So it's the time of year for me when motivation is hard to come by. I have been enjoying the time away from the bike greatly. So much so I was starting to get nervous whether or not I would be able to find motivation to start training properly for 2009. The last few days though I have been starting to get a little more anxious, thinking about training & racing next year. Not thinking about it enough to really give me that jolt to get on the bike and pull out a 24 HR week or anything, but enough to start wrapping my head around preparing for the 2009 season.
This morning I however received this...
http://web.diabetes.org/video/ADA_Patton_Working_SequenceAC_10_13_08.mov
It is a video the ADA Tour de Cure did on me a few months back. At the time when I did this interview, training & racing were going really well. I was hungry to be on the bike & work my butt off. I watched the video this morning, remembering how motivated I was at this time & it really gave me a good bit of motivation for next season.
The ADA informed me that they plan to make tons of copies of the DVD & send it to children's camps & endos... good stuff, yall!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
2008.. great or hate?
Well I am gonna go ahead and write a reflection of the 2008 racing season for me...
Moments of hate in 2008 include: Screwing up bloodsugars before races. Starting the season not having a pre & post race routine for managing my diabetes well. Doing 5 hr training rides in July & August because I was trying to train through issues instead of dealing with them, therefore completely trashing myself for the rest of the year. I started a bad habit of training a bunch when I am stressed, which just makes things worse. Being a baby & pouting over riding like crap. Getting dropped from races. Breaking my collar bones 3 times. Knocking out my teeth. Getting a scar on my face. Going hypo at the start of the NVGP road race therefore dropping out with in 20 minutes of the start because I couldn't pedal straight. Doing almost 40 athlete days, some of which were fun while others were just tiring.
Moments of great in 2008 include: Going to my first training camp in California & having a blast. Getting to train in Santa Barbara and doing my first "real" climb (maybe that should be under the hate list...) Hanging with my team mates at races. Making friends at races. Upgrading to a cat 2. Doing my first NRC race. Getting on the podium with Monique at Kelly Cup. Doing Speed Week. Getting to ride with a team mate and actually making a bit of money! Getting to ride & race my bike all over the USA. Getting a bunch of cool tools to manage my diabetes (woo, NAVIGATOR!). Learning how to better manage my bloodsugars pre & post racing and training. Getting a bunch of cool stuff from sponsors that make me look good (IE oakley sunglasses, tall socks, zipp wheels). Getting my a1c to 6.3. Being able to inspire other type 1's to manage the disease proactively & overcome any challenges they may face. Not dying after I was hit by a car & still able to race this year. Moving to Atlanta where the training is better & more folks ride. Getting a king sized bed (okay that really doesn't have much to do with training/racing/ or diabetes.. but it's for sure a highlight of the year thus far!)
Overall this year was pretty good. Tough, but good. Looking forward to next year and improving on managing my diabetes & racing stronger. Can't give up too much information at the moment but let's just say that TT1 is expanding for 2009 & it will include a women's pro squad :D...
Catch yall later!
Moments of hate in 2008 include: Screwing up bloodsugars before races. Starting the season not having a pre & post race routine for managing my diabetes well. Doing 5 hr training rides in July & August because I was trying to train through issues instead of dealing with them, therefore completely trashing myself for the rest of the year. I started a bad habit of training a bunch when I am stressed, which just makes things worse. Being a baby & pouting over riding like crap. Getting dropped from races. Breaking my collar bones 3 times. Knocking out my teeth. Getting a scar on my face. Going hypo at the start of the NVGP road race therefore dropping out with in 20 minutes of the start because I couldn't pedal straight. Doing almost 40 athlete days, some of which were fun while others were just tiring.
