Rhet 2.0

I couldn't have said it better myself.

2012-01-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a nice post from someone on my team.
She has lived with the disease for much longer than I have so she does a much better job explaining how it really works.
http://tripeej.com/2012/01/24/whats-it-like-to-have-diabetes/

Back To Basics

2012-01-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

Ever since my last race I've been really struggling. I gave myself a few weeks of nice easy runs with no pace or mileage requirements to make a nice break between last season and next. The problem is that I don't look forward to my run anymore. I think of it as just something that has to be done.
It doesn't help that it is below freezing most nights when I head out. It also doesn't help that on Saturdays I run for about 15 miles which makes my legs tired for the next several days.

I can handle the inconvenience of cold weather and boring dark winter running because I know the results will be explosive speed once I start waking up my muscles again in the spring. The real problem is that I haven't been keeping my blood sugar as controlled as the weeks leading up to the race.

I don't know if I'm just getting lazy or if it is just that my body is adjusting to the less strenuous workouts. Either way, I need to get it figured out.

I think I will try just getting back to basics. Testing more often and getting precise carb counts at every meal.

Maybe I'll switch it up to morning runs or something just to get jump started again.

Yeah, that's it. That's a great idea. Look for me on the streets at 5 AM.

First burgers of 2012

2012-01-02T12:28:00.001-08:00

I have always loved burgers, but now I love them even more. They are easy to count the carbs and they burn slowly.
And they are delicious of course.

It's that time again.

2011-12-19T22:19:00.001-08:00

My old shoes have well over 1000 miles on them. Check out my wear pattern.
I'm now going to try these Nike Pegasus 28s. I haven't worn a Pegasus since '92 I think.

The Results

2011-12-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

I got a new personal best, but still had a lot of room for improvement.

First the highlights: 1 hour 14 minutes 49 seconds for a half marathon (even if it is slightly downhill) is pretty good. 8th place overall is not as good but more on that later.

Here are the rest of the details: I had eaten a good meal of carbs and protein the night before. On the day of the race, I woke up at 4:30 AM for a 7 AM start time. I usually like 3 hours to prepare but that is just too early. I had some water when I woke up and made sure my blood sugar was in range (it was 107 I think). I got my stuff together and got in the van and had about a half of a granola bar for 15 carbs. I had more water at 5:30. I always stop drinking an hour and a half before the race. I turned off my insulin pump at 6:30 so there wouldn't be too much insulin in me during the run. My blood sugar was up around 140 by then but that was ok because I wanted it to be higher rather than lower for my first attempt at a long race. With 15 minutes to go I at a Gu Energy Gel for 20 fast acting carbs.

I warmed up a bit and the gun went off. Normally I warm up quite a bit but I figured I could use the first mile or so to get warm. I had secured a spot right on the starting line like I usually do and I went out with the leaders. 3 guys started pulling away almost immediately. I figured I would just hold back for a minute and see what develops. Those 3 guys kept pulling further and further away and by the mile mark they were 10 seconds ahead. I figured I probably couldn't keep up with them so I stayed in the pack right behind them. We hit the first mile at 5:35 and held that pace very steady for the next 3. Again, those 3 guys were pulling further and further away and so was one other guy who decided to try to chase them down. So I started to resign myself to just going for top 10 or something now that it looked like the podium was out of reach. That was my first mistake.

As the miles clicked by, I told myself to just keep going at the current pace and see how long you can hold it. I knew that after 4 or 5 miles people would start falling off the pace. Sure enough that started happening and by mile 7 there were just 5 or 6 of us running together with those 3 guys way ahead and on guy trying to bridge that gap.

At the first water station, I did not take a drink and a few of the other guys did. This caused them to slow down a bit and I got a small lead. The problem was that I didn't have the guts to take that lead and try to run away. Later in the race I realized my training was lacking a certain element. I didn't know how to drink on the run. I never practice it and since I never do races longer than 5 or 6 miles, I don't ever need to drink anything during the race. This time, I had already planned on drinking Gatorade at a couple spots to keep my blood sugar up but when I tried to take a drink, it was very difficult. I will have to practice that in the future.

