Wow. What a weekend - a lot of pain but worth it

Holy cow - look at that bald spot! Ok, the weekend began bad enough - I went for a run friday morning... 3 miles flat and I thought I was going to die. I was low, so that might have had something to do with it... So the next morning, Russ comes to pick me up and we head to Valle Crucis School to run the Valle Crucis 25K. It pretty much goes uphill for a very long way and just when your legs are jelly, it comes back on a very nice descent - only you are too far gone to appreciate it. Or you would be too far gone if your blood sugar was rounding up to 300 the entire uphill part which totally chokes off the muscles. Thankfully it plummeted the entire way down and I ended up testing 6 times and eating 3 packages of clif bloks... understand each package is like 2 gels. So my legs got worked by the diabetes. But it was a fun run and I got to hang out with some good friends like Wayne and Russ. Russ and I ran the entire thing together... he even waited while I tested all those times - and got passed by the same people over and over - we'd work to pass and then I'd stop - then we'd get passed - then we'd work.... you get the picture. It was enduring to ruin his race like that. However, he did get to float up the last hill which I was glad about - I finished in 2:16 - Russ was a minute or two faster. So then the great idea I had about bringing my bike and riding afterwards comes into play. I'm toast. I get on the bike and then have to ride about A MILLION miles uphill... that little muscle above the knee on the inside just cramped every time I pushed on the pedals. Ah joy. Dave and I and Jake went on a bike ride the next morning - about 30 miles - but it really brought my legs back... to where I could walk again - Dave has gotten loads better just in the last week - the guy is amazing. And he learned to drink from the water bottle while on the bike! Ash and the kids get home with the new dog Riley (after Radar O'riley - MASH) and he really is a super cool dog - but I didn't have time to hang with him because there was ANOTHER swarm in the little apple tree. It was another really amazing site. I called Amy who had lost a couple of packages recently (I had nothing to put them in) and she came over and we tried our best to get them in her hive. I really thought we got them in but I must have missed the queen. They made their way back to the tree and then swarmed off. We followed them way up the hill but they wouldn't land. So they are now off to replace the wild bee population that was decimated recently. So Ash and the kids and I and the dogs (plural now) then went to Valle Crucis park and Zoe swam in the river with her goggles on - chasing fish. Little bit of perfection there. We all migrated over the "Bridge to Terebithia" back to Valle Crucis school and let the dogs run and we all played on the playground equipment with no one else in sight. Very nice end to an eventful weekend. If only I had worked on some school stuff... oh well - there is always 5am - cause tomorrow is a rest day!

Valle Crucis 25K tomorrow

Tomorrow morning Russ is going to pick me up at 6:45 for the Valle Crucis 25K. So that's my old school - Russ teaches there - Dave teaches there - it seems fitting. Its only a couple of miles from my house. It should be good to run it with Russ... however I have this worry about him smoking me up the hill... or worse, making me stay with him up the hill. But all in all it should be fun. This last week of training was sketchy at best. I had a good last weekend - but was pretty tired the rest of the week. Feeling better now... except for some weird catch in my rib right in front of my heart... thankfully, it only hurts when I breathe... and sneeze. I'm trying to be a typical masochist triguy tomorrow by taking my bike to the race and going for a ride afterward. Like that will make up for last week. Michelle has her giant JDRF Gala in Wisconsin today or tomorrow and John and Maureen and some of the triabetes gang will be there. John finished school on wednesday and is planning on trying sleep again. I'm happy for him to be done... however, now that means that they are going to move back to Colorado. Best not to think about that right now. In family news - the girls are doing great - Adia is walking like crazy... and dancing... and really getting into stuff now. Its so wild to watch personality unfold. She demands a lot and really likes having her way. So that makes 3 women in this house like that. hmmm. Zoe is still huge on playing dinosaur and unicorn - but is now making others rather than just me and Ash do that - she's getting much better at going up to people and interacting (which means acting out something like dinosaur). Its fun to watch from outside the game. Ash and the kids are in Greenville this weekend to rescue a Cardigan Welsh Corgi (yes, its a sickness - but that's what makes us who we are, I guess) which is a low-rider border collie - its a herding dog and its a male, so I just need to be happy about that. A couple of days ago my hive swarmed....again. It landed on the same post. Jon was over again. It was a bit uncanny. We hived it and it seems to be doing well. It was a really neat experience. One hive has become 3. Oh, and I took off my first super of honey. I could hardly hold it. It was a magical feeling - harvesting something. And the chicks are doing great. 27 little guys -its so fun to watch them... not as much fun to clean out the water every day. Notice the bike on the trainer - I figured it was a nice touch - kind of like a diabetic triathlete farmer.... I like it. I should change the name to Triabubba - etes. There is probably something more clever out there. Sorry. The rabbits keep getting into their food.... which really is funny sometimes - they can get anywhere. Anyway - things are well and I really enjoy this spring - the running, and biking, and swimming are getting old, but the animals are fun ... our apple tree might have escaped the frost, too, in case you were as concerned as we were:) Peace

