I’m Feeling Like a Robot

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

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.

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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.

Does this make me a cyborg?

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.

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.

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.

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.