Howdy from Carpinteria,
We just finished a successful weekend in San Dimas, CA. The team rode great, and delivered Emile to the line to take the field sprint for 3rd on Sunday. He claimed it was the easiest time he has ever had for a sprint, which means the team did it's job. Shawn Milne and Ben Brooks took care of our boy, and his legs worked fast. I got to see this all from the sidelines since I hit the deck on Saturday When crashing, it is almost always someone else's fault. Not this time... All mine. I put my front Zipp 404 into someone else's rear derailleur, and after holding it steady for a 100meters, the wheel exploded, and I hit it. Couldn't catch back up, so went on a 3hr training ride on my own through the mountains. It was peaceful and serene until I came to what appeared to be a traffic jam. I get to the front of it, and to my surprise I see a chopper and 4 cop cars, with about 8 cops all with guns pulled on an SUV. Apparently there were 3 guys with machine guns in there, so I sat and watched (behind a truck...) while the cops took care of business with no shots fired. Only in LA. Interesting thing after the crash was that when I got back to the car, my blood sugar on my FreeStyle Lite read 303. Washed my hands, and then 306. I did 5 units of Apidra, then 45 minutes of riding later, I was 283. Last time I crashed, the same thing happened. The body goes into shock, and I guess a bunch of hormones are produced which cause insulin sensitivity to stop. Last time I used different measures to fix it quickly, and this time, I just road. Drank water for first 1.5hrs, then switched to Gatorade, dex 4 (x2) and 80gms of carbs from cliff shots, while doing a 10 mile mtn climb, and then 30 or so miles of flats. Got home with a BS of 115, and had to eat a lot right away. Moral of the story: When falling off a bike, and bruised and bloody, and blood sugars go through the roof, immediately ride for 3 hrs, with minimal food... Just kidding. Trial and error lead me to this one. I will need to test it out 1 more time to confirm my theory, but I hope I don't have to test it for a long time...
Relaxing in Carp for a couple of days, and for the first time in my life without health insurance. In my absence of Atlanta, my bills got to me a bit later than usually. I had anticipated this, and paid PRINCIPAL Insurance $1200 bucks for Dec-Feb, but my rates got raised in Jan, so I was appx $48/short. They sent a cancellation notice on Feb 20, but sent it to my old address, so it didn't get to me until March 17 when I got back to Atlanta (post Taiwan.) On march 5, I had sent a check for $1500, but that was apparently too late. But they are a big company with unbend able policies, and are sticking to their guns. I still don't have my money back, but surely the will pay...
Fortunately FreeStyle has me covered on strips, and I stocked up on Insulin before hitting the road. My endo, Bruce Bode, being the awesome man that he is saw me free of charge, and gave me enough samples of Apidra and Lantus to get me through for a while. He is the man.
I have set up a group plan with TT1, and should find out this week, if Joe and I are actually insurable. If not... I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there...
Thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas, please feel free to share!
Have a great day.
Phil
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Back at it... airport logic???
Howdy from San Dimas,
So we are back at racing here in the US. After Taiwan it was head home, sleep a lot, see a chiro/sports specialist Dr Fred Fritsch a bunch, and sleep some more, then head back to Cali. Home was good. I am now infamous for the Lantern Rouge on the group rides, and most people have actually forgotten my real name and just call me Lantern...ha Granted finishing in the top 30 every day was prolly an option, being part of the team's victory and getting last was much more rewarding.
Warning: Next paragraph is me venting-feel free to skip...
Before making it out to Cali, I got to fly out here, which provided another opportunity to witness the mayhem/ lack of manners of airports. I admit, there have been times when I was in a huge rush, running through the airport like my life depended on it, and in that scenario all bets are off. But the manners of people in the airport really get to me. It seems there is a sense of entitlement just for having flown that day. Leaving the plane there are 4 different merge points. It would seem fair that 1 line go, then the other, then 1 line, then the other, but the people on this one assumed their lines got to go. No looks in the eye either. Next merge point, the same thing. This one guy fought me to get ahead, after 3 others from his line did the same thing, and then immediately after getting off the plane onto the jetway (walk thing between terminal and plane-can someone help me here?) and stops. No rush, he just had to be ahead...
