Back racing

I was very excited to race and to begin running fast again since this spring's track season. This spring told me alot about my self... starting with getting closer to my old form since being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in Dec 2011. Even though I did not reach my ultimate goal which was to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meter track race. I did however ran 29:55 which is still something that I can be proud of and keep moving forward.

At the cherry festival 5k, i prepared that morning by drinking plenty of water to be well hydrated for the race. I knew it was going to be a hot race and hot is hard on me because it raises my Blood glucose quite bit without much effort. I have found a way to help by using something my coach has developed for his athletes called a Core Cooler. Basically, it's a frozen water bottle with a coolant in it. When I run in hot weather it keeps my core temperature much cooler and my body does not fight the hot weather quite as much. Great invention, but even better now that I have diabetes.

I started my warm-up and my blood sugar was 119, which was a little high, but perfect as it allowed me to burn off the rest of the extra blood glucose before the start of the race. I felt very good on the warmup and felt great with my core coolers. The start of the race is always fun because you begin to look at everyone and see who is going to be your competition. Around a 1/2 mile in there was a guy wearing red adidas Adios's which are like 110 dollar race shoes. That usually means they are at least pretty good and we got to our first hill. He charged up it like a man that knew what he was doing, which he didnt. The down hill to follow, I opened up just to stretch my legs and to see what he had in him. I was immediately alone and hit the first mile in 4:55. I knew I still needed a good workout in so I pressed on and second mile was 4:55. By then the there was pretty much no one in sight behind me and I raced in with the win and a time of 15:20. I was extremely excited but still had to finish my workout, so I turned around and ran 3 more miles back to my car. When I checked my blood glucose I knew it would be very high and it was at 231. I then grabbed my core coolers and cooled down. The 4 mile run brought me down to 169 and then I took 3 units of humalog.

Great run and I was very happy with how I controlled my blood sugar. I don't have my racing routine completely figured out yet. I will need to figure it out fully if I want to race New York marathon his fall. I have a couple of ideas but once I get my cgm I will know a lot more about how it will work.

Tommy