Done and Done!

What a beautiful, sunny, crisp cool day it was today! A great day to run all the way Around the Bay.  Today, I ran 30k on my own steam, without my support team, and finished standing and feeling pretty good. Couldn't have asked for more than that. 

But man that journey from the start line to the finish line is never easy, never predictable and never once goes as planned.  

My sugar was 12.9 before the race and I had a gel to keep it up there. Things started off fairy well and I had a great first 10k.  My first sugar check was at 11k and I was 5.5.  Way way too low for the middle of a race.  So I had a second gel, two packs of fruit chews and three eload tablets.  

Kept running.  

Checked again at 16k.  I was 6.3.  OMG, way way way too low, especially considering I had just eaten 60 carbs.  So I ate another 40, had some Gatorade at the water station (ugh!) and carried on.  

Then the nausea set in.  I think it was because a) I don't usually eat that much during a run, b) nothing I had eaten would actually be considered real food so my stomach was sloshing around full of gummy candies and gels and c) I drank a lot of water while eating and was decidedly overhydrated.  

Nausea and running do NOT mix so I did the walk run thing for a few kilometres.  Every time I began to feel better, I'd start running and immediately feel nauseated again.  So I would make little deals with myself.  If I ran for five minutes, I could walk for 30 seconds.  

Checked my sugar again at 20k and I was 9.3 - I could live with that.  

Kept walk/running but was feeling better by the minute so I was able to run a little longer between each walk break.  

I was humbled by the last hill, the famous hill, the dreaded hill of Around the Bay.  4 kilometres from the end, it's deadly and perfectly placed to try any runner's spirit.  I made the last deal with myself.  I would walk the hill but then would run the last 4k in.  No more walk breaks, ignore the nausea and just run it in.  So I did.  I ran every last step of those last kilometres, crossed the finish line, made my way upstairs, fell into Doug's arms and had a good little cry.  

I did it!  It was harder than I expected it would be and yet easier in many ways too.  The diabetes gods wreaked havoc but the run itself wasn't nearly as long or as challenging as I expected.  

The best part of the run was all of the support.  Support from my fellow runners both before and after the race and support from other Runners' Edgers along the course.  Cow bells and cheers carried me through several tough spots and kept me moving.  

Last sugar check after the run = 18.8.  Insanity!  What the hell!?!

I took insulin, drank my chocolate milk, emend, water and coffee and felt much better an hour later.  Blood sugar 8.3 and has been behaving ever since.  Take that diabetes!