Then at baggage claim, the big fight to be on the front row to watch the bag come at .25 mph down the ramp. If we all stepped back 10 feet and only went forward when your bag was coming then it would be much less crowded. I must say, the flight attendants on Delta were fantastic. Always friendly, and wanting to make my day, the best day possible.
Done with that rant, back to racing...
While racing in Taiwan, and then getting back, the body had adjusted to riding all the time. While back in Atl, so long as I got my blood sugar up to 150 before the ride, I could ride for 3hrs on nothing but water. I would venture to say I was burning fat on those rides, as I was losing weight too.Then it seemed I switched back and on Tuesday I was actually eating on the ride, going pretty hard, and also going hypo. Now it seems my body is burning glycogen straight up. So we are at the race today, and I screwed up... Ate lunch, and afterward was 124, then 30 minutes later 156- did 1 unit of Apidra, then 20 after that 234, and did one more unit as I was trending up to quickly (or so I thought.) With a start time of 3:37, we left at 2:00 pm to ride to the start, and grabbed a double espresso on the way.
At 2:40pm after a 20 minute ride, I was 49- had 4 vials of Dex 4 liquid shot (60gm carb) 1 package of cliff blocks (50gm carb) and 30 minute later 86. So drank 2 cokes (40gm carb each) and a 1/2 cliff bar (23gms of carbs) and at 3:20 I was 125. So I rolled to the start line of this 4 mile uphill time trial, took some more dex 4, to take the grand total of carbs to 188gms for a 4 mile TT. Did the TT which I suck at, and road slow enough. Then got back and was 150, which is perfect for post race.
So what I know I have to do tomorrow before the 88mile road race is don't do any insulin within 3 hrs of start, start with a steady blood sugar in the 140-220 range, and then in the first 30 minutes of the race eat about 75gms of carbs, and then every 15 minutes post need to put down another 20gms for 1.5 hrs, and then all should be good. So that is my plan, and if it all goes perfect (does it ever) I will be able to write about the success tomorrow.
We have last years winner, Ben Brooks, and a real strong team for the race tomorrow, so my goal will be to do the job that MR.Beamon sets out, and hope for a good race. I know the closers on the team will be there to rock it out.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day.
Philpott (yes this really is my middle name) thanks mom...ha
So we are back at racing here in the US. After Taiwan it was head home, sleep a lot, see a chiro/sports specialist Dr Fred Fritsch a bunch, and sleep some more, then head back to Cali. Home was good. I am now infamous for the Lantern Rouge on the group rides, and most people have actually forgotten my real name and just call me Lantern...ha Granted finishing in the top 30 every day was prolly an option, being part of the team's victory and getting last was much more rewarding.
Warning: Next paragraph is me venting-feel free to skip...
Before making it out to Cali, I got to fly out here, which provided another opportunity to witness the mayhem/ lack of manners of airports. I admit, there have been times when I was in a huge rush, running through the airport like my life depended on it, and in that scenario all bets are off. But the manners of people in the airport really get to me. It seems there is a sense of entitlement just for having flown that day. Leaving the plane there are 4 different merge points. It would seem fair that 1 line go, then the other, then 1 line, then the other, but the people on this one assumed their lines got to go. No looks in the eye either. Next merge point, the same thing. This one guy fought me to get ahead, after 3 others from his line did the same thing, and then immediately after getting off the plane onto the jetway (walk thing between terminal and plane-can someone help me here?) and stops. No rush, he just had to be ahead...
Then at baggage claim, the big fight to be on the front row to watch the bag come at .25 mph down the ramp. If we all stepped back 10 feet and only went forward when your bag was coming then it would be much less crowded. I must say, the flight attendants on Delta were fantastic. Always friendly, and wanting to make my day, the best day possible.
Done with that rant, back to racing...
While racing in Taiwan, and then getting back, the body had adjusted to riding all the time. While back in Atl, so long as I got my blood sugar up to 150 before the ride, I could ride for 3hrs on nothing but water. I would venture to say I was burning fat on those rides, as I was losing weight too.Then it seemed I switched back and on Tuesday I was actually eating on the ride, going pretty hard, and also going hypo. Now it seems my body is burning glycogen straight up. So we are at the race today, and I screwed up... Ate lunch, and afterward was 124, then 30 minutes later 156- did 1 unit of Apidra, then 20 after that 234, and did one more unit as I was trending up to quickly (or so I thought.) With a start time of 3:37, we left at 2:00 pm to ride to the start, and grabbed a double espresso on the way.
