As most of you have known the last year I have been working towards the St. George Ironman. 2.4 mile swim in the Sand Hollow Reservoir, 112 mile bike around the Northwest side of the area and then a 26.2 Mile run in the area.
Preparations went nearly perfect we arrived in time to settle and prepare for an epic race. Race day morning was not rushed at all in fact I was quite pleased with how peaceful it was. The cannon went off and we were on our way. A few people climbed over me kicked me in the face and gut, but that was as is expected.
Transition one was seamless and I was off to a great start on the bike averaging 18-21 mph for the first 30-40 miles and then it went down hill from there. At mile 54 just before "The Wall" the infamous 17% grade climb I tested my blood sugars 610 no wonder why i was feeling crappy. I bolused and began to climb frustrated that my dexcom wasn't alerting me and working with me. I got to the top of the wall and started to descend off the back side hitting 45-50 mph speeds. The only problem was I started blacking out. I pulled over to a spectator that was helping a police officer block and intersection and attempted to down some electrolytes. That lasted for about 30 seconds and came back up. I tried to keep going but ended up blacking out again. I pulled over and passed out on the side of the road. Spectators were there to help me off my bike, but by then i was in and out of consciousness. I unfortunately was pulled from the race and unable to finish, but I knew things were right.
Lessons learned.
-Check things a bit sooner (blood sugar wise)
-Dont rely entirely on Dexcom
-Check pump site and possibly alternate to a second site.
-carry a spare syringe with you
-Drink water religiously before the race
In this situation i feel my training and preparation was on cue. I think overall, i could have paid better attention to how my pump was functioning.
St. George Redemption is underway.
REV 3 at Cedar point Ohio is my next full iron distance race which is planned for Sept 11, 2011. I am looking forward to it as I will be toe to toe with some of my favorite people.
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Amazing article on fueling for race day
I respect Joel Friel and his work. On 7/08 he released an article that explains a lot about training and race day nutrition.
Fuel for Long Races
The longer the event is, the more critical race-day nutrition is to your performance. For competitions lasting less than about an hour little is needed other than water. As the duration of the event extends beyond one hour carbohydrate and fluids become increasingly important. For events longer than about six hours refueling the body is often as important to success as how fit and rested you are.
So what should you take in during a long race in order to maintain your intensity at a high level for the duration? The dilemma you face is deciding how to balance intensity against fuel. For example, if you go slowly enough (such as casually walking a marathon) you can eat and drink almost anything you want and your gut will process it. Want a greasy hamburger with french fries and a beer? No problem! But the faster you go the less your gut will be able to process so the more carefully you must choose your fuel. The reason for this is that the body has several demands being placed on all systems and there is competition for the precious resources which are delivered typically by the blood. For example, the muscles are demanding oxygen and carbohydrate to continue contracting at a high rate. At the same time your body is building up heat and trying to shed it. How does it do that? It shunts blood to the skin where it releases heat into the surrounding air thus cooling you off a bit. If you are taking in food, whether liquid or solid, the stomach and intestines are also requesting blood to process and transport the fluids and fuel. And there are other systems also demanding blood. So it's no wonder that athletes often experience GI problems of various types during long, endurance events. There simply aren't enough resources to go around, and given the choice the body prefers to use the blood to cool you and keep the muscles going. The gut is of secondary importance.
So your challenge in preparing for a long race is to determine what it is your gut can best handle at the pace you will be racing. The faster you go, the more this fuel source should be in liquid form since that is the easiest to process in the gut. Solid food requires water to dilute it so that it may be digested. Guess where most of that water comes from if you don't drink enough. The blood.
Your training while building up to a long race must include some long workouts done at race effort. Not only are you trying to become more fit by doing these but you should also be experimenting with fuel types to see what is going to work best for you on race day. Then, when race day finally arrives, you must stick with the pacing and refueling plan developed in training. I often hear athletes who DNF with a complaining gut say, "But it worked for me in training!" So something changed from the workouts to the race. What was it? More than likely it was pacing. The athlete simply went out too fast and the body couldn't deal with all of the demands placed on it. So the stomach "shut down."
It never ceases to amaze me at how important pacing is to long-distance, steady-state events and how little athletes do to pace themselves appropriately, especially early in the race. It's the key to almost everything necessary for success including refueling.
Fuel for Long Races
The longer the event is, the more critical race-day nutrition is to your performance. For competitions lasting less than about an hour little is needed other than water. As the duration of the event extends beyond one hour carbohydrate and fluids become increasingly important. For events longer than about six hours refueling the body is often as important to success as how fit and rested you are.