Moments of great in 2008 include: Going to my first training camp in California & having a blast. Getting to train in Santa Barbara and doing my first "real" climb (maybe that should be under the hate list...) Hanging with my team mates at races. Making friends at races. Upgrading to a cat 2. Doing my first NRC race. Getting on the podium with Monique at Kelly Cup. Doing Speed Week. Getting to ride with a team mate and actually making a bit of money! Getting to ride & race my bike all over the USA. Getting a bunch of cool tools to manage my diabetes (woo, NAVIGATOR!). Learning how to better manage my bloodsugars pre & post racing and training. Getting a bunch of cool stuff from sponsors that make me look good (IE oakley sunglasses, tall socks, zipp wheels). Getting my a1c to 6.3. Being able to inspire other type 1's to manage the disease proactively & overcome any challenges they may face. Not dying after I was hit by a car & still able to race this year. Moving to Atlanta where the training is better & more folks ride. Getting a king sized bed (okay that really doesn't have much to do with training/racing/ or diabetes.. but it's for sure a highlight of the year thus far!)
Overall this year was pretty good. Tough, but good. Looking forward to next year and improving on managing my diabetes & racing stronger. Can't give up too much information at the moment but let's just say that TT1 is expanding for 2009 & it will include a women's pro squad :D...
Catch yall later!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
YEAH TECHNO!!!!!!
It is official: it has been exactly 6 weeks since my wreck, I am healed! Today when I woke up, and drew and "X" through Saturday on my calendar, (BTW, TT1 has a Calendar, and I am Miss March...) I noticed a little asterisk with a big ole' 6 next to it, and thought,"sweet! I am healed, I can race!" In reality the whole wait 6 weeks thing didn't really mean much. I have been back training ever since I got back from Boulder. I started cracking hard when I was out in Colorado, I even went for a run one day. Didn't work out so well though with the whole altitude thing. I was just getting restless, thinking about the amount of calories I was not burning versus the amount I was consuming, basically feeling like a sloth. So I reckon I am going to head to Atlanta for my first race back. There is a road race and a criterium next weekend and figured it would be a good way to get back to it, and get to visit a few people up that way. It's a little sad that I will be doing a race in GA over being able to go to U23 Nationals in California, but hey.. maybe next year? BTW, Good luck Jackie!!!!!!!!!! I'll be rootin' for ya.
Well sure hope I am able to at least get a few more decent races in before the seasons over. Training over the last few weeks has been going alright, nothing spectacular, starting to not be too motivated when doing the local bunch rides in Tallahassee and thinking waking up for an 8AM ride doesn't sound quite as fun as sleep. But hopefully I'll be motivated once I am back out racing if not, I am done for the year and partying until the end of November when it's time to start base!!!!
Well sure hope I am able to at least get a few more decent races in before the seasons over. Training over the last few weeks has been going alright, nothing spectacular, starting to not be too motivated when doing the local bunch rides in Tallahassee and thinking waking up for an 8AM ride doesn't sound quite as fun as sleep. But hopefully I'll be motivated once I am back out racing if not, I am done for the year and partying until the end of November when it's time to start base!!!!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Coldplay's new CD is pretty alright, I'd say
I am currently sitting in the airport in Austin, TX waiting for my flight to Denver, CO. I am off for a few days to check out the city of Boulder! Hope it's good fun.
So I was in Austin to races a few crits and do 2 athlete days. Only ended up racing 1 crit and doing 1 athlete day because I decided to throw myself on the ground and re break my right collar bone. Literally in the middle of the crit course on one of the straights was a stop sign in the road with hay bales at the base. Every lap, chicks would go to the left and right of it. I figured the race was going to come down to a bunch sprint by the way the sprinters teams were riding. So I decided to just sit in the whole time, conserve energy. As I am sitting in toward the back (dumb), we come around the 2nd corner and a chick in front of me heads straight for the stop sign. At the last moment she jumps to the left, where my front wheel is and wipes me out. I crash hard on my right side re breaking my collar bone & bustin up my helmet. Wreck right in front of a bar where tons of people are sitting around drinking & watching the races. It bet for the intoxicated spectators it was a good show. Some nice woman from the bar helps me get untangled from the bike and get situated. After a short stay in the ER, end up leaving the hospital with my arm in a sling, a piece of paper with saying 4-6 weeks healing time, and a big bottle of Viccodine ES (extra strength... yeahhhhhh, not muckin around here!)
Well I reckon it was about time for a break anyway, so I am not too worried about the time off. I needed about 2 weeks off to rest & regroup. So I just plan on hopping on the trainer for a few weeks and gettin' back to it. Honestly this time is way better than when I broke both my collar bones a few months back. At least this time I have 1 good arm! And it's way less painful this time because the break was not as bad.