Fortunately I didn't need it that bad, the Gu I had before the race had made my blood sugar rise to about 190 by mile 3. I turned my pump back on at that point because I was worried that I might have too little insulin in me to process those carbs. After a few more miles my blood sugar was coming back down and I turned the pump off again. I finished in the low 100s so the diabetic aspect of the race worked out just fine.

Each of these little things that I did like messing with my pump and trying to drink while running slowed me down a bit but that didn't cost me the race. The real problem was that I wasn't confident enough in my own ability to know how hard I could push it. Because of this I didn't have the guts to really push it to the limit. In my mind I settled for a top 10 finish and so that's all I got. It turns out that after all those miles, only 2 of those top guys could hold that pace and I could have had 3rd place by just running 84 seconds faster.

Note for next time: If you are going to put in all that effort to train for a race, make it count on race day and don't let anything stop you from giving it all you've got.

But for now, I'm going to go have a milk shake and enjoy a couple weeks of easy runs to let my legs heal up for next season.

Hope to see you out there.

New racing shoes

2011-12-10T06:29:00.001-08:00

I've been racing in Pumas for the last few years but I needed something light and fast and they stopped making the one I was using so I got these Nike LunaRacer 2 shoes. They come in at about 7.5 oz in my size with just enough cushioning for a long race.

Race Day Approaches

2011-12-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

I always get a little nervous as race day gets closer and closer and this time is certainly no exception. Normally I go over all the little things in my head and even practice some of them so that there are no surprises. This time though, it seems like there is more riding on it and for some reason I'm all worked up about it. It will be my first real competitive effort since diagnosis so I want it to go well.

I have trained for the last 3 months specifically for this race and it has all been going very well so I just don't want anything to go wrong. I have been doing long runs, recovery runs, intervals, and Fast Continuous Runs (FCRs) every week at varying distances and paces. I have hammered and re-hammered all of the body's different fuel systems. I have been extremely diligent in monitoring my blood glucose levels so that I will know exactly how to handle race day.

It turns out that I may be joining Team Type 1, a diabetic running team, and the sponsors will all be at this race so I really want to do well. It is a half marathon in Tucson AZ. I normally don't focus on such long races but I figure that I can always get back to speed work in the spring.

I wrote my own training plan so that is another source of my nervousness. Did I do enough long runs, or speed work? Did I over train? I guess we'll see.

So as race day gets closer, I do a lot of things that I'm not sure that other runners do. I start doing my Saturday runs at the same time that the race will start, in this case 7 AM, to simulate race day. That is even more important with diabetes because you have to really know what your blood sugars are doing that early in the morning.

I practice eating what I will eat the night before and the morning of the race. In this case, lots of carbs and protein the night before and just a power gel in the morning. I am going to use just 20 carbs before the race and probably another 20 at the half way mark to keep my blood sugars up. I hope it is enough.

Then I get online and go over the whole course on Google Street View so that I recognize different parts of the course when I see them. I will be racing against locals who know the course so I need any advantage I can get. I even scoured Google Earth to find some training runs in Boise that mimic the same elevation changes of the race course.

I even go over the previous years results and find anyone in the top 5 who is also registered this year so that I will know who my competition is.

I got some new racing shoes (Nike LunaRacer) and trained in them a few times to make sure they are fast enough. I ran a couple 5 minute miles and a couple long runs just to make sure they would hold together.

I should be all ready to go but that is why I'm nervous. Everything has gone better than I could imagine. My test effort 2 weeks ago was a 10 mile run at 6 minute pace and I nailed every last mile with energy left at the end. My blood sugars are doing great. My interval work has been faster and faster each week. I'm worried that if one little thing goes wrong on race day, the whole thing will be ruined.