So what should you take in during a long race in order to maintain your intensity at a high level for the duration? The dilemma you face is deciding how to balance intensity against fuel. For example, if you go slowly enough (such as casually walking a marathon) you can eat and drink almost anything you want and your gut will process it. Want a greasy hamburger with french fries and a beer? No problem! But the faster you go the less your gut will be able to process so the more carefully you must choose your fuel. The reason for this is that the body has several demands being placed on all systems and there is competition for the precious resources which are delivered typically by the blood. For example, the muscles are demanding oxygen and carbohydrate to continue contracting at a high rate. At the same time your body is building up heat and trying to shed it. How does it do that? It shunts blood to the skin where it releases heat into the surrounding air thus cooling you off a bit. If you are taking in food, whether liquid or solid, the stomach and intestines are also requesting blood to process and transport the fluids and fuel. And there are other systems also demanding blood. So it's no wonder that athletes often experience GI problems of various types during long, endurance events. There simply aren't enough resources to go around, and given the choice the body prefers to use the blood to cool you and keep the muscles going. The gut is of secondary importance.
So your challenge in preparing for a long race is to determine what it is your gut can best handle at the pace you will be racing. The faster you go, the more this fuel source should be in liquid form since that is the easiest to process in the gut. Solid food requires water to dilute it so that it may be digested. Guess where most of that water comes from if you don't drink enough. The blood.
Your training while building up to a long race must include some long workouts done at race effort. Not only are you trying to become more fit by doing these but you should also be experimenting with fuel types to see what is going to work best for you on race day. Then, when race day finally arrives, you must stick with the pacing and refueling plan developed in training. I often hear athletes who DNF with a complaining gut say, "But it worked for me in training!" So something changed from the workouts to the race. What was it? More than likely it was pacing. The athlete simply went out too fast and the body couldn't deal with all of the demands placed on it. So the stomach "shut down."
It never ceases to amaze me at how important pacing is to long-distance, steady-state events and how little athletes do to pace themselves appropriately, especially early in the race. It's the key to almost everything necessary for success including refueling.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Generation UCAN
Alright guys one of my biggest road blocks the last few months has been supplements. Some taste great, but are loaded with sugar, and don't last as long as they are intended. Others taste horrible and most of the time your not even going to give it a second thought as it doesn't get past the gag reflex. I have recently been introduced to a product that I am really excited about. "Generation UCAN products will sustain energy balance, maintain glucose levels and control food cravings." (UCAN WEBSITE)
Proof is in the pudding
Tonight I swam 4000 meters. Aprox. 30 min prior to I had their lemonade Sports Drink. I took my insulin pump off 10 min prior to engaging in the swim. My Blood sugars were a text book 130. It wasn't a strenuous swim but it was long. About half way in I had a 1/4 of another bottle (Lemonade). After finishing my swim I finished off the remaining 3/4, and consumed a Chocolate protein drink mix while not bolusing for it. My Blood sugars were 145 getting out. Most stoked about the results two hours later. Normally after being off the pump and consuming what I would normally drink my blood sugars generally would run low to mid 200's but this evening they are a steady in the 130's.
Proof is in the pudding
Tonight I swam 4000 meters. Aprox. 30 min prior to I had their lemonade Sports Drink. I took my insulin pump off 10 min prior to engaging in the swim. My Blood sugars were a text book 130. It wasn't a strenuous swim but it was long. About half way in I had a 1/4 of another bottle (Lemonade). After finishing my swim I finished off the remaining 3/4, and consumed a Chocolate protein drink mix while not bolusing for it. My Blood sugars were 145 getting out. Most stoked about the results two hours later. Normally after being off the pump and consuming what I would normally drink my blood sugars generally would run low to mid 200's but this evening they are a steady in the 130's.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Back on the Horse
After a frusterating few weeks of rest and rehab I finally feel like I am back on the horse again. April I ended up with a subcondyl stress fracture that could have resulted in a lot of time of but after some Physical Therapy and time spent on MVP Therapy ultra sweet Treadmill the ALTER G. I managed to keep my distances in through this machine. However, getting back on the road I found that I started favoring my right knee which then threw off my left leg. After a bit of ultrasound and electric stimuli on the leg as well as a little deep tissue massage and things are bouncing back my leg is feeling great, and I am back and fully running again.
During my rehab period I managed to get things worked out with my Insurance and Dexcom (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) and I am loving it! There unit has proven to be a Heaven send and an essential tool in my training. The only downside to it is my lack of body fat has made it difficult to find sites that work. So far I have used my overused stomach. By overused I mean that is were I have my pump site as well as my CGMS site for years and so scar tissue is plentiful in that area. The other location is the back of my arm. This seems to work well as for the most part it is out of the way the only problems is when swimming the electrode occasionally hits muscle which then creates a bit of tenderness, but all in all it works.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
TAPER OR DIE
Hardest thing so far in my training has been to tell myself to slow down. I usually run life at full speed and hardly have ever needed to tell myself to slow down to let my body heal. It is amazing how much better I feel after giving things a rest for the last week and a half. I have spent a small amount of time in the gym with some minor routine workouts but for the most part I have spent some much needed time with the family celebrating my daughter's 4th birthday, and my wife's upcoming 27th. However, my knee is telling me that the healing process is progressing and it is nearly time to ease back into my routine and get my thing going.
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