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.