A Temporary Kindred Spirit

Every once in a while I get to talk to someone who shares something in common with me. Perhaps it's a love of running. Or of open water swimming. Or perhaps it's a faulty pancreas.

Last weekend I met up with a few high school friends for lunch. One of my friends brought his partner along. His partner, a great guy as it turns out, alluded to some health issues he had recently had, I asked a few questions and the next thing I knew we were talking about faulty pancreases (pancrei?).

He doesn't have type 1 but he did go through a period where he was on insulin (up to five injections a day). He's now down to a few pills per day and will hopefully be right as rain in a few more months. But for now, he was browsing the brunch menu with a certain look in his eye.

"Once your pancreas starts sputtering, everything becomes all about carbs doesn't it?" I asked.

His eyes widened "yes, exactly!" he said.

"Food is no longer just food. Now you have to think before you put anything into your mouth" I said.

"It changes everything" he responded.

Someday soon, I hope, he will be completely over the health issues he suffered and will no longer have to think about every food choice he makes.

It was nice to have a kindred spirit at the table who understood how different a menu looks when everything you eat really does matter.

But I'll be happy for him when he gets to be like my other three friends. Laughing and chatting and deciding at the last second what to order based on what sounded good and what the person before them had asked for.

Over the years I have recruited a lot of people to my running, cycling and swimming ways. The world probably has a few more curlers and golfers too thanks to the fact that I decided to join up.

And over the years I have learned to thrive in spite of (or more likely because of) the fact that my body does not produce insulin. It has given me the secret handshake to a few other clubs full of wonderful people that I will be forever grateful to have met.

But I would never wish a faulty pancreas on anyone. And I don't begrudge in the least the fact that the next time all we friends get together, he most likely won't be thinking about carbs and blood sugar.

Good for him.

If only we could all be so lucky.

A Reunion, lots of Doug time and a golf lesson = a great weekend

The weekend is over and, as usual, it went by much too quickly.

But it sure was fun!

Doug and I enjoyed a Friday evening golf game together followed by a Saturday morning run and a Sunday morning bike ride.

I also managed to squeeze in a brunch with three of my dearest high school friends, one who I see regularly, one who I see every few years and one who I haven't seen in almost a decade. Other than one receding hairline, we pretty much look exactly the same and it was great fun to reconnect as a 'gang' again.

I also had my first golf lesson of the season. I know, it's the end of July, but we figured it was time for me to get a few of the kinks worked out. So one hour later and two key tips (don't bend your left arm and fix your alignment) later, I was ready for a Sunday afternoon game. It took a few holes to get things feeling right but, once I did, look out!

I managed to get my best ever golf score (110), drop my handicap and get two pars, all thanks to a few tips. Here's a video of me looking like I know what I'm doing. And yes I realize that I'm not actually hitting a ball. We were just working on my swing.

The Weekend in all of its Colours

What an interesting weekend. What a lovely weekend. What a tough, tiring, peaceful and inspiring weekend.

We drove to Fergus and spent a lovely evening with friends, chatting about health, house renovations and our favourite iPhone apps.

I got up before the sun on Saturday and drove to Listowel where I had the honour of speaking to a roomful of ladies with type 1 diabetes. I met some wonderful people, made a few people cry, and discovered how many people share similar diabetes journeys.

I headed home after my talk via a slight detour that allowed me to enjoy a 2 1/2 hour coffee with a lovely lady that I met at a presentation I did a few months ago. She's relatively new to the world of type 1 and is adjusting to its ups and downs with grace and humour.

I ran 16k on Sunday morning. Due to several factors beyond my control, I didn't do any short runs last week and had not done any exercise for three days. So running 16k was tougher than it should have been. Toss in some warm temperatures, mild dehydration from the day before and 16k took me longer to run than 18k usually does. My heart rate was higher than I liked throughout the run and my blood pressure dropped pretty significantly from start to finish. Happily, my blood sugar held steadily and, with only one date and a clementine, my numbers were stable the entire time.