Austin, TX.. I don't hate it! It was actually a pretty cool city. Tons of young people living and working here. Great food and the riding was pretty spiffy. The host house we stayed at was awesome, the guy was really good about showing us around the town. Most host housing I have experienced is a bit like business, typically the people show us our room, give us towels, give us a spare key & say, "if you need anything else let us know" and that's that. This guy, Chris who rides for a local race team in Austin, Velossimo, was super cool and took us out on the town, hung around with us when we weren't training or racing, and even took us out to a local bunch ride. Good times, I have decided to add Austin to the list of places I want to live.
The next month for me looks pretty dull which I am not complaining about. It's gettin' too hot to train anyhow! I'll be back in Tallahassee next week and look forward to trips to the springs & seeing friends. If you want to hang out and do things that don't involve moving your arms much, I am game. This means pretty much all my other hobbies like roller-coaster rides, going to sporting events & doing "the wave", hand stand competitions, and bench pressing contests are out of the question as of now...
So I was in Austin to races a few crits and do 2 athlete days. Only ended up racing 1 crit and doing 1 athlete day because I decided to throw myself on the ground and re break my right collar bone. Literally in the middle of the crit course on one of the straights was a stop sign in the road with hay bales at the base. Every lap, chicks would go to the left and right of it. I figured the race was going to come down to a bunch sprint by the way the sprinters teams were riding. So I decided to just sit in the whole time, conserve energy. As I am sitting in toward the back (dumb), we come around the 2nd corner and a chick in front of me heads straight for the stop sign. At the last moment she jumps to the left, where my front wheel is and wipes me out. I crash hard on my right side re breaking my collar bone & bustin up my helmet. Wreck right in front of a bar where tons of people are sitting around drinking & watching the races. It bet for the intoxicated spectators it was a good show. Some nice woman from the bar helps me get untangled from the bike and get situated. After a short stay in the ER, end up leaving the hospital with my arm in a sling, a piece of paper with saying 4-6 weeks healing time, and a big bottle of Viccodine ES (extra strength... yeahhhhhh, not muckin around here!)
Well I reckon it was about time for a break anyway, so I am not too worried about the time off. I needed about 2 weeks off to rest & regroup. So I just plan on hopping on the trainer for a few weeks and gettin' back to it. Honestly this time is way better than when I broke both my collar bones a few months back. At least this time I have 1 good arm! And it's way less painful this time because the break was not as bad.
Austin, TX.. I don't hate it! It was actually a pretty cool city. Tons of young people living and working here. Great food and the riding was pretty spiffy. The host house we stayed at was awesome, the guy was really good about showing us around the town. Most host housing I have experienced is a bit like business, typically the people show us our room, give us towels, give us a spare key & say, "if you need anything else let us know" and that's that. This guy, Chris who rides for a local race team in Austin, Velossimo, was super cool and took us out on the town, hung around with us when we weren't training or racing, and even took us out to a local bunch ride. Good times, I have decided to add Austin to the list of places I want to live.
The next month for me looks pretty dull which I am not complaining about. It's gettin' too hot to train anyhow! I'll be back in Tallahassee next week and look forward to trips to the springs & seeing friends. If you want to hang out and do things that don't involve moving your arms much, I am game. This means pretty much all my other hobbies like roller-coaster rides, going to sporting events & doing "the wave", hand stand competitions, and bench pressing contests are out of the question as of now...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Nature Valley Grand Bust
So if you have not figured this out, my blog is a place where I like to complain about my life that's really not bad, but I like to pretend things are a lot worse than they really are and bitch about them on the internet... so let my complaining commence!
The lesson I have learned is that sitting at races & watching, is way less fun than actually racing them. One of my least favorite feelings is feeling like I am the weakest link. Well that is exactly the way I feel right about now.. I was given an awesome opportunity to ride with a women's team for Nature Valley & just completely f-ed it up. The first day was a crit that was a total crash fest because of the poor weather, tight turns, man-hole covers galore, and the 140+ field of women squeezed on to the course. I managed to stay upright. But by the 10th lap of the 30 lap crit, I sat up because I seriously had trouble distinguishing the front of the field from the back as Kristen Armstrong lapped the field, crashes in every corner, and chicks just getting popped left & right. Luckily no one on Advil got hurt, the race promoters decided to not count this race as a stage, and I had another opportunity to grow some.