Ok, it has been awhile. But trying to train for three sports and have a family (and a job) make blogging a few notches down on the post. However - I had to today. I went for a nice run this morning with Neve (our dog) out at Moses Cone - I ended up going almost 15 miles and felt really good - not much different from any other run. I kept my blood sugar in line the entire time. I get home around lunchtime and call Jon to come over and set up his top-bar beehive (I have bees - Jon is going to set up a different kind of hive next to mine) and plan out the garden and chickens (chicks should be here this week!) Once his hive is in place we can order the bees. Well, he's had this thing for a year and today we walk up behind my house to set it up and lo and behold - there is a swarm of bees (my bees swarmed) sitting on a post. Amazing. We got a nuc and set out to catch the swarm. Bees are amazingly non-stingy when they swarm, so Jon held the nuc and I scraped them into it with my hands (I did have on gloves, but didn't need them). Thousands of bees. The picture on the post is AFTER we had hived the swarm...they are just the leftovers. When I sunk my hands into the swarm it was really warm...won't be forgetting that feeling. I was wearing shorts and they were up my shorts - no stings - Jon didn't have on any headwear and they were all over him - no stings. Ultra cool. We quickly set up his hive and then took the nuc over and shook them out in there. Set up a feeder and let em go. This should be a great experience...if I didn't kill the queen in the process. We'll see. However all this pales in comparison with the fact that Adia is walking. Yes, walking. Life is good. Busy, but good. I think I am keeping my priorities in line (family, home, ironman, job) so the stress is no so bad. I am feeling good and am progressing slowly - which is nice because September is still months away. Going to sleep now. Usually I am in bed by 9 and up at 4:30 or 5 to run and swim before school. Tomorrow I have to get some grading done so I will do something in the evening. Peace.

NSTA, mornings, and Basketball

Ok, it has been awhile - but I simply think that is how its going to be until the summer and then September (Ironman). I came home from Diabetes Training Camp (see previous blog for address and "you gotta go" info) after missing a week of school just in time for spring break to start. It was a difficult transition but somehow I pulled through:) However it was only for a few days because I had to go to Boston to the National Science Teachers Association national conference to pick up a grant I had won from Vernier Technologies - this sounds very cool and all but on a worthiness scale, I'm not sure mine cut it. So I flew out of Greenville and dropped the family off at Ashley's mom's. I got to Boston and got to my hotel kind of late and just went out to get a bite and crashed. The next morning I was going to go for a run and it was raining and cold. So I pulled on my shorts and the rest of the clothes in my suitcase and headed out. It was very Boston - I went out across Copley Square and then to Boston Common for a lap and then out to the Charles River where there was this really cool trail that went along the river forever. It was hardly raining and was almost nice. So I run and just keep going and then when I decide to turn around it decides to blow and rain...the kind of rain with snowflakes in it. I was pretty much frozen by the time I got back. But I warmed up back at the hotel and went out to Harvard museum of Natural History to wander through time...I really wished Zoe was with me at that time. She is such a dinosaur fanatic... in fact I only went there for her - I had to bring back a good book and an iguanodon, of course. We are planning on doing a road trip to Colorado this summer so Zoe can see some real dinosaur stuff. Then I went over to the NSTA national conference and was blown away. It was in a conference center about the size of the known universe and it was filled. I wandered about and saw a bunch of really cool, new stuff - it was interesting. That night I got all dressed up and went back to the award ceremony...which was totally overblown but nice. The food was great, I was completely out of my element in terms of hanging around in a coat and tie and uncomfortable shoes with rich people - but like I said - it was very well done. (the people in the photo are David and Christine Vernier of Vernier Technologies - absolutely wonderful people - and the other guy is John Whitsett - president of NSTA....I know - oooohhhh) The next morning I did laps around Boston Common for a few hours and then went home. I was late to the airport and right when I got on the plane the worker switched my ticket and gave me first class. Ahhhh. That is the life. I almost wished I had on a coat and tie. Almost. Well, not really. It was so good to get home and be with the family again - I had fun, but it was a lonely, quiet time. Then this week I rode my bike some and started getting a run and swim in early and that has worked rather well. Thank you ASU. But the crowning event of the week was Friday - where I went to Valle Crucis (my old school and Dave's current school) and did some stream sampling stuff with the 4th grade (man, do I miss that energy and enthusiasm) - we got wet and dirty and then their teachers (thank you Steven and Debbie) cleaned them up. Oh, and while I was there the student-faculty basketball game happened and it was a blast again. I appear to have made myself fragile. All this running, swimming, and biking have made me fit but I've lost my contact sport edge. I am so sore this morning - not in the legs, but in places like my back, neck, shoulder, etc. But it was sooo fun - great to see my old students and friends (got to see many at the science fair this week, too - I was mucho proud of them) - Thank you Mary Jo. This weekend I am going to try to get the railing on the deck (as Adia fell off of it and landed on a rock - its a low deck) and work on the garden, and get my diabetic 24 hour runners group in order. In other news - Dave had a difficult marathon due to injury, Nate did well, I reconnected with an old friend, Neve is doing well, and I'm going for a grandfather mountain hike with my biology kids on monday. Oh, and holy cow - Adia took her FIRST STEPS this week! What fun!