After my chores were done, I managed to sneak in a bit of colouring time and got to try out the new markers I got the weekend before. Wow! Markers leave less options when it comes to shading and depth but they sure do boost the colour saturation. It incredibly rewarding to watch the colours take over the page and bring the picture to life.

Colouring with pencil crayons for those days when I feel like taking my time and finessing the shades.

Markers - for the days when I don't want to think too much and I want to be rewarded with rich, gorgeous colours in exchange for very little work. 

And through it all, we watched the Masters. We watched hours of incredible golf and we got to know this year's winner, Jordan Spieth. He's an old soul - a 21-year old with wisdom and composure way way beyond his years. I'd love to be able to channel his focus and his ability to manage nerves under incredible pressure. Not that I have terrible nerves or incredible pressure but I am joining a ladies' league and the thought of playing in front of ladies I don't know does make me a little bit jittery.

Happy Monday. Here's to another great week!

Ladies' Remedial Golf League

I came home tonight to find a letter from a golf course on my desk.

It's the golf course that me and a few of my girlfriends played at most Monday nights last summer.

A little par 3 course that had a pretty sweet ladies' night deal.

We called ourselves the Ladies' Remedial Golf League and there was only one rule. If you're too good, you can't be part of our gang. It says a lot that none of us came close to being kicked off the team.

I liked the course because it was easy - allowing me to focus on my game rather than just desperately trying to get to the hole. I loved it because every hole was a possible hole in one. And I want very much to get a hole in one.

I tried every single time to not just hit the ball but to hit it onto the green so that it rolled into the hole.

Several times I made it to the green. Just as many times I made it into the nearby woods, fields and water hazards.

We laughed at ourselves and each other and we slowly got better.

The letter from the golf course reminded me that it's time to dust off our clubs and gather the ladies together again for the 2015 Remedial Ladies Golf League.

The Remedial Ladies (minus one) decked out in our fabulous matching jackets at the end of season banquet. 

The Lighthouse

Anyone remember this picture?

It's from this time last year.

Doug and I, with our two good friends, joined our first ever Friday night Geddie team curling bonspiel. It was called The Lighthouse Bonspiel and there was a wonderful East Coast feel to it.

Great Big Sea music playing on the ice.

Oysters between games.

Clam chowder and seafood pasta for lunch...

...and a very nice Skip I happen to have a wee crush on. 

Oh, and for our first bonspiel, we didn't do too badly. We ended up coming home with the trophy thanks to some fabulous playing by our team plus a bit of luck of the draw in terms of who played whom. There was also a bit of luck of the draw period (which is actually a rather fun curling joke if you know the lingo).

As they handed us the trophy we found out that the winning team is also responsible for working with the club to plan the next year's event.

Which just happens to be tomorrow.

Don't you worry though. We're all set to go.

We have our cutout sea creatures ready to be pasted to windows and walls.  Including a rather large octopus and some smiling clams.

We have a stuffed Ariel mermaid who will sit on the scoring table to keep us company. She'll get to talk to the lobsters on the beach towel she'll be lounging on while we're out playing on the ice.

We have lighthouse centrepieces and one of those tacky cardboard thingies you can put your face in and have your photo taken looking like Ariel or King Triton depending on your preference.

I'm not sure even I have enough Irish luck to pull off another win but one never knows which way the rocks will curl.

Stay tuned for Monday's report: The Revenge of the Lighthouse.

(Picture Jaws only with less teeth and a light on top that spins.)  

Decisions

Hi folks,

I was missing in action for a bit there but I'm back now. I am fine and so is Doug but, due to a rather difficult loss in the family, we ended up with an unexpected week off at home which gave us lots to time together and gave me lots of time to think.

Think about health and fitness and family and priorities.

And I made some decisions.

I decided that I not going to run the Niagara Falls half marathon at the end of October. Yes, I had built myself back up to 20k and was running well. Yes, it's already taper time so technically the hardest runs are already behind me. But I decided that I didn't want to make this run a priority over the next few weekends. It made more sense to commit a bit more time to family right now.