Next day, 65 mile road race with a finish that consisted of a 5 lap, 2 mile circuit. So line up on the 2nd line of the start (thinking sweet position today! I started about 3/4 the way back the day before which sucked pretty much) At 5:30PM, we're off! Until 20 seconds later when the lead car forgets to turn. The whole field turns around, now I am at the back. It's a bit of a chase to get back into the field. Once I am settled a bit, I check my Navigator and it's 110 arrow pointing straight down and the projected low is alarming at me. I think to my self, are you effing kidding me??? At the start of the race, I was 150, arrow pointing straight across. I start eating dex4 glucose tabs and drink gatorade. Ugh, the feeling of no power and like I am about to pass out starts to take over. After about 15 min I am totally dunzo... out! I get into the team car chug a coca-cola and feel like a total failure.
Pretty much this week sucks. What makes it even worse is I still have to stay with Advil until Monday when I fly out to Texas and I just feel like a waste of space that can't pedal a bike. I totally flew all the way to Minnesota to do maybe 30 min of racing total and now get to sit around for 3 days watching the chicks race and feeling like a dumbass. Yeahhhh, bike racin & diabetes!
Well folks, off to TX on Monday for some athlete days & racin, maybe I can redeem myself or I'll do something stupid again.. either way I'll be hangin with illegal immigrants and Lance in Austin! yeah!
The lesson I have learned is that sitting at races & watching, is way less fun than actually racing them. One of my least favorite feelings is feeling like I am the weakest link. Well that is exactly the way I feel right about now.. I was given an awesome opportunity to ride with a women's team for Nature Valley & just completely f-ed it up. The first day was a crit that was a total crash fest because of the poor weather, tight turns, man-hole covers galore, and the 140+ field of women squeezed on to the course. I managed to stay upright. But by the 10th lap of the 30 lap crit, I sat up because I seriously had trouble distinguishing the front of the field from the back as Kristen Armstrong lapped the field, crashes in every corner, and chicks just getting popped left & right. Luckily no one on Advil got hurt, the race promoters decided to not count this race as a stage, and I had another opportunity to grow some.
Next day, 65 mile road race with a finish that consisted of a 5 lap, 2 mile circuit. So line up on the 2nd line of the start (thinking sweet position today! I started about 3/4 the way back the day before which sucked pretty much) At 5:30PM, we're off! Until 20 seconds later when the lead car forgets to turn. The whole field turns around, now I am at the back. It's a bit of a chase to get back into the field. Once I am settled a bit, I check my Navigator and it's 110 arrow pointing straight down and the projected low is alarming at me. I think to my self, are you effing kidding me??? At the start of the race, I was 150, arrow pointing straight across. I start eating dex4 glucose tabs and drink gatorade. Ugh, the feeling of no power and like I am about to pass out starts to take over. After about 15 min I am totally dunzo... out! I get into the team car chug a coca-cola and feel like a total failure.
Pretty much this week sucks. What makes it even worse is I still have to stay with Advil until Monday when I fly out to Texas and I just feel like a waste of space that can't pedal a bike. I totally flew all the way to Minnesota to do maybe 30 min of racing total and now get to sit around for 3 days watching the chicks race and feeling like a dumbass. Yeahhhh, bike racin & diabetes!
