The Diabetes Game... Basal cuts, and BG perfection

Howdy from some hotel in some city in Taiwan,

Ah the life... A blurred one, one that revolves around getting up, eating food, riding bikes, eating more food, travel to hotel, eat more food, and sleep... Throw a few shots in there, and having a trusty roommate who actually remembers what room we are in, and life is good!

So yesterday, I said I was going to 8 and 8 for am/pm Lantus doses. I must confess, I lied. As I was injecting the 8 last night, something inside me said: "you need 9!" So I went with my gut (which is how I make all insulin dosage decisions,) turned the SoloStar 1 more notch, and 9 it was. What I didn't notice, was that I was already dropping. I was at 135, with an arrow headed down. So I had a Dex4 Liquid blast (15gm carb) and a granola bar, and by 9:20 I was sound asleep. Woke up once at midnight, and again at 2:30, but then slept right through to 6:30, when it was time to eat. Blood sugars in the night were between 92-115, which made me think the decision was the right one! Got back to the room, and after breakfast, I was at 154 I went with 7u Lantus for the grand total of 16u for the day. I snacked on a cliff bar, and began the race at 184 with an flat arrow. Today was an 80km crit, so got about an hour warm up in.

The gun went off, and it was aggressive from the start. We had everyone near the front, and I was feeling good. Covered a move here, a move there, but never going to hard to do so. 15 minutes or so in, I had a Dex4 Liquid blast to flatten any drop out, and then about 5 minutes later, we are moving pretty good, and I see one guy go down, then another, and it just so happened to be right in front of me. So I nail the guy, flip over the bars, and land square on my tailbone, and head. My Louis Garneau helmet kept the head good, other than a slight ringing in the ears, but the tailbone hurt. I checked my FreeStyle Navigator, which said 208 with an arrow up. Typically when I crash, blood sugar will sky rocket, but I am beginning to think that it is road rash that does this. Today, no road rash, and no spike. Still, i didn't eat anything for the next 1hr 30 minutes, only taking in about 25 grams of carbs from an energy drink.

Anyhow, I went ahead and hopped back on the bike, and limped to the pits. Shimano wheels were straight, nothing was broken, and I hopped back in. The boys were covering things, as I was getting back into the groove. I quickly figured out that I must have nailed my bike pretty hard, as I only had 4 gears working in the back. Most of the time, my chain was just skipping around, so I would just pick a gear, and stay there. This caused a bit of extra grinding (low cadence, more muscle use) than I would have liked. Normally during a crit, or any race for that matter, I like to spin a high cadence and use more of the cardio system. The grinding was manageable, but definitely took it's toll. Joe was super aggressive, as was Ken, and Jesse. We lined it out or the 2nd sprint, which Aldo and Ken went 1-2 in. Then at the end, having spent a lot of energy chasing the last break, we left Ken and Aldo on their own for the sprint, and the Polish team was fresh from sitting in all day. They did a solid lead out, and somehow got beat to the line. We managed 11th, and now have Aldo in 7th overall, which is ok for the first day. Our strength will come later in the race, and we are only going to get better the more we race together.
Post race, I was 150 trending down, but had to pull the sensor off, as the crash sprung it lose. So I am back to finger sticks for tonight, and will put new sensor on to calibrate at 5am, and 7am, so I will be good for the race. I did 6u Apidra back at the hotel, followed by Chocolate Milk and some extra protein to start. Then Gord came in with some killer sandwiches from the bakery, and then another 1/2 sandwich on the bus. Getting close to dinner now, and will do a little less insulin than normal, as sensitivity is probably up there. Tonight, definitely doing 8u Lantus, and will play it by ear in the am, as tomorrow is 140km, so will probably need less. I am guessing 6 in the morning, but will go with what the gut tells me tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, and for all of your comments!!!
Have a great night/day, or whatever it is wherever you are...
Ciao

Phil
http://twitter.com/PhilSoutherland
www.teamtype1.org