Maybe I wake up and my blood sugar is too high and then I take insulin which makes me crash in the race. Or maybe I am too low and have to eat too much which could cause stomach problems. Maybe just the nerves alone will throw me all out of whack. And I haven't even started on that one problem that every racer knows about. You know, the one that keeps you in the bathroom the whole morning of the race.

Anyway, I guess all I can do is just do my best. If I don't win, I'll just try again. When I think about it, I was planning on trying again even if I do win, so what's the big deal.

Sorry for the long rant, thanks for letting me get this all out. I'll make sure to update you right after the race.

Wish me luck!

Now I know.

2011-12-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I found out something new. My pump can get blocked and insulin might not be getting inside me.

Here is how I found out. I was going along just normal and then one day my blood sugar levels starting showing unusually high numbers. I tried taking more insulin and it didn't seem to work. I was quite confused as you might imagine.

Here are some charts that show how it all played out.

The first chart is a Saturday and it is mostly normal. I had stayed up too late the night before eating snacks and playing Call of Duty but that is another story. By the morning I was right on track.

The next chart is Sunday and you might notice that I went very high after breakfast. I had just switched out my infusion set (that's the part where the pump gets inserted into my body) so I just assumed I had an air bubble or something so I didn't get enough insulin. But then lunch sent me too high and dinner sent me way too high. Now I was really starting to wonder what was happening.

The next chart, Monday, starts high where Sunday left off and eventually comes back down and is very choppy all day. It is choppy because some parts of the day I tried pumping like usual and other times I took an old fashioned insulin shot just to try to figure out what was happening.

By Tuesday, I had pretty much assured myself that the pump just wasn't getting enough insulin in me. The weird part was that it did seem to be delivering just a tiny amount. I pulled out the infusion and sure enough it had a small 90 degree bend in it so it was kinked.

Once I found the problem, it all made sense again. Now that I know that is even a possibility, I won't wait so long to fix it. It was weird though, I started getting those same thoughts that I had just before I was diagnosed. Thoughts like "what's wrong with me" and "this doesn't make any sense" and "what if I never get better". It was certainly not fun but it was good that I learned about this problem now.

I guess that's life with diabetes, one challenge after another.

Bring it on.

Another First

2011-11-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

For the first time since being diagnosed, I attempted to fast this month on Fast Sunday. For those of you not of my faith, an LDS Fast Sunday is where we don't eat breakfast or lunch and give the money we saved to the church to help feed other families.

Anyway, I deal with low blood sugar events often enough that I didn't think I could make it a whole day without eating so I hadn't attempted it yet. However, on this Sunday, I woke up and my blood sugar was fine and I was running late for my meeting anyway so I thought, why not skip breakfast and see how it goes from there.

As you can see from the chart, I calibrated my glucose monitor in the morning at a little over 100 and just paid close attention throughout the day. By about noon, I was starting to drop below 100 so I turned off my insulin pump just to be cautious. The funniest part was that I kept a pack of fruit snacks in my shirt pocket all day just to be ready the instant I thought I needed them. It went over in my head a dozen times how I would abort the mission and then explain to all the other people at church, who were still fasting, why I was eating right in front of them. Alas, my imaginations were never fulfilled.

I checked my blood sugar again at 4:30 and it was starting to get a little low at 70. I took that as a good time to break the fast and start eating. It was great. I had all the normal hunger pains that usually accompany fasting but I didn't have any Diabetes related problems. It turned out to be just a normal Fast Sunday.

Meet Daisy.

2011-10-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

Born at 10:31
8 lbs 2oz
21 inches long.
Mom and baby doing fine.
Dad doing great!

It's Complicated

2011-10-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

Some days I feel like I have everything figured out but then this disease just keeps throwing curve balls.

I have been going along now for several months trying to get better at controlling my blood sugar and trying to get back into racing shape at the same time. During the first few weeks of running, I would have to eat a snack right before the run and then again after about 20 minutes to keep from going too low. Lately though, it seems like I have been building up the ability to run for longer without needing to eat.

