Looking forward to seeing you soon, in Austin.

-Yoli

Stay Away From the Cupcakes!

2009-10-08T21:24:00.004-04:00

October 8, 2009
Lyndsay

I am ALWAYS hungry! A year ago I even voiced my excitement on this blog of knowing I would need to be eating more to fuel my body! In the thick of training, I have really noticed my appetite increasing, and not always at the most convenient times! …..

Lately, this has made treating night-time hypoglycemia extra challenging. Not over-treating lows was something that in previous years I had struggled with. To overcome this, I have made sure to have pre-packaged (15-20g carb) items like fruit snacks bedside. I trained myself to stay away from the kitchen when treating lows. Lately, that has gone out the window. When waking up to a night-time low, I can not ignore my ravenous hunger. So I end up eating far beyond 15g of carb, and bolus for extra carbs consumed. Most of the time, it works out!

Last weekend Jennifer Ahn, Jenna Cohrs, and I traveled to Wisconsin for the long rehearsal. We stayed at my in-laws and filled the counter top with our food for our training getaway. Treating the rehearsal like the actual race, I gave myself Levemir the night before and set a temp basal of 10% on my pump. I went to bed with a blood sugar of 145, to wake up at 2am to my sensor alerting me I was low. As I stood up and made my way to the kitchen (I really felt low!), I started with a banana. Then came a cupcake (AMAZINGLY GOOD-thanks Jennifer!)…but it didn’t stop there…then a pretzel dipped in peanut butter… I was in such a zombie-like mode, that I forgot to bolus for the extra 60g+ carb I consumed!
Yikes, needless to say, I did not wake up with an optimal pre-race blood sugar! Lesson learned! I will be eating a snack before going to bed, and will NOT be keeping cupcakes and extra snacks in my hotel room!

Funny Email Exchanges

2009-10-07T16:08:00.002-04:00

The blog for today are random responses given by our WILD women when they found out what swim wave they would be in. Sorry ladies...I had to post...it was just too funny...AND exciting!

"Woo Hoo! Pearl Purple 8:20AM....anyone with me? I know Ramona is!!" Jenny

"Bless you, bless you. I am NOT in the last wave! Really DON’T have to worry about the swim cutoff! People, I am VERY RELIEVED about this! Lorrie, I think Karen R. and Celeste are in your wave." Karen L.

"Haha! I echo Karen's email!!! Wooohooo!!!" Lyndsay

"Okay, this is really exciting. it just got REAL on a whole other level! And the uniforms are coming in this week...wow!" Mari

"You know what I think is funny is that I’m in the oldest women’s wave. I never considered myself old. I really still don’t, but it just cracks me up." Lorrie

"I'm in the Pearl Purple 8:20 Athena group. Thank god it isn't the last group. What was that book, something about 'if I was young again I would wear more purple." Christina

"The fact that I am sandwiched between men a little older and men a little younger is not completely lost on me:)
Wave 5 Fluo Pink 7:45.
Agreed about not being the last wave. This gives me more time for the rest of the race and means that I won't be scooped up on the course in the white pick up truck and driven to the finish line. Even if I'm crawling, I want to finish!!!! Yay!" Kathleen

"Yup, I m in 3! Perfect!" Celeste

"I'm going to draft off of Celeste during the swim. First, I'm going to lasso her with a rope---Texas style and have her pull me along." Lorrie-in response to being with Celeste, our swim coach, in wave 3.

"How crazy is this, I"m already counting back 3 hours and thinking about my pre race meal and I haven't even left San Francisco yet!
For those in Wave 5, let's meet in the Hampton Inn lobby at 4:45am for instant oatmeal!" Kathleen

"Okay, on this one I laughed OUT LOUD!!! The visual is awesome!!!!!! I will think of it while I'm swimming, 2 waves back!!!" Mari-in response to Lorrie's lasso comment

"I am already packed!" Celeste

Move Over Corn!

2009-10-05T08:17:00.003-04:00

October 5, 2009
Kathy

A new vegetable has my heart – the kohlrabi, yes, the kohlrabi. In one of my previous blogs, I was singing the praises of corn, but since then, I’ve been re-introduced to kohlrabi. What a glorious food! And what, pretell, is it about the kohlrabi that I hold so dear to my heart? My answer to that is, what isn’t to love? That woody yet sweet, easy to peal, crispy, apple-like spear of goodness is nearly a “free food” for those of use who count carbs.

This isn’t my first time falling in love with the kohlrabi, I remember it from a very distant past, like a gorgeous piece of art that is way out of your price range, but shows up years later in a budget gallery in smaller size print. Please note, I still very much like my corn. But if you have been following any of the Michael Pollen food industry stuff, you will know corn is basically in everything! Kohlrabi is corn-free (as far as I know) a full fledged vegetable, unlike proponent who call corn a “starchy vegetable.”

What does this have to do with the triathlon? Nothing, but it does serve as a very nice distraction for my mind from this monumentous event in 21 DAYS! During the last miles of the triathlon, I’ll try to think about the kohlrabi. If you happen to see me, shouting HEY KOHLRABI is sure to make me smile, as well as make others wonder, “What the heck?” Despite my performance at the race, please don’t throw any kohlrabi at me, but toss them gently my way.

Hello Everyone!

2009-10-04T17:22:00.003-04:00

October 4, 2009
Susan Y.

Hi everyone, being new to the team, as a Type 3 Supporter, I'm happy to be able to participate on one of the relay teams. I"m looking forward to Austin in a few weeks, meeting new people, learning what additional preparation is required for those with diabetes. It's bad enough you have to pack your tri gear, bike, wetsuit, shoes, helmet, etc. as part of the normal ritual.

I attended my first TeamWILD conference call last week. The nutritionist and endocrinologist were so supportive and encouraging. Then people started talking about basal-this and bolus-that - what the heck were they talking about? Obviously, it was related to their diabetes so I figured everyone else knew except me. I didn't want to waste precious conference call time so I listened. The next evening, I called Mari to get educated. She explained it in non-technical terms, like she was speaking to one of her students - it was great - and we discussed insulin levels and how exercise affects it. I forget easily so I'm sure I'll need a refresher.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone soon. It will be a fun time and a learning experience for all of us.

Team WILD Interview with Diabetes Forecast!

2009-10-02T18:40:00.003-04:00

Our fearless leader Mari Ruddy, and fellow teammate Christina Roy were interviewed for Diabetes Forecast online magazine. (Click the logo above for the link)

Spread the word women!!
GO WILD!

The Home Stretch & Why I Do This

2009-09-29T08:49:00.010-04:00

September 29, 2009
Mari

Like so many of the team, I did the long rehearsal this past Saturday. We did it in conjunction with the CWW tri club women training for the Arizona Ironman. This meant that Yoli and a few other coaches were there for support for the day. I had a race plan and executed it with flexibility and precision, which seems contradictory, but if you are a person with diabetes and an athlete, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I realized while I was out there swimming 1.33 miles (it was a meter pool), biking 56 miles and running 10 miles, that I absolutely love this sport. Granted I knew that before I embarked for the day, but doing it, feeling it, suffering, and loving it all at once merged into this beautiful realization about why I love it.

It’s because of the continual learning that happens. It’s why I can hardly wait until next season to do it all again, there are so many lessons I’ve learned this season that I am excited to put into place next season. Here are a few of the things I realized and learned this past Saturday that are key for me to remember on race day. And like Ramona said in her blog, what we learn is highly personal. These are my learnings!

Do not take any supplements or vitamins race day (or the day before) I knew this from previous race days, but I forgot. As a result, my stomach hurt in part because of this. Small but important detail. This sport is ALL about the details!

Put body glide on all my seams under my arms and inside my socks. Chafing and blisters are a new thing for me and body glide really works. Thanks Coach Bree for having some available mid-way through the run! I plan to have a stick of the stuff at both our transitions.

I really love having the sensor on the day before and during the race.
With the help of the continuous glucose monitor (the sensor) I did a great job the day before the rehearsal of keeping my blood sugar above 80 mg/dl the full 24 hours before the event. As Marcey, our Sports Dietician, reminded us, it’s important for glycogen stores in the liver to be topped off and fully available on race day, which means any low blood sugars in the 24 hours before the event make a serious dent in those stores. The sensor is a great tool we have available to us.

I am not very social right before, during or immediately after the race. I really like and need to get into my own story, into my own head and body space. My interactions with team mates are best limited to very superficial and upbeat comments and words of encouragement. I tend to smile a lot, but no details. I don’t want to share what’s happening with my blood sugars or discuss my plan of action. And as important, I don’t want to hear the details of what your blood sugar is doing or how your plan is going, that’s your story and I get distracted by those details. And before and during the race the name of the game is FOCUS. Once I’m done and have gotten some food, then I love exchanging our stories.

Carrying two water bottles on the hot run is perfect. I have one water bottle in my fuel belt and one bottle with electrolytes that I carry in the back of my sports bra (thanks Coach Celeste for this hot tip!) With all this extra water available, I can spray myself down and stay cool. This was a key to staying focused during the heat on Saturday.

The coaches and fans on the route really make a difference! I love the cheering and the support and the blast of energy and encouragement that comes as they yell and smile and jump up and down. I can feel it pull me to the finish line! And crossing that finish line is what it’s all about. As Sally Edwards says, “the woman who starts the race is not the same woman who finishes.” I’m excited to see what women we’ll all be at the finish of the Longhorn.

Miracles can happen!

2009-09-28T21:35:00.003-04:00

September 28, 2009
Ramona

Ok – I know it’s not a miracle, but it almost feels like one. On my big rehearsal yesterday, my blood sugars stayed between 88 and 168. The rehearsal (1.2 mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13 mi run) took me 8 hours and 45 minutes, and the WHOLE time by blood sugars stayed within that range! During my previous rehearsals, I’ve struggled to keep my blood sugars below 300, particularly on the bike. But check out yesterday’s numbers!

My experience yesterday convinces me that practice is invaluable. For each previous rehearsal, I’ve painstakingly planned and recorded my insulin, carbohydrates, and blood sugars. Finally, all the data paid off! I’ve learned that I have to be very aggressive when I get out of the water. Yesterday, I took 100% of my missed basal, 100% correction, and 150% (!) bolus for a goo. Even more unbelievable, I left my basal rate at 100% almost the entire rehearsal! Without practice, I never would have had the guts to be so aggressive. But gradually I’ve learned what I need. I understand that it is different from what many other women need, and I feel empowered to know that I have been able to identify what, I think, are my unique needs.

In Austin, it would not surprise me if the exact same strategy I used yesterday totally fails me when I try it again. But that’s ok. What’s important to me at this stage is that once – just ONCE – my blood sugars were about as perfect as I ever hoped they’d be during 8+ hours of exercise. It gives me confidence that it can happen again, even if it doesn’t in Austin. And I hope for those of you still waiting for your perfectly “in-range” rehearsal, it gives you hope that it can happen to you too!

Tri-ing while Diabetic

2009-09-28T07:39:00.003-04:00

September 27, 2009
Karen L.

This being my first triathlon season, there’s all kind of stuff to learn. I know what T1 and T2 are now. I know about putting stretch laces in my running shoes so I don’t have to spend time tying them in transition. I’ve learned to rub Body Glide on my ankles and wrists to ease wetsuit removal.

We’ve all got to answer a lot of questions in preparing for race day. What will I eat, and when? Where will I place myself in the wave start in the water? How will I set up my transition area?

Those of us with diabetes have some other things to learn and think about during our training and events. When will I eat before the event, and how much insulin will I take for it? What emergency snacks will I have on me in the water, and how? What will I do with my non-waterproof insulin pump during the swim? How often will I test my blood sugar during the bike ride? How will I test it? Where will I carry my fuel and blood sugar meter on the run?

I’ve been working a little on the testing-while-biking aspect of the whole equation. Here’s a closeup of the front of my bike, showing the aero bars. It’s nice that the ultra mini is such small meter:

New To The Team

2009-09-25T23:56:00.001-04:00

September 25, 2009
Karyn B.

I’m Karyn and I’m new to the Team! So, I’m new to Team WILD but not new to team diabetes - I have had Type I diabetes since 04/10/1990. Yeah, most people probably don’t remember the EXACT date of diagnosis but it was my 15th birthday … I’m also new to being an athlete with diabetes. At the beginning of the summer I had set my sights on 100km on my bicycle and fundraising for Tour de Cure which benefits the American Diabetes Association. I did it – I had a tire blow out and had FUN!
I was sitting for the picture of all the Red Riders – people with diabetes who rode the ride, no matter what length…. 100 miles, 100km, etc. There is this very lively woman next to me who asks “Do you run?”. No, I answer (that’s a whole other story of why I don’t run). She then asks “Do you swim?”. Again, no. I HATE fish and don’t want to be in the water with them – again, LONG story. She says “Remind me to give you a card – would you ride your bicycle in a half-marathon on a relay team?”. I don’t even hesitate and answer YES. OH BOY! That is how I met Mari.
At the beginning of this summer I had commited to 62 miles… I weighed 190 lbs and my A1C was 7.6% when I did this. My first ‘long ride’ was 12 miles. WOW. 12 miles is a normal, short lunch ride now. Well, 5 months later I weigh 155lbs and my last A1C was 5.9%! If I had met Mari a year ago I would have ‘hemmed and hawed’ about a half-triathlon team. No way I could EVER do that. And yet, 2 weeks later I had a bike case rented and plane tickets purchased. I’m not even registered for the race yet but even if that doesn’t materialize I will be there to cheer these ladies on.
I have been out of the state (Colorado) and away from my bicycle for a week now. I have been on a stationary bicycle once this week. I will be home in a few days and the very first thing that I will do is get on my bicycle and ride until I remember how happy it makes me and since I will only be 10 feet from my front door I’ll go ahead and ride a few more miles (like 10 or 20). My bicycle makes me happy and the opportunity to show the world what athletes with diabetes can do makes me even happier. (There, I said it, ATHLETE – nope, I have never said that about myself before).
See ya in TEXAS ladies!

Going with the Flow….

2009-09-25T17:38:00.003-04:00

September 25, 2009
Sarah W.

I’ve learned in life, and throughout this past year in training that you kinda have to just go with the flow….
Things happen that you don’t predict and although timing might be bad, you have to move forward and work with what you can.
I had a gastroparesis attack a few weeks ago that has set me back in training. I get these attacks about once or twice a year and of course it had to come a month and half before our race! But I am slowly recovering and will be back to training hopefully this week!
I also have hurt my hip (another frustrating thing so close to the race!) and will probably not be able to do the run. At first I was extremely upset. I thought I have put so much hard work in this past year, and now I can’t even do the whole race! But again, I realized you gotta go with the flow. There is nothing I can do about it now, so I will go to Austin and have the best swim and bike of my life!

An Evolving Athlete

2009-09-22T07:07:00.003-04:00

September 22, 2009
Lyndsay

This past week was a recovery week, with a lighter training weekend. Saturday I swam, and Sunday a 5 mile run. As I went for my “short run” I thought about how in the past, a 5 mile run or 25 mile bike was a daunting goal, and now it was considered my light day.

The previous weekend I successfully completed the training recommendations: a 1.5 mile swim, 14 mile run, and 75 mile ride. In all three sports, I went the farthest I had ever gone (in one weekend!) I have been committed to this team for over a year now. Yet, even 6 months ago if you told me I would be having this type of weekend, my mouth still would have dropped and I would have thought, wow, I am not sure that I could do that.

Although it is a real feel good moment to think how far I have come in the past year, more importantly I think about how my experience and evolution as a diabetic athlete can be used to encourage others. Today, my family, friends, and coworkers think I am “hard core.” However, it wasn’t too long ago I was in beginner shoes! After all, that is the whole inspiration story of Team WILD—showing the power of support, education, and that hard work pays off!

6 months ago I would NOT have had a smile getting into the water...

Rain, Thunder, Fog, Strong Wind, Hail, Sun and THE PLAN!!

2009-09-22T06:58:00.004-04:00

September 21, 2009
Kathleen

3:37am BG 293
Woken up by crazy thunder & lightening. Let’s eat! Granola and yogurt (40cho). Take full meal bolus and full correction. Back to bed.
7:00am BG 164
Alarm goes off and it is raining. Blood sugar, on target!
7:30am BG: 174
Waiting for Kristen at Golden Gate Park. Eat one GU (24cho). Mental note: take periodic sips of Gatorade all day. Fuel and hydrate!
Kristen I make it safely over the Golden Gate Bridge despite hundreds of riders participating in the MS Ride. Way too many cyclists and way too many cyclists pulling over to take their photo on “the” bridge. People! It’s just an orange bridge, it’s foggy, you can’t see anything, and there are thousands of us trying to get past you on a walkway maybe 4 feet wide. Kristen and I agree there’s an upside, good practice riding in a crowd.
8:23am BG 148
Meet up with Lisa & Daniel in Sausalito. Loud thunder cracks and big drops start falling. Daniel bails. He’s cold. Poor baby! What does he expect; he’s a runner and has like zero body fat! We tough insulated girls head out to Tiburon/Blackie’s Pasture.
9:04am BG 180
Despite the awful weather, a dozen from my local tri group show up to Blackie’s Pasture. Coach gives us a pep talk and instructions for the 8 mile Paradise Loop. Focus on form! Eat a GU (24cho) and I’m on my way. Keep drinking Gatorade.
Ok, this Loop is really curvy AND rolling, very wet, lots of debris on the road, cars and very disorienting b/c I’ve never been on it before and I’m afraid I will miss the turn back. You might say “Watch the riders in front of you”. Well, I’m so dead last that they are out of eye sight. Wait, what’s that I hear, someone is behind me. I’m not pulling up the rear! I don’t care that they headed out after me, I’m not dead last! We make the turn together and are back to our “transition” area…..together!
9:50am BG 170
Feeling good and transitioning into the run. 30 minutes. Coach says 15 minutes out, 14 back. Take my dry sneakers out of my plastic bag and put my biking shoes in there b/c it’s raining again.
Wow, I’m tight. I don’t feel winded (which is good) but my left shin is achy. Keep going. Ooooo….porto potty, better stop. Ick! I run/walk the 15 minutes and see Mona walking on her way back. We power walk back together. 15 minutes out, 13 back….walking!
10:30am BG 172
I need more nutrition. Clif Blox. It’s like a Lay’s potato chip, you can’t eat just one. I inhaled all 6! I was hungry and they are so good. 6x8=48cho. Hmmm, insulin? Probably. Just take enough to cover 1. Don’t want to get low.
While on the run, a gremlin flattens our tires. Sneaky coach. Wait, mine is not flat. Mums the word. It’s been a long day already and we’ve done several tire changing clinics, Tony showed me in Denver, I’m fine not changing mine today. I help Lisa with hers and then I’m first out on the next 8 mile bike Loop.
Second Loop, awesome. I feel more comfortable, I take the turns a little more quickly and only 2 people pass me (Lisa & Kevin). Almost at the final turn and hard stuff is falling onto my helmet. I think its nuts from the trees but I see its hail. Hail!
11:30am BG 318
I guess I should’ve taken more insulin for the 6 Clif Blox. (Shocker!) Just take a little. Transition again to the run. 20 minutes.
I feel pretty good on this run, looser, no shin pain. 10 minutes out, 9 minutes back.
12:18pm BG 225
BG coming down. Ok, where is everyone? It’s just me, Lisa and Kevin. Wait, this is what it feels like to be in the front of the pack. You wait for everyone else. Yes! I do a little “I’m in the front of the pack” dance.
The group sets up blankets and we all eat a picnic lunch. It was the very best turkey sandwich on wheat bread that I’ve ever had. Take half bolus b/c I’m riding back to SF. We sat around chatting about our Olympic tri next weekend in Santa Cruz, the house we rented, we’ll have a pre race pasta dinner and a post race BBQ on the beach. What a great day it is today. Wait, what’s that? The SUN! Pass the sunscreen ‘cause the sun is shining bright over Blackie’s Pasture. Heaven!
1:17pm BG 285
Kristen. Lisa and I head out on our bikes to the cheers of our teammates as they ALL get into their cars. That’s right, we’re riding back!
1:45 BG155
Still sunny as we near Sausalito to drop off Lisa. Wait, who is that we see on the bike path heading towards us? Daniel. The sun is out and he’s heading out for a ride. We are sweaty, dirty and muddy. I think he’s impressed. Eat a GU, coming down a little too quickly and there’s a huge long hill on the way to the Bridge from Sausalito. I need some fuel to get me up that hill.
2:22pm 116
Kristen stayed with me the entire time up Alexander Ave. How supportive is that? We are at the Bridge, it’s foggy and we are almost home! Easy peasy from here. Drink some Gatorade and we take our time. Wow, it’s really windy on the Bridge. Really windy.
Off the Bridge, into the historic Presidio, down Arguello Street (We make every light!) and into Golden Gate Park back where we started almost 8 hours ago.
3:10 pm
Kristen and I separate feeling like Champs!! I ride the 4 blocks home with a grin on my face. I’m beat!
4pm BG 90
Just had the best shower of my life! AND, my blood sugar is so IN RANGE.

