Yeah, About That.

A few people have asked me, "Hey, wasn't your half-marathon last weekend? How did that go?", so this is the post where I have to tell you that...

I didn't do it.

And that I feel like a total loser about it. (I didn't really want to talk about it, but here I go anyway.)

There were a lot of reasons to sit this one out - this almost two-week-old cold I have (Proof: Aaron mistook my breathing last night for insulin pump bolus delivery sounds. You know, that exhaling "wrrrrr" sound? Yeah. Apparently I breathe like that.); the fact that I hardly trained at all; the fact that it was at 7:00 am (that's so early!).

Even though those first two reasons are fairly legit (and the first one definitely is), I can't help but feeling like a total Lamepants about it. (Not to be confused with Lame' pants.) Maybe I could have done it anyway. Maybe I could have pushed through; done at least half the distance instead of not trying at all. But I didn't.

I thought that registering for the marathon again would motivate me to exercise often to prepare for it - instead, I kept trying to rationalize with myself that "I did it last year, and it wasn't so bad - I'll start tomorrow."

And then it became too late. And then I got sick.

Not doing the half-marathon isn't something I'm proud of; in fact, I'm a bit ashamed about the whole thing.

Ugh.

Dammit, Kim...

On the bright side, I did finally get back on the elliptical last night, I've started to cut back on the daily coffee intake (somehow it tripled recently... whoops), and my fasting number this morning was finally below 200 (almost two weeks of that crap each morning), so... small victories.

Ketchup.

No, not that kind.

I'm a fan of tying up loose ends. There are posts I've written here where I've said "...but that's for another post", or "more on that later", but then I never really go back and address whatever "it" was. I know that, as a d-blog reader myself, I appreciate when a storyline continues and updates are provided after something happens. I care about the people I read about, you know? I want to know what happens next!

So, in that spirit, this is a post where I attempt to catch up on some of those procrastinated topics.

• After writing Feeling Stab-y, I've decided that I need to try - just try, then decide if I want to switch to - using an automatic inserter for a pump site. Just to see what happens. I'd like to do this sometime in the next few months.
• New Hotness is working well (Sorry, Elle.) I did a 40-minute workout while watching House on Monday night that left me wondering, "Why am I not ALWAYS doing a workout while watching TV? That didn't suck as much as I expected it to!"
• I sneakily mentioned in this post my latest A1C result, which was a 6.9. I was pretty disappointed in myself, but it was a number that honestly didn't surprise me. Hearing it said out loud by my doctor, though, stung a bit. I know what I need to do to get back down to where I was, and I'm feeling motivated enough to get there again.
• I did order a new transmitter for my Dexcom, just in case. I also got Jim some new jackets - two of mine started tearing recently, so he's going to be all kinds of spiffy now.
• I STILL haven't downloaded my pump or Dexcom.
• I'd like to do another vlog, but seem to have run out of topics. If you have any suggestions, let me know!
• I've got a bottle and a half left of that creamer. Maybe I should have bought a dozen? Doesn't seem so crazy, now...
• This sinus infection put a kink in my intentions of half-marathon training. I've decided that I'm not going to try to run this one - that's not realistic for me, right now - but I can certainly walk it. Also, I use the word "training" loosely, because I am in no way organized or professional in my approach. An unlikely athlete, I am.
• And finally, in Deciding On Disclosure, I mentioned some "recent happenings" that I'm excited about. The biggest one of those is that I am going to be part of JDRF's Government Day event in Washington D.C. later this month. JDRF recently announced that it intends to expand its reach, support and focus to include the adult type 1 population, and as an adult type 1 myself, I couldn't be more excited about that. To that end, JDRF has invited a handful of adults with type 1 who are active in the DOC (diabetes online community) to participate in this event alongside some of their best advocates from each local chapter, and I am totally giddy about being included in that group! You can find some more information on the event here, and it looks like there will some live streaming of our blogger roundtable presentation, too, if you'd like to participate. (You can submit questions via Twitter and Facebook - look to the JDRF Advocacy blog for upcoming details on this.) You guys, I am so, so excited about this. And it's not just that I finally get to meet some of my favorite DOCers in person (YAY!) - I'm hoping this event not only helps JDRF find some ways to further engage with the adult type 1 community (because these two groups can do a lot for each other), and also helps us come up with some ways to reach those who haven't found our community yet.

So there you have it. Ketchup. Catch up. Whatever. :)

So, This Is Happening. Again.

At Mile 9 last year - which includes The Hill That
Everyone Hates.  Somehow, I survived it.  With a smile!

Last year, I did something I'd never done before - my first half-marathon. (Notice that I didn't say I ran it - because most of it was done walking. But I still completed it, darn it!) Being able to do that made me feel like something of a badass - because I'm no example of peak health, either in appearance or internally, and yet I was able to do something most sane people never desire to attempt. (As you may have guessed, I'm a fan of doing those very types of things from time to time.)