For example, I ran just a little over 9 miles on Saturday with a decent pace of just under 7 minutes per mile and all I had was a granola bar about 10 minutes before the run. The Saturday before that, I did a much faster workout where I ran 6 miles at a pace of about 5:50 per mile. Again, all I had was an energy gel just before the run.

After days like those (which were my longest and fastest runs since becoming diabetic) I felt on top of the world again. Even though I know I can't cure myself, running like that makes me feel like I'm getting very close to doing exactly that.

But that is where it gets difficult. On Saturday's after my run, I only need about 75% of my normal insulin amounts the rest of the day to keep my blood sugar in check. But then the next morning it is the opposite. Whatever I eat for breakfast, I can't seem to take enough insulin to stop my blood sugar from spiking up over 200. See the chart below.

This shows how my glucose levels are fine just before eating in the morning because they are in the blue zone. Each colored line is my glucose level on a different day as the hours move along the bottom axis. The dotted line is my average for the week. After I eat, I go way too high, above the target blue zone. But then I come crashing down to lower than where I started. You can see that my lunch numbers are more normal, I mostly stay in the target green zones.

I've tried taking more insulin and it does lower the peak level a little but then I drop way down into dangerous levels before lunchtime. It is as if I need insulin that works even faster or something. This week I will try taking the insulin 20 or 30 minutes before the meal and see if I can lower that peak even more.

This is what a typical day looks like for me. Breakfast is clearly the area that needs the most improvement.

It is weird that I have had no problem figuring out how to do very difficult workouts and keep good control of my blood sugar but I can't figure out how to have breakfast.

If anyone out there has any ideas, let me know.

I’m Feeling Like a Robot

2011-09-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

As much as running makes me feel free, lately I’m feeling a little tied down.

When I used to go running, I would just tie my shoes and head out the door. Depending on the weather, I would wear anything from shorts-and-no-shirt to shorts-long sleeve shirt-and gloves or even full coverage with 2 layers including tights when it got below 30 degrees. There was even a time when I was experimenting with barefoot running. Those days were the best, if I wanted to go running I would just take off my shirt and walk out the door. Total freedom.

Now that I'm diabetic, I wear my normal shorts and shirt but I also wear a watch on one arm and a medic-alert bracelet on the other arm. I also clip my insulin pump on my waist band and it communicates with my constant glucose monitor which is attached to my skin. I also clip my iPod Nano onto my waistband and it communicates with my Nike+ device which is clipped onto my right shoe and keeps track of my pace and distance. The headphone cord goes up under my shirt and pops out my collar to reach my ears. Then, on top of all that, I wear a running belt that has a small pouch that holds snacks and a drink. I sometimes leave the water bottle at home if the run is under an hour but I always have at least 2 snacks of fast acting carbs. Usually it is a pack of fruit snacks and a Power Gel. I bring more for longer runs. I always bring one more than I think I will need so that even during the last part of the run, I will always have some carbs with me.

It takes me a few minutes to get all geared up and then head out the door to enjoy my “freedom”.

I could do without the iPod but the rest of the stuff just adds to my safety so I do it. It isn’t that bad. It is a little extra weight but I’ve still yet to be passed out there on the trails. This one guy tried last week but that was only because I slowed down to eat a gel. When I got back up to speed and we got to the hill, I easily pulled ahead.

I'm not complaining, just wanted everyone else out there to know how easy they have it. Hope to see more of you out there some time.

Successes and Failures

2011-09-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of some of my bigger successes this summer:

Running – I got back in shape this summer, I ran about 25 miles a week most weeks, I ran a 5k in under 18 minutes (on my own) during a workout.

Golf – I got some good rounds in where I realized I can play all day by just turning off my pump and eating about a half of a granola bar (12 carbs) every other hole. I also shot 9 over on 9 holes at McCall which I think is my best round.