I Love The Plan!

Thank you Marcey! You are an amazing nutritionist and CDE.

Training Pays Off!

2009-09-15T15:39:00.003-04:00

September 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

When I signed up to do this ½ Ironman way back when, I had never done a triathlon. As Jenna stated in her blog, I didn’t (and still don’t) consider myself an athlete. I ran a couple years ago to stay healthy. Then, I got sucked into doing a ½ marathon last year, went to Diabetes Training Camp, and somehow I became a triathlete. Since I had never done a triathlon, I signed up for a few races to get my feet wet. My first 2 sprint distance triathlons went ok… but the swim part gave me anxiety every time I started regardless of how much I trained. Although I finished both races with a fair time, I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t give my best effort on the swim.

Two weeks ago was my first Olympic distance triathlon, the Chicago Triathlon, which by the way, is the largest triathlon in the world. This will be my last triathlon before Longhorn. It was 8 weeks from the big race and approximately half the distance. So, I thought, perfect for a training race. But, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about the swim. If I freaked out again, I would be going into Austin with low confidence in my abilities. And, I function much better with self-confidence built from experience.

One week prior to the triathlon, I went to the lake to practice an open water swim. For some reason (well besides it being Chicago), the water was very choppy and freezing, about 60 degrees. The last sprint I did was 58 degrees and I couldn’t breath because it was freezing. I thought to myself, I had to do this because who knows what it will be like next week during the race. I watched as some swimmers looked and left stating, "it's too rough to swim." Determined to get my work-out in, I put my wet suit on and headed in. I overheard some of guys bigger than me state, "well, if she's going in..." The water was frigid, but I managed to swim the mile and got a good arm work-out swimming though the waves.

The following week, I contemplated my plan. Will I use Levemir or try the waterproof pump Aquapak I bought months ago (and never once used). There would be a 3 hour lapse from the time transition closed to my wave start. After help from Mari (via Facebook), I decided on the Aquapak. The weather was cold in the morning, but by the time my wave started, it was perfect weather with the sun peaking out of the now scattered clouds. The swim was a tread start. I got in, the bell went off and so did I. I was relaxed and just swam. No anxiety, no fears that I was going to drown. It was a great swim. And, I finished the swim 8 minutes faster than my usual pace. I was glowing getting out of the water.

Since the swim was over, I was at ease for the bike and the run. I even found a way to strap my glucometer onto my aerobars and was able to check my blood sugars while going 18-20 mph down lakeshore drive, which was consistently in the 90-120 range. I was tired during the run, but I was determined to make it a best effort. No once did I stop running (well except for the water breaks). I finished around the time I wanted to do and was proud. I ran to the finish with a big smile on my face. This was definitely the confidence booster I needed. All the training paid off! AUSTIN, HERE I COME!!

Am I an Athlete?

2009-09-13T20:27:00.002-04:00

September 13, 2009
Jennafer C.

This is a label that I toy with while I am training. When I think athlete, I in vision a trim, toned, and able to complete any active activity person. So, am I an Athlete? Can I wear my cute pink Nike t-shirt with "ATHLETE" in red printed on it honestly without feeling like a fraud? I am a few pounds over weight, have some muscle some where, and can complete most active activities with a good effort and lots of struggling. I have felt like a wanna be "Athlete." If you look through my box of gear that I keep by my door, I have all the makings of an Athlete. That box is full of swim caps, running shoes, the stick, football cleats, running gloves for winter, road id, heart rate monitor, biking shoes, you name it, if it has to do with any of my activities, it is in that box. I have just been back into training since mid August. I completed the Chicago Triathlon Sprint distance a few minutes faster with only 2 true weeks of training than any of my sprint triathlons that I trained for all summer last year. I was on cloud 9 crossing the finish line at Chicago. Good friends were cheering me on and I was finally able to do it instead of cheering my friends on. I am back in the game! But, was I an Athlete yet? My final acceptance of calling myself an Athlete came later that night. I am a Pilot and had to catch a commercial flight to NYC later that evening to fly a private jet for a week. When I got to my hotel in NYC, I realized I packed everything to continue my training while traveling: RoadID, water bottle, nutrition, heart rate monitor, swim suit, cap, goggles, running shoes, and clothes for running. What I didn't pack was my round brush for drying my hair out straight or flat iron. I realized my desire to keep up with my training was a priority over my desire to look professional while working.... I am an Athlete! I'm going to start wearing my pink "ATHLETE" t shirt proudly.

Reflections from Kathleen

2009-09-13T08:55:00.003-04:00

September 12, 2009
Kathleen

Women who are unable to come to Texas (regardless of the reason): You will be missed and my thoughts are with you b/c I just know this must have been a hard decision for each of you to make. This was definitely a hard commitment for me to keep and there were many times I thought I would drop out so I can appreciate what you went through to come to your final decision. Big hugs from SF.

My personal reflections and some thoughts that have gotten me through this ever changing year (both with our team and my own life) are:

I can’t believe that I have been doing this tri thing for over a year! I have never worked so hard both mentally and physically and this journey has been very rewarding even though EXTREMELY challenging.

I am so proud of myself for getting out there every single day despite my real dislike for running, my lack of cycling skills, lingo and equipment and my fear that the sea lions in SF Bay are going to get me one of these days. My learning curve was huge and my fears numerous!

Who knew I had the mental strength to go back each week to track with the “young kids” on my local tri team? I’m by far the slowest. I’ve improved but so has everyone else so I’m still dead last! That gets old fast and quite honestly, kinda sucks. But, I do it. Every week, week after week after week since February. How great am I to show up regardless of my total embarrassment, a few tears, high blood sugars, low blood sugars and slow feet?

I have learned so much about my body and my diabetes; real life information that I can take with me into my day to day life. Not that stuff they teach you in school and you think “When will I ever use this again?!” Applicable information that I recently passed on to a mom of a young girl with type 1 trying out for cross country track. I’m paying it forward! Yay!

My friends and family are so proud of me. No matter how old we get there’s just something validating about those you love telling you, “I’m so proud of YOU!” I could cry writing that. Ok, I am crying (sniff sniff).

Yes, being a member of this team has been part of the inspiration and motivation but quite honestly….even if no one else shows up…..I will still be there continuing this journey. Celebrating the commitment that I made to myself. I mean let’s face it, it’s ME that gets ME out of bed each morning.

While there is always a bigger picture, a greater good……if it’s not personally resonating with me then what’s the point? It’s the personal challenges and successes that helped me keep this commitment to ME to continue training, to continue spending a ton of money on training and to go to Texas.

While I understand the importance of a large contingent re the Team message, future of the Team, etc……the personal growth and feeling successful for me is the same whether we are 20, 19, 2 or 1.

This experience has forever changed me and I look forward to sharing it with all of you (and my friends, family and supporters) whether it is physically in Texas or virtually on the web.

Has Anybody Seen My Granola Bar?

2009-09-09T19:19:00.003-04:00

September 9, 2009
Susie

Last weekend I participated in the Chicago Triathlon. This was my first Olympic/International distance event (0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). I put in miles and miles of swimming, biking and running to prepare for the race, practiced my nutrition and hydration timing, made sure my wetsuit, bike, shoes, etc, were ready to go, and when race day arrived, with the right preparation, everything went exactly according to plan…. right?

Yes and No. I made a couple of bonehead mistakes which threw off the plan, but nothing too serious. I'll share one. The first wave went off at 5:45 am, but my wave did not start until about 8:45 due to the enormous size of this event. I knew I would need some food with me during the wait. I had a normal pre-race breakfast before leaving the house, then had a small peanut butter sandwich after setting up transition… and I had tucked a granola bar into the sleeve of my wetsuit, sort of halfway sticking out, to eat about 20-25 minutes before my wave started. That is the last I remember of the granola bar. In the excitement of lining up with my wave and entering the water, I completely forgot about it. Who knows where that granola bar is in Lake Michigan right now. Those of you who know me are probably not all that surprised by this one. But I had other fuel in the transition area, so it turned out to be ok.

Also, in terms of things going "exactly according to plan", I guess we just have to be ready for the unexpected, make adjustments, and keep mental focus when a surprise pops up. For example, I didn't expect the 20 mph headwind going north on the bike course (that's half of the course). It required extra mental focus to not get frustrated with the wind pushing us back. On the bright side, the wind set us up for a nice cruising-speed headed southbound with the wind at our backs!

Overall, this was a great event. I had set some time goals for the swim, bike, run, and transitions, and had set a goal to finish with a smile on my face. Mission accomplished! Bring on Longhorn!

My Favorite Quotes

2009-09-09T19:10:00.004-04:00

September 4, 2009
Kathy

Early on in my Junior Varsity Basketball days, I've love motivational quotes. I pored over the pages of The Edge - The Guide to Fulfilling Dreams, Maximizing Success and Enjoying a Lifetime of Achievement by Howard E. Ferguson, trying to find the appropriate quote to serve as my team's pre-game motivator. Now looking through the book, 15 years later, I can't help but notice all the images and quotes from males. I do thank the Feminist Movement and Title 9 for giving me all the opportunities in sports that my fore-sisters did not have the luxury of having. Let's continue this movement so that the next wave of female athletes has a motivational quote book filled equally with men and women. Go WILD Women!

Here are two of my particular favorite quotes:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Quoted in the Movie Coach Carter, and often attributed to Nelson Mandela who used it in his 1994 Inaugural Speech, actually from Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love - Reflections on the Principles in A Course in Miracles.

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
-Audre Lorde

I am not a DIABETIC

2009-09-05T06:20:00.002-04:00

September 2, 2009
Kathleen

I am a person with diabetes (PWD).
While all medical textbooks may say “diabetic” and “disease”, I never say “diabetic” or “disease”. NEVER. I suffer from a chronic condition, diabetes. I don’t want to be labeled as “Diseased”. Ick! That sounds just awful, doesn’t it?

I am a woman, now an athlete, a friend, a sister, a colleague, a native New Yorker, an American and all of those people has diabetes. When you say the “diabetic child”, inevitably it will get shortened to the “diabetic” and the child is somehow lost. Folks will tell you that they use the term “diabetic” for the sake of brevity. Why?
Obviously diabetes is a huge part of my life and defines me in many ways like all of my other life experiences but I am NOT the disease and do not want to be labeled as such.

It’s a pet peeve of mine and I think many in the community are split down the middle. I also think there are others that have been using the label “Diabetic” for so long that they never really thought about it any other way.
Well, here’s some food for thought (free food, no carbs, no insulin needed!). Why don’t these conditions, and so many other, have labels?

Hypertensiac: Person with hypertension
Hammer-toic: Person who suffers from hammer toes
Heart Attacker: Person who has experienced a heart attack
Rheumatoid Arthritic: Person with rheumatoid arthritis
Canceric: Person who suffers from cancer.

Ones I like:
Cancer Survivor: It’s so obvious that the focus is on Survivor and not the Cancer. As it should be.
WILD Women: Women Inspiring Life with Diabetes. The focus is on Life!

Join me fellow WILD Women in continuing to inspire a rich and full Life.

Cycling Shoe Stuck in the Head

2009-09-02T08:04:00.003-04:00

August 30, 2009
Nancy

There is no "I" in team. Sometimes we forget that...wait scratch that...sometimes I forget!
This past year has been a crazy one! I got lost in overextending myself in obligations, and well, just my regular everyday life has been overextended. I've had to rely on my wonderful husband for a ton of junk...and for this anal, control freak kinda girl that was hard but necessary to get through the day sometimes. (NO I in team..he and I are a great team!) The ever supporting spouse shouldn't have to do it all, and when push comes to shove, decisions have to be made.

I was giving advice to an athlete a while back..."You need to be realistic on your life and your training. Maybe this isn't the right time for you"...blah, blah, blah. You get the picture. It was like someone thew my cycling shoe at me and it got stuck in my head...DUH! Skipped workouts, sleeping in, and the workouts I did get in were not always the quality or volume needed to get me ready for a 70.3 race.
Much to my disappointment, I had to make the big, hard decision to not join my WILD women in Austin for the Half Ironman. Beyond that, I made a bigger decision to not race at all this year. This is the first year I haven't raced since I started any type of racing back in 2000. "Be realistic about your life" I said. Crap! How did I become so sensible?? Damn that old age thing!
I have to say that once I said it out loud there was a big relief. The pressure was off me now. The downside of that was I now had an excuse NOT to wake up early to do anything except drink coffee and take the dog for a walk. (Although walking Cooper is like a race..LOL!) I'm working on it now. Life has been handed back to me, and I'm looking forward to a L O N G base phase of training to get my s**t back together.

This story could go on and on, with more details that lead me to where I am now. But I'm moving on and not dwelling on the past!
So...to my WILD Team....I am forever in spirit with you and using each one of you for my motivation. Watch out for 2010...I'll be ready!

A Must Read!

2009-09-01T08:18:00.002-04:00

If this story doesn't motivate you, then I don't know what will!

Savannah Sanitoa of American Samoa steals show from Usain Bolt

Thoughts During A Training Ride

2009-09-01T08:08:00.003-04:00

August 29, 2009
Kathy Z.

After a rather eventful bike ride with a plethora of thoughts running through my mind, eureka, I’ve got a theme for my next blog.

Intention: 40-mile early morning endurance bike ride, basking in the warm summer sun through beautiful rolling Wisconsin farmland.
Reality: 32-mile endurance-turned-interval bike ride completely soaking wet in the cold, unpredictable Wisconsin summer weather through rainy, obnoxiously hilly, manure-smelling Wisconsin farmland.

Pre-ride – “Since Charlie Shortino [local weatherman personality] says it may rain late morning, I’ll practicing getting up, eating and go for an early (7 AM) ride. What a beautiful morning, I think I’ll ride northwest to Hwy 12. I like that path by the highway. What should I eat?”

Mile 1 – “Hmm, it’s kind of chilly in a tank top. Note to self, wear a short sleeved bike shirt next time in this temperature.”

Mile 5 – “It looks dark over there. I thought those clouds weren’t supposed to come until later this morning. Maybe they are miles away, and if I ride fast enough… Oh yeah, drink some Gatorade. Fueling the athlete, fueling the athlete.”

Mile 8 – “I like corn. I like to eat corn on the cob. I need to buy some, why haven’t I bought any this year yet? I’ll put it on the grocery list, and then Berta [my partner] will buy some at the store. How can she NOT like corn? It’s not as windy since the cornfields have grown so high. I bet they are 5 feet tall! It always amazes me, those tiny little seeds grow so big.”

Mile 10 – “This hill sucks. I think I’ll focus my annoyance on Coach Yoli. She said she is used to people being mad at her during training. Okay, focus. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10… Wow I’m breathing hard. At least I get to go downhill now. Watch Out below! 38 mph awesome, and kind of scary. Fuel the athlete.”

Mile 12 – “Is that a raindrop. Oh crap. This wasn’t supposed to happen until LATE morning Mr. Charlie Shortino! I would not classify 8 AM as late morning. Well, everything is good practice? Now I guess I can practice riding with sprinkles. It rains in Texas, right? Nope, you can’t control the weather.”

Mile 15 – “Wow, it’s really poring now. I should turn around. Please no lightning, please no lightning. I wonder if cars on Hwy 12 are looking at me, wondering what a biker is doing out here in this rain. Their windshield wipers are probably on high.”

Mile 20 – “Stupid sunglasses. My butt’s wet. Yeah, and my white tank top was a really great idea, brilliant, in fact. Burrrrr. Fuel the athlete.”

Mile 25 – “Who can I blame, who can I blame, oh yeah, Yoli! You stink…making us train on a frickin’ Tuesday. Okay, stop blaming Yoli. You did this to yourself; she didn’t make you go out today, with the threat of rain. Those cows really stink. All these years in Wisconsin, I just can’t get used to that smell. How do farmers do it?”

Mile 28 – “Concentrate on bike handling skills. Going downhill at 38 mph is probably not a smart idea with wet concrete. Break…break some more. Fuel the athlete.”

Mile 30 – Another biker, who is NOT wet, passes me from behind as says, “Got caught in the rain, huh?” “Is it that obvious? I probably have a giant brown stripe up my back. Why isn’t the road wet here? Are you telling me I rode into that storm! Sigh. I should have gone east.”

Mile 32 – “Home at last. Hi dogs. Hello shower!”

Most of the above thoughts are indeed true, and yes, it is quite entertaining to be me.
Happy Training, even if it’s raining.

Down, and Kinda Out …

2009-08-28T07:54:00.004-04:00

August 28, 2009
Cheryl

Training for a triathlon is easy. Yes! I said easy as in uncomplicated. You just design your workouts (or have that done for you), and just do them. See? Simple. This isn’t about ability. We’re all capable of doing anything we set our minds to.
The challenging part is remaining motivated. While training for three events typically means you don’t have to do the same thing daily, boredom can set in. After all, how exciting is it to go to the pool, do warm ups, do your main set, cool down, get out, shower and continue on with your day? It’s a lather-rinse-repeat kinda scenario. Do you find washing your hair exciting?

**************************************************************
Today’s entry chronicles a puzzling event for me and helps explain the title of my entry.
**************************************************************

June 16: I overslept and didn’t make it to my group run and decided to run on my own. Now “run” is relative. I mostly alternate with a fast jog and brisk walk, but, I was determined to run for 25 minutes before slowing down to walk for a few minutes.
Merrily I’m running along, feeling really invincible that day. It was overcast, and fewer people were out on the trail than normal. I wondered if it was a local holiday. At about the 9 minute mark, I passed by the apartment complex that always has at least 10 stray cats hanging about. That morning, a few stopped to watch me was I strode by. My cheering section meowed meekly as I rode by. They were subdued only because most of the apartment dwellers were still asleep (it was just 6:30 am or so). Just as I cleared the complex, I went down.
Down as in hands slid on the pavement, chin bounced off, and glasses popped off down. Embarrassed, I got up, looked around and whew! Nobody saw my ungraceful tumble to the ground.
No matter the effort, I couldn’t get the stride back that I’d had to that point. I settled for jogging for 4 minutes, walking for 2 to complete the 3 mile run.
Back in the car, I checked for signs of injury. No torn clothes, no blood, no scratches, no nuthin’. Home to shower, shampoo, and shine. Then, off to work. Uneventful day and the day after.

