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Monday, April 6, 2009

PR baby!

In a nutshell, I had a good race on Sunday. To warn you in advance, this is going to be a long post about everything it entailed. In case you want to know the details right away: finish time was 1:43:46, a 7:56 mile pace.

I woke up at 57, had my morning breakfast of oatmeal and took my bolus wizard correction. On my drive to Xenia for the ORRRC half marathon, I debated what I should do with my insulin. Typically, I do not suspend for the entire part of a morning run because I have the dawn phenomenon.

I got to thecheck in place and was sitting at an 87 so I checked on my meter and it said 86 - perfectly aligned. I got there an hour early so I had time to "stretch" and go to the bathroom about 100 times. I started to see arrows down, so I drank some Gatorade. I started the race at 160 up one up arrow. It was 40 degrees and cool, but felt pretty good. I decided to suspend my pump to see where I would go...I would rather be high than low for the race.

I knew that if I wanted to be near 1:45 I needed to run a little over 8 minute mile splits. This is a really small race, so there are no pace groups, so I had to rely on myself and my watch. At mile 1 I was at 8:16 because I started back a little bit in the pack; but by mile 2 I was at 16:08...right on target.

Near mile 5 I started to feel sluggish so I looked at my CGM...150 with a down arrow. I popped 5 glucose tabs and felt better in about 2 minutes; regaining my speed and passing some slower runners. I felt good for awhile, then looked down again to see that I was at 166...perfect I thought. By mile 8 I was at 122 with a down arrow. I ate 5 more glucose tabs and kept on going, once again regaining my energy.

By mile 10 I felt really good...I had a stable 170 on my CGM and felt good. By mile 12 I thought I needed a little boost, although I wasn't getting any arrows and was at a 158, but I ate 2 more tabs. By this point I never wanted to taste another glucose tablet in my life.

I felt strong at the end of the race and still had gas left in the tank when I finished, so I could have pushed even harder. All in all, I was proud of myself for getting lower than 1:45, my original goal.

I was happy about my time and how much the CGM helped me during the race. In my previous half marathons, I did not run with my pump and did not have a CGM. I now realize how much it helped me during the race. In fact, I emailed doc Parilo to tell him how well it worked. I know I have the best doctor, because today he emailed me back saying that he was excited and "good job" on it working so well. Seriously, I love him as my endo.

My body is sore today from running on the cement for so many miles, but I am excited about my future races. When I first started running, I never thought I could be this fast. I am in the best shape of my life right now, and it is awesome. The CGM is working miracles for me. It gives me hope that I will be able to compete in a full marathon in the near future; something I never thoughtpossible for me.

All in all, I must admit I am happy with how I raced.

1 comment:

  1. Congrats!! That is so absolutely awesome that you're doing this and embracing the diabetes in the process! Goes to show that this disease can't slow us down if we put our mind to it. Great job!

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