I also decided that I don't have to blog every week from Monday to Friday. I have been doing that for a few years now and I love it. But last week I simply stopped doing it because we had more important things to focus on. I missed it but I was glad that I didn't have to make time to write every day on days when it would have been hard to do that. So I plan to continue with Running on Carbs. I love writing it. I love knowing that other people out there read it and get something from it, but I won't worry so much if I can't write something every single day.

I decided that I really like golf. Doug and I had several hours free every day so we managed to get on the golf course almost every day last week. I logged a lot of kilometres in my golf shoes, I topped up my vitamin D levels and I might have even improved my game a bit in the process. Some people find golf frustrating. I discovered that the golf course is one of the most healing places to be.

I decided to sign up for curling again. Partly for the joy of playing a sport that I love. Mostly for the friendships that come with it.

I decided to try to call my parents more often. I decided to take a bit of time to make healthy meals with lots of leftovers for lunches and those hectic days when it's tough to cook for dinner. I decided to initiate more get togethers with friends. I decided to do a lot of things, most of them small, most of them not even noticeable to others, because I was reminded once again how fragile and how fleeting life can be.

The Weekend

Today's blog is a little short on words.

My excuse is lack of time. But lack of time means that we just finished a wonderfully active weekend so I'm not particularly bothered by lack of time.

Friday I left work and we headed directly to the golf course for a lovely 18 holes. Followed by dinner. And then bed because it was late and we were exhausted.

Saturday morning started off with a nice run. The sun was up but it was cool with a refreshing breeze. Life doesn't get a heck of a lot better than that - especially in July.

The rest of the day involved an afternoon spent with my best friend from my University days. Three solid hours of laughter is good for the soul. Follow that up by dinner with two newer but no less wonderful friends and suddenly it was 9pm again.  

Sunday morning, we hopped on our bikes for a 90-minute ride with our cycling friends. I followed by the 40-minute workout that I wrote about last week (arms, legs and core muscles were all burning by the end of that). A quick lunch and shower and we were back on the golf course for another 18 holes. Followed by steak and red wine.

And somehow it's 9pm on Sunday night and I have nothing written for Monday.

I'm perfectly fine with that.

See you all tomorrow!

3rd Annual Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon

Yesterday was the Women's Half Marathon in Niagara Falls. A hot, humid and altogether wonderful day.

Why wonderful? 

Oh, I don't know. 

Because they had pink port-a-potties with potted plants, lemon-scented hand sanitizer and fur-covered seats. 

Because I ran into Linda, a fellow 2012 Medtronic Global Hero. 

Because there were marching bands, harpists, and string players along the course. 

Because the first year there were 1000 women. In the second year there were 2000 women. And in this third year, there were 3000 women. A wonderful success story and a testament to the vision and skills of my friend Ross who organized the event. 

Because Doug, my superman, was there at the start and along the course to carry my diabetes stuff and make sure I was ok. And ok I was. My blood sugar was 7.8 at the start, 7.2 at 7k, 6.3 at 14k and 6.2 at the end. It was my best blood sugar race ever. 

Because the last few k were really tough and I was increasingly overheated and nauseated...

...but I pushed through and then felt immediately better once I stopped, drank chocolate milk, and put a soaking wet and freezing cold washcloth on my head. 

Because I had friends cheering me on along the course, friends running their own races who waved every time we passed each other on the out and back route and friends who waited at the end to say hi and ask how my race went. 

Because Kathrin Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, was on hand all weekend to chat and was at the finish line to high five or hug all the finishers. 

Because I completed my 11th half marathon. 

Because things got tough, my pace slowed and, when I saw that I needed to push for the last three kilometres in order to make it in under 2:30 I pushed for the last 3k and made it under 2:30. In fact I made it in 2:29:57 to be precise. 

Because it felt wonderful to be part of such an important event that celebrates the women who took 4 hours to finish as much as it celebrated the winner. 

Because I did it! 

Running on Carbs Returns

Hi folks! Happy New Year and welcome back after a two week hiatus.