Thursday June 18: I made it to my run group on time. My trainer and I ran together, and that day I ran 11 minutes without stopping. She said I looked good, and asked how I felt. “My knee feels wobbly, but other than that, I feel very strong,” I replied.
Same deal as on Tuesday; no ill effects from the run (and no fall either), so off to work.

Friday June 19-Monday June 29: Knee often buckles when walking (i.e. Cheryl falls down). Seek chiropractic treatment. Feel good for several hours afterwards, but nothing persists except the pain and swelling. Buy & use knee brace.

July 1 – July 10: On vacation. River rafting, bouldering, rock scrambling, hiking. Should I be doing these things? Yeeesssss. I’m on vacation dammit! Wear knee brace, but feel awkwardly weak when I take it off. Cause for concern? Not then.

Rest of July: no improvement, but no deterioration either. Chiro orders MRI and I get an appointment with orthopedist. Found an ortho who is also a triathlete. Score!

August: Orthopedist tries cortisone shot. No benefit. After further evaluation and second review of MRI, orders arthroscopic surgery. Sigh.

Down & Kinda Out: No training for the event is really possible. Can swim but bike and run just not happening. Most days my walk resembles that of a hermit crab. Pain & swelling are too much. So, no event for Cheryl but happy for the progress made by the rest of the team!

I’m anxious to find out what’s really wrong, fix it so I’m better than new for 2010!
Good luck at Longhorn Tri ladies! I’ll be there in spirit.

LOST and FOUND

2009-08-26T07:10:00.003-04:00

August 25, 2009
Kathleen

Lost: 3 strokes. If found, DO NOT CALL ME!

I just returned from 2 amazing vacations in New Hampshire. Actually, it started as one vacation and then a mini vacation became the vacation within the vacation. Are you thoroughly confused yet? That's ok, read on.

I spent a glorious 6 days at a cottage on Lake Spofford, New Hampshire with my sister, her 14 year old daughter, her little friend and my cousin (the now owner of the cottage). This cottage was a place my sister and I went many times in both summer and winter with my mother to visit her Aunt Josephine. Our beloved Jo Jo. We hadn't been to this cottage in over 30 years and both my mother and Jo Jo are gone so returning to this memorable place of my youth was both exciting and emotional. I was happy to see that not much had changed at the cottage but somehow the Lake was smaller than I remember. As kids, we were out in that canoe all day so Lake Spofford felt like Lake Erie to us. I'd forgotten that there was an island in the middle of the Lake, just over a 1/2 mile from shore. The path around the Lake was 6.5 miles and the roads in and out of Spofford were rolling, smooth and endless. Perfect tri training ground!

The highlights are too numerous to say but the image that will carry me thru the 1.2 mile swim in Austin is of my 14 year old niece on a kayak for the first time guiding and protecting me to and from the island as I swam. Each breath I took, there she was out of the corner of my eye keeping me on course and I could see her keen eye ensuring that no boats crossed our path and that I made it safely to and from the island. I was so excited to include her in my training but I think she was even more excited. I'm old enough to know that this will be one of Hannah's memories of the Lake, the cottage and her time spent with her Aunt Kathleen. My sister, her mother, will join me in my hotel room in Texas and will be there cheering me on and scooping me up as I cross the finish line on 10/25. Everyone has a role!

The second vacation was in Lincoln, New Hampshire swimming with Celeste St. Pierre, our skilled swim coach. (Triathlon Skills) Since I was going all that way to New Hampshire, Celeste was a mere 90 minutes north of Lake Spofford . Celeste expertly guided me through 90 minutes of swim drills and at the end of it all........I was swimming 20 yards in 3 less strokes. Let me say it again people....when I arrived it took me 16 strokes and when I left it took me 13 strokes. I Lost 3 Strokes!!!!

According to my mathematical calculations:
1.2 miles= 2112 yards
2112 divided by 20 yards = 105 laps
105 x 16 strokes = 1680 strokes
105 x 13 strokes = 1365 strokes
1680 - 1365 = 315 strokes!!!!!

Can this be right? Seriously, my math skills are basal, bolus, carb counting based so can someone confirm that I have lost 315 strokes! If yes, this will surely help me on the bike and the dreaded run.

Woo Hoo!

Thanks Hannah and Celeste!

Brain and Brawn….a United Team

2009-08-23T19:07:00.002-04:00

August 21, 2009
Jennifer S.

We’ve been seeing the “mental strategy” on our training calendar and likely have noted this in the back of our mind as something we focus on already while we are training. But seeing the written description of this in the past week has really hit me as far as how much mental energy goes into these types of endurance events as well as the muscular output to keep you moving.

I’ve taken the chance to bring this mental strategizing into my training sessions for the past week and a half because I’ve had to limit my intensity and type of activity due to a recent surgery. I took a 4-mile walk (close to Edy pace!) the other afternoon hoping to get a workout in “in the heat” as Yoli’s calendar suggests. It was about 90 degrees with significant humidity as I set out. I started the walk thinking how irritated I was that I couldn’t actually be running or biking, but then tried to curb that by realizing I could focus and plan a little more while working out at the slowed pace. I focused hard on keeping my walk pace and breathing steady and even found it easier to time my “fuel” and “hydration” points. Half way through my walk I started thinking about the surgery I had and all the planning (mental and other) I had done prior to it….long story short anesthesia and I don’t agree! I had successfully made it through the 3 ½ hour surgery…high BG levels, nausea, convincing the nurses to let me monitor and dose my correction insulin with my pump – and it occurred to me that if I could make it through something so ultimately scary to me with enough planning before hand, then doing the same thing for our event would be most beneficial. The mental preparation is key.

Since I was walking, I imagined myself moving through T2 – starting to urge my legs to move like running legs after just completing 56 miles on a bike. Thinking positively that this is the last leg of the Tri – planning my best fuel times and hydration times and how to remind myself to do these things. I successfully completed my first sprint tri a few weeks ago (only brawn in this photo!), but completely fell off the fuel/hydration plan that I had set. I’m assuming it was race day nerves/excitement etc. So learning from this and getting back to my planning for our race I have decided to wear 2 watches. My Garmin for timing/speed/distance etc. and a stop watch that I’ll use only for that purpose. Allowing me to be alerted to time for fuel or hydration. I also thought it would be great to have a mental mantra of sorts that I can bring to mind at the times that I will fuel and hydrate and a time to do a mental analysis of how I’m feeling, etc. I’ve found that sometimes this just falls away when I’m so focused on the goal of the training session – not reminded until that feeling that we all know takes hold as Sara talked about in her last Blog – the lows!

The completion of this event together means we are all planning and strategizing a little differently. I think we’ve learned a lot from each other about Diabetes control, but also we’ve talked a lot about how we mentally think before and during events.
It has strengthened the message that Yoli has taught us…. that both our brains and our brawn need to be working together to finish this as strong and visible women with Diabetes!

The Low Ride

2009-08-17T12:04:00.001-04:00

August 17, 2009
Sarah

Ever since I went to DTC last June I have learned two things about biking and exercise in general. 1) That it is OKAY to eat and 2) that you NEED to eat! I used to go on 40-mile rides and not eat a thing. I feared I was going to spike from the food or drop from the insulin I had to give for the food. So instead I just ate NOTHING. And inevitably by about mile 30 I would start to bonk. DTC was a revelation for me and since I have done much better on long workouts.

Throughout this year of training I have never had too many issues with lows. I have figured out about how much carbs I need for whatever activity I am doing and have had pretty good results.

But the other day I headed out for a ride/swim. I started out at 121, which is lower than I usually like to start at, but still ok. I ate a shot block, filled my bottle with Accelerade and headed out. From the very start of the ride I felt off. Finally, about 20 minutes in I checked my blood sugar. 65. Okay, so I guess I didn’t eat enough and probably still had some insulin on board from breakfast. So I quickly ate 23g of carbs, kept drinking the accelerade, and kept going. 25 minutes later I still felt crappy and just didn’t have the ‘oomph’ that I normally have. Checked again. 69. Another 21g carbs, more accelerade and off again. At this point I thought about turning around. I couldn’t seem to get my blood sugar up and stay there and I still had 8 more miles of biking, 1 mile of swimming, and 20 more miles riding home. But I figured, this is a good learning experience so do what you can to figure it out and finish what you planned. Although I felt off, I wanted to keep going to see what happens and how I can work with it.

So I made it to the pool (slowly, but still made it). Checked BS again. 73. Ate another 20g carbs and headed to the pool for a 1-mile swim. The swim felt better than the bike had and I thought I had finally gotten my blood sugars up again. Out of the pool, checked BS again. 58! But I still had a 20-mile ride home and I wasn’t giving up now! Had another 38g CHO and started my ride home. The ride back felt a little better, but still not at my normal power. Got home, and finally after eating a total of 130g CHO and about 600 calories worth of food my blood sugar was 104! At least it was above 100 =).

So, although it wasn’t an ideal ride I learned how important it is to figure out what you need to keep your blood sugars at an optimal level. Although now I probably won’t head out on a 3 ½ hour workout with a lower BS and insulin on board, the lessen was valuable and I’m glad I stuck with it and pushed through. I learned what my body needs and can hopefully avoid rides like that in the future!

Fun in the Sun

2009-08-15T19:21:00.001-04:00

August 16, 2009
Karen R.

Team members are few and far between here in the southwest and I was very glad Edy came to visit her son recently for it meant we could get together for one of the 30-mile aerobic rides. It was a beautiful day, a great ride, and so much fun to have shared it with a friend and teammate.

How Not to Ride a Bike

2009-08-15T19:17:00.001-04:00

August 14, 2009
Jennifer A.

I feel like I know how to ride a bike… this I learned when I was a child when my training wheels came off. Granted, I rode my bike growing up, but not as intensely as I do now… and, even that has just really come to pass over the last year when I got my road bike. But, lately, I feel like I need to relearn how to ride.

Living in Chicago is great because there are so many places to bike. I try to bike to work at least 1-2 times a week (depending on how much stuff I have to lug around). A few weeks ago, it was predicted to rain in the afternoon… but to stop by the time I go home. I took a chance and decided to go ahead and ride. The weatherman was actually correct… rain in the afternoon and stopped just before I left work. Needless to say, the roads were still wet when I left. Traffic was terrible that day (due to Obama visiting). I was at an intersection that just turned yellow as I crossed and the car across the street decided to try to beat the yellow and turned right in front of me. Bike brakes don’t really work on wet pavement so I ran into the car and fell over. Luckily, I had no broken bones just a big bruise and bump (that still present) on my left hip. And, yes… I was wearing my helmet.

The following week, our triathlon group got us a sweet deal to get fitted professionally on the bike. They raised my seat 4 cm, changed my stem and moved the clips on my shoes forward. Of course, riding home, I wasn’t used to the height and clips being in a different place and didn’t clip out fast enough just a block from the place. No injuries… just embarrassment. But, what a difference on the bike!! Much better handling and comfort. To top it off, it was raining during my interval work-out Saturday. I was in a rush to get home to do weights with my trainer… didn’t pay attention to the raised curb and crash!! This time… road rash galore! Needless to say, it was hard to do a lot of the intense work-outs this week. Swimming stung, running hurt and biking was fair but not as fast as I usually ride. ☹

So, battered and bruised… I’ve learned. I can’t ride in the rain. I need to watch where I go. And cars and bikes just don’t get along. Most of which I knew… but it takes a reminder now and then. I think I should be good as far as falling off the bike goes… I’m determined and ready to go for October despite this. Go Team WILD!!

It's Lunch Time!

2009-08-14T10:38:00.002-04:00

August 14, 2009
Sandria

Time for my afternoon run! I want to train around the time I will stat the run during the race and account for the HEAT! I lock my office door and change in to my ever-so-sexy spandex shorts and exercise top then I sneak out of my office, around the corner and slip out the side door. No need for any co-workers to get a look-see at my bootay in spandex. It’s HOT out here. 92 today. Yozer. This will be good for me, I decide.

Booting up the iPod, I select a play list called “Interesting Stuff” and MIA comes on with Paper Planes. I pick up my walking pace and look down the road where I will spend then next 60 minutes in hot pursuit of my goal. Next song…Jimmy Eat World – Let it Happen…and I’m off. Foot in front of foot, my run has begun. It’s HOT out here!

It’s interesting what happens when I settle in for that run or bike or swim. Once I’m at a pace I can maintain, it’s like a meditation and I start to think. It’s just me, my running shoes, the road and my thoughts. The more I run, the more at peace I become…just letting my endorphins carry me onward. Today I’m thinking about a thought I started on Sunday during a 60 mile bike ride with Mari – that women bring such grace and elegance to triathlon. And though it’s an individual sport, we are all there to cheer each athlete on in her journey to the finish line. “GO WILD” I think to my self, and I am reminded about how amazed I am by the women of this team. I, a type 3, am in such reverence to the women of wild and your fierce determination to succeed though the hills, the pools, the trails…and of course the highs and the lows.

Turn around point – I pick up my pace. Techno should motivate me so I put on a little Tiesto, one of my favorite DJ’s. I’ve been running at lunch time for the past two weeks, and I love it. I see some of the same people out on their runs as well. And here comes my new buddy. He’s seems to be about 50 and kind of runs with a limp. He salutes me and yells out a friendly reminder “don’t forget to go back to work!” HA! How did he know that I would rather run and run and run all afternoon instead of working? ☺

I’m back now and sweating. I dash off to clean my self up and change back in to “office attire”. One run down…more to go. October 25th is right around the corner, and I’m excited!

Suck it up, Buttercup

2009-08-13T20:42:00.003-04:00

August 13, 2009
Karen L.

I know some of you have been waiting with bated breath to hear how my rehearsal race went after the disastrous blood sugars in my Olympic triathlon recently. Okay, maybe not. Anyway, following some suggestions from Dr. Matt I was able to keep my blood sugar between 70 and 334 during my 6:20 effort (I did the 1.2-mile swim, the 56-mile bike, and a 10K run during this practice race). That might not sound good, but it was a lot better than the previous race, and now I have more data to work with…

Should I mention strategies? Those who aren’t diabetic can skip ahead to the next paragraph. I had breakfast 3 hours before the race, and bolused 70% for the carbs in that. 1 hour before the race start, I set a temp basal for 75% to continue through the anticipated end of the race. I checked again and ate just before I disconnected my pump and got in the water. At T1 I hooked back up, and set a square wave bolus for 150% of the basal insulin I’d missed, to be taken over 90minutes (and ate again). Here’s a key thing: at every 30min riding time, I made myself STOP and check my blood sugar and eat. My mantra for making myself stop is the title of this blog entry, and I think I’ll use it at other times to make myself mentally tougher while racing. I took a 33% correction bolus each time I was over 225. I didn’t explicitly take any insulin for the carbs I was eating (although based on this race, I will for the T1 carbs I eat in the next race; I’ll also be reducing my basal even more starting an hour before the run). I continued this strategy through the run.

I took in 243 grams of carbohydrate from immediately before I got in the water until the end of the race. I know, it sounds like a lot, and after awhile my belly got pretty sick of it all. Ramona, who was visiting for this race, had some giant Fig Newtons and generously offered me some of her stash. I must say, those chewy cookies were the closest thing to real food that I had during that greater than six hour period, and were by far the most delicious thing I ingested (no, the water in the Boulder Res is not more delicious than a giant Fig Newton, although I sampled some of that as well.)

It was also a wonderful weekend of teamy goodness for the Colorado contingent and our two visitors from the coasts. It was fantastic to meet Sandria and Kathleen, and to share diabetic stories and race plans with other members of the team.

Last weekend I volunteered at a half-Ironman race, and our aid station was along the 2-loop running course. I saw plenty of people who weren’t looking so good, but I did NOT see the vomit and fainting that I was half expecting. This gives me hope for our goal race! But if I _do_ feel vomitous or vaguely faint during our race?? Well, hopefully I can follow the title of this blog entry…

I'm Not a Petri Dish

2009-08-12T16:23:00.001-04:00

August 12, 2009
Ramona

A couple of days ago I had a routine visit with my endocrinologist. I’ve been using a CGM for several months now, and I was sure my A1C would be less than 6.9, my last reading. When my doctor said 7.0, I was momentarily dismayed. “At least I have something to work towards for November,” I sighed.

The A1C is a hard number to move! But looking at all the data my doctor downloaded from the CGM, it seems like it shouldn’t be. It’s easy to look at a blood sugar graph – whether it looks like the Rockies or the beach – and determine what went wrong or right to produce that particular line. The sensor, pump and meter hold so much information, it’s possible to retrace almost every step to figure it out. It is science, after all: carbohydrates and insulin cancel each other out. Tweak a few things for exercise, stress, illness, hormones, and so on, and voila – there’s the formula to balance your blood sugar!

Of course, that’s not reality. Sometimes it’s frustrating to be armed with so much information and still not get things “right.” 15 years ago my doctor just asked me, “What’s your average morning blood sugar?” Instead of stuttering, “Uh, er…” I usually just made up a plausible though respectable number, and that was the end of that. Now, my doctor doesn’t have to ask me anything. He just plugs me in and has every last detail of my diabetes management memorialized on the screen in front of him. I know, more or less, what my blood sugar is every minute of the day, how many carbohydrates I’ve eaten, and how much insulin I still have on board. So why isn’t my A1C 5.5?

The answer, I know, is because I’m a breathing, moving human being, not a Petri dish. There are innumerable irregularities that throw things off. Plus, I often decide to let other things take priority over my blood sugar. Sometimes, large pieces of cake with double thick icing take priority; sometimes, fueling on long bike rides takes priority. And that’s ok! It’s ok to take only 50% of my bolus and let my blood sugar rise before a long workout. (My doctor calls those blood sugar spikes “excursions,” which makes me think of my sugar-filled blood traipsing around the Himalayas with a rucksack.) The cool thing is, if I trust the science and stick to my program, it will usually come back down.

Training for the triathlon has made me chew over this stuff a lot recently. For years, I’ve been on auto-pilot with my diabetes (not to say I’ve been managing it well, just that I’ve been managing it without thinking much). It’s great to have something come along to shake things up. My A1C might still be 7, but at least now I can bike 56 miles.

New T3!

2009-08-12T10:19:00.003-04:00

August 10, 2009
Jenna

Hello Everyone. I am Jenna Cohrs. I am a T3 supporter of Jennifer Ahn and the Team Wild. She and I have a friendship grown out of being active together over the past year. We actually meet in boxing class.

I am just coming off of an injury, dislocated elbow riding my bike May 15th. The Dr. gave me clearance to start working out again Aug 1st. So, last week was my first week working out again! It was amazing to get my entire body moving in action. I am a Corporate Pilot, so my challeneges with training are going to be finding ways to make it work while travelling and getting my entire body back into the game. I was in Los Angeles last week, I was surprised to find the hotel gym actually had a functional bike to use to get some biking in. I was too chicken to go across the street to the beach to get actual open water swim time in. All though, I did have a few nice long runs outside around Marina Del Rey, California.

The Importance of Making a List...and Checking it Twice

2009-08-11T10:13:00.004-04:00

August 9, 2009
Kathy

Hi Team. I just finished my first Olympic distance triathlon! It was called the Oshkosh Triathlon, but was in Winneconne, WI (which is just outside of Oshkosh). Ironically, my first ever triathlon in June was a sprint distance in the same little city called, the Mighty Wolf Tri. I chose these two races to be close to my hometown, and family in the area. In fact, my brother caught the tri-bug and did his first the sprint distance tri today. And, my nephew and niece (ages 6 and 4) did their first kids tri the day before our race. Triathlons may just become a family affair!