Diabetes Training Camp

OK - Last week was DIABETES TRAINING CAMP in Santa Barbara, CA. I know! just saying it makes it seem so freaking cool! If there are diabetics out there who are not going to read anything else - simply take this advice: Go to DTC. http://www.diabetestrainingcamp.com/ Its a camp that believes that exercise is a crucial part to diabetes management. And its not just for athletes - its for people looking to begin exercising to crazies training for an Ironman and everyone in between. It is expensive but it is absolutely worth it - in fact it is a great deal. I learned more about being a diabetic and living with the disease in that week than in the previous 25 years I've had the disease. Dr. Matt Corcoran is not just a great endocrinologist - he's a true doctor - he is following his passion to improve the lives of diabetics. Add to all this the fact that the coaching was beyond top notch. 2 of the coaches changed my life: Josh Gold (www.pushhard.com) was one of the swim coaches and once my southern upbringing got past his harsh Brooklyn ways - I saw a truly great person. He totally ruined my swim right now - but that's ok - it was terrible anyway - I have the feeling that soon it will be much, much better. Beyond that he really is concerned about helping me out long beyond the camp and he is quite the little babysitter (held Adia for hours during some of the camp). The other person was Rick Crawford - I'm pretty sure he saved ironman for me. I was in a funk and heading downhill - in one lecture he swung it around 180 degrees - I'm looking forward to training, enjoying it, and have a path to September. Oh, and he has coached a few notables: Armstrong, Leipheimer, Team Type 1... sheesh.... but he was such a cool, down to earth dude and was totally interested in coaching us. I brought my whole family and alternated between camp and family so I missed some good stuff at camp but got it back a million-fold by exploring tide pools with my kids. Traveling was a bit challenging - but I swear that Zoe and Adia did much better with the sleep deprivation than Ash or I (Ash had a 3 day migraine and my blood sugar was nuts for a few days). It was really great to be out there with them. Zoe had a blast playing with Ray and Nella's daughter - Elisa. They pretty much did everything together and swimming was a huge part of that. Pictures from the trip, by the way are scrolling through on the right of the screen - you can click on them to see the album. Lets see - better wrap this up because kids are waking up... turns out Dave is somewhat of a monster - his VO2 max was second behind Bill Carlson (see photo of Bill, Anne, and Peter - all triabetics) who was the first diabetic to do ironman back in 83...and he basically typifies what I imagine an ironman to be. Dave also did a monster climb on the bike.... on his first ride ever. But you'll have to see his blog to find out the truly funny story about the bike - it goes something like: what happens when the bike meets the overpass? It was great to meet Anne - I felt I knew her from her blog - but to finally meet someone is cool. She is super fit and strong. Steve Chop (not pictured - he left a day early) was there and great to hang around again - he was there with Dave, John, and I in Madison when we registered. He also fits the super strong ironman persona... in fact, its pretty much me and Dave who don't - and Dave is well on his way.... crud. And Peter - what a cool guy. The visionary who founded insulindependence and made so much of this possible. I really can't thank him enough. However, I have found that his greatest accomplishment is getting Nate on board. Thank you for everything, Nate. Oh, and it looks like we might have our title sponsor, too, but I'll wait to talk about that one. Well done guys. Oh, one last thing - I wore a constant glucose monitor for the week and it pretty much changed my life - its time to get the insurance companies to cover it. The future is here.