Well folks, off to TX on Monday for some athlete days & racin, maybe I can redeem myself or I'll do something stupid again.. either way I'll be hangin with illegal immigrants and Lance in Austin! yeah!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
From Worst to Best; ha.. life's amusing
Back in Tallahassee, aka the southern south according to Monique, until tomorrow. Heading to Jacksonville for an athlete day on Friday and the Tour de Cure ride on Saturday and Sunday. Just got back last night from racing Kelly Cup & Tour of Somerville. After the previous race weekend, last week I really dialed in my insulin dosages, started doing lantus 2x/day (basal) and wearing the omnipod to bolus for meals. I decided that lantus as my basal insulin would work best for me. It acts as a "safety net" so that no matter what, I always have a bit of insulin in my system so that if an omnipod falls off again right before the start of a race, I will have more of a chance of being able to ride decently. The trick with lantus is you have to really think about what you've been doing the 24 hrs before your injection. I learned that lesson Sunday morning. After racing Saturday afternoon, did 9 units lantus before bed. Sunday morning woke up, was 80. A bit lower than I would have liked. Ate breakfast bolused 75% of what I normally would have, and did 8 units lantus. Monique & I ended up doing a ride with all the guys on the team that were also doing the crits. The whole ride, I could not get my BG up over 70. I was just dying! I ate like 4 gu's and a clifbar for our 2.5 hr gander. Whenever my BG is going low on the bike, I ride like such a sketch ball and can not focus on anything. I am pretty sure everyone on the ride thinks I ride like a squirrel now. For the last hr of the ride, I just ended up sitting on the back because I didn't want to deck anyone, hah. So lesson learned, gotta really cut back the lantus after riding hard...
Before we ended up in Baltimore for Kelly Cup, Monique and I did an athlete day in Pittsburg, went alright. The highlight of Pittsburg was when I decided to take Monique to Outback Steakhouse for her birthday, I had a sense she was homesick so I decided to take her for some authentic Aussie food. Some good ole' bloomin onions & Fosters! For dessert, we had A CHOCOLATE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!!!!!
Kelly Cup- an awesome experience! This was Monique and I's second time racing crits together, each set of races gets better and better. I am excited to see how we develop over the rest of the season. I really have some of the best 'teachers' this year to help me learn more about racing. The crit was a mile long course that had a tight little chicane, a long uphill drag to the finish, and a good bit of wind. About 1/3 into the race, I go for a prime to test the legs, end up winning a watch which I later gave to my good friend Emile as a token of our friendship, hah. After the prime I can tell the BG is dropping. I then decide to eat 2 GU's and sit in and focus on recovering. While I am not doing much, just crusing in the pack, monique is making the others girl work, attacking tons, and also winning a prime.. a pair of sunnies that fold up real crazy like. With 6 laps to go, Monique and I find each other. She asks me multiple times if I am alright, she knew something was up when I disappeared into the bunch after winning the prime. I told her that I was alright, I just had to eat some food and recover but I was ready to go. She then tells me to stick on her wheel and she'll get me to the front. I stuck on her wheel like my life depended on it. We ended up just hanging on the back of the Colavita train which worked out well for us! We ended up going 2nd & 3rd behind Shontell Gothier from Colavita. It was awesome to be standing on the podium with my teammate. Here are some photos off of cyclingnews & velonews.
here we are on the back of the colavita train
coming 2nd & 3rd
.jpg)
Monique, Shontell Gothier, Me
Monday, Tour of Somerville- So we went into this crit with the game plan that it was going to end in a field sprint so we just need to focus on the finish. The course was 2 km long, 4 corners, with 2 really long drags. It was pretty windy, so sitting in the bunch was pretty nice. Not much happened during the race, it was too windy for anything to get away and Colavita & Cheerwine were obviously wanting a bunch sprint. With 5 laps to go, they call a prime for $100, I am on this chicks wheel, she starts to go for it, so I hang on her wheel and at the last second try to swing around her and grab the prime, didn't succeed. Ended up just pulling a stupid move, and wasting a bit of energy. After that, I find Monique and once again am stuck to her wheel like my life depends on it for the 4 remaining laps. The pace started to pick up with 3 to go by Colavita & Cheerwine. We once again jump on to the back of the Colavita train. Time for the sprint, Monique launches a bit early but it had to be done, then I go jump onto a Tibco chick try to swing around her on the right, back off so I don't end up getting pinched up against the fence, finishing 6th. The team director was pleased with the way we rode because the competition at Somerville was a good bunch and there are only 2 of us. Being able to race with Monique really taught me how much racing is a team effort, without her I would have come no where near the results I managed this weekend.
wasting energy
Finish-Tina Pic taking names
Coming up next is the ADA Conference in San Francisco, CA. Me and the entire RAAM team will be there. Then the guys and Monique will be off the do RAAM in San Diego. I wish them all the best. I will be off to MN to race Nature Valley with Advil-Chapstick, exciting!