It was an accomplishment I was proud of; something I could check off of that proverbial bucket list. Immediately after the race, I thought, "I want to do this again!", but the passage of time had quelled that feeling.

Up until yesterday, anyway - because I registered for this year's half-marathon.

I blame my brother. He's The Athlete in the family - he did that same half-marathon with me last year, and finished so quickly that he had time to drive back through the course to find me, and walk with me for part of my race. (A sweet gesture - but also a reminder of how far I have to go to be "in shape".)  He's run a full marathon since then, and did quite well. He's regimented and dedicated in his workout routine - the opposite of me, in other words.

My sweetheart of a friend, M, whose house backs up
to the marathon route, made a sign for me.  What a gal!

He stayed with us this past weekend, and somehow managed to talk me into doing this again. I have three and a half months to train, which won't be nearly enough, but that's what I have. There's a possibility I won't be able to actually compete that day, but registering and committing to this event gives me the motivation I need to get regular exercise before then - which is totally worth that registration fee, for me. A also offered to be my "Pit Stop Guy" again every few miles, which will help immensely.

I need to reread The Diabetic Athlete's Handbook, which has been collecting a telling amount of dust on my bookshelf.

So, there it is. I'm training for a half-marathon now. Yikes.

(If anyone has tips on how to train, or how to keep my BGs at a more decent level while competing, I'd love the feedback. I'm pretty much going from couch to race on this one - much as I did last year.)

Half-Marathon: Check.

Last month, I attempted (and completed!) my first Half-Marathon.  I had never done anything like that before, and have never historically been a fan of running.  A few years ago, I forced myself to try it again, and it wasn't so bad.  A friend of mine (non-diabetic) does this Half-Marathon each year, so I decided to give it a go with her.  While the race itself was fun, my diabetes didn't agree.  I was able to finish, but was very slow (this may also be attributed to my less-than-stellar dedication to training).  Here's my marathon story:

I woke up at 5:00, and although my numbers had been good while I slept, I shot up to 175 for no reason as soon as I woke up (according to the CGM). I did a blood test to verify, and yes, that was right. I took one unit of Humalog, which brought me down to 125, almost literally right away. This kind of speedy drop is not normal for me.

I got ready, and my brother was here at 6:00 for us to go downtown to the start line, with my husband. (My brother, who is not T1 - and a phenomenal athlete - also ran. My husband met up with me in between aide stations to refill Clif Gels, give me some additional water, and whatever else I might have needed. As another runner said during the race, "He just earned Husband of the Year".) I ate a Snickers Marathon Nutrition bar on the car ride, with no bolus taken for it. I should also mention I turned down my basal to "OFF" at 6:00 am, and didn't turn it back on until after the race was over.

We lined up around 6:40, and my CGM said 83. Then, a few minutes later, 72. Really? I hadn't bolused for the bar I ate, and that was 22g of carb! This is where I panicked a bit. I ended up eating two Clif Shot gels - also about 25g of carb each - before the start. By the time we got to the starting line around 7:15, I was shooting back up, and was 157. I thought, "Awesome! Don't know what happened there, but at least I'm back up where I want to be, now."

Fast forward to mile 2 - I notice I'm over 200. Okay, not panicking yet. I "peaked", or so I thought, around 280 and then it showed that I was coming back down pretty quickly. Again, as a precaution, I ate another gel. This may be where my biggest mistake was, because I didn't drop too much more after that. In fact, I did most of the race over 300, and a good chunk of it "HIGH", which means I was over 400. I started taking a unit here and there after mile 8, not wanting to overdo it and drop too quickly.

By the 12th mile, I was back down to the 300's, so I was probably about 325 when I finished. Who knows how high I really got - but I tested before and after the race, and the CGM was accurate both of those times - so I have to believe those numbers are true. I felt pretty throw-upy feeling around mile 10, and I'm not sure if that was hyperglycemia-related, or not - but I slowed down, and the feeling subsided. I drank half a cup of gatorade around mile 5, and stuck to water after that.

It feels so good to know I was able to finish. I was very slow, and didn't run as much of it as I walked, but I finished, darn it - and that was the point. Finish, no passing out or throwing up. Check, check and check!  I am usually very diligent about keeping my numbers in check, but for this race I wanted to focus on finishing - whatever that meant, diabetes-wise.  I tried to not let the sight of such high numbers bum me out and just focused on moving forward.

I feel like I did learn a lot for next year.  If I'm able to, I'd love to do this race each year, with a new goal - cut time, run more of it, have better numbers during the race, etc.  Let's be clear:  T1 does not hold me back from anything I want to do.  It merely takes a little more effort and work to get there.