Teaching ... myself

Well, we finished exams on Thursday.... ahhh . I went to Dr. Morgan on Friday morning and got a nice little Christmas bonus: a hemoglobin A1C of 6.5. My lowest ever. I mean that is not even flagged as high....for normal people! (Granted - it is right on the edge...) It even made the fact that a landslide had closed my route back to Boone and I had to take a hour and a half detour back to town....not so bad. Then I got a gift from two incredible friends of ours - William and Janet - who could possibly be the most giving people I've ever known....and I have known some incredibly generous people. It just popped into their heads that I could really use a treadmill while I train for this event so they arranged for their super plush treadmill to live at our house. This really comes just at the right time - its been harder and harder to run and have Ashley run and spend time with the family now that daylight and temps have dropped. I just need one of those endless pools and we can have tr...

Well, my first organized run...ever. I went back to where I've spent much of my life (Greenville, SC) for the Paris Mountian 20K. My wife has run this many times before and it was just something I was always certain I would NEVER do. So it was very appropriate that this was my first Triabetes run. I had on my Triabetes shirt and the tri hat John gave me (would have carried voodoo dolls if I thought it would help). I got there at 6:45 for an 8am start - even bought my breakfast with me because I was most worried about how my blood sugar would do. I checked in and got my cool t-shirt (almost went home after that) then I went back to the car to stretch and eat. At about 7:20 I ate breakfast and took 2 units (blood sugar 137). Earlier I had backed off the Lantus just a bit - because I figured that I would only be a few hours and wouldn't affect the rest of the day that much. I pinned my number on (number 4....felt like an elite runner - but they just did this by alphabetical order)...

Not really a Triabetes log here today - I thought nothing could top the test strip miracle, but then our dear, sweet 6 month old Adia...slept through the night. Realize that Ashley has not slept well since she was 6 months pregnant. So that's 9 months of poor sleep (and 6 months for me). The irony in the whole thing is that Adia just doesn't sleep well with us. We have always had a family bed and have always slept great - but its just not for Adia. She slept her first night in the pack and play (our version of a crib)...which is a little sad....until you realize that we slept! Hooray! Paris Mountain 20K tomorrow. I'm now stoked to run my heart out...which is good - because it is supposed to be cold rain. If you haven't read Dave's brother's comments on his blog ( http://triabeticdave.blogspot.com/ ) about Wide Open - please do.

So, when this project started I knew that 1) I would have to test more (while I run, bike, swim) and 2) my insurance would be difficult about it. I am a teacher in NC so I have Blue Cross / Blue Shield - they say that my plan only allows for 150 tests (strips) per month - (450/90 days). Well that works out to around 5 tests per day. Now that I am exercising I find that I can blow through 5 in a single long run. I'm low a lot and there are many times when I'll be exercising and I'll ask myself "am I just getting tired or am I crashing?". Well now I test to find out. The problem is that BY TAKING BETTER CARE OF MYSELF, I HAVE GONE OVER WHAT MY INSURANCE ALLOWS. Oh, by the way - my doctor wants me to test more and has written a prescription for more....which my insurance won't accept. So I was on the phone for 45 minutes with the insurance company 2 nights ago trying to figure out how to get my prescription filled. I have been talking with my benefits coo...

Dave, Wayne (Dave's principal and my old principal), and I went for a run this morning and just kind of wandered for a couple of hours. It was soo good to just keep going and to realize that "yeah, I can do this thing...slowly". I've signed up for a half marathon in Greenville , SC next weekend - one my wife always used to do. I'm hoping to simply be close to her time. This is my very first "race" ever... how hilarious. I wonder what it will be like to be at the starting line...