The weather was HOT, like Texas hot; 100% humidity and highs in the low 90s. In fact, in the picture of me pre-race barely came out b/c the camera lens kept fogging up. Good practice for potential weather in Austin in October.

I'll start with a list of things that I remembered because it will be shorter than the list of things that I forgot. Not exactly, but I did forget a number of key things including: extra insulin (that wasn't already in my pump), my tri top (which was on the drying rack in my basement), my running cap (also on the drying rack) and my special protein homemade bars (sitting ready to go in the refrigerator). Those who know me may be suprised at my forgetfulness, but those who really know me are likely not surprised at all. I've learned the important lesson of list making, which includes a list of things to grab the morning of departure.

Despite the forgotten items, the race was really fun and went well. I went topless, ha, just kidding. I bought a shirt to wear, didn't run out of insulin and bought protein bars at the store. I attempted to use my CGMS to monitor blood sugars, but the calibration was really off, so I basically just used it for trends. My race and blood sugars were as follows:

5:00 AM wake - drink coffee eat breakfast; b.s. 121
5:45 AM depart; b.s. 231, correction bolus 1 unit
6:15 AM arrive at race, set up transition
6:45 AM set temp basal to 65%, eat granola bar and fruit snacks (I forgot to set temp basal earlier)
7:00 AM Race Start, I'm in "wave 2" and proceed to get passed by those in "wave 6"

3/4 mile swim time 30:59
T1 04:02 - drink Gatorade, b.s. 113
31 mile bike time 1:41:34; drank water and Gatorade throughout, ate Cliff Bar and package of shot blocks
T2 02:30 - drink Gatorade, b.s. 105
10K run time 1:02:37- drink Gatorade and water at every station, ate package of Sport Beans
Finished 03:21:43

As always, happy training, and don't forget you lists!

Open Water Swim Mastery

2009-08-08T02:37:00.002-04:00

August 10, 2009
Lyndsay

My first triathlon (a sprint in June) I felt organized and prepared until with transition closed, I hadn’t thought about what to do with my non-waterproof pump during the swim. It ended up working fine to have my husband pass me off my pump coming out of the water (with clear expectations of what would happen if he was NOT there when I came out….) Clearly I hadn’t utilized this “practice race” as an opportunity to test out Levemir like I plan to do at Longhorn.

The swim was in a man made lake that felt like a pool. I felt crowded, and did get a couple kicks in the face, etc, and never felt like I could get into my rhythm. I was disappointed to have spent so much time on swim technique over the past 10 months, for it to completely get lost in the race.

My 2nd triathlon (another sprint in July) I went ahead and tried Levemir the night before. It worked out well, but I still have some tweaking and practice needed. The swim took place in Lake Michigan and although I still felt uncomfortable with the mass start, I had more room to stay out of the “intense” group and didn’t stray too far off course.

Shortly after my 2nd race, I started a 6 week “Open Water Swim Mastery” class. Skills we have worked on so far have been sighting, drafting, and getting comfortable around other swimmers. By all means, I would say I still have a long way to “mastery” in the open water (skills AND diabetes mgmt) but so far I have enjoyed this class, and know it will continue to pay off to work hard in the water.

A sigh of relief for being out of the water!

The Journey

2009-08-08T02:32:00.003-04:00

August 6, 2009
Susie

In recent blogs, there has been some mention of The Journey. In its inaugural event, Team WILD will have approximately 20-25 women with diabetes (and a handful of “T3” team members, like myself) at the starting line in the Longhorn 70.3 triathlon in October. This has never happened before. It will certainly be an amazing sight. Even more amazing is what has occurred along the way. We have been training and learning from each other, and from our excellent coaching and medical staff, for several months. We’ve built endurance and improved our athletic technique and skills. We’re figuring out what works and what doesn’t work for each of us when training and racing, and sharing that information. We’re setting strategies for fueling, practicing those plans, reassessing, and trying again. The Type 1s and Type 2s are sharing diabetes management strategies. We have also built friendships, and talked about this exciting organization to others in our lives. We’re educating others, living by example, and will hopefully inspire women of any age or background to try something new, be active, be healthy and have fun!

It’s been a great journey so far. I believe race day for the inaugural team will come and go like Christmas morning. After the event, I know that when I look back I will think of the journey, and this amazing group of women who have the courage to stand at the Longhorn 70.3 starting line and make history.

OK, enough mushy stuff. I should probably include something training related...
A few weeks ago the Chicago contingent of Team WILD participated in the Harbor Lights Triathlon. This was a sprint distance event. Although it was not a long event, it provided a great opportunity to practice race day strategy, open water swimming (in 58 degree water… I think I saw a penguin swim past me!), biking in non-ideal conditions (we affectionately named one portion of the bike course “Pot-Hole Row”), transition to running, and insulin management for Lorrie, Lyndsay and Jennifer. Aside from the 58 degree water, these are all things we will encounter at Longhorn.

For me, the race reinforced the following:

I need to position myself to the outside of the pack during the swim, far from any erratic swimmers or breaststroke kickers, which just cause me frustration because I’m usually not fast enough to pass, which means I can’t get away from them.
. Carry an extra Gu/Gel/Fueling product in case one is accidentally dropped. Oops…
Rinse all sand/debris from feet after swim to avoid abrasion when biking/running. Ouch…
I love this team!

A Summer of Ups, Downs and a Rush to the Finish

2009-08-08T02:12:00.004-04:00

August 5, 2009
Wendy

On May 10th I ran my first full marathon (see enclosed photo)A huge accomplishment for me as I think I figured out my fueling strategy. I stopped every 5km to do a sugar check. I took Missy Foy's advice and brought the meter, sticks and just the sharp without the spring loaded pricking mechanism. So a thrill on many levels.

But a week later, on May 18th I went for a run and missed the curb. One step I was in the midst of a long slow run and the next my face was in the grass. When I got up I figured that it was not anything significant and ran the remaining 10k of my run.

For the next few days my foot went supernova, despite rest, ice, elevation and vitamin I (ibupropfen) it was swollen and swore. When a friend described it a "Wilma Flintstone" esque - I knew I had avoided the doctor long enough. I think as diabetics we must have a higher pain threshold as we are constantly sticking sharps into ourselves as a daily ritual. So I can often ignore pain as I did in this case.

I also avoided medical attention because I didn't want the "bad news." And there was bad news-a fractured ankle. My summer of triathlons was over.
In a way it was alot like being diagnosed with diabetes - first denial (I'll be better in 4 weeks and make my June 13th tri), then anger (think road rage with a high blood glucose reading) then sadness/feeling sorry for myself- (sounds something like "isn't it enough that I have diabetes, have to wear this friggin pump, etc and now I have this friggin cast *#?!@ )

The attached photo shows me with the cast (das boot) and a glass of wine. (Well sometimes feeling sorry for yourself can be fun!)

But now I am in the acceptance and recovery stage. My Team Wild teammates gave me good suggestions like water running and arm-only swims. Now I have been given the thumbs up to start training and have actually heeded all advice from doctors, physiotherapists and my local tri coach to not go back too early or too fast- which admittedly is unusual for me.

I have been given a recovery schedule with a long run that must progress by 2 km a week to make the Ironman.
I feel like I am now in a race to the end of the month to see if I can make the October 25th race. For now I am making my schedule but I will know at the end of the month if I can make it when I hit a 13km run.

Train safe - big blog date for me next month.

Team Love

2009-08-08T01:53:00.005-04:00

August 4, 2009
Mari

Medical professionals, ignore this blog entry. I’m not sure it’s a medically supported activity that we did today. It was all in the name of maintaining good blood sugar control while being able to get some WILD work accomplished.

Here’s what happened. I had an acupuncture appointment and I realized once at the appointment that I had taken off my pump at home and had not put it back on when I decided not to take a shower before leaving the house. Right after the appointment, Karen L, Christina and I planned to have a WILD planning meeting. We are down to the wire on ordering our team uniforms and we planned to review the order and designs. I live in Denver, which was where my pump was sitting on the bathroom counter. The appointment and Karen L’s house, where we were meeting, was in Boulder – about 40 minutes from my house. Not next door.

Rather than go home after the acupuncture appointment, which I decided to stay for, as I had eaten right before driving up and had taken a bolus for the food I ate for lunch, I went over to Karen’s to meet her and Christina. I told them what had happened, and I asked if Karen had a needle and insulin that I might borrow. She of course, did, and she got them. I was getting ready to take a shot of insulin and she offered to let me take a hit of insulin off her pump. You know, to avoid having to give myself an actual shot. I had my infusion site on and as luck would have it we wear the same type of pump and use the same infusion sets.

I thought, what the heck? Seemed lots better than taking a shot. Less interruption in some ways. So, using the PRIME feature, (so as not to mess up Karen’s insulin on board calculations) I took a hit of insulin. We had the meeting, had a few snacks and some tasty refreshing Fresca soda, and before leaving her house nearly 2 hours later, I took another hit off her pump for the drive home. I did have my meter with me and I tested a few times. My blood sugar got as high as 200 at one point, but mostly it was in the 140’s and 150’s. Even after getting home and putting on my own pump, all has remained stable.

I have to say, that was one of the more intimate diabetes experiences I’ve ever had. Karen, I feel strangely close to you after sharing your pump for the afternoon. Thank you for your generous offer and thank you for being my teammate. Being part of this team is turning out to be a wild and wonderous experience on so many crazy levels. Here’s to having a team of incredible women who “get it.”

Getting close…

2009-07-23T16:10:00.000-04:00

July 23, 2009
Sarah W.

About once a week I see the facebook updates that a lot of the WILD women have on their page, counting down the days until the big race! We are now officially under 100 days and I think for a lot of it the reality is kicking in that we are actually doing this!

Our coaches want us to start looking at times, making sure we will meet the 8-hour cut-off and by next week the intense training begins! I know for me, and a lot of girls on the team, our goal is to meet this cut-off and finish the race (hopefully with good blood sugars while we do it!)

But as we get into this last phase of training and the race inches closer and closer I read a quote the other day that I have been repeating to myself when I am on a long run and going so slow that wonder how I am ever going to finish 13.1 miles. And I think this quote speaks for all of us. “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start”.

No matter what happens in October, whether we finish, don’t finish, finish with a great time, don’t meat the cut-off, drop too low, or finish with high blood sugars what I have been realizing lately is that none of this matters. What matters is that we committed to doing this and have worked our a**es off to reach our goals and inspire others along the way. The mere fact that we are attempting to complete this race while dealing with diabetes at the same time is a miracle in itself!

My Life with Diabetes

2009-07-22T23:18:00.003-04:00

July 22, 2009
Ramona

My mother was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was six years old. I remember snippets: how her vision was blurry but no eyeglasses helped, how she finally self-diagnosed diabetes after looking it up in the dictionary (it was the 1970s and my mom was 38 years old – her doctors didn’t even consider Type 1 diabetes), and how she always had Lifesavers. Fantasizing about my grown-up life when I was in elementary school, I imagined I too had diabetes and had to prick my fingers and take shots, just like my mother. I never remember Mom being “sick.” She ran, she swam, she worked hard, and she always had energy. To me, diabetes didn’t mean disability; it meant using cool electronic gadgets and getting to carry around cute little purses with important supplies. It was fun to fantasize about having it.

I remember the exact moment, just before my thirteenth birthday, when Mom diagnosed me with diabetes. I walked into the kitchen and said I needed glasses because sometimes my eyes were really blurry. She sat me down and tested my blood sugar right then and there. When we saw the result – somewhere around 250 – she said, “Oh honey, I think you have diabetes.”

Instead of feeling sad or scared, I was actually kind of excited. I remember calling my middle school friends and saying, “Guess what I have… diabetes!” When I returned to school, I told my teachers I would need to test my blood sugar and take insulin during classes. The first time I tested in science period, my classmates were so interested the teacher had to stop class to let everyone watch and ask questions. I offered to test my friends’ blood sugars after school. Until the principal intervened, I was doing lab work on the blacktop every day at 3:20.

In my late teens and twenties, I travelled a lot. In 1992, when I was 17, I worked on a farm in a remote village in Poland for 3 weeks. A year and half later, I went to northeast Brazil, very close to the Amazon, for three months to help build a school. From age 20 to 21, I taught at a teacher training school in rural Mozambique. I brought 12 months of diabetes supplies with me in my carry-on – that’s 5-7 shots a day for 365 days, plus test strips, insulin, and assorted accoutrement. I’ll never forget the face of the Bulgarian airport screener as he pawed through my giant duffle bag of syringes, incredulous that I would blatantly try to carry them through security. During college and graduate school, I spent 15 months in Russia. After graduate school, I worked in Berlin for 5 months, returning to the U.S. by container ship – a 12-day journey across the Atlantic without a doctor on board. I was able to have these experiences because it never occurred to me that I couldn’t or shouldn’t due to diabetes: Family and friends were supportive, and my mother was an incomparable role model. Everywhere I travelled reminded me how lucky I was to have diabetes in a country like the U.S. rather than somewhere like Russia or Mozambique, and to be surrounded by caring family and friends.

So what makes having diabetes difficult? For me, 2 things:

Managing diabetes requires a constant awareness of one’s body and of food. Like many other young women, I struggled with body image and food issues as a young adult. I am sure having diabetes had something to do with this. Now that I’m older, I focus more on health. To be healthy with diabetes requires learning to live with a degree of energy, emotion, and intellect in constant reserve for diabetes management. That’s not bad, but it’s not always easy, and it’s difficult to share with people who don’t have diabetes.
The impact of diabetes on my body and lifespan is unclear. I cannot be certain high blood sugars aren’t taxing my kidneys, rupturing blood vessels in my retinas, or compromising circulation in my extremities. Nor can I be sure that an unexpected attack of low blood sugar won’t send me to the ER tomorrow. The result is an ever-present, underlying sense of vulnerability and uncertainty about my health and future, aggravated by the knowledge that I will never attain perfect diabetes control.

As I age and as technology advances, diabetes is becoming increasingly manageable: My nine-to-five job encourages a more regular eating, sleeping, and exercise schedule, with minimal opportunities for adventure travel, than my student life did; and I now use an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. I’m also increasingly aware that relative to more intractable diseases such as cancer or unpredictable events like car accidents, diabetes is not so bad.

The most recent chapter in my life with diabetes is Team WILD. Training for a half-Ironman is HARD. I’ve completed 7 marathons, but I honestly don’t know if I can train hard enough to complete the Longhorn 70.3 in October. And that’s ok. The journey has been worth it, regardless. Hearing the stories of other women with diabetes has touched and inspired me unexpectedly, I’m paying more attention to my blood sugars than I have in years, and I’m able to bike and swim distances for the first time in my life. Thanks, Team WILD. See you in Austin!

Harbor Lights Triathlon

2009-07-22T23:11:00.002-04:00

July 21, 2009
Lorrie

My second triathlon of the season is now in the record books. On July 19, 2009, my alarm awoke me at 3:45am. Who the heck gets up that early—a hardcore triathlete of course? Well, at least I have all of the triathlon gear to make me look hardcore, but hardcore I’m not. It’s crazy, so my parents think, but somehow I think it’s kind of fun, at least that’s what I thought before I looked up my results. I was disappointed in my overall time. I really thought I did better than my overall time reflected.

As I was looking over my times, I reflected back on each step of the way. Here’s what I recall:

Bed at 8:00pm the night before event. Awoke at 10:00pm and took 9 units of Levimer. Set temp basal on pump to 0% for 10 hours.

Up out of bed at 3:45am. Checked BG level (157). Dressed and ate a bowl of Special K with blueberries cereal. Had a bit more than the suggested serving. Bolused for 33 grams.

Off to race at 4:30am.

6:00am transition site setup. 6:30am Checked BG level (151). Ate 23 grams of carbs, but entered only 19 grams in pump.

6:30am left pump in transition. (Note: temp basal was still at 0% because Levimer was in action).

7:30am swim starts. Lake water was freezing 58 degrees. YIKES! Half mile swim. A few minutes into the swim, I felt this blow to the side of my head. I say to myself, what the heck, as I catch my goggles before they hit the water. Close call, I think to myself, as I regain my composure and put my goggles back on. I’m sure the woman who hit me didn’t mean to, but I still give her the evil eye. After the stampede is through, I settle into my swim and complete the swim portion in 12:29. I was very happy with this. (Note: I do remember reading somewhere to put the goggle straps under the swim cap to help prevent them from flying off if you get hit. I think I’ll do that for the next event).

Transition was slow due to stripping off wetsuit, rewetting feet to get sand off, putting on socks and shoes, helmet, glasses, and most importantly taking care of all the diabetes related stuff: Reconnecting pump and sensor, finding lost sensor, checking blood and bolusing for the 257 that appeared on my meter after the swim. My temp basal was complete and running at normal basal rate. I decided not to set a temp basal because the event wasn’t that long and my BG level was in the mid 200s. This took 7:44.

The first and last 1.5 miles of the bike was on a terrible road. The race official told us to be careful during this portion of road because there were lots of potholes. I rode this portion carefully for fear of getting a flat. Once on the main highway portion, there were two loops to complete. On the first loop, I felt great. Speed was averaging 18 to 20 miles per hour. I was in my aero bar position and legs were cranking. Just before I started my second loop, I started to feel extremely tired. I wondered if my BG level was dropping quickly. I glanced at my sensor, which read 200. Hmmmm, what’s wrong? I reached for some Chomps and ate three or four. I don’t remember exactly. Throughout the second loop, I started doubting my abilities. I struggled through the remainder of the bike and completed the 13.2 mile course in 48:22. I didn’t feel good about the ride.

I didn’t bother checking my BG level prior to the 4 mile run. I wanted to hustle to make up lost time on the bike. My transition time was about 3.30. I started feeling good about a mile into the run. My first mile was a bit slow and calves had a bit of cramping, but once I got through the first mile, I started to pick up some momentum. I did walk through the three water stations, which was my plan. I usually don’t hydrate enough and wanted to make sure I did. I completed the run in 42:17. This was a bit slower than my usual 10 minute mile, but I was okay with it.

Overall event time was 1:54:20. BG level 131.

So, now that I’ve reflected on my times, what have I learned? First, I probably didn’t have enough fuel on board at the start. I figured the event wasn’t a long one, so I didn’t need a lot of fuel. I may have been wrong and bonked during the cycling portion. I’ve also learned not to be so hard on myself. I was telling my mom about the event, explaining each portion and how it works. She’s not an athlete and knows nothing about sports. In fact, she used to tell me to score a touchdown before each of my high school basketball games. She came to every game and cheered when a basket was made, even if it was the other team making the basket. My dad would have to tell her she was cheering for the wrong team. She would just say, well isn’t it good for the person who scored? My dad would say yes for them it is. My mom would say, then I’m going to cheer. Anyway, I told my mom that I was disappointed in my overall time. In her wisdom, she said did you score a touchdown? I said, I guess I did.

Thoughts Three Months Out

2009-07-22T23:00:00.005-04:00

July 21, 2009
Kathy

Just over three months until the big race! Can you believe some of us joined in this adventure almost one year ago? To me, it seems like we are in the thick of things now, no turning back. We trained hard, and have maybe our hardest training to go. We learned so much thanks to each other and our coaches, yet have so much more to figure out about truly training for an endurance race while managing the ever-changing ‘art’ of having diabetes.

It sounds like we’ve all has some sort of 1st overt the past year. Some of us newbies to the sport of triathlon had our first open water experience, first wetsuit wrangling, first official sprint triathlon, or even our first snot rocket (ask Katie for details about that one). Some veterans and others on the team had 1st of their own, like the disappointment in training for a tri but not being able to complete it, either due to a broken ankle or to the lovely Lake Michigan swells (effectively turning the swim portion of the tri into another run). Whatever your 1st of the past year have been, here’s to the 1st 70.3-mile adventure of Team WILD!

