Diabetes Game for a 10km

Howdy from the Finish line...

So this was my first real test for my progress. The goal was to do miles 1, 3, 5 easier and 2, 4, 6 hard, and then see what the time was. Personally, I wanted to do sub 40, which was a stretch since 4 weeks ago I did a 5km in 21:33 and it nearly killed me. With that being said, I am 4 weeks further into training, and feel a lot better on foot.

The plan going in:
Slight basal reduction last night. I had done 17u the night before on a rest day. Yesterday was also a rest day, but went for 16u of basal in anticipation of a hard race. So I woke up at 4am at 155, did 2u rapid acting, and at 5:45 (official wake up) I was 120, had 30gm carbs from Oatmeal, with Almond butter, and my standard two Americano's to get me going. I was 126 when I walked out the door, with a slight blood sugar 6 points higher then 5 minutes before. Then it was a 1.5 mile jog to the start. BS got up to 136 at the start. I managed to get to the front of my group, which was the 30-39,000 group. That's right, there were close to 55,000 people at this race, which is America's biggest 10km! I have NEVER competed in an event this big, with so many people.

For the first mile I had open road, and HR quickly got up to 170, which it wasn't supposed to. So I had to work on easing up a little, but not too much. Then I hit 1 mile, and picked it up, keeping my HR right around 170-173. When I finished this mile, I was starting to catch people from the group ahead. All I could see for miles ahead was runners. It was actually pretty cool to see so many people out exercising at 7am on a holiday weekend. So I tried to slow it down for mile 3, which was downhill, so I actually sped up. I also had 4 Dex4 tabs at tis time. I was dodging people left and right. Although the race was 10km, I must have done 12km with all the left and right. I have done bike races where it is a struggle to move up and get to the front. But usually with enough ducking, dodging, and pedaling, you can hit the front. This time: no chance. It was cool, but was tough as there was never a chance to relax. After the 4th mile, I was hurting, and had to dig. I forced myself to recover letting the HR drop to 163-165 for a few minutes, and then I saw the 5 mile marker (first marker I saw.) Put down a gel, and then it was go time!

At this point I was in pain, and wanted to walk. But I went back to old school days, and just turned the pain switch off. My goal was the finish line, and to get there as fast as possible. Note to self: know exactly where the finish is. Why? Well, I made the left hand turn which symbolized being close to the line. I am full on sprinting now, seeing cross eyed, but still passing people, and I see balloons, and think I am done!!! But wait, people are still running, and I hear someone yell "it's all downhill from here!" But wait, I'm not done??? Holy sweet mother... I am at 38 minutes at this point, and 40 is still in reach, so I throw down again. Dodging people, barely breathing, digging into a world of pain I had long forgotten about, and then I hear: ".1 mile to go, almost there!!" I was cracked like an egg dropped from far above, but had to push. One last dig, one last sprint, and hit the line, with a time of 40:13. Will bet official time is 40:13-40:25.

Never had I been so glad to be done. I was just trying to keep myself standing, satisfied for leaving it all out on the road, but kind of pissed for not having gone under 40. So I grab my Navigator, and look at it for the first time since the start. 159 it said. 5 minutes later 171 trending up... TIme to get home, get insulin and eat: How? Oh yeah, didn't plan that far. So I just started jogging... Funny enough ran into another type 1 out for a morning jog. I made it about 3 miles (with 3 to go) and I found a cab who got me home... All in all about 11 miles in today, with 6.2 of them really hard. Got home, with 125 arrow going straight down, which was a HUGE surprise to me that soon after the finish. Did 4u rapid, showered, stretched, foam rolled, and then ate a massive bowl of pasta.

Now I have a benchmark to go by. This was a test. If I had come in above a 7minute mile, it would have not been good for the marathon goal. But I managed to avg 6:30/mile, which is 27 seconds faster than my goal marathon pace, granted 20 miles shorter... No it is time to rest and celebrate a great day, and then get back on the program, trying to get faster, stronger, longer...

And please remember: these are my personal goals. I think some of the biggest awards should go out to the people who did the 10km in 1.5 hours. The people who push themselves to try something new. Everyone has a goal, and should not compare to the other. If I had been racing the winner's, I would have (and did) gotten killed. But the only person I was racing out there was me! And I won. What is your next race?

Happy 4th To ALL!!! Enjoy it!

Phil

P.S. Get your Team Type 1 and Team Type 2 kits on our site: www.teamtype1.org
Thanks for the support!

PPS: Congrats to Allison Powers for winning Fitchburg TT, Darren Lill and Jen McCrae for getting 2nd in the circut race. Go Team Go!!!