Later on
Before we ended up in Baltimore for Kelly Cup, Monique and I did an athlete day in Pittsburg, went alright. The highlight of Pittsburg was when I decided to take Monique to Outback Steakhouse for her birthday, I had a sense she was homesick so I decided to take her for some authentic Aussie food. Some good ole' bloomin onions & Fosters! For dessert, we had A CHOCOLATE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!!!!!
Kelly Cup- an awesome experience! This was Monique and I's second time racing crits together, each set of races gets better and better. I am excited to see how we develop over the rest of the season. I really have some of the best 'teachers' this year to help me learn more about racing. The crit was a mile long course that had a tight little chicane, a long uphill drag to the finish, and a good bit of wind. About 1/3 into the race, I go for a prime to test the legs, end up winning a watch which I later gave to my good friend Emile as a token of our friendship, hah. After the prime I can tell the BG is dropping. I then decide to eat 2 GU's and sit in and focus on recovering. While I am not doing much, just crusing in the pack, monique is making the others girl work, attacking tons, and also winning a prime.. a pair of sunnies that fold up real crazy like. With 6 laps to go, Monique and I find each other. She asks me multiple times if I am alright, she knew something was up when I disappeared into the bunch after winning the prime. I told her that I was alright, I just had to eat some food and recover but I was ready to go. She then tells me to stick on her wheel and she'll get me to the front. I stuck on her wheel like my life depended on it. We ended up just hanging on the back of the Colavita train which worked out well for us! We ended up going 2nd & 3rd behind Shontell Gothier from Colavita. It was awesome to be standing on the podium with my teammate. Here are some photos off of cyclingnews & velonews.
here we are on the back of the colavita train
coming 2nd & 3rd
.jpg)
Monique, Shontell Gothier, MeMonday, Tour of Somerville- So we went into this crit with the game plan that it was going to end in a field sprint so we just need to focus on the finish. The course was 2 km long, 4 corners, with 2 really long drags. It was pretty windy, so sitting in the bunch was pretty nice. Not much happened during the race, it was too windy for anything to get away and Colavita & Cheerwine were obviously wanting a bunch sprint. With 5 laps to go, they call a prime for $100, I am on this chicks wheel, she starts to go for it, so I hang on her wheel and at the last second try to swing around her and grab the prime, didn't succeed. Ended up just pulling a stupid move, and wasting a bit of energy. After that, I find Monique and once again am stuck to her wheel like my life depends on it for the 4 remaining laps. The pace started to pick up with 3 to go by Colavita & Cheerwine. We once again jump on to the back of the Colavita train. Time for the sprint, Monique launches a bit early but it had to be done, then I go jump onto a Tibco chick try to swing around her on the right, back off so I don't end up getting pinched up against the fence, finishing 6th. The team director was pleased with the way we rode because the competition at Somerville was a good bunch and there are only 2 of us. Being able to race with Monique really taught me how much racing is a team effort, without her I would have come no where near the results I managed this weekend.
wasting energy
Finish-Tina Pic taking names
Coming up next is the ADA Conference in San Francisco, CA. Me and the entire RAAM team will be there. Then the guys and Monique will be off the do RAAM in San Diego. I wish them all the best. I will be off to MN to race Nature Valley with Advil-Chapstick, exciting!
Later on
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Another lesson learned
I am going to go ahead and call my weekend, "The Worst Race Weekend, Ever".
To recap...
Drove down to Orlando to meet up with Janine from Abbott so she could hook me up on the Freestyle Navigator continuous glucose monitor. The resort she was staying at ended up being located in the depths of Disney World. Disney World was ridiculously hard to navigate your way through because all the roads are really windy, they fork a million times and all lead to places like, "magical fantasy land!" and "princess park!".. after cursing up a storm in my car, driving circles, and trying to get my iPhone to give me directions, I made it to her room. Only about 1 hr and 20 min late. After 2 hrs of Navi training, finally got hooked up! I seriously have been so excited about getting the Navigator for months and was really glad to finally have the dang thing to help me manage the diabeetus a bit better.