At 2:40pm after a 20 minute ride, I was 49- had 4 vials of Dex 4 liquid shot (60gm carb) 1 package of cliff blocks (50gm carb) and 30 minute later 86. So drank 2 cokes (40gm carb each) and a 1/2 cliff bar (23gms of carbs) and at 3:20 I was 125. So I rolled to the start line of this 4 mile uphill time trial, took some more dex 4, to take the grand total of carbs to 188gms for a 4 mile TT. Did the TT which I suck at, and road slow enough. Then got back and was 150, which is perfect for post race.
So what I know I have to do tomorrow before the 88mile road race is don't do any insulin within 3 hrs of start, start with a steady blood sugar in the 140-220 range, and then in the first 30 minutes of the race eat about 75gms of carbs, and then every 15 minutes post need to put down another 20gms for 1.5 hrs, and then all should be good. So that is my plan, and if it all goes perfect (does it ever) I will be able to write about the success tomorrow.
We have last years winner, Ben Brooks, and a real strong team for the race tomorrow, so my goal will be to do the job that MR.Beamon sets out, and hope for a good race. I know the closers on the team will be there to rock it out.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day.
Philpott (yes this really is my middle name) thanks mom...ha
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Home Sweet Home
Howdy From Georgia,
It is great to finally be back, and get a chance to reflect on last week. I have raced for a lot of years now, and done a few stage races, but never had I done one with such a strong team, organization, and leadership. After day 3, I was having issues, and digging real deep a lot of the time. Pretty much in pain from waking up to going to bed. But as soon as we got on the Orbea Orca bikes, (which thanks to Super Doug Berner, worked perfectly and were spotless every day) things got better. Why: we were talking about the race, planning strategy, and going for the win every day, and trying to chip away at the overall. Before the warm up, our soigneur, Jeremy Fliss had all food ready, bottles made, and radios ready as well. We would even get a quick rub before the start to get the blood flowing. Then there would be more talk, planning, race begins, and the small aches would go away, and it would just be the hurt box. Shawn was a great leader on and off the road, and allowed us to work, knowing he would to his absolute best to deliver. Chris patrolled the front for all 8 days, as did Emile, and Valeri was our attack master. After race finished, we had bottles made, clean up a bit, and go sit on the bus or ride back to the hotel.
Get hear, eat some food, get massage, eat more food, fight for the one internet cable, and then go to sleep. We would also have a meeting with Ed Beamon see pic with hair. He agreed to shave the goatee if we won. Sure enough Shawn delivered, and he followed through...ha (see below)
With organization like we had, the diabetes was not too much to handle.
Here is how it went:
I was doing 2x day lantus, so that I did not have to worry about hypos. Early in the race, I was having to do a lot of Apidra on a relative scale. As the race went on, I did less and less, and ate more and more. My body also adapted to the fueling needs of the race. As it went on, I had to eat less and less for the stages, and my blood sugars were more stable. With all that, the only way to make all of the small adjustments necessary (and there were A LOT) was to check, and check often. I was drinking about 1 liter of water every night right before bed to ensure I would wake up to pee, ie check. Chris Jones always got freaked out when I was checking in the middle of the night. Lucky I had my Dex 4 glucose close to the bed, and my FreeStyle Lite which has the small light (piece of cake to check in the night,) so I didn't have to wake anyone up with the big lights...
We made sure all of these guys knew what to do when hypo, and trained them with glucagon as well. Lucky didn't have to use it, or should I say skillful...
When did I check the most: before race and before bed. Usually 5 times in the hour before. Always once in the middle of the night, and 4-7 times in the 3hrs post race. Never the same 2 days in a row.
Funny enough, I can remember just about every day close to what I ended at: day 1-8:- 68*, 189, 174, 158ish, 168, 98, 128, 56*
*= BS was high or trending up before the race, so had to make small bolus, and did not eat enough.
Days 1 and 8, I was empty at the end. Day 6 was a hard, hard day, and day 7 I was so so. Days 2-5 were my best days. Any correlation to Blood sugar and performance??? You bet ya. So I learned a lot this past week, and have adjusted back to East Coast time pretty well. Back to once a day Lantus, and Apidra for my rapid.