Bike – I rode in a couple BMX races just because I have always wanted to and I realized there is no reason why I can’t. I couldn’t quite keep up with some of the other guys but I practiced a bit more and on my second attempt I was a lot faster. I still got last place but I was right behind the other guys for most of the race.

Squat Thrust Challenge – The guys in my office wanted to have a challenge where we do squat thrusts every day. We started at 20 the first day and added one each day for a month up to 50. The hard part is not missing a day or making up for it by doing double the next day. Most guys dropped out early on but one guy made it for about 3 weeks. I was the only one who made it all the way. By the end I was much stronger and was glad I had done it.

Diabetes in general – I have been using a constant glucose monitor for about a month now and it is really helping. It makes it easier to go running because I have a good idea of whether my blood sugar is rising or falling. I also had a good result on my A1C test (6.7). I also noticed that I can do a very hard work out on Saturday mornings and then not need hardly any insulin the rest of the day and even barely even need any for most of Sunday. It makes me feel free again which makes for a good incentive to do such a hard workout.

Attitude – Overall, I have gotten over the depressed feelings that I felt the first couple weeks. I don’t know if I just don’t think about it as much or if I have just started to accept it or what. Either way, it is nice to not be down on myself anymore.

_________________________________

Some of my failures include a few times when I was out on a run and my blood sugar started dropping too low. Fortunately I always carry some fast carbs so I was never really in danger but it was still frustrating. For example, one day I was just running along and got too low so I stopped and ate and waited for a few minutes so I could make sure I was recovered enough to keep going. While I was waiting, 3 younger guys went running by at a decent pace. They were just smiling and talking and running like they didn’t have a care in the world, kind of like how I used to be. I was a little sad that I couldn’t enjoy the same freedom.

Other times I have failed in the other direction, like not taking enough insulin and having really high blood sugar for a few hours.

My biggest failures though are of a different nature. There are times when I just don’t go running at all because I am not at a good blood sugar level and it will take too much effort to get it back in line. There was also a time when I didn’t do a race, even though I wanted to, because I was worried that I wasn’t ready to race yet. These are the types of failures that I can’t have. I can’t let Diabetes win.

My pride can also get me in trouble. In August, there was a race that my friends were running but I did not enter because I was worried I couldn’t keep up or that something would go wrong. Later that morning, I checked their results and I just couldn’t stand not knowing if I could have kept up. That evening, at 8 PM, I went and ran the course by myself and pushed it hard like it was a race. I even put on my race shoes. It was an 8 mile course where the first 4 miles is a climb and the whole thing is on bumpy dirt single track trail in the foothills. I completed the course in 57 minutes which would have put me in the top 10 in the race and ahead of both of my friends. I had to eat some carbs about every 20 minutes and carry my own water during the run. The good part is that I started and finished with a blood sugar level near 100 and gave a good solo effort. The bad part is that I let my pride put myself in danger. I was out there on the trails all alone as it was getting dark and I could have just done the same thing with all the safety of an organized race.

Goal: Before our baby arrives in November, I will run a race.

My pump arrived.

2011-06-27T16:18:00.001-07:00

Does this make me a cyborg?

2011-06-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

The camp out was a success. I spent the first 2 hours just exploring the hills and trails. I mostly hiked around but also did some jogging. Every half hour or so I would eat a monster cookie and I pretty much just assumed I would burn it all off so I didn't take any insulin. After that I rested a bit, then checked my blood sugar and had some more cookies and went for a half hour run.
Talk to Erica if you want to know what a monster cookie is but it turns out they are great fuel.
I cut my night time insulin intake by 20% that night because I had worked out so much, plus I was all alone in the cabin so I didn't want to run the risk of going too low.

The next morning I woke up at a normal level so everything was fine. After breakfast I was pretty tired so I snacked some more and just came home.

