Diabetes Game- Really long rides...

Howdy from Sunny S0Cal!

Have I mentioned I love this place yet??? I was so lucky to have a great host in Gina, Irvay, Sean, and Natalie for about 8 days while here in SB. They opened there home to me, and I could not have made this trip without them!!! I have also been lucky enough to see Kim Bleth, who is the best massage therapist I have worked with, along with Dianna Palmer, who is keeping my body in line. Throw in some acupuncture from Kathleen Zisser, and I can ride real hard, stay straight, and suffer on the bike. Thanks to all for your help while here.

Now this game... Thursday I went with the 15 units of Lantus- hypo all night. Was this cause of the lantus, or did I not eat enough carbs for the insulin I did? Woke up Fri am, worked for a while, then set off on a 2 hour ride with my buddies, Joe, Ken, Tim, Barney, and Laura Van Gilder (wow-she is strong!!!) I did .5 units of Apidra, then ate oatmeal (65gm carb) and a scone at the shop. 2 bars earl in the ride, and BS stayed at around 100... We did a couple of hours, going hard on some climbs, but decided to call an early day. I got home, blood sugar of 101, ate some oatmeal, and set off to do one more climb. Ouch... Get home, pack my bags and move over to Tim's place. We headed to a party at Gina's place. She got the Santa Barbara Support group together, and I got to meet another 15-20 type 1's!! Some young kids who said they are going to race with us!! Joe and I gave a quick chat about the team, and how it formed, and tried to get the kids (and adults) fired up about good control, and then benefits to the rest of life...

Early sleep, as Saturday was a big daddy! 130 mile ride with about 7500 feet of climbing, which translates to a lot of time going up. Big lesson learned today too!! We did this with the Chicken Ranch team, and had a great ride. It almost didn't happen, as Tim (I am always 2 minutes late) Johnson and I missed the start. We then went real, real hard out of the blocks until we saw the pace truck. Then motorpaced for another 20 minutes, until we finally caught the group. I had eaten 60 gms of carbs at this point. Also, I left the house with a BG of 186. Was 110 when I woke up, and did .4 units of Apidra to cover 90gms carbs. I wanted to have a little more than basal to carry that to my muscles, but not too much to drop. Also, I set off on this ride blind. Navigator was calibrating, and I don't take a meter when I ride. I go by feel. I do this, so that if for some reason I don't have it in races, I will be ready. So the ride goes on, and we begin first climb. I smashed a bar in before the climb, and felt good for the first 2 miles, then we made a left and went up on a 5% grade for another 2 miles. As We kept climbing, people kept popping, and it was Tim, Jesse putting the hammer down, followed by John and I. Then it was those 3 as I lost contact, trying not to explode. Should have pushed harder to see how deep I can go.
Then next climb Tim ups the pace again (I have eaten 2 more bars at this point) and there are 4 of us again. Tim, Jesse, Kim, and I. I got dropped with about 3/4 mile to go, then bridged back up, then dropped again, then bridged back up. Dropped a 3rd time, and then hammered until I was cross-eyed and drooling to cross the top next to Tim. Ouch. We get the the beach, and I drank a coke, a muffin, and some of Joe's french fries. All in all, another 120 gms of carbs. And off we went. Climb again, it was hold Tim's wheel to the top, and then we went flat out for next 5 miles to the end of the road. Good session. Jesse was looking good!! Then another bar, and this was at about 4:30 hours into the ride.

For some reason or another, I forgot to eat for the next little while. Maybe cause my stomach ached from all the water and food in there, or I was a litlle on the low side, and not thinking properly, but for 45 minutes I did not have a single carb. Then at about 5 hrs into the ride, it was just flat out pace line on the coast. My spoke had broken, and shifters were not working, but on top of that neither were my legs. I was dying. I got a little pissed cause I should have been good. Still didn't eat. We get to the finish of the group ride, and I had a burrito (100gm carbs) some sugar drink, and chips. I was wondering how high I would be after all that... Ride 30 minutes back home to get a total of 130 miles in 6.5 hours. Check BG, and it was 77. What that tells me is that when we were going flat out, I was most likely in the 50-90 range, which is not good for power, strength, but most importantly focus. I had been real good on the fueling for 4:30 hours, but not at the important part. Gotta do better. Best to make these mistakes while training, and not during a race. Ate TONS of food after that ride. 75 gms carbs/25 protein right at finish. Then Huge plate of pasta. Then massive salad with lots of tuna on it, and some bars. 14 units of Lantus, and BS was at 202 at 12:30. Did 1 unit, and woke up at 65. So I am thinking I have my lantus right for the day, but this constant up flow at night from 11:30-1am. Having the Omni-Pod would be good to take care of that, but since I am not on that program now, I am going to have to start giving a .5 unit injection of Apidra at around 11:30 each night. That is my new plan, and I will keep you posted on it.
1 more day of short suffering on the SB group ride, then watch some football, pack (again) Big thanks to Mr. Tim Johnson for the lesson's on the bike, and for the place to crash for 2 nights. You da man!

Also, I am now in an Altitude tent (Altitudetech tent) I am doing this for a few reasons. One, to get the benefit of sleeping at altitude, while training at Sea level- I can see the ocean form my window, so this is true..
Second, to study the effects of the tent on insulin needs. I have now had 4 nights in the tent, with no significant droppage of insulin. I am not taking a lot, but no huge drop, but only 4 days. 3rd, I want to see hematocrit, and I have been given a hema-cue from Dr. Howard Zisser so I can keep track of all of these. He is going to take in all of my data from the Navigator, + exercise, and we will be doing this for other riders at camp. We want to find the perfect blood sugar for all type 1 (and non type 1) for performance, and figure out the right amount of insulin/carbs to get there. We will be doing all this at camp...

Speaking of, now only 4 days until camp!!! Real, real excited to see it all come together, meet new teammates, catch up with old friends, and begin to ride with the team. We will be getting our new Orbea bikes, with Shimano Dura-Ace, along with new Louis Garneau Clothing!!! Gonna be quite a site, and I will try to post pictures. We should have 56 athletes here for both Team Type 1, and Team Type 2. Gonna be big!!!

Great lessons learned last week, and more to come this week! Excited for a rest day, which I feel I earned. 23 hours, with a lot of intensity last week, and 2- 6 hour rides.

Thanks for reading, and have a Great DAY!!!

Philpott
www.TeamType1.org