Since I didn’t have too much to say this month, I thought I’d add some pictures of me swimming in a beautiful lake in northern Wisconsin over the July 4th weekend.

Hills and Highs

2009-07-16T13:02:00.004-04:00

July 16, 2009
Karen L.

It’s weird to think of myself as a hardcore athlete. I’ve never pursued something this doggedly at which I have no natural talent and little experience. It’s a humbling venture thus far, and yet rewarding in the improvement I’m seeing in myself. I’m also really grateful to have the time and energy to devote to training right now.

I’ve had a few races in the past many weeks. Twice I participated in the local Stroke ‘n Stride races, which are aquathlons much like Kathy described in a recent blog. In these, you can choose a one-loop (750m) or two-loop (1500m) swim, and you follow that with a 5K run. The swim is my weakest triathlon link, and so it’s not really surprising that I came in DFL when I did the two-loop race a couple of weeks ago. I was a little chagrined, anyway. I was waaaay behind the next-to-last person, but I tell myself that DFL > DNF > DNS, right?

So, I’m working on the swimming. I’ve gone to a bunch of open water swims, and I’m having some lessons with a swim coach, and hopefully we’ll get it all worked out so that there’s no need to freak out about the swim cutoff in our goal race.

Last Sunday I raced in the Boulder Peak triathlon, which was my first Olympic-distance race and thus a PR (woo!). It’s kind of known for the bike course, because it goes up Old Stage road:
Thankfully, I live very near the course and have biked this loop before, so am familiar with the big hill. Also, I have triple chain ring in front, which I _definitely_ needed.

When I did my first triathlon in May, a sprint, I’d gone really high on the bike ride and found my blood sugar over 400 in T2. Sadly, I found out that this pattern wasn’t just a fluke on that race day in May. Although my blood sugar did _not_ follow that pattern when I did the aquathlons, and I was _not_ dehydrated on this race (something we thought might have happened to cause the high in my first tri), at the Boulder Peak I found my blood sugar over 500 late in the bike, and confirmed that number with an entirely different meter/poker/strips combo when I reached T2.

This time, I can definitely say that the high adversely affected my race performance. Besides having to go to the porta-potty in T2 (Jenny, I just couldn’t do it – worried about squishy running shoes), I fretted about whether I should run at all, or maybe visit the med tent instead. That thought pissed me off, and I’d done what I could by taking insulin when I first discovered the high and then a little more in T2, so I figured I’d go to the med tent if I passed out (note: has never happened) and otherwise I’d finish the race. So I shuffled along at a pace that was really slow for me, with lots of walking and testing breaks and much water consumption. I felt pretty crappy.

My blood sugar came down 300 points between mile 1 and mile 3.1 on the run course. I was immensely relieved to see that trend, but coming down that much in that short a time is really exhausting, and I can’t say I had a stellar second half of the run. I did figure that I wasn’t doing much worse than the young guy with IT band problems and chafed nipples (my partner Tony helped with the latter problem by giving the distressed runner bandaids from his cheering spot near the run turnaround – he’s good that way). I also was doing better than the poor woman whose shorts had lost most of a cheek, replaced with blood; another thing to be grateful for – I wasn’t hit by a station wagon on the bike course!

So, I made it over the finish line and got my towel that had been sitting in ice water (best party favor EVER!!!) and my blood sugar was 186 (after having it be 130 at mile 5, then eating). It was really nice to stop moving. I had great numbers for the rest of the day.

I’m doing the CWW practice the weekend after next, so I’ll practice new control strategies in that ‘race’. My goal that day will be to have good blood sugars, with no crazy highs. Wish me luck.

Firecracker

2009-07-05T20:02:00.001-04:00

July 5, 2009
Karen R.

Sitting here watching the Hy-Vee ITU Elite Cup Triathlon that took place in Des Moines, Iowa, I'm awake now after having watched the men's first turn around the buoy -- brutal! I've been dozing a bit because my darn alarm went off once again at 3:00 a.m., this time to get me out the door to participate in the Firecracker Sprint triathlon. I wish I could say I had a successful event but realize in writing that, it really depends upon the definition of success. I finished and improved my time over my last sprint, but those ever present numbers just weren't where I expected or wanted them to be or where they have been in the past. More on that later.

This was a tough race because of the heat and humidity. Humidity was around 40 percent (Tucson usually is around 10 percent except during the monsoon season) and the temp somewhere in the low 90s by the time I was on the bike at 7:30 a.m. Full sun, no shade.

The swim portion of this race was a serpentine swim, meaning swimmers were set off 15 seconds apart. Long course was used, each lane 50 meters in length. This was nice because it meant fewer flip turns. All swimmers had to circle swim up and back in the first lane, then go under the lane line to lane 2, do the same circle swim, and continue doing this in each lane until the last lane which was only one length, after which we got out of the pool.

Into T1 and I check BS before getting on the bike: 256. Not the number I expected. Previous to the swim and disconnecting the pump, BS was 186 and I had taken .6 units of insulin and a swig of Gatorade to cover earlier boluses. Let me back up a bit and go over previous numbers--wake up BS was 151. After a bolus of 6.2 units to cover my breakfast and no reduction in basal, 2 1/2 hours later (6 a.m.) BS is still 207 and I'm an hour from being in the water. Bolus wizard suggests .5 units which I take, resulting in the earlier mentioned 186. Did I have any rebounds for lows, nope, not one, I'm wearing a sensor, which actually had me higher than I was, and the trend was up, not down. It could be that 1) I'm more resistant to insulin right now; 2) my site needs to be changed or 3) my insulin has degraded in the heat, or 4) adrenalin. Take your pick, my choice is number 1, but it really could be a combination of all four.

With the 256 before getting on the bike, another bolus of 1.7 units is given and I don't even think about drinking any more Gatorade, it will be as much water as I can stand. I'm a bit nauseated from the high and my pace, so I slow it down a bit, but push it as much as I can.

Off the bike into T2 and it's as though I have no insulin on board and have done no activity whatsoever. My bike pace seems to have dumped all my glycogen into my system. BS is now 262, great, (that's not really what I said) going up not down, another .8 bolus. Grab my previously frozen but now warm water bottle and I'm off to run. It's hot and it's difficult at this BS level. Turns into a walk/run with definitely more walking than running. Check BS one more time midway into the run and it's dropped about 60 points.

All the while this is happening I'm thinking somebody has to be last and I'm okay being that person because it is so miserably hot. The bell at the student union chimes and I look at the clock because I don't know if it's 8:30 or 9:00, and it's neither, it's 8:45. I think my time is going to be really bad and I must be going really slow on the run. Then realize I need to subtract an hour for my swim start. Maybe my time is not so bad after all. Refuse to look at my watch because I really don't want to know. Concentrate on placing one foot in front of the other and running as much as possible.

Quite a few more yards and the end is finally in sight. Cross the finish line, get my t-shirt, and try to find cold water. Aid station's water is just as warm as mine--did they use no ice??? Wish I could have been more positive throughout this, but I find running in the heat particularly onerous. This race emphasized what I need to work on and will work on for the rest of the summer. No more sprint distances for me, just an Olympic distance a few months from now and then on to Austin. See you in 110 days!!

Resting and Reflecting!

2009-07-02T07:11:00.003-04:00

July 2, 2009
Jennifer S.

So with the time to rest the past week I’ve also reflected while completing these slower workouts. I’ve had a chance to think of the things I’ve (we’ve) accomplished since our intensive Yoli training plans took form in January.
My year started out well with a great ½ Marathon, although I wasn’t feeling the best to run it, I did well considering the flu I had days before, and was thankful for the training I had done before this to actually be able to do the event at all. I think it really sank in how important REAL training is for endurance events!

Onto the first rehearsal ....in March? I feel like I’ve been training, and training and training. I thought that was a long first rehearsal, what was it total…I think I logged 2 hours or something….thinking on it now it’s like sitting by the pool sipping a drink. I did that rehearsal in the gym, too cold outside to bike or run….clearly I’m not as hard-core as some athletes.

April was fantastic in San Antonio with many of you….and it brought a new dimension to both training and what it would be like on race day. A 3-31/2 hour rehearsal that day, that went well overall even if I was upset with my lack of swimming ability and panic attack in the open water. (Thanks to Celeste for swimming by my side and reassuring me I was doing fine!) Reflecting now….I should have kept going out there, did the second lap and sucked it up…but the learning process teaches a lot!

May was a marathon that I did with my husband and sister-in-law. We chose to do the Cellcom Green Bay, WI Marathon as a Relay…what a fun option! And to cross the finish line hand in hand with both of them…my sister-in-law a very newbie runner (she did 6 miles of the course) afforded me the chance to feel what it will be like in October with all of my wonderful teammates and our millions of supporters there cheering us on! I also experienced true endurance athlete spirit as I convinced my best friend to do a 50-mile ride with me for my training….this was her first ride of the year!! I’m not such a nice friend! But she has the type of personality that is endurance perfect….she just keeps going, even if it’s slow and steady toward the finish!

2 weeks later I did our 4-hour rehearsal, a little backwards as I had to do the swim at the end since pool availability was nil at the hour I started the rehearsal. It was a good experience to feel the impact that riding and running has on the legs before getting in the pool, and the importance of the swim training in using your legs as little as possible for the swim to save them for the coming 2 transitions.

June ….hmmm, long workouts here and starting to do the Bricks. Best experience I think was definitely doing the 63 mile Tour de Cure this year and getting to wear my first Red Rider jersey!! I was so excited to put it on I changed right at the station where they were handing them out!! Had a great ride, followed all of the super fueling and hydrating tips from Marcey with great results.

The next weekend brought me to the longest of our rehearsals….5 hours…1 hour swim, 34 mile ride and 7.2 mile run. And as I heard from Mari at our camp in Austin…..”This is your race!”, I’m reminded of this as my husband does the rehearsals with me, he’s always great to remind me to set my pace and ignore that he’s there….it’s like having Mari’s comment always in my ear!

As I look at the training ahead, I know we are all on the same path. We have our individual frustrations and successes, but we also have the same goal not only to finish this strong and as a visible team of WILD women, but also to offer inspiration to all exercising women with Diabetes.

Onto my next short-term goal: my first Tri (sprint length) at the end of July. I expect to do well and learn from this as well!!

What It's All About

2009-06-17T07:18:00.002-04:00

June 17, 2009
Kathy

(I was finally able to log into our email and found Kathy's long lost blog post from June 6...sorry Kathy:))

I've a few WILD experiences over that past month that I'd like to share:

First of all, I participated in the first of a series of five events called an Aquathon. It consists of a 1000 meter swim followed by a 5K run (http://www.fleetfeetmadison.com/aquathon or check it out on You Tube). Although I am grateful for the open water swim practice, I didn't love swimming in a Madison WI lake at the end of May. ("I don't love it" is a phrase my 3 year old niece says instead of "I don't like." She is such a diplomatic little girl.) As I mentioned on the recent call, I'm sure I swam way over 1000 meters with all the zig-zagging I was doing. Sighting the very large orange cones is definitely NOT a strength of mine. My feet were so cold and numb for the first mile of the run, but I'm sort of getting used to running with the numb feet thing; this happens after I get off my bike and try to run too. Diabetes wise things turned out okay. I set a temp basal for 70% about 45 min before the start; disconnected the pump during the swim; and hooked back up during the run back to 70% basal. I was around 120 mg/dL at the start, ate 15 g carbs (fruit snacks), was 150 at the transition, ended the run around 70. Overall, it was a great first event of the season and I had tons of fun.

Secondly, I got of new bike! I'm taking forever to get my blog out this month because I wanted to share my news with pictures. Many of you knew my previous road bike, "The Purple Gremlin," has now been converted to a very fast commuter bike (now that I have a job amenable to this mode of transportation). It is very strange to get used to a brand new set of wheels, I never realized how comfortable I am on the Gremlin. Now I'll have to set up a camp-simulated obstacle course with all of Nicole's shenanigans to get used to my new, yet-to-be-named bike. I am taking ideas for the name, by the way.

And finally, a little story to help remind us all of why we are doing all this. After my swim workout last week, I met a woman who was inquiring about the laminated Triathlon Skills workout sheet I had with my stuff. She, too, was training for her first triathlon. As most of my conversations these days eventually lead to Team WILD, this one was no exception. It turns out she has a sister also has type 1 diabetes, and that she would tell her about the team and website. This is the very interaction that is so inspiring and why we are doing all this hard work. If you are reading this (sorry, I forgot your name), you inspire us.

As always, happy training!
Kathy

My First Triathlon

2009-06-15T08:51:00.003-04:00

June 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

So, I thought I could swim. I have been practicing in the pool. Did my first open water swim last week in freezing Lake Michigan. But, I had a total panic attack in the swim portion of my first triathlon, Naperville Women’s Sprint Triathlon. I was freaking out! I thought to myself… how can I do a ½ Ironman when I can’t even do this 750 meter swim? I did complete this part… but know I could have had a much better time if I actually swam the swim portion. Luckily, I felt comfortable with the bike and the run. During the run, the 1st mile was the longest mile. “Hmm… Maybe they don’t post mile markers for the run,” I thought. Finally, the mile marker came up and I realized it was just me hoping I was further than that 1st mile. So… 1st triathlon successfully under my belt. I will definitely need to focus on my open water swims and try to stay calm during that portion.

As far as my blood sugars: I woke up with a horrific 303. I gave myself a smaller correction with my breakfast than my pump calculated. For breakfast, I had Kashi cereal and yogurt. Did not take my Symlin and hoped my blood sugar will go down steadily. Right before the swim, I rechecked, 119. I ate an apple and lowered my basals (I forgot to do this earlier) to 70%. Luckily, they let my friend hold my pump during the swim and she hand it to me when I got out of the water. I know this will not be the case for the Chicago Triathlon at the end of August. Transition site was all set up for checking my blood sugar after the swim… but, I was so frantic after the horrible swim experience, I left the transition without checking. I was wearing my sensor and it looked like my blood sugars were steady. I ate 3 cliff shots during the bike portion. I drank water during the bike and the run. Blood sugar after the race, 94. I was extremely happy with this. At least that part of the race rocked!

The other great thing about this race: all the Chicago Team WILD members competed with me. It was so nice to have fellow friends to discuss things with especially since I was freaking out about what to do with my insulin pump at the beginning of the race. After the race, I saw Lorrie, Lyndsay and Susie. It was nice to discuss how the race went for everyone. I heard Lorrie and Susie in the background cheering me on at the finish. That was awesome! One of my work friends did the race too. But, she had no supporters with her. I felt a feeling of comfort knowing Team WILD was there as I would not have been here without them. And, I know this is just a glimpse of what’s to come in Austin. ☺

Total time: 1:38:38
Swim (750m) 16:25
T1 5:08
Bike (22.8k) 44:16
T2 2:45
Run (5k) 30:05

The Five Hour Plan: A Swimming, Biking, Running, Eating and Drinking Extravaganza!

2009-06-11T07:52:00.007-04:00

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.

Two thumbs up from Marcey on the plan!

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)

Run finished!

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.

Two Races

2009-05-29T08:20:00.002-04:00

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!

Not Bad at All

2009-05-28T08:22:00.005-04:00

May 28, 2009
Lorrie

This past weekend, I participated in the Madison, Wisconsin Quarter Marathon. I was originally signed up for the ½ marathon, but due to chronic planter fasciitis preventing me from running much; I opted to do the ¼ marathon instead—6.55 miles. Days before the event, I reviewed all of my notes regarding nutrition from Marcey’s talks at camp and during our conference calls. Even though my run wasn’t going to be a long one, I wanted to try out what I learned.

The start time for my event was at 7:50am. I awoke at 5:00am and tested my BG level. It was a perfect 100. I ate a peanut butter sandwich consisting of approximately 32 grams of carbs. I did bolus for the entire amount because on event days, my BG levels tend to rise. I drank about 16 ounces of water and had a diet pepsi as well—this is my coffee. Approximately 40 minutes before the start of the race, I ate a nutrition bar consisting of 18 grams of carbs. I did not bolus for this because my BG level was hovering around 100. I was surprised by this because in past events, my adrenaline kicks in prior to an event and my BG levels skyrocket.

At 7:50am the start gun fires and off I go. All was going well; I had a mix of slower and faster beat songs in my Ipod. Most people like faster tempo songs, but I find that if I have too many faster tempo songs together, I tend to over exert myself and burn out quickly. My strategy was to try to keep my pace consistent, and the tempo mixes helped with this.

About 30 minutes into my run, just past the 3 mile marker, I was starting to feel tired and a bit weak. At this point I really thought my BG level was low. I often feel tired and a bit weak when I’m either low or high, but with all of the running, I was sure I was low. I pulled my pump out and checked the sensor, which read 160. I was happy with the number, but surprised as well. Why did I feel tired and weak? I decided to add some carbs for that extra boost of energy, so I took two Gu shots blocks—total 8 carb grams. Around the 4 mile marker, I decided to do a finger stick. Again, I was surprised by the number on my meter. Why did it read 220? A bit angered by the reading, I pulled out my pump and reviewed the sensor reading; it read 170 with double up arrows. I made a quick decision to give myself a .5 unit bolus. Of course I wanted to give myself more insulin, but decided against it. Regaining my composure, I decided to just enjoy the remainder of the race and try not to let my diabetes distract me.

With one mile to go, I glanced at my watch to check my time. I was shockingly surprised at my time. I was under an hour. I picked up my stride a bit, challenging myself to end with the best time ever—best time for me that is. A quarter mile left, feeling strong and singing along to my music, out of nowhere a guy dressed as a hot dog, or maybe it was a bratwurst, flies past me. Hmmm, I wonder if the ketchup and mustard bottles that smoked Susie, were actually chasing the hot dog. We’ll never know.

I finished the race in 1:06. Pretty good I thought for someone with an injury. I also reviewed my sensor data to see how I did with my diabetes management overall. I’ve included chart with my sensor data. I realized during this race that proper hydration and nutrition is critical. In past events, I would concentrate so much on my BG levels that I would forgo nutrition. I have learned that proper nutrition is one of the critical factors and will continue to ensure that I incorporate it in my training and actual events. Overall, I was pleased with my performance.

234

2009-05-26T21:53:00.004-04:00

May 26, 2009
Karen R.

Lucked out that I got a race number I could remember and the sequence of numbers, well, okay, 1-2-3- would make more sense, but the 2-3-4 sequence kept me focused on the basics. Hydrate, fuel, hydrate some more.

The Sahuarita "Lake" triathlon is held each year on Memorial Day and is a sprint consisting of a 1K swim, 25K bike, and 5K run. I've never done this race and didn't really know what to expect. Past participants had said how you come out of the water covered in slime and that there was a killer hill on the bike course. Attended the prerace meeting and the race director assured us the water was not slimy, however, it is tinted to inhibit algae growth, but more on that later. As the bike course was changed at the last moment, we also received details on what was now a 2-loop course instead of an out and back.

So as many others have blogged, my morning started early, 3:00 am wake up to eat breakfast. Getting up that early was a bit rough as I hadn't been able to fall asleep the night before, ooooh, the anticipation, felt like a kid going to Disneyland for the first time. At wake up BS was a bit low, 63, so only a 3-unit bolus for 60 g (toast w/peanut butter and cinnamon & sugar, banana, and coffee). On the road by 4:30 and BS is 83. Make it to the transition area around 5:30 am, race doesn't start for another hour, plenty of time to get my towel width of space set up, get body marked, and check again, now 103. Go check out the "lake," and talk with a couple of guys from my swim group. At 5:46 a.m. my sensor wants the BG now, so go back to transition and BS is 97. Make the decision not to swim with pump attached based on length of the swim and BS levels. My wave leaves at 6:38 a.m. and at 6:20, walk back to the transition area, get goggles, cap, take shoes off, check one more time and BS now 122. Perfect. Disconnect the pump.

