The team – Ironman Weekend

A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to meet the 2009 Triabetes team down here in Arizona. It was an eventful weekend. Some participated in the Tour de Tucson on Saturday and the whole team volunteered at one of the run aid stations at Ironman Arizona. The experience was great. Immediately I had the feeling of how fortunate I was to be a part of this special group. It may be hard to understand for someone who is not diabetic but it was so nice to be surrounded by 20+ other diabetics with goals similar to mine. The constant sharing of ideas and best practices was awesome. And who doesn’t like diabetic humor. Anytime something went wrong the excuse was “I must be low”. I know there are so many others out there that can benefit from a resource of sharing of ideas. That is what team Triabetes is all about. We are not elite or pro athletes. We are average people who have decided that diabetes is not going to change our active lifestyle. The ‘betes, as some of my teammates like to call it will not stop us from accomplishing our goals. As we left each other heading into the Thanksgiving weekend many wished each a wonderful day of Hyperglycemia! Diabetic Humor never gets old!

ZZZZZZ.......

OK, one thing I've figured out pretty quickly is that in order to fit in all the workouts that I need to do is that I am going to have to get up early and fit some in before work. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to sleep. I am not a morning person. I think God had to wake me up to come out of the womb. This is going to be no small feat. So far this week it's not going as well as I would like. Monday, had to get up at 5:00am for work so no workout (Did get up on time though!). Tuesday, alarm goes off at 6:00...I'm too tired, sleep 'till 7:15. I made up the workout by doing a brick workout that night, bike and run back to back. Wednesday went well. I found a local Masters swim class that takes place from 5:30-6:30 am. I thought I would ride my bike the 8.5 miles to the pool and back to get in some extra cycling. It started out well, I got up at 4:45 and left for the pool 5-10 minutes later. Unfortunately, It took me much longer to get there than expected so I was late for the workout. I decided to jump in the pool anyway and do some easy swimming. After all, I'm here right? So last night I'm thinking, OK, I got the kinks worked out. I'm gonna get up at 5:45 and spin on the stationary trainer for an hour or so. Good plan, Good plan, I'm ready for this. It will get easier to get up early every day. I fall fast asleep, sheep swimming, biking and running through my head. Next thing I know it's 7:30. What? What happened? The spinning, the bike, the trainer, the 5:45?!?!?! It was such a good plan! Who knows what happened. I get up, go to work, planning on another evening brick workout to make up for the missed AM session. I arrive home around 5:15, sit down to check some e-mail and unwind for a little bit. All of a sudden, out of no where, there it is! Music blaring from the bedroom. What the...?! It's 5:45 PM time to get up!!! Ugh! Oh well, better luck tomorrow.....

Gobble Gobble

I can't think of a better way to start a day of feasting and gluttony than a good old 10k Turkey Trot. And a Turkey Trot would just not be complete without an actual Turkey to race against. Ok...it was not an "actual" Turkey but a runner dressed in a turkey costume is close enough. My wife-to-be Erica and I ran this race last year and the Turkey left us in the dust. The gun went off and we never saw him the rest of the day. Today would be different. All I heard from Erica all week was, "I'm gonna beat the Turkey this year!" As we were walking to the to the starting line we saw him. We didn't say anything, but we both sized him up. "This Turkey doesn't look that fast." Last year he had legs like a gazelle, this year they looked more like the legs of a chicken. We line up with the masses at the start, over 2,000 strong. The gun goes off and Erica takes of like a bolt of lightning. She was going to get that turkey! I immediately went into oxygen debt and said " pacing, pacing" between deep gasps for air. Mile 1...7:23, good, but I was feeling it. Mile 2...7:00 minutes. Then, in the middle of the pack, Erica spotted him. "There's the Turkey!" Let's go, Let's go. "Erica, we are reeling him in at the pace we are running". "No, I want to pass him NOW." So off we go. We hit mile 3 at 7:19. I'm hurtin'. Erica feels great. As we pass mile 3 she says. "Doesn't it feel great to be beating the Turkey?" Before she can finish I say " NO, this feels awful!" Mile 4 7:21. Erica is trying to be encouraging at this point. I'm a little bitter because I thought we came out for a fun run to burn off some pre-feast calories, not run myself sick so that I can't eat at all. Mile 5 7:25. Erica is still running on clouds because she is roasting the turkey. She continues to talk to me but I ask her not to cuz' it hurts to much to listen. I guess that was enough to convince her to roast me too! she took off ensuring her victory over our fine feathered friend. I finished a minute or two behind. Finishing time...46:52. Happy Turkey Day!

It's Official

363 days to Ironman Arizona