The next weekend was much more interesting. Ever since I got diabetes, I have been thinking a lot about all the fun things I have done in the past and how glad I am that I did them before I got sick. Each time I do that though, I just start thinking about other things I still want to do and how I can still probably pull them off with just a little more effort.
So long story short, I rode in a BMX race for the first time this weekend simply because it is something I always wanted to do but just never got around to doing it.

I got a used bike and helmet and did a bit of practice then just showed up at the race. It is a short course but I gave it my all and was pretty tired at the end. That's when I found out that I would be racing again in about 10 minutes and then a 3rd race about 30 minutes after that.
Normally this wouldn't be a problem, I would just have a bunch of Gatorade or whatever and keep riding. As a diabetic, I had to be a little more careful. I didn't want to keep testing myself all afternoon so I just had a few small snacks and just got slower and slower each race.
It doesn't matter much since it was just my first try but next time I will have a better nutrition plan to keep me going strong into the final round.

See pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/grayhulbert/BMX

The real problem is that after the bike race I only had about 2 hours to recover before my nephews came over for the day. We had a lot of fun but they can really wear you out. Then, as if I hadn't had enough challenges that day, I played a game of indoor soccer at 6:30. There were no subs so I had to play the whole game.

For the most part, my blood sugars were fine all day. I had normal meals and took normal amounts of insulin throughout the day plus an extra 60 grams of carbs for the bike race and an extra 30 carbs for the soccer game.
By the end of the day I had lost about a pound or two so I probably should have hydrated better. Hydration has proven to be the most difficult part so far because I used to use Gatorade so much but now I'm trying to just use water.

The intense efforts on the bike and soccer field made me worry about going low that night so I dropped my night time insulin by 10% and woke up just right.

See how good I am doing.

2011-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a graph of my blood sugar readings.

And Here is a graph of my weight readings. You can see that just before I got diagnosed on April 7th, I was literally digesting myself alive and it probably wouldn't have been long before I disappeared entirely.

You can see that I am clearly back into a normal range now. I like to use a daily weight reading as a way to monitor how much I am eating relative to how much I should be eating. I've been doing it for years and works great.

As for my medication, I am only taking about half of the insulin as when I first started. It turns out that if you just go running more, you can eat more and take less insulin. Score another point for running.

Up next, my first attempt at camping this weekend. Camping for me typically involves one or two exploring runs or bike rides a day. I'll let you know how it goes.

So Far, So Good.

2011-05-06T15:25:00.001-07:00

I’ve had some good results and some not so good results this week but finding time to blog about it is harder than I thought. That’s probably why I couldn’t find the info I was looking for online.

The first thing I learned is that blood glucose (BG) levels don’t necessarily react the same to something like a soccer game than they do to a normal slow jog.
I played my first game of soccer since the diagnosis and overall it was fine but I’ll need to make some adjustments. Here's how it went:
First of all, I had to play the whole game since we had no subs. Second of all, my idea to just stay back and play defense doesn’t work when there are no subs because everyone was tired. Third of all, I need to remember to think of three things before starting lists.

I had a normal BG reading before the game so I had a normal sized snack (15 g of Carbohydrates) then I sipped on Gatorade during the game. At halftime, I’m not sure if I really felt low or was just afraid that I might be low so I had a PowerBar Gel for 25 quick carbs. I finished the game while still sipping on Gatorade every few minutes or so. Then after the game I tested and was way too high. I decided not to play the second game and that was probably a good move because an hour later I was low. So I’ll have to go back to the drawing board on that one.

I talked to someone about this and apparently when you really push it, your liver can let out some glucose to cover you so that might be why I was so high. But maybe it was just the PowerBar Gel.

The next week I played again and this time everything was much better. Besides scoring 3 goals, I went into the game and came out at good glucose levels. I started at 120 and had a half sandwich on the drive to the field. Then I just sipped watered down Gatorade every 10 minutes or so. Success.

Ok, so I can check soccer off my list of things I am still able to do.

So far, so good.