After gettin' Navi'ed up, I ended up meeting up with Phil and Joe who were down there at the AACE conference and we went to dinner with the folks from Abbott. I got a steak, it was awesome.
Friday, slept in and ended up going for a 2 hr ride. By the time I woke up, the Navigator was ready to be calibrated, and I was able to use it on my ride. LET ME TELL YOU, it was epic! It was awesome to be able to see finally what exactly is going on with the BG while out training. On a side note, another bad thing about Orlando is it's so big and sprawling, you never feel like you leave the city, I felt like I was always in a congested area and having to stop every 1/4 mile for a traffic light.
Alright, Saturday was a criterium in Lakeland. Things with the Navi were going great, it was accurate and my fingers were glad to have a break from being poked all the time. The weather here in FL has been getting real hot & humid and that combo did not really agree with the Navi's sticky-ness. 20min before the start I am sitting at 140, solid! go roll around a bit, and 10 min before the start I get an arrow pointing straight down, so I eat 2 GU's. At the start line the arrow is still pointing straight down, so I drink a dex 4 liquid thing. 20 min into the crit I am kinda feeling crummy and my legs feel real nasty. Check the Navi and the arrow is point down at a 45 degree angle, eat another GU. 30 min into the crit I am just dying and feel like I am going to yak on everyone in the race. I drop out. Check the navi it says 160 arrow straight across. :/ Roll over to the car and grab the Omnipod and check, it just says "High"..over 500... fantastic! Upset because I just dropped out of another race because of poor management and I am 500, I rip off the sensor and throw it into a dumpster by registration. Basically I learned that if the Navi is not stuck on real well and is able to jiggle about it doesn't work out so well. The lesson also learned is that I shouldn't rely completely on technology. I should have realized that when I started feeling like my legs were real achey 20 min into the crit, that it was because my BG was heading up yonder. If I have to, I can race at 300, but not 500.
After the race, drove the 50 min back to Orlando thinking about how I really need to use some more common sense when it comes to managing my diabetes and headed to my friend's condo. We headed out to dinner to this really crazy western bar/restaurant and got to walk by Club Paris Hilton, no joke! It was also really crazy looking. Before bed, I decide I am going to put on another sensor and just strap that sucker down with duct tape. Only problem is, I chucked out the transmitter that was attached to the sensor back in Lakeland. Just wasted $300 and now I am back to managing my diabetes old school.
Sunday.. 2008 state criterium championships in downtown Lakeland. So once again the FL summers are starting to crank up, heat & humidity also don't mesh well with Omnipods. 20 min before the start it falls off. Luckily I have plenty of time to put another one on. Put the new one on, check I am 220, bolus .5 unit and roll around for about 10 min. Check at the start line, I am 240. bolus .75 unit. As the crit gets going my legs start feeling totally loaded up, and I know I am totally f-ed. I know racing when your BG is high, is totally mental to a point but once I get over 350, I am just done. As you may have guess, 2nd race in a row I have dropped out of. Check and I am 413.
This whole weekend just screwed with my head and cracked me a bit. Training & racing have been going pretty well and this weekend just shook up how positive things have been going. Going into this weekend I was totally excited about having a go at the state crit and really happy because I found out that I have guest spot on Advil-Chapstick for Nature Valley. After dropping out of 2 races and losing the Navigator that I had been wanting for sooo long, it was just plain crappy! It was all totally my fault too which made it all that worse.
Alright, my complaining is over! But basically, driving the 4 hrs home gave me a lot of time to think and I am going to turn this weekend into a learning experience and quit crying about how bad I did. Sometimes living, training, and racing with diabetes is like knocking your head into a brick wall and you want to throw your hands up into the air and say f- it! I definitely came close this weekend, but realized I was being a baby and need to get over it, everyone has issues they have to deal with.
To recap...