It feels like a lot longer than that in some ways and yet, as vacations often do, it sped by much too quickly. Ready or not, it's Monday January 6th and I'm back to blogging, back to work and back to my pre-work, 5:30am swim workout. 

All after having stayed up way too late last night watching the first episode of Downton Abbey Season Four.

Actually, let's be honest. There is no way I'll be able to survive a 4:50am wakeup call after going to bed at 11pm. So my swimming career resumes on Wednesday. 

Even with a bit of a sleep-in, heading back to work on less than 8 hours sleep after two weeks off  should guarantee an interesting day full of misplaced pens, dropped books and forgotten details. Thank goodness for green tea.  

The last two weeks were a wonderful mishmash of quiet time with Doug, family gatherings, friends new and old, delicious meals, red wine, television shows, leisurely magazine reading, trying new recipes and, despite all odds, getting in almost daily workouts. 

For those of you who know what Coles Notes actually are, here are the Coles Notes version of the holidays.

In the Kitchen

We hosted my family for a pre-Christmas dinner and tried our hand at blue cheese scalloped potatoes, stuffed tomatoes and a ham. We rocked it all. Thankfully we had a lot of leftovers because they descended again the next evening after their power went out.

The ham bone was then transformed into a very delicious French Canadian split pea soup that kept us warm during the oh so cold days after Christmas.

On another cold night we attempted a shrimp jambalaya from my Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Cookbook which was tasty but a little too labour-intensive for my liking. Way too much standing by the stove and stirring to make sure the rice didn't stick.

We then made a homemade pasta sauce using an army of oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese and a wee bit of cream. The roasting tomatoes smelled fabulous and the sauce was assembled in minutes. It was delicious and went very well with the steak Doug made. The only problem was that Bubba Gump's idea of four servings looks a lot like our idea of eight servings so we ended up with a lot of pasta and sauce.

Keeping Fit

Over the holidays we started almost every day with a bike or a run. It was nice not to set the alarm and to get up whenever the sun started shining into the bedroom. We ran a lot - on warm days with clean streets, through snowstorms and on snow and ice-covered roads.

I also happily headed down to the basement several times to ride the bike and even managed to bend those crank arms twice. In those two workout alone I did 580 squats. Insane.

We ran the Boxing Day ten mile race in Hamilton. I went into it not expecting to do anything other than run the thing and have fun doing it. Little did I know what was about to happen. It turned out that changing up my running route back in November and adding a few hills to every run made a difference. I ran stronger than I have in a long time. As I approached the 9k mark of the race and easily ran to the top of the nastiest hill of the route, I began to think I could actually PB. I had run the race twice before and did it in 1:45:something and then last year I did it in 1:42:42. I did some quick math and figured that, if I did not stop at all AND if I managed to keep each of the last 7 kilometres under 6:20 min/k, I could finish the race in under 1:40:00. I pushed hard. I ran into the wind and refused to yield. I ran up and down the smaller hills and refused to slow. The closer I got to the finish,  and as each kilometre's time beeped on my watch, the more realistic my goal became and the more I refused to give in. I hated the thought of backing off and then seeing a 1:40:something on the clock at the finish.

As I ran the last kilometre up a gentle but tiring uphill, I spotted the finish line and then, as I got closer, I spotted the time clock. I saw it change to 1:39:00 and I picked it up a bit. I crossed the line at 1:39:25 and, for the first time in my life, knew what it felt like to dig deep and pull off a time that didn't even look like an option when the gun went off. It's been over a week and I'm still grinning about it!

I'm not exactly grinning here but I'm pretty happy and very proud! 

I also headed back to the pool twice last week after a month of dry land work. I swam 1700m the first day back and felt it in my arms, back and abs for two days afterwards. I rested up and then went back last Thursday and did 2000m, feeling stronger already. I signed up for the next Masters class on the way out, knowing full well that the first few sessions are going to be rough. I'm rested now and ready for another few months of tough workouts. Triathlon season is fast approaching and I want to be at my best. Which means sucking it up for a few weeks and finding my swimming fitness again.