Tough to blog?

Its funny how things get busy and the time for very simple things is lost. Like blogging. A lot has happened in the last 11 days or so and I kept thinking that "ooh, I need to write this down"... well, now I am just going to summarize. When we last met the dynamic uno - he was struggling back from a sickness that ripped through his family and had just gotten back into the swing of things. The next week went fine - still trying to figure out schedules, but its coming along. Ash and the kids went to Greenville to MawMaw's for a long weekend and it gave me time to work on a fence and get some hours in training. I missed those guys sooo bad. It was ultra quiet and terrible. Thankfully, John and Maureen and Jon fed me all that time. Dave and I went to ASU on thursday and ran (I was late and did 4 miles - Dave ran for an hour) and then hopped in the pool and swam 1.5 miles (in 200's) It was good day. Dave is becoming a machine. He just emailed me about running 18 miles on Sunday. I am trying to figure a way out of that one. On Saturday, John and I were told about a group ride that meets in Boone and heads down the mountain to Lenoir to ride. The temperatures were incredible - it was chilly in Boone and perfect down there. We rode on gorgeous roads for awhile and were expecting to go around 35-40 miles. Well, at 32 miles we realized that we made a wrong turn and it would be a long ride back. The ride ended up being 54 miles and I was beat. It was good to be out again. My blood sugar started at 290 and didn't fall (I took a couple of units) for a long time. But towards the end, John and I were battling lows at the back of the pack. The next few days I worked on a fence around the house for the dog and it really is looking sharp. We are getting ready to go to Santa Barbara for Diabetes Training Camp and I checked Delta and found out that the bike would be $100 each way. So I emailed some bike shops and a diabetes research facility and the Santa Barbara Bike Coalition and explained that I was a poor, pitiful, diabetic teacher and was there anyone out there who would be willing to loan me a bike for the week? Well the SB Bike Coalition is filled with super cool people. I am now turning away offers.... of bikes a lot better than the one I ride. It really fills one with a sense of a renewal of humanity when people offer precious things to complete strangers. I was blown away. BTW - I will be riding a sweet Ibis while in sunny CA. Thank you Robert! Then yesterday, a friend at work who I kept seeing at the pool - revealed that he has done triathons (up to 70.3) and worked with the swim team for years. He gave me a bunch of pointers yesterday and while it currently feels like I can't swim - I am finally on the path. Thank you Jonathan! Oh, I got my wheels - Neuvation - great price, ceramic bearings, etc - and got my wetsuit, pedals, and bike shoes... thank you Trisports!

OK, now I'm back, or what's left of me

Zoe made this for me. Will just melt a scrooges' heart.
The Man-a-gon... or Man-wagon.... or Mini-man - yeah, that fits.
Ol' Nev - what a sweetheart
I need to say nothing about this picture.

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So, I think I am back - and thank goodness, because cameraman Ray is here. I still cough, but now its without the dry-heaving. I went for a run friday night and did fine. We went for a run at Bass lake this morning - maybe around 6 miles. Then we went to ASU and did a mile. It was a sweeeet place. I'd never seen a swimsuit centrifuge before - but country came to town today. There was a scale there. I thought I was at 165. I am at 157.6 lbs. That would be somewhere around the middle of high school. With winds the way they are up here, I might really blow away. I have been snacking on butter, eating straight cream cheese - nothing works. However, it might translate into some fast biking - and in the pool today I was faster than I'd been... though that was probably the camera

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The family might be getting out of Sickville - still plenty of snugy noses and coughs, but much better. Nev (the dog) is doing well. Russ is conquering the Black Mountain Marathon today and is officially leaving his title of OCM (off the couch monster) in Asheville. Someone will pick it up - Russ has gotten years out of it, but now he's just "M".