Drove down to Orlando to meet up with Janine from Abbott so she could hook me up on the Freestyle Navigator continuous glucose monitor. The resort she was staying at ended up being located in the depths of Disney World. Disney World was ridiculously hard to navigate your way through because all the roads are really windy, they fork a million times and all lead to places like, "magical fantasy land!" and "princess park!".. after cursing up a storm in my car, driving circles, and trying to get my iPhone to give me directions, I made it to her room. Only about 1 hr and 20 min late. After 2 hrs of Navi training, finally got hooked up! I seriously have been so excited about getting the Navigator for months and was really glad to finally have the dang thing to help me manage the diabeetus a bit better.
After gettin' Navi'ed up, I ended up meeting up with Phil and Joe who were down there at the AACE conference and we went to dinner with the folks from Abbott. I got a steak, it was awesome.
Friday, slept in and ended up going for a 2 hr ride. By the time I woke up, the Navigator was ready to be calibrated, and I was able to use it on my ride. LET ME TELL YOU, it was epic! It was awesome to be able to see finally what exactly is going on with the BG while out training. On a side note, another bad thing about Orlando is it's so big and sprawling, you never feel like you leave the city, I felt like I was always in a congested area and having to stop every 1/4 mile for a traffic light.
Alright, Saturday was a criterium in Lakeland. Things with the Navi were going great, it was accurate and my fingers were glad to have a break from being poked all the time. The weather here in FL has been getting real hot & humid and that combo did not really agree with the Navi's sticky-ness. 20min before the start I am sitting at 140, solid! go roll around a bit, and 10 min before the start I get an arrow pointing straight down, so I eat 2 GU's. At the start line the arrow is still pointing straight down, so I drink a dex 4 liquid thing. 20 min into the crit I am kinda feeling crummy and my legs feel real nasty. Check the Navi and the arrow is point down at a 45 degree angle, eat another GU. 30 min into the crit I am just dying and feel like I am going to yak on everyone in the race. I drop out. Check the navi it says 160 arrow straight across. :/ Roll over to the car and grab the Omnipod and check, it just says "High"..over 500... fantastic! Upset because I just dropped out of another race because of poor management and I am 500, I rip off the sensor and throw it into a dumpster by registration. Basically I learned that if the Navi is not stuck on real well and is able to jiggle about it doesn't work out so well. The lesson also learned is that I shouldn't rely completely on technology. I should have realized that when I started feeling like my legs were real achey 20 min into the crit, that it was because my BG was heading up yonder. If I have to, I can race at 300, but not 500.
After the race, drove the 50 min back to Orlando thinking about how I really need to use some more common sense when it comes to managing my diabetes and headed to my friend's condo. We headed out to dinner to this really crazy western bar/restaurant and got to walk by Club Paris Hilton, no joke! It was also really crazy looking. Before bed, I decide I am going to put on another sensor and just strap that sucker down with duct tape. Only problem is, I chucked out the transmitter that was attached to the sensor back in Lakeland. Just wasted $300 and now I am back to managing my diabetes old school.
Sunday.. 2008 state criterium championships in downtown Lakeland. So once again the FL summers are starting to crank up, heat & humidity also don't mesh well with Omnipods. 20 min before the start it falls off. Luckily I have plenty of time to put another one on. Put the new one on, check I am 220, bolus .5 unit and roll around for about 10 min. Check at the start line, I am 240. bolus .75 unit. As the crit gets going my legs start feeling totally loaded up, and I know I am totally f-ed. I know racing when your BG is high, is totally mental to a point but once I get over 350, I am just done. As you may have guess, 2nd race in a row I have dropped out of. Check and I am 413.
This whole weekend just screwed with my head and cracked me a bit. Training & racing have been going pretty well and this weekend just shook up how positive things have been going. Going into this weekend I was totally excited about having a go at the state crit and really happy because I found out that I have guest spot on Advil-Chapstick for Nature Valley. After dropping out of 2 races and losing the Navigator that I had been wanting for sooo long, it was just plain crappy! It was all totally my fault too which made it all that worse.
Alright, my complaining is over! But basically, driving the 4 hrs home gave me a lot of time to think and I am going to turn this weekend into a learning experience and quit crying about how bad I did. Sometimes living, training, and racing with diabetes is like knocking your head into a brick wall and you want to throw your hands up into the air and say f- it! I definitely came close this weekend, but realized I was being a baby and need to get over it, everyone has issues they have to deal with.
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