Good first week.

2011-05-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

My goal this week was to run 6 times. That means I had to make sure to get out the door every day except Sunday. I wanted to see what my insulin needs would be when I am in good shape and running every day. The goal is that if I want to race again, I will need to be able to handle 6 to 9 workouts a week.

The good news is that I did it. I missed on Friday but I ran twice on Saturday just to see if I could handle two in a day. (I also counted a soccer game on Tuesday as the run for that day.) The bad news is that my blood sugars were all over the place. But that is ok, I am learning that I need less insulin when I am in good shape.

So I am going to lower my Lantus (long lasting) insulin by 1 unit this week and try again. That will put me at 16 units a day.

I'm not running very fast yet but I am doing a consistent 4 or 5 miles at 7 minute pace at the same time every night. I find that if I eat 30 grams of carbohydrate before the run, I can finish the whole run and not need to eat until about an hour later.

Next week I will try eating only 15 carbs and see how far that gets me. The goal being that it would be nice to not have to eat so much right before a run because that can get a little uncomfortable.

I bought a running belt that holds a small water bottle and a pouch for emergency food. I carry fruit snacks and a PowerGel just in case I get too low on a run. I tried it out on Saturday night and it is a little bit annoying but I'm sure passing out on the side of the road would be more annoying so I'll stick with the belt for now.

My First Run

2011-04-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, on Saturday April 9th 2011, I took my first run. It wasn’t very fast (7:30 pace) and it wasn’t very long (only 2 miles) and it wasn’t even on a fun trail (concrete track in a park so Erica could watch me). But in some ways it was the best run. It was the best because I did it. I got myself out there for the first time.

I know what you are thinking... 'he runs all the time, what is he talking about'. This wasn’t truly my first run, I run all the time. In fact just a few days prior to this I ran 6 miles like I do almost every night. So what am I talking about? Well this was my first run after having been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. On Thursday, April 7th, I finally relented to the symptoms I had been feeling for the last 2 weeks and went to see a doctor. My blood sugar was off the charts and all my symptoms matched perfectly so they put me on insulin. Sure enough, now I feel fine. So there it is. Now and for the rest of my life I am dependent on injecting myself with insulin to stay alive. Diabetes usually shows up at a younger age but apparently it sometimes happens later in life, even if you think you are perfectly healthy. It was nothing that I could have prevented or should have been worried about, it is just a random event. More about that later.

So now I take insulin shots 4 times a day and I’m told that it is healthy to keep running and keep doing everything else I used to do and just adjust the insulin intake to lead a normal life.

I am still dealing with all sorts of different thoughts that can run through someone's head when they are suddenly faced with their own mortality but for the most part I am doing fine.

The biggest challenge currently is the struggle I am having with my identity. I always identified myself as a runner or an athlete or at least just a guy who could pretty much do anything he wanted to. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe all this time I should have focused on identifying myself as something more important like a good father or husband. In reality, I am still all of these things. Nothing really changed, I just have to be a little more careful with my blood sugar now.

I suppose in the long run I will rise to this new challenge and maybe it will be good for me in some way but for now I am just happy to know that we have the technology to keep me alive and keep me running.

I plan on using this blog as a place to share how I am doing with managing my diabetes in an attempt to improve my quality of life and maybe even help someone else do the same.

Over the last few weeks I have found a lot of good information but not exactly everything I was looking for. Because of this, I have taken it upon myself to provide the world with my data. Once I figure out what I am doing, I will post my blood sugars and my workouts and all sorts of other details. This way, if someone is in my same situation, they will know what worked and what didn't work for me.

I also plan on getting back into racing. Racing will give me the motivation I need to train every day which will in turn give me motivation to control my blood sugar.

Obviously this blog won't appeal to a wide audience but keep me in mind if you know someone looking for this type of info.

If I can offer any advice, it would be to enjoy your health and freedom while you have it.

Thanks for reading.

-Rhet