This weekend was pretty nice by anyone's accounts. Saturday morning John, Dave, and I went for an early morning run. It was the first time the musketeers have been together in a few weeks and it was really nice to connect and get excited about this project again. As the goals of Triabetes become more clear it becomes more and more of an honor to be involved with it. We started in the pitch dark and the sun rose while we ran. And on the way home McDonalds had 2 sausage and egg biscuits for $2 ...mmmm - but it makes you wonder how they can afford to sell quality food at such a low price.... hmmm Later that day Ash and I and a dear friend from Athens took our kids and watched the Christmas parade in town. (Pictures are posted on our picassa site - see link on the side) Today (Sunday) we slept in, took care of starting a nice little split rail fence, Ashley did some doula stuff and then just after dark I went for an 8 mile run in town (Greenway Trail). The clouds were backlit by a ...

4am discussion while the baby is crying My wife worked an evening job until 9pm and was in bed by 10.... the baby got up at 12 and nursed twice by 3am and then wanted to play (the baby)..... played for an hour while my wife did the dishes and cleaned up (just noticing this) ... and I say something mean. I am 44 (mg/dl..... not years) I am also a lucky man (this was written at 4:03am so I wouldn't forget it in the morning.... baby is crying again)

OK - this day was a real treat. I woke up at 4....again....because of the baby....and I had left my car at school so I had to ride in.... and it was misting a bit. So I got Adia back to sleep and got ready to go to school.... which I was really excited about because I had signed up for bus driver training for the next 3 days. Just for field trips and stuff and because I have some desire deep down to say "yeah, I got my CDL ". Anyhoo - I am getting the final things ready to ride to school and I can't find my cold weather gloves. Hmm . No biggie - I'll just double up. I go to grab my helmet and shoes and it hits me.... I left all my stuff in my car...at school. So I debate for a moment whether I should wake up Ash and have her take me - but I decide against that for the simple reason that it will take too long and I am still not done getting sub plans ready. So I try on Ashley's helmet - doesn't come close to fitting my rather bulbous melon. I look around and ...

Hopefully today is not what the next 9 months will be like. I woke up at 4:15am because I did no schoolwork over the holiday and I had to get 3 days of sub work ready (bus driver training... yeehaw !) After school, Ashley picked me up and we went to the swim center - I swam with Zoe for a while and then swam a mile. I was 77 when I started and I ate a clif bar. Half way through my head started pounding but I figured it was just because I was a terrible swimmer. When I got out and tested, I was 33. The last time I swam I was 39 when I got out of the water. I guess all my cues are messed up in the water - no weird sweating, I'm dizzy anyway when I swim, definitely can't use performance as any indicator.... Maybe I should just get used to an after dinner Advil ...

John and I rode uphill to school this morning (he was out of school - I had a workday:) and for the first time I got off the bike and did a tiny bit of running. Man, was that a bit unusual and uncomfortable.... I've been inspired a bit recently by the community - my friend, Heather, has gotten some of the school nurses to get involved and do a multi-month school district wide diabetes fundraiser - that will end with May being Diabetes Awareness month. She's always wanted to do something like this but I think Triabetes pushed her over the edge ...she has a son and husband that are both Type 1. Here we go. They are taking it to the principals and district. As it unfolds, I'll report. I'm going to eat like a fiend over the next week and will try to run it all off. Happy Thanksgiving

I agreed to this in August of 07 and I signed up for it in September. I've been running, swimming, and biking... I'm sore and sleepy quite a lot and I am just realizing that I have not really begun to train yet... I guess I should set the stage. My name is Steve and I am a Type 1 Diabetic and have been since I was 10 (so 25 years). I've kept pretty good control (just lucky on that front - not due to excess effort) and I was always kind of active - so when my neighbor moved in (also a Type 1) and somehow talked me into being part of a group (now called Triabetes - see www.triabetes.org ) of Type 1 Diabetics that will train for and complete in the 2008 Ironman Wisonsin. I wasn't a runner, I was a terrible swimmer, and I was slow on the bike.... so I figured, "why not?" This blog will be a record of my path through this process. More to come.... as I figure out what a blog is....