If I were to have to make bottles, clean and work on bike, take care of meals plus this it may have been stressful. Diabetes is our disease, and with the right mindset it can be a fun challenge to overcome. I got the opportunity to learn 2x the other guys. I learned a heck of a lot about racing, and a lot about diabetes. Pretty cool.
Have a great day!
Thanks for reading.
Phil
www.teamtype1.org
It is great to finally be back, and get a chance to reflect on last week. I have raced for a lot of years now, and done a few stage races, but never had I done one with such a strong team, organization, and leadership. After day 3, I was having issues, and digging real deep a lot of the time. Pretty much in pain from waking up to going to bed. But as soon as we got on the Orbea Orca bikes, (which thanks to Super Doug Berner, worked perfectly and were spotless every day) things got better. Why: we were talking about the race, planning strategy, and going for the win every day, and trying to chip away at the overall. Before the warm up, our soigneur, Jeremy Fliss had all food ready, bottles made, and radios ready as well. We would even get a quick rub before the start to get the blood flowing. Then there would be more talk, planning, race begins, and the small aches would go away, and it would just be the hurt box. Shawn was a great leader on and off the road, and allowed us to work, knowing he would to his absolute best to deliver. Chris patrolled the front for all 8 days, as did Emile, and Valeri was our attack master. After race finished, we had bottles made, clean up a bit, and go sit on the bus or ride back to the hotel.
Get hear, eat some food, get massage, eat more food, fight for the one internet cable, and then go to sleep. We would also have a meeting with Ed Beamon see pic with hair. He agreed to shave the goatee if we won. Sure enough Shawn delivered, and he followed through...ha (see below)
With organization like we had, the diabetes was not too much to handle.
Here is how it went:
I was doing 2x day lantus, so that I did not have to worry about hypos. Early in the race, I was having to do a lot of Apidra on a relative scale. As the race went on, I did less and less, and ate more and more. My body also adapted to the fueling needs of the race. As it went on, I had to eat less and less for the stages, and my blood sugars were more stable. With all that, the only way to make all of the small adjustments necessary (and there were A LOT) was to check, and check often. I was drinking about 1 liter of water every night right before bed to ensure I would wake up to pee, ie check. Chris Jones always got freaked out when I was checking in the middle of the night. Lucky I had my Dex 4 glucose close to the bed, and my FreeStyle Lite which has the small light (piece of cake to check in the night,) so I didn't have to wake anyone up with the big lights...
We made sure all of these guys knew what to do when hypo, and trained them with glucagon as well. Lucky didn't have to use it, or should I say skillful...
When did I check the most: before race and before bed. Usually 5 times in the hour before. Always once in the middle of the night, and 4-7 times in the 3hrs post race. Never the same 2 days in a row.
Funny enough, I can remember just about every day close to what I ended at: day 1-8:- 68*, 189, 174, 158ish, 168, 98, 128, 56*
*= BS was high or trending up before the race, so had to make small bolus, and did not eat enough.
Days 1 and 8, I was empty at the end. Day 6 was a hard, hard day, and day 7 I was so so. Days 2-5 were my best days. Any correlation to Blood sugar and performance??? You bet ya. So I learned a lot this past week, and have adjusted back to East Coast time pretty well. Back to once a day Lantus, and Apidra for my rapid.
If I were to have to make bottles, clean and work on bike, take care of meals plus this it may have been stressful. Diabetes is our disease, and with the right mindset it can be a fun challenge to overcome. I got the opportunity to learn 2x the other guys. I learned a heck of a lot about racing, and a lot about diabetes. Pretty cool.
Have a great day!
Thanks for reading.
Phil
www.teamtype1.org
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tour is over... Team rocked
Howdy,
So the tour de Taiwan has concluded, thankfully...ha Stages were good. We were in the fight the entire week, and ended up 2nd overall. After stage 3, I went on a slow downward spiral, where as the team went up. Shawn won stage 5 in dramatic sprint finish style. We were active all day, and everyone road solid. We set Shawn up right behind the polish train, and he swamped em for the W. Stage 6 was a tough one. Rain, wind, cold and real real fast. This was a long hard day for me, and I was at the back for most of it. Valeri was off the front for the ENTIRE day. He would be in a break get caught, go again, get caught, go again, and managed to get 2nd to a another active guy who got to sit in every break he was in. Stages 7-8 were crits. 7 the team road solid, and the 4 guys sans me who were blowing it to pieces did just that when a crash with 10 to go neutralized the field. Today was a solid finale to the week. Everyone was a bit tired, and Chris was fresh with road rash, but Emile was the man of the day today. He covered all the moves. Shawn took 3rd on 2 sprints, and 4th in the final, and we ended up the stage race. I took the honor (if you call it that) of the lantern rouge, or final placed finisher. The bar has now been set, and I have to step it up for every race from here on out.