Other Bits and Pieces

I had an appointment for a hair cut and colour a few days ago. I was looking through my magazines for a photo of a hair colour I liked. I found this one and brought it in with me.

The colourist and my hair dresser liked the photo so much they convinced me to try the cut as well as the colour. 

So for the first time since Grade Nine, I have bangs! And my hair turned out a lot redder than it looks in the photo. A tribute to my Irish 'roots'. 

I also took advantage of the Boxing Week sales and bought some boots that are pretty fun, a few sweaters...and may have splurged at the Coach Boxing Week sale. 

Dexter and I came through all the holiday feasts and are still friends. He kept me in line and helped me prevent highs and lows before they happened. In fact I am proud to say that I had several 'no hitters' during the holidays. No hitters are days when I don't hit the high or the low line on my Dexcom graph (high is set at 12.0 and low is set at 4.0). I've also figured out an overnight basal rate that seems to be working well. Once I settle in and my dinner insulin has left my system, I flatline until the morning (which sounds awful but, in blood sugar speak, it's not - trust me). 

Other than that, I have a bunch of goals set for 2014 and a few more in the works. 

Those, my friends, will have to wait until tomorrow. 

It's good to be back - I've missed you. 

It's Been a Zombie Green Curry Rage Bolusing Kinda Week

What I learned this week.

- being woken up multiple times in the night by Mr. Dex can get really annoying, especially when I'm not really having problematic blood sugars.

- on the other hand, sleeping through the night without a peep for Dexter and seeing a lovely steady blood sugar graph in the morning makes the restful sleep even more sweet.

- green curry and sticky rice is apparently very bad for my blood sugars.

I'll let you guess when the thai food kicked in. Well timed for a perfectly horrid night of testing and rage bolusing.

- a night like the one above is one of the only times I will turn off my 4:50am alarm without an ounce of guilt. A missed workout is sometimes the best way to take care of myself. 

- it's so much easier to close a bank account than to open one. It took under five minutes to pay off a loan, cancel a credit card and close a bank account. It took three visits to another bank to set up an account, transfer my loan and open an RDSP. I am happy with the end result but intrigued by what was hard and what was easy about it. 

- good friends, dinner and a wicked movie make all the difference in the world and should happen more often

- it is indeed possible to create a zombie Dexcom sensor. Hopefully Zombie Dex is satisfied just being attached to me and doesn't try to eat my brains when I'm not looking.

The Lighthouse

On Saturday, our Friday night curling team played in our very first ever omigod what are we doing bonspiel. Doug, our skip, has been curling for years. The rest of us are in our third season and still getting the hang of things.

It was the annual Lighthouse Bonspiel held at our local club. A bonspiel that, until a few years ago, was called the Oyster Bonspiel and players enjoyed free oysters and a seafood buffet between games. We still had oysters and some seafood but the name was changed and the menu expanded to appeal to people who weren't big fans of fishy things. The East Coast theme still held and some people showed up dressed for the occasion.

The bonspiel involved 3 six-end games. Never having played in an event like this, I didn't even set any goals. I just wanted to play as well as I could and not let my team down.

I wore my lucky socks and my lucky Scottish plaid sous-vêtements. We walked into the club the hear the opening notes of one of the only songs that can make this Irish lassie cry: Cockles and Mussels. I hummed along and thought about my family, my little sis who loves the song, my little nephew who had it sung to him by his mom. When it ended and another East Coast ditty began, I knew it was going to be a fun day.

Here's how it all shook down.

For the first game we were paired randomly against a team I had never seen before. Which meant I had no idea how they played. The first few ends were one-point ends but then we took a few points in one end and the game quickly turned. We finished by winning it easily 9:3.

We handed in our score card. We get points for winning the game, points for each end we won and points for each point we took. Our final tally was 16.25.

We found ourselves, surprisingly, in second place, behind a team that took 17.

Break time! Oysters, lemon juice, horseradish and tea. Best! 

For the second game, they paired the top two teams, then the next two and so on. So we were up against the lead team with 17 points. We knew them from our Friday night games and knew they were good. 