Before the race there was a lot of chatter on whether to wear a wetsuit. I thought I'd rather swim cold than wear a wetsuit. It's Arizona after all and has been hotter than usual this May. Never did hear what the lake temp was but by the number of people wearing wetsuits, I'm thinking it was around 75 to 77 degrees. Get in the water and it's no colder than the pool I swim in. I need to add that this is a man-made lake and not large at all. It was like swimming in a really big pool with no lane lines, really choppy. Earlier I mentioned the water was tinted. The tint makes the water very blue and apparently does what it's designed to do, which is stop sunlight from penetrating. It was a weird, disorienting swim of contrasts. Dark light dark light. I learned to look for caps so I wouldn't swim over people. It was really difficult to see people until you were right on top of them. The swimmers thinned out at the buoy turn around and the second half was an easier more relaxed swim. Get out of the "lake" by crawling over the concrete wall and walk to T1.

This is where I realized I'm still glucocentric. BS is now 168 and figure it's still climbing. Bolus 1/2 unit of insulin and start drinking green tea. Get on the bike. About halfway through the first loop and I've gone through about 10 ozs. The ride starts to feel so good, doesn't the ride always feel good on smooth pavement? Drink a little more tea, then start with Gatorade to make sure I have fuel on board for the run. Drink around 16 oz. of Gatorade and then finish with more tea. That really good feeling I was having on my bike started to go away about half way into the second loop--even with new road bike shoes and a recent bike fitting, my feet are still going numb. I don't know how to fix this yet, but know the moment I get off the bike and into my runners, the numbness will go away.

T2--BS now 156, swig some more Gatorade and start the run. It's hot, my shins hurt but decide to suck it up and tell myself not to walk. My race belt has my strips container on it and I listen for the rhythm of the click as they hit the top and bottom of the container. Love it when the race volunteer says we have some shade coming up. Manage to slip off the edge of the sidewalk we're on and luckily don't twist my ankle. Decide to walk a bit. Get water at the aid station and start to run. I pass a man who passed me at the end of the bike portion. He encourages me to try to catch the woman ahead of me, really? She just passed me, so that's not going to happen. Get some more water at the next aid station and keep going knowing that I'm about half way through. Run a bit more, begin to wonder when it gets easier, start to walk and look at my sensor reading which is showing double arrows up and reading 177. Decide to take another 1/2 unit. The man I had passed earlier catches up to me and says, "come on," and I whine, "my shins hurt," whereupon he responds, "I'm old enough to be your father, if I can do it, you can do it." Thought about playing the diabetes card then remember what I wrote in a blog a while ago, about diabetes being a disease, not an excuse. Keep my mouth shut and introduce myself to Clarence. We ran together some more until he dropped back and told me to go for it. Cross the finish line, all done, I did it!! Race folks take my tag, hand me my t-shirt. Go back to finish area, Clarence has crossed, I congratulate him, give him a high five and we go get some food and water.

End of race BS is 142, eat half a banana, drink two cups water; BS 124 before heading back to Tucson; 81 when I make it home. Race results: 9 of 12 in age group; 77 of 110 women; 256 of 305 total competitors. Total time 2:02:56.

Overall, I came away feeling happy and I had fun! This was the first sprint I've done in 14 years and the experience was so much better. In those 14 years so many things have changed--age group, pump, insulin, fueling, medical education, and support. I'm still savoring that feeling of accomplishment and the comment of a spectator, "Not only did she finish, she did it with diabetes."

Thank You all for helping me achieve this; I'm so looking forward to October 25th!!!

The Power of Team!

2009-05-26T17:44:00.004-04:00

May 26, 2009
Susie

Hello Team WILD! For those of you who I did not meet at training camp, I will be participating in the Longhorn 70.3 along with Team WILD. I don’t have diabetes, but the disease has affected friends and family, and I am familiar with the “highs and lows” of diabetes management. My introduction to Team WILD came through Lorrie DiCesare. I have known and been inspired by Lorrie for almost 16 years. I’ve seen first-hand the positive effects that an active and healthy lifestyle, and a positive outlook, can have on diabetes management. We have participated in multiple running races and triathlons together. I fully support the mission of Team WILD in helping all women with diabetes realize their athletic dreams. I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Longhorn 70.3 alongside such a positive and inspirational team!

Lorrie and I made the trek to Madison Wisconsin last weekend to participate in the Madison Half Marathon. Since I don’t have diabetes, I can’t share any gems of wisdom about adjusting my basal rate, etc. However, I can share three general ideas that popped into my mind during the 13.1 mile run:

I really want to try to have fun! During the half marathon, two guys ran the entire race dressed as a ketchup bottle and a mustard bottle. They were smiling and waving to people, and having a great time. I’m not suggesting anyone complete the Longhorn dressed as a condiment, but I do hope that I can bring a spirit of fun and enjoyment into my training. I get to swim, bike and run for a wonderful cause – I am very lucky! Oh, by the way, yes the ketchup and mustard bottle smoked me...
Body Glide. Apply liberally to any areas that have the potential for rubbing. Enough said.
The power of Team. The event was in Madison, home of Team WILD’s very own Kathy Z. Kathy wasn’t running in the race, but she did have several friends participating. At least four or five times during the race, I would turn a corner and there would be Kathy on the side of the road, in her bright orange Team WILD shirt, offering cheers and words of encouragement. I know running and triathlon are individual sports, but what struck me was the extra spring in my step from hearing those encouraging words. To take it to the next level, I truly believe Team WILD can have that positive effect on many women with diabetes who are looking to find that extra “spring in their step” in their diabetes management and athletic goals.

Happy training everyone!

Edy in the News!

2009-05-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

Please click here to read the article with Edy Chambers!

Thanks for all you do Edy! This is just one more reason why you are WILD!
Good luck with the ride!!

My First Clips!

2009-05-23T21:00:00.003-04:00

May 23, 2009
Edy

Hey Team WILD- how fun to blog with ya'll!
OK- so I've been going to several spinning classes the last few weeks, then riding outside each weekend. The Tour de Cure is May 30 from San Antonio to Austin with a stop in San Marcos.

Last weekend I took my bike to the shop and with Nicole's suggestions-had them make a few changes-thank you Nicole! And I had them put my clips on. (nightmares included about falling and breaking something-no joke!) I rode around my (hilly) subdivision a bit one night and today I decided to go on the training ride. Success!- I rode 44 miles in 3 hours and did not fall!!!!

(photo isn't really Edy's feet...just a little creative license!)

BS did alright-not perfect! Woke with a 86. Decreased my basal to 70%, ate 20 gm carb and headed to the start-40 min drive southward. Pre-race had a 236! yicks- took no bolus-just drank water. At mile 27 had a 203, drank water and ate 1 shot block(8 gm). Arrived back at the car (without falling!) with a 92.

Guess my only issue is terrible burning in mostly my right hand. Used to have that with lows- now it's fairly constant no matter the BS. I try not to put too much pressure on the wrists, change positions, rub hands on shorts etc but maybe ya'll or Matt can make some suggestions with that.
Happy trails!

Working on Nutrition

2009-05-20T20:42:00.003-04:00

May 20, 2009
Sarah

So I went on a long bike ride + swim yesterday and I really wanted to focus on figuring out my nutrition. It has been something that I have struggled with and have started to feel the effects when it is not right. I don’t think yesterday’s nutrition was perfect, and I still have to work on it quite a bit, but I felt better than I have in a while.
I think I am, as what Matt and Marcey call “Glucocentric”, so I wanted to move away from that mind set yesterday. Not focus on my blood sugars as much and focus more on nutrition. This is how it went:

6:00am- 110 (Perfect!, my morning BS tend to run higher)- 2u for tea
7:00- 40g carb breakfast- 4u
8:45- 184- Leave for bike ride
9:15- 188 (hasn’t come down much, normally I would not take in any carbs until this has come down more, but start to sip accelerade)
9:45- 161 (coming down….keep drinking accelerade)
10:45- 151 (before I get in pool for swim, more accelerade)
10:45-11:45- swim, drink accelerade during rest breaks
12:00- 82- after swim, eat 2 shot block and mini promax bar (26g carbs total)
12-1:00- ride home, finish bottle of accelerade
1:15- 132 –finish, 25g carbs right away then 35g lunch within 1 hr

Total carbs throughout the entire session was about 60g, then another 60g after for recovery. I still don’t think this is enough for the amount of time I was exercising but man did I feel so much better than when I have only 20-30g! I have an appointment with Marcey this morning and will hopefully figure out how to tweak this more until I get it perfect!!

Team WILD(flower)

2009-05-20T20:37:00.002-04:00

May 20, 2009
Becca

First of all, THANK YOU to all of you who sent well-wishes on Saturday!! It was so, so awesome to get back from the race and feel so much support from the group!

So, my first race, the Wildflower Olympic distance in San Luis Obispo, CA, was an AMAZING experience. Absolutely, positively amazing. I think my favorite thing was the transition area – what a total scene! People running around in wetsuits and bike shoes and bathing suits and spandex galore. I have never felt more comfortable in form fitting clothes! I also have to say, I loved having my race number written on my arms and thighs – it made me feel super hardcore!! I was sad to wash it off after the race was over and to be honest didn’t mind that a little of the marker lingered for a couple of days…

The entire week before the race I was battling something (swine flu?) and was feeling super terrible, so I was really nervous that my body would not be able to hold up through the whole race. But the morning we planned to drive down to San Luis Obispo (about a 3.5 hour drive from the SF bay area), I woke up drenched in sweat – and feeling a million times better!!! There was certainly a vicious battle that went on in my body the night before, and luckily my body won!!

Wildflower is a fun/intense race in that you camp out the night before since it is held in a pretty remote area in California. The atmosphere is super friendly and everyone was so happy to be there. One of my good friends is on the Team Type 1 triathlon team so Kathleen and I hung out with them the night before. They were so excited for us to be racing and to hear more about Team WILD, and it definitely made us a lot less stressed to hang out with such a supportive bunch.

I was very, very nervous on Sunday morning and woke up at about 5:45am – although my alarm was not even set for me to get up until 7am! I had slept all of 4 hours the night before, thanks to the assortment of snorers in the tents around us, and the ultra-hard ground we camped on. But no matter – I was UP! It seemed like forever by the time I was finally standing in my wetsuit in a group of about 100 women, waiting for our group to go out. They let us go into the water for a minute to warm and I splashed around and tried to take some deep breaths. I had a Gu up the sleeve of my wetsuit but I was about 200 when I headed to the start line so I figured I’d be ok.
And then we were off!! I think I was kind of in disbelief for the first half of the swim that I was finally, FINALLY doing my first triathlon! Once or twice I just kind of slowed down and looked around and enjoyed the moment. When I got out of the water my legs were incredibly shaky and I was convinced my blood sugar was super low. But when I got the transition area I checked and was 205….ok so maybe that shakiness was adrenaline! But in my rush to transition to the bike and my focus on not forgetting anything, I didn’t stop to think about ONE extremely important thing…I felt low but I WASN’T, and I needed to bolus aggressively to cover the insulin I missed during my swim or else I would skyrocket. So that’s a little foreshadowing for you….

On to the bike. The bike is TOUGH, you gain about 1200 feet of elevation over the 25 miles and the first mile is straight uphill, everyone in the lowest gear just slow pedal-pedal-pedal and try to make it to the top without just plopping over. When I got to the top my friend was there with a cowbell and a camera so that was a nice reward! The hills were tough and after about 8 or 9 miles I started feeling like I was hitting a wall. I was bummed because I thought it was maybe due to me being so sick for a week and not recovering all my strength. I got to the turnaround and I had gotten someone’s race sticker for their helmet stuck to my wheel, so I stopped to take it off and check my blood sugar.

420??? FOUR. HUNDRED. TWENTY?!?! How the heck…ohhhh shit. Yeah. I realized at that moment WHY I felt so crappy. I was SO mad at myself for not thinking things through after the swim and taking the insulin that my body needed. I pulled out my pump and although it was difficult to do since I just wanted to send a whole TON of insulin into my system, I only took about half what my pump told me to. I knew once I got a little in me, my blood sugar would come down fast. My blood felt like sludge and my eyes felt dried out. I decided to keep going but to slow my roll, drink as much water as possible, and just think good thoughts.

By about mile 20 of the bike I was starting to feel AMAZING. It truly is incredible how much better you feel when your blood sugar is in range – like your body can actually FUNCTION! I started passing people and my legs didn’t burn as much on the climbs. I was so, so HAPPY! I got back to the transition area and checked my blood sugar – mid 200s. Ok. I was coming down, and pretty quickly. I had some extra carbs for that feeding period and took off on the run. I felt GREAT. It was hot, and I was a little shaky on my legs at first, but I knew I only had 6 miles of (albeit very hilly) running ahead of me. I felt my blood sugar dropping a couple of times and downed some Gatorade at every rest stop, for carbs and for hydration. Sometimes when I’m running and I need to talk myself through it, I chant in my head “just keep swimming, just keep swimming” like Dorey said in Finding Nemo. I don’t know why but just the beat of it and the image of myself gliding along makes the run feel easier. I used that mantra on a couple of the bigger hills and before I knew it I was on the last mile, allll downhill (yes!!) and then sprinting through the finish line! It was AMAZING!!!
No one I knew was at the finish line when I got there, and for about 30 seconds I was a little bummed that I had no one to share the moment with. But then I realized how amazing that was – I could just BE in the moment, revel in it quietly, take it all in. If my friends had been there they would have asked how it was and I would have started talking right away – and I wouldn’t have had the time to just capture it all in my head. I loved every minute of it. They throw a soaking wet towel at you to wipe off the salt and sweat, put a medal over your head, and lead you to the time chip collectors. You feel sort of like a celebrity, everyone directing you and taking care of you. Even though they are doing it for EVERYONE who crosses that finish line – you are ALL celebrities, you all have the understanding of what it felt like to finish that race.
At least once during each leg of the race I looked around and kind of giggled quietly to myself. I was doing it! I think I honestly only half-believed it at times and a couple of times I said out loud, “I’m doing it! I’m doing my first triathlon!” It was so much work to get there and I gave up so much to make the time to train and take care of my body and LEARN how to do it all – and it was all so, so worth it. Competing in Wildflower gave me so much confidence for our race in October, and it made me so EXCITED about it! What an experience! Just to be surrounded by people who are challenging themselves through swimming, biking, running, and more than all that the MENTAL struggle it is – I mean, WOW.

I also felt very happy that I had made it through a tough diabetes challenge during the race. I was mad at myself for making such a big mistake, but I also think it showed me that when you’re in the moment, it’s easy to overlook the obvious. It was SUCH a good lesson for me to really slow down and FOCUS when I’m making diabetes decisions. An extra 30 seconds of figuring out what to do will save me tons of time NOT having to deal with a super high or super low blood sugar.

WHAT a day. What a great, great, challenging, exhausting, inspiring, did I say GREAT? day. I can’t wait for my next race!!

Wildflower

2009-05-17T18:20:00.003-04:00

May 17, 2009
Kathleen

Three fellow type 1s (2 WILD girls & 1 Triabetes gal) suggested that I share the details of my 5/3 Wildflower Olympic Tri experience in case it’s the least bit helpful on what NOT to do. I also think sharing the gory details will continue to help me cope with the disappointment of not finishing the race. Instead of the Wildflower “Tri”athlon, I’m calling it the Wildflower 1 ½ because all I did was the swim and ½ the bike. Did awesome on the swim however (Celeste would be proud!).

In retrospect I can now see many things that I will handle differently going forward. I recognize that a true athlete is someone who learns from their disappointments (I hate the word mistakes!) so I am getting back in the saddle (he he!) on 7/11 for the SF Olympic Tri. A friend, who is also a CDE, is doing it with me so I will definitely have on site/real time support/problem solving! I have people! Mmm mmmm raise the roof! (ok, is that so 90s?)

I will give my summary and lessons learned first and then make notes on what I was thinking at the time and what I think I could have done differently.

In summary, I should have eaten a bigger breakfast and taken a full carb bolus and a full correction bolus for the “above range” number I woke with, especially since I woke more than 4 hours pre swim wave. I’m completely paranoid about a low while swimming (I have hypoglycemia unawareness) and there would have been no IOB by the time I hit the water. Duh! I also should have gone with a different basal profile. I was on a really really really low basal profile b/c that was the profile for my Wildflower on site training weekend which was heavy duty exercise 3 days in a row. This weekend, I did no exercise the day prior to the race. Duh! I should have also fueled more during the race. B/c I was above range all morning, I didn’t really fuel b/c I was afraid to take insulin and have IOB during the swim. I was so focused on hydrating and not adding carbs to make me higher (thus drinking only Nuun) that I didn’t make the connection that I was not fueling. (Sorry Marcey, I was not fueling the athlete!!) Nuun is not fuel. I was looking at it as no carbs = no need for insulin. I completely lost sight of carbs = fuel. If I had done the previous strategies, I think I would have been able to fuel for the exercise and not needed to take insulin as I typically do not in training. I’m usually taking in what I’m burning, for the most part, and I’m also usually on a higher basal so getting some insulin.

I also now see several areas where I could have also recovered and taken new actions so as to save the day mid race.

Below are the details:

If you are not familiar with Wildflower, let’s just say you drive 4 hours from SF and are camping out pretty much 2 inches from 3000 other campers. Already this is not my routine in terms of dinner the night before, mental rest and then actual physical rest. I got maybe 4 hours of sleep and woke up feeling like I was completely hung-over.

11pm 325
What the heck is mole chicken and how many carbs is that? Tasty dinner but never had it before. I was also getting low after initial meal bolus so 2 cookies later, way above range range. Ug! Anyway, took full correction and got into my sleeping bag. Camping sucks right now!
1am 196 (coming down)
2am 166 (yeah try to sleep. Ignore snoring guy in next tent.)
6am wake up 235 (crap, I feel hung over, cold, tired and old. OMG, what have I gotten myself into? Becca! Let’s go back to SF!)
6:30 eat banana 25 carb only take 1.75 u (in retrospect probably should have taken full correction, had better breakfast and taken full insulin)
8am 290 (eek, do nothing let it ride) Bike down the hill to transition area.
8:30 236 (hmmm, coming down, cool, let it ride, don’t want to get low on swim, drink some GU20. stay hydrated. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate)
9:15 267 (ick, stop drinking GU20 carbs, drink Nuun, hydrate, hydrate, lower basal to race day program)
10am 295 (last check before 10:45 wave, let it ride, I’m nervous, don’t get low in the swim, stay focused, swim to the left, GUs in my sleeve, you can do it, no tears, ok maybe a few, kick some non diabetic ass)
11:30 299 (swim was great, not low, yeah, getting on bike, high though, hmmmm, let it ride and check in an hour midway on bike. Should come down. Only drink Nuun. Stay hydrated but don’t want to raise BG so no carbs)(should have eaten GU and taken some insulin. This is where I could have acted and saved the day. Next time, take insulin and carbs)
12:45 midway on bike 281 take .3 u (tried to eat and drink and started vomiting)
12:51 (maybe 281 was not correct, check again) 308 .3u again (fireman came over to help, had low BP 70/50, completely nauseous, sit in shade, drink water, fireman calls EMT b/c I have diabetes. arg! BP comes up, I’m feeling slightly better. Poked and prodded by EMT, scolded for high BG by EMT, discouraged from continuing, just throw me a crystal geiser and I’m outta here!)
1:45 231 (back on bike, just finish bike and bag the run. Everyone has passed me. I’m one of 6-8 people left on the course. Ick!)
2:30 237 (went 4 miles, had to walk some and am not well. Stop and vomit one more time. I’m done. Wait for ride back)
3pm 239 (back at transition, check BG, take 1u, Becca finished! Yeah!!!)
4:30 174 (waiting for shuttle back to camp to breakdown tent, etc)

After all this, we had to break down our campsite and sit in a single file line of 1000 cars waiting to leave the park. 5 hours later, we are home.

