Monthly Archive for February, 2010

‘Betes and the boats…

Published on February 26, 2010 in Diabetes Resources, Real Life, Training, resources and sports. Closed

I love trying new sports, so you can imagine my excitement when my boyfriend said I could come along to his Outrigger Canoe Paddling Practice on Mission Bay this past Wednesday night. I participate in a variety of sports – it’s not unlikely for me to go running, biking, and kickboxing all in the same week. But water sports always present an equipment challenge for me – you can’t test in the water, and bringing  ‘betes equipment in a boat is always a Murphy’s Law guarantee that it’ll be the one day you tip over. Not good if you happen to be carrying your $1,300 DexCom receiver. So what’s a diabetic girl to do when she wants to get her paddle on? Get creative! And if you’re lucky enough to have an amazingly resourceful, super-adventurous, multi-sport participating boyfriend like mine, he’s got his waterproof camera case which just so happens to fit a DexCom receiver in it. Nice! Check out how snug it was:

The only drawback was that I couldn’t just click in to the Dex at will because the hard case prevented me from reaching the buttons. But since I made sure I was steady before we pushed off, and I had turned down my basal, I knew I wasn’t headed for a low right away. During the short breaks between paddling pieces (a “piece” in paddling is simply a segment or leg of the journey), I was able to open the case quickly and see where my blood sugars were, assuaging any fears the this would happen again. And just to be safe, I had more GU packs tucked in my jacket than I knew what do to with.

We spent about an hour out on the glassy bay, gliding through the water as a team, pulling the water behind us with our synchronized paddling. It was enchanting to see the city lights around the bay, and to feel the calm water below us yield to our paddles with each stroke. I can see how people get hooked on this sport – if I had that much fun on a chilly winter evening in February, I can’t even imagine what a blast it is on a summer day. And more importantly, with a little extra creative planning, I proved to myself again that there’s nothing I can’t do just because I have diabetes.

Attempting to be under control.

Published on February 25, 2010 in Duck Fiabetes and sick day. Closed

I’ve had a consistent string of high BGs this week that started on Sunday and haven’t let up since. And I can’t help but notice the tickle in the back of my throat. I’ve already ruled out broken pump/inactive insulin/sugar-instead-of-Splenda-in-my-coffee. Henceforth,  those two issues = I must be getting sick.

I’m amazed at how quickly feeling a little under the weather can bump the BGs through the roof. I’ve already taken double the amount of insulin I normally do this morning, and I’m just barely cruising under 200. I don’t want to over do it, because we all know how well the “rage bolus” works out, but I’m frustrated, thirsty, and had to pee like 17 times already this morning due to my body trying to get rid of some sugar (and also aggressive amounts of coffee. Sorry. TMI.)

I’m trying to keep the liquids going to stave off an impending cold, and keeping my meals super-duper low carb today so I don’t end up taking gallons of insulin, but its frustrating. I can’t take most of the over-the-counter cold meds, and I certainly can’t hit up the Gatorade, orange juice, or any of the other vitamin-super-powered drinks out there. I’m just here with water, copious amounts of green tea, and sore fingers from testing so much.

I’ll still hit the gym tonight – since I don’t have a fever it should be ok for me to exercise and hopefully sweat out some of this bug, but I’ll have to pay extra-close attention to the BGs since I’m already running high. Ugh. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Sick days with diabetes suck extra much. Here’s hoping this passes quickly :(

And speaking of Olympians…I’m not one…

Published on February 24, 2010 in Tour de Cure, Training, competition and sports. Closed

Ok, considering I just posted about the Olympics, I am feeling a little loser-ish about the post I’m about to write, but I just gotta get it out. It’s officially training time for the San Diego Tour de Cure, with the event only being 8 weeks away. Last year I barely trained for the 30 mile ride and I did just fine, but this year I’d like to have a respectable finish time – especially since I’ve committed to the hobby of cycling enough to have splurged on a beautiful, used Specialized Roubaix.

I love the fact that an awesome volunteer organization has been the catalyst for me to pick up a new sport that I am totally in to. And in addition to Tour de Cure, I’ve signed up to be part of a team triathlon that will take place the week before the Tour event. This means I’ll be riding a 40k (24.8 miles) and 30 miler on back to back weekends. Note to self: Seriously, start training Lexie.

I’m in decent shape these days, working out about 4 times a week and mixing it up between kickboxing, running, hiking, (and today, my first ever outrigger canoe paddle! Yay!). But just because you’re in shape for one sport doesn’t mean you are in shape for another – I still have to get on the bike and log some miles to make sure I’m ready for both rides. And with the way my knee has been feeling lately, I need to lay of some of the high impact stuff anyways (running and boxing). I’ve had lateral patella tracking issues and IT band syndrome in my right knee for a while that causes pain and swelling – enough lately that I’ve all but given up on wearing high heels due to the discomfort. That and my klutzy ass can’t walk in them. Digression. On top of all my knee issues, I’m also still rehabbing my right hand from carpal tunnel surgery back in June, so it would be good to mix up the boxing with some cycling.

The downside to biking though, is that you need daylight hours to get a decent ride in, and until the time changes, I’m limited to getting out on weekends. I’ll try to supplement with spin classes at the gym, but there’s a huge difference between riding for an hour on a stationary bike and spending 2 hours on the steel horse through moderate traffic. Ok, I just Googled steel horse and that actually refers to motorcycles, but you get the point right? Holy digressing blogger, I need to get to the point here…which I am still not sure of.

Even though my carpal tunnel surgery was a success, I still have quite a bit of nerve irritation in my right hand/arm from my ulnar nerve. And the worst thing you can do for ulnar nerve pain is ride a bike. How convenient. This whole exercise thing is starting to look a crock of hooey these days. I run because I couldn’t box after surgery, and my knee is kaput. I cycle to take the pressure of my knees, and my hand gets worse. Do we think I can stay fit by just watching a ton of Olympics and “exercising by osmosis….?” Its either that or the I start doing something more low-impact…