The Plan

Sunday is triathlon day. The big girl triathlon this time, not the little girl one.

750m swim

25km bike ride

7.0km run

I'm excited about the swim. I've never swum in Lake Ontario and am not sure what to expect with waves and temperature but I'm still excited. I just really like swimming.

I'm nervous about the bike ride. I've ridden the route before, several times, so I know what to expect...which is why I'm nervous. That escarpment climb is scary. When we do it in practice, it's a really tough hill to climb but I know I can do it. On race day though, there are lots of other people doing the hill at the same time. And not everyone can do it. Some people walk their bikes up the hill. Other people start off cycling but get off their bikes half way. Not everyone moves over to the side of the road. Last time, the lady right in front of me slowed down to the point that she stopped dead on the hill. Being clipped in, she fell over and I had to swerve around her to avoid falling too. Not easy to swerve when you're using all of your energy just to move forward.

The ride down is scary when you're alone. It's scarier when you're not the only cyclist out there. Particularly when you're braking like mad and still doing 50km/hour and people are rushing up behind you screaming 'on your left!'.

So I'm nervous about the bike.

I'm feeling mild dread about the run. It might be fine. I should have plenty left in the tank for the run. But the race starts at 9am which means I won't be running until about 10:30am. I've been running before 7am for weeks and weeks now because the heat and humidity has been frightening. The thought of running for 45 minutes starting at 10:30am has me feeling more than a little apprehensive. Hopefully it cools off a bit and doesn't pour down rain because that would make the escarpment descent even more hairy.

So I'm excited, nervous and apprehensive.

Sounds about right for a race doesn't it?

Oh wait, I forgot something.

D.i.a.b.e.t.e.s.

Triathlons and diabetes, I'm discovering, are harder than they should be because there really isn't an opportunity to practice. The only day I swim, bike and run is race day. So I have to take the knowledge I've gathered about how each sport affects me and put it together.

Unfortunately each sport affects me differently so putting it together means I'm using about 60% science and 40% witchcraft.

My game plan is that I'm going to treat this as a running race since running is what affects me the most. I'm going to pack a bag with carbs and my spare glucometer and bring it down to the water with me. I'll test before and eat accordingly. Then I'll stash my bag in a nearby bush for retrieval later (shhh!). After the swim, I'll test again in the transition zone and I'm hoping I'll be around 10.0. Then I'll test again after the bike ride, hoping to see a nice 8-9 looking back at me. I prefer to stay between 8-10 because it means I have less chance of having a low while being low enough not to feel crappy.

That's the plan anyway. And we all know how well diabetes sticks to the plan.

Fingers crossed everyone. Race day is coming!