Personally, my expectations were about met. Having not raced on this level for 6 years, I knew it would be tough. I wanted to help the team, get experience, and get ready to rock back in the states for 08. I would have liked to have been better for stages 6-8, but that is life. The guys were really supportive, and really helped me get through the tough parts, and there were a lot.
Blood sugar wise was pretty good. I made the mistake of not eating enough on day 1 and day 8. Stages 2-7 were good. I have been doing 13 units of lantus for the last 3 days, and maybe as much Apidra. I have been eating more as the days went on, and using less insulin, just proving that activity really does boost the metabolism. I will show some pics as they come. My buddy Jack Guest from Atl, who lives in Hong Kong came over, and saw me sucking the back of the pack the last 2 days...ha We also met Stan, who founded SRAM, and is a major supporter, and Louis who founded Champion Systems who will soon be selling Team Type 1 clothing to the world for us...
Thanks a lot for reading. Have a great day, and I will be coming back to raise the bar.
For more race details, please visit www.teamtype1.org
Thanks,
Phil
So the tour de Taiwan has concluded, thankfully...ha Stages were good. We were in the fight the entire week, and ended up 2nd overall. After stage 3, I went on a slow downward spiral, where as the team went up. Shawn won stage 5 in dramatic sprint finish style. We were active all day, and everyone road solid. We set Shawn up right behind the polish train, and he swamped em for the W. Stage 6 was a tough one. Rain, wind, cold and real real fast. This was a long hard day for me, and I was at the back for most of it. Valeri was off the front for the ENTIRE day. He would be in a break get caught, go again, get caught, go again, and managed to get 2nd to a another active guy who got to sit in every break he was in. Stages 7-8 were crits. 7 the team road solid, and the 4 guys sans me who were blowing it to pieces did just that when a crash with 10 to go neutralized the field. Today was a solid finale to the week. Everyone was a bit tired, and Chris was fresh with road rash, but Emile was the man of the day today. He covered all the moves. Shawn took 3rd on 2 sprints, and 4th in the final, and we ended up the stage race. I took the honor (if you call it that) of the lantern rouge, or final placed finisher. The bar has now been set, and I have to step it up for every race from here on out.
Personally, my expectations were about met. Having not raced on this level for 6 years, I knew it would be tough. I wanted to help the team, get experience, and get ready to rock back in the states for 08. I would have liked to have been better for stages 6-8, but that is life. The guys were really supportive, and really helped me get through the tough parts, and there were a lot.
Blood sugar wise was pretty good. I made the mistake of not eating enough on day 1 and day 8. Stages 2-7 were good. I have been doing 13 units of lantus for the last 3 days, and maybe as much Apidra. I have been eating more as the days went on, and using less insulin, just proving that activity really does boost the metabolism. I will show some pics as they come. My buddy Jack Guest from Atl, who lives in Hong Kong came over, and saw me sucking the back of the pack the last 2 days...ha We also met Stan, who founded SRAM, and is a major supporter, and Louis who founded Champion Systems who will soon be selling Team Type 1 clothing to the world for us...
Thanks a lot for reading. Have a great day, and I will be coming back to raise the bar.
For more race details, please visit www.teamtype1.org
Thanks,
Phil
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Unthinkable and stage 2 and 3
Howdy- So just about to head to sleep at 8:40pm after a couple of good days. But first, the unthinkable: We have made it through 5 days of being in Taiwan, and bike racing, coordinating 8 people for breakfast, race, dinner, and such and not a single one of us has used a cell phone to communicate. IT CAN BE DONE...ha I must admit, I am one of many who thought that the world could not exist without them, but I was and am wrong. It has actually been quite nice not fussing over it every second both with calls, and emails, stocks, or weather. So if you are thinking of going on vacation, I would urge turning off the phone completely, and see how nice it is.