Camping and endurance sports in the same weekend, not good for me!

Challenges make life interesting but overcoming them makes life meaningful (a quote from the latest Triathlon Life Mag) . Here’s to overcoming this challenge on 7/11 and again on 10/25!

Hello Team

2009-05-14T19:34:00.001-04:00

May 14, 2009
Wendy

Spring has finally arrived in the great white north and I have taken my first outdoor ride on my spiffy new bike. I was in great fear of the clip pedals as I have managed to injure myself many times on a bike (actually skis, bikes, roller blades, ice skates, the list is quite extensive- I hate filling out forms at a doctor office on previous injuries- I digress) My fear was unwarranted. It felt so amazing to be outside again.

I have also bought a wetsuit and have been practicing wearing it in the pool. I will do my first triathlon on May 31st at a local conservation authority. It is a 750m swim, 30 km bike ride and 7.5 km run. It will be my first open water swim race.

My swim coach, who is also an Ironman finisher, has been practicing with me on how to get in and out of the wetsuit. She has also advised me about buying a tri suit and strongly suggests not getting a one piece in case you have to make a pit stop you will have to remove the full suit. Then again wearing a pump make a 2 piecer more reasonable- any thoughts on this?

I also completed my first full marathon last Sunday. I think I have finally figured out my fueling – after the first 10k, 10-15 grams of carbs every 15-20 minutes (about 1/3 of gel) followed by water. I stopped at a medical tent about every 5 miles and tested my BG. My local coach had told me to not race and think of it as a training run to check my BG. So I did, and feel better for it.

I just got copies of the photos from the race and I burst out laughing. I had my fuel belt on, a jacket around my waste and my running skirt had slipped under my belly so my lower belly was exposed – including my pump insertion site and my CGM monitor. Nothing like being out there with your diabetes.

Happy racing!

For a Moment I Felt Like I Didn't Have Diabetes

2009-05-12T07:51:00.002-04:00

May 12, 2009
Lyndsay

Last Thursday I planned to swim and then go for a long bike ride. I woke up higher than usual (I was in the mid 200's) and thought to myself "great, just what I needed!," and moved forward by changing my pump site, bolusing, and off to the pool I was. 1 hour later, I came home to change into cycling clothes, checked my blood and was around 190.

I planned on riding for 50 miles, and packed appropriately for hydration and nutrition needs for the 3-4 hour ride. I had started a temp basal of 75% of my normal basal, and planned on taking in 25g carb every 30 minutes. 15 miles later, checked and was 116. At mile 30, I was 149. The remaining ride I stuck to my nutrition plan, and ended up riding a total of 56 miles. At the end, I was 151. When I was finished, I was thrilled with what started as a "*#^ diabetes day, to feeling like I didn't have diabetes. I thought about what Matt had said at camp. Something along the lines of "By keeping your insulin levels close to normal, and sticking to your nutrition requirements 30-60g carb/hour, the numbers often just fall into place." That is was I experienced and felt awesome.

The week before I went for a 30 mile ride with my husband. I was packed with plenty of carb sources and had 2 water bottles. He had 1 bottle filled with Gatorade. Walking out the door, I said, "is that all you are bringing?" and he said he would be fine. Hmmm right around mile 12 with 3/4 of his water bottle still full, he said "are we almost to the turn around point?" With a grin on my face I said getting close, but are you feeling tired? He hesitated as he said no, and I said to him, "Just because you don't have diabetes doesn't mean you can get away with not taking in carbs during exercise and not drinking enough!"

For anyone who wasn't at camp, that was a big takeaway. Other than having diabetes, we are no different than an athlete without. We can't always just base are next step on what are blood sugar is. (Big props to Marcey for getting this point across at camp!)This was something that was a big change for me and how I managed my blood sugar during exercise from from last year to this year.
I am loving the results!

Chachachachanges

2009-05-10T10:51:00.002-04:00

May 10, 2009
Kathy

I hoped to be writing about my 4 hour rehearsal I planned on doing yesterday, but, alas, I sit hear on my couch with my "diabetes sick protocol" in full force. Diet soda, ice-pops, Kleenex, water and magazines flag both sides of me. I am honored to say our very own Mari Ruddy graces the presence of the May issue of Diabetes Forecast magazine...what a great, inspirational article about her starting the Tour de Cure's Red Rider Program! We are so lucky to have you, Mari!

Back to being sick, if there is one thing I learned from our camp last month, it's that being a triathlete means rolling with the punchs. You fall off your bike, you get back on. You freak out in open water, relax and keep swimming. You feel sick from dehydration, hydrate more next time. And being a triathlete with diabetes means there are a lot of punches. You feel low on the bike, get some sugar in you; you still feel low on the bike, get more sugar in you. Luckily, I'm in between jobs right now and have the next week off. More life changes, but this will give me a chance to recover and do my rehearsal later in the week. I love being reminded of this frame of mind, rolling with changes, and being a part of team WILD is incredibly valuable to me for this. Some changes we bring on ourselves, like my job change, and others we don't ask for, like being diagnosed with diabetes. It seems like I should have something more profound to say now, but nothing's coming to me. Oh well, happy training and rollin'!

Swimming Well!

2009-05-02T23:03:00.001-04:00

May 2, 2009
Jennifer S.

Hi Team!!

Hope all of you that were doing the Wildflower Olympic tri this weekend did well and kudos to those of you that did the 4 hour rehearsal today per Yoli's great calendar! I'll be completing that in a few weeks!
I had a minor triumph at the pool today as I was completing the drills that Celeste was so great at putting together for us. I was swimming focusing on keeping my head down, and really trying to not kick as much as I've been used to doing. Trying to reach, extend, glide through the water all while trying to breath out as much air as possible and get enough in without additional water to get through the next strokes. I was sharing a lane with a gentleman who really appeared to be an agile swimmer. After about 45 minutes of sharing the lane we both ended up at a rest point at the same end of the pool. As I finished my last stroke and hung on the side of the pool he turned to me and told me I made swimming look so easy! Really?...was my mental thought...because I'm not feeling the ease here....clearly you don't feel me trying to keep my focus on a million things while making this look easy. But I said..." Oh, thanks I've really been working hard as I'm training for a 1/2 Ironman". He told me my strokes are very smooth and that I have no "splash" while swimming. WOW....just like that I was suddenly feeling a little better about my swimming. It took just a quick comment to help me find a positive focus and make the last 20 minutes of my swim feel like I was gliding. I think so much while I'm "trying" to swim and complete the drills the right way, that I think I forget to have fun and enjoy the workout as well. It was a triumph for me!! Finding that I'm actually doing something well and that the more I practice the better I will get.
With that said I've been looking into open water swimming opportunities in my area. I came to realize how important this would be after doing the open water swim at our camp in San Antonio in April. After swimming only half the distance and experiencing what I'm assuming was a panic attack in the open water I knew I needed to get some open water training in....a pool is so not like swimming in a lake! I located a lake about 1 hour away. I've scheduled one day per month through this August to go down to the lake and swim and I also am planning to join a local tri club here in Alexandria....thanks to Ramona for telling me about this!! And it will be so nice to have a fellow teammate to participate with in this club!!

I'm feeling better about my swimming, mostly about how I should look at my swims. I enjoy cycling and running and when I go into a workout for either of these I actually look forward to it...I haven't had that feeling going into my swim sessions. I guess I needed a little healthy compliment from someone I didn't even know to give me some "happy" focus. I hope to keep this with me as I continue to improve my swimming....I know I can do better and enjoy it too!!

Very First Triathlon

2009-05-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

May 2, 2009
Becca

I'm heading into SF to pick up Kathleen in about half an hour and we are heading down to Wildflower to do the Olympic distance. This is my VERY FIRST TRI. I am VERY excited and also a wee bit (ok, more than a wee bit) nervous. I have had SUCH a huge learning curve just preparing for the race (I mean the gear alone is enough to make your head spin!) and I see now the importance of what Yoli was talking about on one of the last calls about doing a few races just to get a feel for how it all works. I haven't even DONE it yet and I'm already seeing how much work goes into it...I'm sure I'll have learned a lot more by the time I finish the race tomorrow!

Anyhow - I just wanted to send a note out to all of you because without this team, I probably would not be getting ready to take on such a huge, amazing challenge. I am so, so excited for our race in the fall and I am even more excited for all of the learning, tri-ing, and growth we will have between now and then. Have a great weekend and keep your fingers crossed that we finish with smiles on our faces!!!

Taking Bunny Hopping on the Bike to a New Level

2009-05-02T18:29:00.000-04:00

April 25, 2009
Mari

This is a really cool clip. I thought of Nicole teaching us to "bunny hop" on the bike at camp... Nicole, is this for our next session???
I've always wanted to bike up a tree!!!
Enjoy!

Another Success....

2009-05-02T18:28:00.000-04:00

April 21, 2009
Karen R.

Not even close to what Katie wrote about but probably just as important. Yoli's probably tired of seeing me write in my training log that I need to put my slicks on my mountain bike so I'm very happy to say mission finally accomplished! And because I had to do my front tire twice, (payback for putting in a patched tube) I'm really, really good at it now.

My local tri group had a man come in from Genuine Innovations (the company that makes gadgets to inflate tires with CO2 cartridges) to demonstrate how to use their products. He shared a story about a highly ranked woman triathlete competing in Kona who encountered a flat. Apparently she went through two cartridges, couldn't inflate the tube, and then was out of air. Another athlete rode by, threw her another cartridge, and on the third attempt was able to inflate the tube. After the race she admitted she had no experience using the cartridge system. Moral of the story is that the first time you use something, it's not in a race when it really counts. Sounds a lot like the recent discussions about fueling the body.

Happy swimming, biking and running everyone.

Success!

2009-05-02T18:24:00.000-04:00

April 18, 2009
Katie

Okay, so it's not my day to blog, but hey, when I feel inspired, I better write because it doesn't happen often. :) I was just excitedly writing Marcey to share my awesome 8.14-mile run from today (I work tomorrow), and decided to share with everyone! those of you who weren't at camp- I didn't do so great with our 3-hr rehearsal, as I did not consume nearly enough water or carbs during the event and as a result felt quite like poo the rest of the day (I blame the heat as well!). Plus I really realized that I have NEVER taken in enough carbs/water before, during, OR after longer events in the past, sooo now every one of our longer training sessions/races will be a great practice for me/my stomach to learn how to consume more!

So, here's the rundown of my day today:
0415- 129

0830- started 50% basal

0840- 64

0900- 70g cho (oatmeal)

0930- 2.3units (50% bolus for 50g cho) (ok, should have done less than 50%)

1030- 166

1040- started run

1110- 71, 32g shot blocks, walked 10minutes

1140- 89, 25g gel

1205ish- stopped temp basal (@ mile 7)

1215- 97- end run, 1.5units (to slow down post-run spike)

1220- 42g cho (accelerade and string cheese), 3.0 units (100% bolus)

1240- 198

1305- 215 (still trying to figure out how to prevent this...)

1335- 119

1350- 110

1400- 3.75units (75% bolus for 70g cho)

1410- 70g cho

1610- 110

Um... how freakin' cool is that?!! I also drank about 1 liter of water during the run. so I went through Marcey's notes over and over after camp and wrote the really important stuff on sticky notes that I have up in my kitchen so I can think about and plan how to properly hydrate/eat before, during, and after longer workouts... like I said, something I have NEVER done before. and, the coolest part of the whole day is that I felt AWESOME during the entire run, and felt like I could have kept going when I ended. so great!! So my plan for now is to run at a pace that keeps my HR at or below 155 (that's where i feel good), and stop every half hour for a minute or two to check BG and eat 20-30g CHO.. and of course sip on water every few minutes. It only took several YEARS, but I think I finally get it, thanks to our FABULOUS staff! Happy 7-8 mile run tomorrow! :)

Blood Sugar Frustrations

2009-05-02T18:23:00.000-04:00

April 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

I feel that I am a fairly educated person. I feel like I understand blood sugar management and deal with it frequently with my pregnant patients… I find it easier to predict the blood sugar trends during the pregnancy as I can anticipate the different changes of insulin resistance based on how far along the pregnancy is. However, I find that it is sometimes not as easy when dealing with my own blood sugars, especially after different activities. I have to admit, I try to control my blood sugars fairly tight, which also means on the low side, at times. I think this is due to the fact that I have my patients managed very tightly during the pregnancy as this is what is important for a healthy outcome. As a result of this, I sometimes deal with hypoglycemic unawareness.

Now that we are doing our Phase Two Endurance training, I find that my blood sugars have been frustratingly difficult to control… with many highs and lows. This hopefully will improve with trials of altering the basal rates better and experimenting with my nutritional supplements during my activities. But, it makes it hard to do a good work-out when you are dealing with lows. For instance, I planned on doing a long ride on the bike (luckily it was indoors on the computrainer). I had had some low blood sugars the night before and overcorrected as I was high in the morning. I gave half of the bolus for breakfast and correction and lowered my basal rate before my ride. During the ride, I noticed that my cadence was slowing and I felt it was harder to pedal. I checked my blood sugar and it was extremely low. I ate some fruit and glucose tabs. I rechecked and it only came up a little. I refueled some more and continued riding. I checked several times more through the ride and it only raised minimally. Very frustrating! The bike coach I was working was concerned and questioned how I was planning on keeping my blood sugars up for 5-6 hrs during my ½ ironman. I replied, “That’s why I need to practice and work on blood sugar repletion.”

I thought my blood sugar management would be a little easier to deal with after I got my real-time sensors (which are now happily covered by my insurance company). Granted, I realize that these sensors are best to follow the trends. But, I get so annoyed when the calibration is off. This is sometimes even by 100 points. I feel I check my blood sugars even more so when wearing the sensor. I still wear the sensor as I feel it helps with my trends and just try not to pay attention to the number as much, which is hard to do at time… especially in the middle of the night when it alarms when it’s reading a high or low value (when it’s within a good range).

OK… enough griping. Can you tell I am writing this while on call in the hospital? Anyhow, I will end with a lighter note. I just started reading the new edition of the book, Diabetic Athlete’s Handbook by Sheri Colberg, which has a forward by Matt (good job by the way). This is actually the inspiration to my blogging rant. It has so many great points and suggestions on planning your activities. It has tables on how much carbs to take prior to the activity based on what your starting blood sugars is, duration, and intensity of activity. It also has a table on how to adjust your insulin. I’m in the middle of reading the section on “Dealing with Exercise-Induced Hypoglycemia.” I know some of this is a review on what was described at DTC… but it’s good to have it as a written guideline (as I am much more of a visual learner). So, if you want a good reference book… this is it!

Throwing Some Punches

2009-05-02T18:22:00.000-04:00

March 21, 2009
Karen R.

This isn't quite the blog I had planned to write this month, but because March has been throwing me some punches, I thought I'd take an opportunity to write about what to do when the unexpected happens, such as your pump failing early on a Saturday morning.

For the second time in a year I've received the A33 alarm on a Medtronic pump (different pumps), and if you don't know what that is, it is an indicator that something is wrong with the pump motor. It happens during priming and signifies that the pump is failing to recognize or feel the reservoir.

The most important lesson learned the first time was to make sure your pump settings are stored somewhere, be it on Carelink or written down. As I found out the first time, if you are not able to clear the error message, you cannot, now matter how hard you try, get your settings off the pump. This time I was able to clear the error and download my settings again, but as instructed by Minimed there is a problem with the motor and Minimed does not recommended continuing to use the pump.

Almost right on par with the first lesson is to make sure you have a "plan B" in place. The first time I didn't and like this time, the error happened on the weekend. The weekend matters, because normally you would receive a pump the next day, but now the next day is Monday. My improvised "plan B" for the first occurrence turned out to be using my previous 508 pump. It was temporary and worked ok, but I found out that once you use the bolus wizard feature, you hate to lose it.

So leaving the security of a pump behind, and because I now have a scrip for a long-acting insulin, my "plan B" this time is going to be Lantus. I have never used Lantus or Levemir, so this weekend will be a learning session. Not planning on doing any exercising until I can get my blood sugars down, but should be okay to start again tomorrow. Right now I'm appreciating the information from camp and that we had the medical call we did last Sunday. After that call, I thought I would at some point probably try a long acting insulin, just wasn't expecting to do it this weekend. If everything goes as it should, I'll be swimming with a long acting insulin on board Monday and get to see what, if any, difference it makes. I love being my own lab rat!!! Oh, and as positive as I may sound about this, I'm really not. I had horrible results with exercise and Lente and to think about going back to an injected long acting insulin feels as though I'm taking a step back, even though I know the insulins are different.

As I'm still using the Dexcom, I haven't lost the ability to continuously monitor glucose levels, and it's obvious I need to get my replacement basal on board. This probably won't sound odd to many of us, but right now I'm enjoying the freedom of being without the pump, although I know I'm going to be checking my waistband the next few days, trying to remember what I did with it!

So what had my topic been for the month? Not exactly sure, but something along the line of March being my anniversary month of diagnosis and as I enter my 25th year with this disease, I've learned, if nothing else, acceptance, responsibility, and that diabetes is a disease not an excuse. Over the last 24 years, I know I let having diabetes stop me from doing a lot of things (partly for the safety of others) but always wondered where did that adventurous woman who once (literally) skydived (even though it wasn't recommended) go?? The past two years have brought some amazing changes in my life and each day, life gets better and better. So thank you Mari, thank you team, thank you coaches, and thank you Matt and Marcey, because without all of you, I wouldn't be planning to do the 70.3 triathlon or be pushing myself and the limits as I am right now.

The BEST Swim Session

2009-05-02T18:21:00.000-04:00

March 19, 2009
Sarah

So I think I had the best swim session yet today. I had kind of a ‘ah-ha’ moment and it was the best feeling!

I have been working on drills and endurance in the pool, but my main focus on drills has been keeping nose down, turning hips, and breathing on both sides (those were my big weak points). Today I did the 3rd week swim session where a lot of the drills were focusing on pull. I didn’t realize until today how much I really wasn’t pulling. I had the right ‘form’ in my arms put wasn’t using them efficiently.

The entire workout today I really felt my arms pulling through the water and it made such a difference! I feel like now I will start to see improvements in my swimming cause I feel like I was missing a big step.

Anyways, I just wanted to share. I love it when you have those ah-ha moments and you feel like things suddenly ‘click’!

Happy spring to everyone, it’s finally starting to warm up here in Denver and I can’t wait to get outside more and not be confined to treadmills and spin class!

ART

2009-05-02T18:20:00.001-04:00

March 25, 2009
Jennifer A.

My blog will be short this month. I've been keeping on track with the training activities until this week. During my run last Sunday, I found it difficult to catch my breath. I took some time out of running until a few weeks ago due to my pyriformis syndrome. But, thanks to ART (Active Release) therapy, I've been able to run without as much pain. ART is definitely something people should look into if having pain whether muscular, ligament or myofascial. OK... back to my blog. So, during my run Sunday, I thought... I wasn't out of running that long that I'm so out of breath... but maybe I was more out of running shape than I thought. Then, the next day, I woke up and felt like I had run a marathon or two. My voice was hoarse and my throat was sore. I was getting sick! I am not one to get sick that often. And, like that Walgreen's commercial, I had no time for the flu.

