I’m so happy… I finally got to get out on the bike Saturday and put in something near 30 miles. I only have five more weeks until I have to go 150 miles over two days. 100 miles on Saturday, 50 miles on Sunday. But getting in almost 30 miles, over very hilly terrain, was good. Only I wound up chasing lows the rest of the day.
I’ve been a pumper for two years now (Medtronic), and up until now, in events like runs and triathlons, and in workouts, I’ve always disconnected the pump. All of these events have taken less than two hours to complete, and I’m able to handle that without getting excessively high glucose levels. Usually up near 300, but for me, not a deal breaker. But this event won’t allow that kind of flexibility. The pump has to stay on for the entire event. So now in workouts, I’m getting used to leaving the pump on, using temp basals to adjust for the workout.
That’s what I did Saturday. Set the temp basal for 2 hours, 0.75 units per hour.
When I finally got home, my BG was a respectable 71. Not bad since I hadn’t had breakfast yet. That was about 9:45. So I ate breakfast, and helped The Great Spousal Unit with some work in the garden. We broke for lunch around 12:15. That was a little more than two hours since my last meal. What was my BG? 64. Okay, I’m still hanging in there. I just won’t bolus since I had a lot of exercise this morning. I should be fine now, right? Not exactly.
We went to the local big-box home store to pick up a few items for the garden we were working in. We came back, I unloaded everything, and guess what? I needed to go in and get some juice! I could feel myself get all jelly-legged, and I knew I needed to act. So now, I should be okay for sure, right? Not exactly.
It only took about 45 minutes for us to finish up in the yard, and we went in to get a shower. Maureen was taking me to one of the local bar & grills for dinner before the Kentucky Derby (did I mention that I’m a huge horse racing fan?). Maureen went up to get in the shower, and I stayed downstairs to watch the end of the Capitals victory over the Rangers.
I go upstairs to get my shower, and Maureen says, “Hon, are you okay? You’re sweating a lot”. More juice. About 3 1/2 hours after I ate lunch with no bolus. So I have more juice, and some crackers, and get a shower. Before we go to dinner, I check, of course. What’s the BG? 59!
So you can guess what most of our conversation was about over dinner… how am I going to manage the glucose over a day when I expect to be riding around 8 hours?
This is a big part of life with diabetes. Finding the best way to handle a day, an event, anything, and planning as far ahead as possible. And the planning is completely separate and apart from anything that a non-PWD has to contend with in this event. For now, the plan is to ratchet down the basal rate to something like 0.400 for the 8 hours I’ll be riding. Maybe less. And finding a way to get more carbs in my system during the event. I’m also going to start searching for some additional guidance from experts who deal with this kind of thing a lot (Team Type 1?).
And I am so glad that I have a champion there for me while I’m riding. I love that TGSU is there at all of the events. But I’m equally grateful that she is there to help me, and also challenge me when I need it. I never asked her to do this. Never expected her to. But I can’t tell you how great it is to know that someone has my back.
Five(!) weeks to go. Despite the lows Saturday, I’m feeling like I’m getting closer to being ready. This will happen. I can do anything with diabetes that I could without. Like so many others have said, not trying is not an option.
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