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?

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

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!

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!

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!

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.