Diabetes Game: Hypo Trails

Howdy from Hotlanta,

How goes it? This has been a really great week!! Lots of work done at home on Mon-Tues, then headed down to Orlando for the CWD conference. This thing really rocks! This was my 4th year there, and it may have been the best. Got to see a lot of old friends, and make some new ones. Morgan, Simon, Fabio, and I were in the sanofi-aventis where we thought we had a never ending supply of Calendars and Posters to sign and give out for the kids. But the posters went like hot-cakes. Joe and Kyle were at Omni-Pod, and Matt Brooks and Tom Kingery were rocking at the Abbott Booth. Our goal there was to get the kids excited about good control, and let the parents know that their kids can achieve dreams, and using the best tools will help them do it. My new buddy Frank is going to get a car from dad if he gets his A1C to 6.5. I was glad to help broker that deal...

Big thanks to Jeff and Laura for all the hard work to put it on. It really was top notch.

Then Sat it was back home, and to the Quenton Colby art show. Colby has now begun to do cycling paintings, and they really were sharp. I was lucky enough to win the raffle, and now have my 3rd Q.C painting in my house. Pumped on that one.

So I had gotten a system down for running. It seemed to get to the point where I don't need a whole lot of food for runs, if any, so long as I start at the right level. I think the caveat here is not giving insulin within 2.5 hours of the run. Today was my longest run to date, an 11 mile jaunt. My massage therapist Collette told me I needed to run on trails, as I was starting to turn my body different ways from the roads. So I hit up the trails in Chattahoochee. I woke up at 90, had a slight trend up to 141, where I gave 2units of rapid acting insulin, waited 30 minutes until I was trending down slightly, then ate 50gms of carbs from oatmeal. I began to trend back up, and was 175 when I hit the trail. My Nike mile counter thing was not working, so I had to guess the mileage. I did not want to go short, so I figured 9 minute miles or 100 minutes. I took the usual tube of Dex 4 tabs, which gives me 40gms of carbs. I had planned to get back to the car for a refill if needed.
Low and behold, I get lost. I am in the woods, cruising away, and then BS begins to drop. I see 165 on the Navigator which is a 10 pt drop. So I take in 2 tabs, then see 154, to take 3 more. Then the arrow is going down. Most of the time, when I stop running, my BS rises. I decided I would trick my blood sugar into going up, and stop and stretch. I took my time hoping to get the arrow to flatten out, but after a few minutes I began to run again. Up, down, left, right until I really have no idea where I am, or where to go. Also, the maps were not the best, so it was just guess time. At one point I was on the creek bed wondering if I was even on a trail... By this point I am at 75 trending down, and have 0 tabs left. I was wondering when it was going to bottom out. I was beginning to stress a bit, as I had no idea where I was, and no extra food. My back up here was that it was a nice day, and lots of people were picnicking, so I could just ask for a coke. The blood sugar bottomed out at 51, and I was not feeling so hot. It wasn't until I was 1:25 minutes in that I figured out where I was, and that seemed to be all I needed. Next I checked I was 53, then 55, not feeling great on one level, but feeling real good that I was not in the 40's, and on my way home. I got to the flat part I knew, and did 2 more miles in the last 15 minutes to finish up.

What could I have done differently to avoid this stress:
1. Bolus/inject rapid acting insulin farther out before the run, so the tail is gone.
2. Bring more food. Just cause the body was efficient the last 3 runs, doesn't mean it will be today.
3. Know where you I am going, but then again, getting lost is fun, so I am going to scratch this one.
4.) Bring more food. When exercising like this, it is always best to be over prepped than under.

I got in the car, did 4 units of rapid and then drank 60gm carb 16gm protein from choc milk, then pasta 45 minutes after that. I was sitting right at 80-85 for a while, and next thing I knew was at 165 trending up, Did 3units of rapid, which didn't seem to be enough, so another 2, and that was the trick.

I have done either 16 or 17u of basal insulin each night this week. Last night was 16 on a rest, so I am thinking 15 tonight after the long run. Decision to come in the next 55 minuets...

As for my averages on the FreeStyle Navigator
1 day: 104
3day: 96
7day: 105
14day: 105
21day: 108
28day: 109

These are within goal. I have found that since I am just doing basic fitness now, not racing, control is much, much easier. I am still eating a very healthy diet (for the most part) exercising regularly, and watching my trend arrows on the Navigator like a hawk. I made it a goal 6 weeks ago to get all my averages under 110. Now I want under 105. I also am doing this with a target range of 60-170, and have between 90-94% in target in the above categories. Also, the Standard Deviation ranges from 28-36 on all these too. Trying not to have variability.

Could you do this??? Yes, if you wanted to. If you have made it this far, and if I may ask, what is your 14 day average on your meter? When I first started paying attention, mine were in the 140's. Then over time I was able to lower them, and get much much better.

Also, take into account that this is my life, and these are my goals. This is not a standard to set for yourself. But you can set your standard, set your bar. Maybe lowering the 14 day average by 10 points is a goal. Maybe 20 points?

Off to Boise Id on Wed for 5 days. Then back for 2 nights before heading to Seattle...
The game shall go on...

Have a great night, and thanks for reading!

Phil
www.teamtype1.org
@philsoutherland on Twitter