Back to racing, which can be done with no phone... Yesterday was solid, doing 110km at 47km/hr. Fast with lots of attacks, and we were in just about every move. Worked hard, had fun, and was able to help the guys get where they needed most of the time. One time I was pulling pretty hard in my standards, and needed to close a gap, and then Valeri (teammate) came through and killed it. He is the man. Blood sugar control was better today, which made the race better for me. Was about 180 at the start, and ate about 200gm/carbs over the 2hr 15 minute race to finish at 183. I had 3 Dex 4 liquid blast, some shots, and some drink. Amazing how good legs are when I do it right.
Today was crosswind for the entire day. Was in attacks for first 30-40km, then it hit the fan and I was working hard just to maintain. It was tough tough for 20-30km, and then Valeri got in the break. He rocked it. Emile shut down the field, and then I took over the job of pedaling real slow... Chris and Shawn sat tight, as the they were in it for the climbs at the end. We sat behind the health net train as they tried t bring down the gap. Then attacked into the base of the climb with Shawn and Chris on my wheel, who then attacked up the climb and left a bunch of people in the dust. Shawn is now tied for 3rd on GC, and we plan to better that in the days to come. We are trying to get "Book Ends" which means first and last on GC. So I am sitting 3rd to last, and extremely happy with it, as I have done my job. If Shawn wins, I win. It is a team sport 100%. It was also a ton of fun when we were doing 50km an hour, and I am on the white line only able to see the wheel in front. Then that guy swerves left, and there is cement block. 1/10th of a second to react but somehow we all made it through doing this 150 times...ha Chris and Emile did a great job setting Shawn up for the finish, and he got 3rd, which ain't bad for a sprinter up a 1km climb. Also, on this day, BS's were solid. I am checking 8 times in the 45 minutes pre-race to do this right, and make sure the trend is right. Today had about 250gms of carbs in a 3hr race. Sick to my stomach at the end, but blood sugar at the end was 150, which again was perfect. Tomorrow is a crit, and yet another day with no cell phones. For quciker udates, please visit www.teamtype1.org and check out our blog.
Thanks for reading!
Phil
Back to racing, which can be done with no phone... Yesterday was solid, doing 110km at 47km/hr. Fast with lots of attacks, and we were in just about every move. Worked hard, had fun, and was able to help the guys get where they needed most of the time. One time I was pulling pretty hard in my standards, and needed to close a gap, and then Valeri (teammate) came through and killed it. He is the man. Blood sugar control was better today, which made the race better for me. Was about 180 at the start, and ate about 200gm/carbs over the 2hr 15 minute race to finish at 183. I had 3 Dex 4 liquid blast, some shots, and some drink. Amazing how good legs are when I do it right.
Today was crosswind for the entire day. Was in attacks for first 30-40km, then it hit the fan and I was working hard just to maintain. It was tough tough for 20-30km, and then Valeri got in the break. He rocked it. Emile shut down the field, and then I took over the job of pedaling real slow... Chris and Shawn sat tight, as the they were in it for the climbs at the end. We sat behind the health net train as they tried t bring down the gap. Then attacked into the base of the climb with Shawn and Chris on my wheel, who then attacked up the climb and left a bunch of people in the dust. Shawn is now tied for 3rd on GC, and we plan to better that in the days to come. We are trying to get "Book Ends" which means first and last on GC. So I am sitting 3rd to last, and extremely happy with it, as I have done my job. If Shawn wins, I win. It is a team sport 100%. It was also a ton of fun when we were doing 50km an hour, and I am on the white line only able to see the wheel in front. Then that guy swerves left, and there is cement block. 1/10th of a second to react but somehow we all made it through doing this 150 times...ha Chris and Emile did a great job setting Shawn up for the finish, and he got 3rd, which ain't bad for a sprinter up a 1km climb. Also, on this day, BS's were solid. I am checking 8 times in the 45 minutes pre-race to do this right, and make sure the trend is right. Today had about 250gms of carbs in a 3hr race. Sick to my stomach at the end, but blood sugar at the end was 150, which again was perfect. Tomorrow is a crit, and yet another day with no cell phones. For quciker udates, please visit www.teamtype1.org and check out our blog.