Ignoring my illness, I managed to do my usually weights on Tuesday. Then, woke up Wendesday to swim. Did biking on Wednesday night. Then, Thursday, I was way worse. I had a fever and aches. I went home from work for the first time ever. My blood sugars all week have been running high too. It's been horrible. I rested Thursday but decided I was stronger than this and woke up Friday to swim. Alas, my body was yelling at me and I gave in. Have rested for the rest of the weekend. It's sad... because this is the first day in a long time that the sun has decided to shine in Chicago and would have been a great day for a run.

I will be listening in on our conference call tonight... but won't be able to say much as I still have my sexy sick voice and am hoarse. On a lighter note, my blood sugars are finally in the normal range without being in 110-120% of my normal basals.

Thoughts on Distance

2009-05-02T18:19:00.000-04:00

March 10, 2009
Mari

I was swimming last night with my local triathlon club, CWW, and like Team WILD, we’ve started the endurance phase of training. So we were swimming long, slow distance. But I’m in the advanced group, so long and slow doesn’t mean easy. As part of the workout, we did four 250’s, the goal being to swim each one at the same pace, so we had to focus on not going too fast the first one.

In between each set we got progressively less time to recover. Between the first and second, we got 30 seconds. Then 25 seconds. Then 20 seconds. Well, on the last set, I was doing great, then all of a sudden, I felt like I was floating. And I felt kind of dreamy. Then I had to pee like a banshee. This feeling is one of the ways my body tells me my blood sugar is really low. But I just didn’t want to stop. This was a great workout, I felt strong, and I wanted to keep going.

I thought about just continuing. I probably wasn’t THAT low. I had my pump off. I had eaten right before the workout. I must be fine. Right? But the dreamy feeling was weird. That is something new. Then I thought about the Longhorn in October. Decided I need to learn my body NOW so that I can be better prepared THEN. So, I stopped. Got out. Tested. Blood sugar was 47.

Holy crap. No wonder I was dreamy. There were only 15 minutes left in the workout. I could tel,l based on how I felt and the 28 years I've had diabetes, that it would likely take that long to feel right enough to get back in the pool, so I took the time to think about things. As I sat there, thinking, I thought about how long 70.3 miles really is. This triathlon is not a walk in the park. This is serious. It’s one of the harder challenges I’ve undertaken in my life. And, we each have to do it under 8 hours, or they kick us off the course.

What does this mean? Well, I was thinking: I can swim 1.2 miles in 38 to 40 minutes. I expect to allow myself 5 minutes in the transition area. Now I’m up to 45 minutes. What about riding 56 miles on the bike? It’s a fairly flat course, but still, 56 miles… that’s a LONG way to ride my bike. With essentially no getting off the bike. This is NOT a Tour de Cure ride with a rest stop every 10 miles. NOPE, this is RIDE THE BIKE. Eat nutrition ON THE BIKE. Be focused! Have fun, but this is a RACE!!!

I do a 62 mile Tour de Cure ride in about 5 hours. I will have to go faster than that for this, because I need all the time I can get on the run. I am a slow runner. So, if I want to do the bike portion in 4 hours, I have to average about 15 miles an hour. That’s AVERAGE speed. Four an ENTIRE 4 hours. (think of HOW MUCH A PERSON CAN DO IN FOUR HOURS... that's A LONG TIME!) I wonder, can I go faster than that? I guess I’ll have to see this spring. I need to build speed and power this year. (nicole, you hear me!!!) Okay, I’m getting nervous writing this! Gals, this is the BIG TIME!!!

Now, the transition between the bike and the run, for the sake of consistency, I will say 5 minutes for this. I hope I can be that fast, I will need to practice bricks, cause I’m thinking my legs are going to be really wobbly at this point.

Now a 13.1 mile run. Like I said above, I am a slow, slow runner. I am hoping I can average 13 minute miles. That’s what I did on the half marathon I did in June 2008. But I hadn’t just biked 56 miles and swam 1.2 miles. That’s 2 hours and 50 minutes to finish the run. Okay, that’s too slow. I wonder if by October I could improve and run 12 minute miles? I am so glad I’ve lost 11 pounds and by our camp I intend to lose 4 more pounds. I think carrying 15 less pounds than last season might help make me faster.

Otherwise, WILD women, I hope you all come to the finish line to welcome me to the end of the race! I may JUST make it under the 8 hour limit!! Writing this now, seven months before we meet in Austin for the race, makes me understand the vital importance of training and of attending camp and of having a plan and sticking to it. Thank you Yoli, Celeste, Nicole, Matt and Marcey and to the whole team. Your support and instruction is even more key than I realized before this little reflection. I’m glad my blood sugar was low, it gave me a minute to think and be thankful. And get excited for this challenge.

GO WILD WOMEN!

Chilli Half Marathon

2009-05-02T18:15:00.002-04:00

March 5, 2009
Wendy

On Sunday I ran the appropriately named Chilli half Marathon in a neighbouring community. It was -20C. I have no idea what it is in Fahrenheit but it was D@# cold. To put it in perspective the sponsor was handing our chapstick and gloves.

I got some great tips on cold weather running/racing from other members of the local tri team that I joined- so I that I thought I would share them with you .

Throw away clothing.
Apparently there is a practice of discarding old sweats and warm up clothing when the whistle blows. The start is littered with old sweat pants and shirts that are collected and taken to the local salvation army. A lot of people visit Sally Ann and buy some throw away clothing specifically for race day.
Never carry water/only a sports drink.
If you plan to carry water, bring a sports drink instead. With the sodium in the drink it is less likely to freeze. I have been out for a run and the top of the cap has frozen. This is annoying.
Gels
Clip your gel to the inside of your top (preferably between layers) so that it stays warm. Using one of those black office clips works. I know that I have a couple of sports bras with built in pockets but I generally don’t want to go fishing between my boobs for a gel when I am running. So having gels closer to your neck is a more refined approach.

The other thing I learned that I did not understand before is that despite the chip in my shoe tracking my time from start to finish, your rank – either age or gender – is based on gun time and not on chip time. So if you are vying for a podium spot you need to be at the front of the pack. I had no idea about this. I generally wait till the crowd thins before I hit the starting line.
I didn’t know this until I noted that the woman whose results were posted ahead of mine had a higher rank even though her chip time was 2 minutes slower. Not that I was going to podium but it is good to know.

Diabetes Birthday

2009-05-02T18:13:00.002-04:00

March 4, 2009
Kathy

I had my 17 year "Diabetes Birthday" this week. Next year, my diabetes can vote!

I thought I would send you all my rough draft of my fundraising letter. Sort of boring, but I'm not feeling very creative for blogging tonight...and I'm sort of watching my WI badger's BB game vs. MN (GO BADGERS!).

The following is literally my first draft/initial thoughts for my fundraising letter. I feel like I may need to cut it down a little, but I'm sitting on it for a few days to see if I can come up with any bright ideas. Here it is...

Hello to all my wonderful friends and family:

Finger Pricks = 31,025

Insulin Needle Injections = 6,570

Insulin Pump Infusion set Injections = 1,144

Continuous Glucose Monitor System Needle Injections = 30

Becoming a triathlete = you guessed it, priceless

I am writing to tell you about an exciting and, hopefully, inspiring group I joined. I, along with 19 other women with diabetes from around the country (and Canada) will be competing in the Longhorn ½ Ironman Triathlon. We call ourselves, Team WILD (Women Inspiring Life with Diabetes), a project of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association (DESA). With the support of each other, our coaches and medical staff, we hope to finish the 70.3-mile finish line on October 25, 2009 in Austin, Texas. As I sit here at my computer, I’m trying to compose a coherent letter that captures my enthusiasm and passion for this event. I can’t help but reflect on my last 17 years living with “the sugar,” or Type 1 Diabetes.

During my adolescent years, I convinced myself I would not have diabetes much longer. Surely there would be a cure by the time I was 30! But here I sit, turning 30 this year and there is no cure in sight. Luckily for me, there is a way to manage the disease. And luckier still, there is technology. After about six years of insulin injections via a syringe, technology lead me to my first ‘outer pancreas’ in the form of an insulin pump in January of 1998. My “pancreas” and I have been nearly inseparable for the past 11 years. And now, I am happy to introduce another addition to my pancreas family…a continuous glucose monitoring system, which can record my blood sugar readings every few minutes to better manage trends and effects of various foods in which I eat. Being privileged enough to be a part of such wonderful life-changing technology is not to say daily management is easy, but it is certainly more manageable.
Athletic activities have been an invaluable function of my diabetes management over the years. Growing up participating in team sports, and later running races not only helped keep my blood sugar readings in better control, but perhaps more importantly, helped me keep a sense of self esteem. I thank my parents for instilling an attitude that I can do anything and they never lead me to believe diabetes could stop me from doing something. They may not have been thanking themselves when that attitude led me to apply for the Peace Corps during college, and to a solo two-week trip to Europe upon graduation. But ultimately, I think they would agree with the critical role exercise plays in my life with diabetes.

I’m asking that you join me and Team WILD in this goal. Of coarse, donations are very much appreciated and tax-deductable. Another way to show support is to spread the word, especially if you know someone with diabetes. We want to do exactly what our name implies, inspire others to get out and move! Do what inspires you…join a dance class, take your dog for more walks, run a 5K race or try a triathlon yourself! Check out our website _________________and/or give online at _____________________

Thank you so much for your support.

My first Blog Entry!

2009-05-02T18:11:00.002-04:00

March 1, 2009
Ramona

I'm not much of a blogger - and this is actually my first team WILD blog (one month and one day late - sorry!) - but I have had a few things on my mind recently, and I'm actually excited to have a forum in which to express them.

I don't know if it's just my personality, or a result of having had diabetes since childhood, or a combination of both, but I easily slip into an obsessive compulsive, all-or-nothing mindset. As in, "staring tomorrow my blood sugars will never top 150, I'll work out every day, lose 15 lbs, cook healthy meals each evening, keep the house clean and organized, wear dashing outfits, diligently watch the news, be nice to everyone, and say really smart things at work." Obviously, that never happens. The funny thing is, I KNOW it's unrealistic and won't happen, and yet, at the beginning of every month (or week, or season, or solstice - any "beginning" that is handy, really) I kind of believe this time might be different. And when it turns out not to be, I have to fight the urge to give up entirely (as in, succumb to my every lazy and gluttonous whim!) until the next 1st of the month/week/fiscal year/whatever.

I think this sort of mindset is not uncommon in people who exercise a lot, and I also think growing up with diabetes might contribute to it. So I'm guessing this isn't unfamiliar to at least some others in the group! As I train for this triathlon, I'm struggling to reign in this mindset and to funnel its energy in a positive way. I'll be honest - I feel a little behind on the training. And because of my black-and-white outlook, sometimes that makes me want to give up entirely. But (and this is the point of this blog) I have found it SO VERY useful to log-on and read about the experiences of the others in the group. It reminds me that what we are doing takes a lot of time, attention, and energy, and no one can do it without a lot of effort and occasional stops and starts.

So, as I struggle to face the week ahead and figure out how I'm going to find time to get everything done, it's really nice to know that there are a group of women out there trying to figure out the same things and managing to do them, even if they don't do them perfectly. Thanks, ladies!

A Perfect Day...

2009-05-02T18:11:00.001-04:00

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.

Training for Open Water...

2009-05-02T18:10:00.000-04:00

February 15, 2009
Sarah

A random thing happened in the pool the other day and I realized it might be a good way to train.
So the pool where I swim is a small 20-yard, 2-lane lap pool. It is actually the Hyatt’s hotel pool, but the gym I go to does not have its own pool so they let us use that one. It’s a little small, but it works…. 1 mile is 84 lengths!
I love it because since it is a hotel pool there is hardly ever anyone there. I am usually alone or with a few 5-6 year olds splashing around in the other lane. So I was surprised yesterday when I went to find 3 big guys (they looked like they were triathletes because they were wearing Zoots and not normal ‘board shorts’) swimming laps. They were very nice though and I shared a lane with one guy while the other two were in the lane next to us.
I did a few warm up drills then decided I wanted to do a continuous swim. As I started swimming I noticed it felt different. My stroke felt a little off and I wasn’t sure why. Then I realized it was because the guys were almost creating ‘waves’ as they passed me. I was so used to swimming by myself that I was not used to the ‘waves’ created when you swim with other people.
But I thought to myself, this is kinda nice, its like getting practice for the open water swim where we have to deal with hundreds of other people as well as the natural current of the open water! So if I may make a suggestion…. if its too cold where you live to start practicing in open water, find 3 big guys to swim laps with you and you can create your own open water experience!

Computrainer

2009-05-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

February 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

I’ve been taking a biking class using Computrainers with a triathlon training group for the past month. I’ve never taken a biking class before (not even spinning). The Computrainer measures the power you generate, mph, calories burned, etc. The first class was to see what your fit threshold power was. I was happy to say I had the best FTP amongst the women in the class (and even better than one of the guys). It’s a great class filled with drills to push your power and cadence. Since your power and settings are in the computer, the resistance on the trainer is calibrated to your power at the beginning of each class.

During our last class, Mike, my instructor must have heard how much I love those single leg drills. We did 2 sets of 4 (30 sec) drills. During our "cool down," Mike challenged me to do some more single leg drills... so I did 1 more set of 2. He said I did the best during those last 2… but my form tends to tire out after 20 or so seconds. They definitely work on strengthening your legs though. We did spin ups and steady state drills as well.

I must be getting stronger, because Mike has to keep upping my power/resistance on my trainer during class. I'm usually at the highest gear even with the 85% times. So, he went up to 15-20 points higher on my FTP. Then he had to change the resistance further (not sure how high the power rating was since we didn't recalibrate to see as it was during a steady state). Maybe I didn't give it my all during my initial FTP. It will be interesting what my FTP will be when the class ends when we remeasure it. I’m hoping to improve.

Another good thing about these trainers… you can bike a course of any local, national or international triathlon course they have from Kona’s world championships to the local sprint triathlons. The resistance on the trainer will change based on the road condition of the course. Since I won’t be going to the camp at the end of March, I’m going to set up some time to do the Longhorn ½ Ironman course during the training season. I’m happy to have such a resource available. :)

Baby Steps

2009-05-02T18:08:00.000-04:00

February 8, 2009
Eustacia

I got to thinking about my last 12 months of life and realized I had missed one key thing throughout this year. Personal compassion and acceptance. I have spent much of the last 4 years of my life working on deepening my ability to be compassionate toward others yet this last year it seems I forgot it can also apply to myself.

In the last 12 months I have worked my dream job at the south pole, traveled abroad, fallen in love, become a parent, bought a house, lost my driving license, become extremely sick for 6 months, got a new puppy, lost my dream job and the ability to go to the place on earth where I am at complete peace, joined this fabulous organization thru all it’s changing, lost my ability to work out and attend my triathlons, been so sick I couldn’t spend time with friends, spent a lot of time with family due to an ailing grandmother, have the honor of being a pall bearer for my grandmother after she passed, started an EMT course, and continue to be unemployed going on 5 months now.

I think of all this and realize that the days I give myself a hard time for being fat and out of shape maybe I should take it a little easier on myself. That I have spent so much time being afraid that my sickness would become permanent I failed to see that there is such thing as temporary acceptance without the possibility of losing your core character. I was so afraid of becoming what I don’t want to be that I couldn’t accept what I was. And in turn that meant any attempts I made to remove myself from the situation I was in were not genuine and always met with defeat and hardship.

My spiritual beliefs are that we do the best we can in each and every moment with what we have available to us right then. I have super high standards for myself and at times I forget that some days conquering the world is not on my to-do list.

So today I did not conquer the world but I did work out for the first time in ten months. I jogged for only fifteen minutes at a slow 13min/mile pace. The first five minutes were like every run I ever embark on (even in excellent shape). Five grueling minutes wishing every second that I could throw myself in front of a moving bus. And then surprisingly I settled into a nice easy peaceful jog. Probably the most peaceful run I have ever been on.

It ended just as simply as it started though as I drove back home I felt like the luckiest person on earth. All of us on this team live every second of every day a little more complicated than the average person. We can’t take a sip of a drink or a bite of food or even a stride of a run without considering a multitude of factors. But the fact is, we can take that stride. And with any luck, I won’t forget that again.

Swim Fan

2009-05-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

February 6, 2009
Becca

So, this week I started my training. I know last week was supposed to be the beginning, but let’s just say that sometimes ultimate frisbee (which I play every Monday) can get a little rowdy, and that sometimes leads to strained muscles in your neck and back. Yeah…last week was rough! But this week, feeling better, let’s go swimming! I was super nervous to go swim because I’m still a beginner at this whole “total immersion” thing so I was hoping for my own lane so I wouldn’t hold anyone up. I was in the slow lane with one other woman and it was essentially two lanes in one, so she said we could just each take a side until someone else came. I was like, SWEET! I was down the pool and halfway back when I bumped into a large woman in floaties who was walking the length of the pool. I came up, startled, and she said to me “listen honey, you always go down the left side, we rotate around. You’re on the wrong side.” I felt kind of embarrassed and felt the need to defend myself and explain that we were just sticking to our own lanes until someone else got here. Ah, off to a good start! Haha...

I felt a little silly but I continued my skating drills…man it takes a long time to get down the pool when you’re doing those! I checked my BG a few times and bolused a little extra - it's hard for me to stay in range when disconnected from the pump. I swam for a full hour (moving into my zipper-switch…Celeste would be proud) and when I was done, the floaties woman and I were chillin on the shallow end of the pool and she turned to me and said, “You’re doing that full immersion swimming, aren’t you?” I was pretty surprised that she even knew what the hell I was trying to do. I kind of figured anyone watching me was just thinking, boy that girl sure does things her own way. I told her it was and that I was just a beginner. The lifeguard chimed in and said, “oh yeah, someone just won a world record doing that! I gotta watch you so I can learn!” Several other swimmers at the pool looked over at me appreciatively, like I was some sort of expert. Hilarious and ridiculous, but I was ok with it because man, some of those swimmers were really cute. I told the lifeguard, “well, you might want to wait a few weeks until I get better and it actually looks like something!”

Now, I don’t know if someone actually did just win a world record doing full immersion, but whatever – I could not have asked for a better experience during my first training swim. I worked hard, met some nice people, kept my BG between 100-200 (which is a feat for me when I'm disconnected), and learned that it is really not that embarrassing to be passed while swimming in the slow lane. I hope every one of you gets to have a night that that sometime in the next 9 months of training. It’s amazing how supportive and excited people are, and how non-judgmental. Even after I took up her lane, floaties woman could still appreciate a nice zipper-switch :)

Things Certainly are Rolling...

2009-05-02T18:06:00.000-04:00

February 5, 2009
Kathy

I really appreciated reading Jennifer's Smith's recent blog on 'expectations vs reality.' This week, I've been low on my last two runs and cut my bike training session in half due to a low. Right this moment, I'm icing my ankle now because twisted it after calming down my hyper-active dog from freaking out when passing another dog/runner combo, then stepping on a giant piece of snow/ice chuck randomly on sitting on the ice-covered sidewalk. [big sigh]

I also broke two of my three blood sugar meters, the third was already broke. Somehow, there is a test strip stuck in all three of them that I'm too frustrated to get out. I've been using my trusty mini "sidekick" meter instead. I swear there are some days I have some sort of electromagnetic force field around me that causes me to break almost every piece of electronic equipment I touch. In fact, I'm surprised this computer is still working.

Anyway, this is the reality of training for a triathlon. It's not all pretty and, like Jennifer said, I'm so happy to be part of a team in this WILD adventure.