Thanks for reading!
Phil
Sunday, March 9, 2008
diabetes, Stage 1 and cell phones....
Howdy,
More photos here.
So toady was stage 1 of the Tour de Taiwan, which was also my first race as a pro, and also my first race with this rock star team... So here is an approximation of how the day went. Woke up at 6am with a blood sugar of 320... Not a great way to start the day. Why? Well, my metabolism was flying last night so I backed of my lantus by a bit too much. I might even venture to say that I was mildly ketonic upon waking as I had to do a lot of Apidra to finally get down. I ate enough food and espresso so I was good to go. 1.5hrs before race 132, 1 hr 155... I had been eating a good bit to make sure I did not go hypo.
Then 45 minutes before start 232, 30 minutes to go, and I am 254. Do .5 units. 15 minutes to go 297, so I did 1 unit more of Apidra, and ate some food. Started race and was feeling good. Ate 1/2 a cliff bar, and some other goods. Now the race is on...
Early on there was a flury of attacks. We had a guy in just about every move. Chris Jones was SUPER active early on. Then Emile and I covered some moves, and Shawn and Valeri were rocking it out at the front. First sprint, and we went to set the Trinidadian Torpedo Emile up. It was us battling Health Net. I screwed up and did not go early enough, and could only manage to get Emile up to 2nd wheel. He held it for the sprint. Then some recovery, and then covering attacks. We went to set him up for the 2nd, and I did not do a great job, but he still managed 2nd. After this my gas was going out. I could cover moves, but not stick them too long.
Juice was going. I had 2 cliff shots, 1 bottle gatorade, and then 1 Dex 4 liquid blast. Lights were going out. Last 10 laps I could get close to front, and then would fade. Then I was hurting to hold wheels, and even the easy gears were hard. I knew I was bonking. 10 minutes post stage, Blood sugar was 68, which is way too low to race properly. Valeri and Chris busted there humps, and road like supermen to bring back a 17 second gap down to 7, and then Shawn launched a leadout which nearly closed it. Sprint got tricky, and we did not do so hot.
With the sprint seconds Emile is now in 5th, with a 120km stage tomorrow. Cell phone story to come tomorrow, as I am ready for bed at 7pm.
Thanks for reading.
Philpott
www.teamtype1.org
Friday, March 7, 2008
Taiwan Baby!!!
Howdy from Kaosiung
So we have arrived in Taiwan, and it is an interesting place. First of all, there are more scooters than any where else in the entire world (that I have visited.) Reminds me of the days in college going around on one in Athens, GA. Now add a Nascar/F1 feel to it, and that is Taiwan. The people have all been extremely friendly, and have been very helpful. I think it is a lot of fun communicating when you have no clue what the other is saying. It is a challenge that I think that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when you achieve the goal. Check out the picture there. That is how coffee is done... Tasted ok, but looked super cool.
So I am over here with defending champ, Shawn Milne, Chris Jones, Emile Abraham, and Valeri Gobzerenko to race with. We have big goals for this one, and will take it day by day. For staff, we have El Director Ed Beamon, Super Mechanic Doug Berner, and The "I make your legs feel real good via food, drink, and massage man" Jeremy Fliss. All in all after a 3 hour trip to LA from camp, a 14 hour flight, 5 hrs in the airport, and then a 4.5 hour bus ride, everyone seems to be in a pretty good mood. Racing starts tomorrow, and I will try to update with y side of it.
Camp was awesome and low and behold we got accepted to the Tour fo Georgia. If I make the roster for the team, which I plan on busting my arse to do, then I would personally like to invite you to come to the finish of Brasstown Bald to push me up the mountain...ha
Real quick on camp: The team is great. All the pros and devo team got some riding in together, and the pro team w/o diabetes all made a huge effort to learn about diabetes, and what foods do to the body. The guys were all using their own FreeStyle Lite meters to check appx 10-15 times per day to live a day, or a week in the life. Great fun, and with the guys we have, I think it is going to be an awesome year. Big congrats to Tom Schuler, Ed Beamon, and Bob Shrank for Roster selections, as we have an AWESOME team!
So please wish us luck, not only in the race, but with the getting around and not getting hit by a scooter. One last pic of the boyz and I getting in after our ride last night!
Thanks for reading. Have a great night.
Philpott
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)