The first few ends were back and forth, one point at a time. Then we took 3. Then two. And we won the game with a score of 9:3 again which gave us another 16.25 points. 

We were now in first place with 32.50 points. The second place team had 29.25 points and we were paired against them in the final game. If we won that game, we'd win the event hands down. If we lost, we would fall down to third or worse. If we tied it, we'd have a chance for first depending on how the third place team did. 

First end: we took one

Second end: they took one

Third end: we took one

Fourth end: they took one

Fifth end: they took two

Sixth end, we had to get two to tie. With two hail mary shots from our fabulous skip, we did it. Two points - and a tie. 

We headed back in for a few more snacks while we waited for the other teams to finish and then waited some more while they tallied the scores 

Might as well have a few more while we're waiting...

The final scores. For those of you who don't know - we were Team Geddie.

Winners of the 2013 Lighthouse Bonspiel!!

When they announced our team and handed us our trophy we were pretty proud of ourselves. Then they announced that the vice of the winning team is responsible for organizing the 2014 event. 

Guess which position I played? 

Oh yes my friends. It looks like I'll be organizing my first bonspiel next year. 

The Week Without Bullet Points

What happened this week?

I rediscovered my love for Margaret Atwood. I am rereading Oryx and Crake (which is just as good the second time) and have the next two books in the trilogy lined up and ready to go. I am endlessly fascinated with the way she writes - the language, the undertones of irony, the societal warnings, the humour. Such a Canadian treasure.

I showed up to work on Thursday wearing purple. It was World Diabetes Day which means I should have worn blue but I only have two blue tops and neither were really warm enough for the day. I figured no one I worked with would really care since I'm the only pancreatically-challenged one of the bunch. I arrived to discover that one of them had discovered the importance of blue on November 14th and sent an email out to the rest of them. Almost everyone showed up at the staff meeting in blue. So nice!

I renewed my Canadian passport. It expires in early 2014 and we are already planning a winter escape so I figured I'd better get on it. I got my photo taken and application submitted within 40 minutes. The new one arrives in 10 days. And won't expire until I'm, wait for it, 49 years old. Eeep!

I discovered that regular nail polish can survive two swims in the pool before it really starts chipping. Metallic ones, as pretty as they are, don't survive one chlorine dip. I put on a pretty copper colour on Sunday evening. I went swimming on Monday morning and every nail has chipped or worse by the end of the swim. Sad day. Guess I'll have to save that colour for weeks when the pool is closed.

I was reminded what happens when we close up the house and turn the heat on. I wake up every single morning convinced I am getting sick. My throat is dry, my lips feel cracked. Then I have a few sips of water and remember, again, that it's the dry heat that kills me. Instead of grumbling about the heat, I thank the gods I'm not getting sick fix the problem with a few extra gulps of water.

I run in the dark now, like a vampire, with my red light flashing on my toque and my reflective vest warning cars that, yes indeed, that is a human approaching. Tuesday morning there was a light dusting of snow on the rooftops, the sky was clear and the stars were twinkling. On Thursday morning the wind was howling and the sky was full of clouds. Both mornings I dragged myself out of bed and spent the next 30 minutes trying to convince myself not to crawl back in...until I walked out the door. The wild, unpredictable and beautiful weather this time of year is my favourite. Funny how I forget every time the alarm goes off and yet NEVER regret forcing myself out of bed once I get out into it.

I realized that Christmas is in something crazy like 42 days and I haven't even thought about Christmas gifts. For anyone. I'm just so excited for my family to be together, to meet my new nephew who I have yet to actually see in real life, to spend time giggling with my sisters - I don't care one whit about the presents. Bring on the hugs!!

I only got one swim in this week. I missed two due to early morning commitments that I could not escape from. I dislike missing one swim. I hate missing two. I'm already looking forward to Monday morning so I can slip back into the water again. I hope I remember how to do that body roll I'm working on...

I did, however, have two wonderful runs (see above) and am looking forward to squeezing in a quick 12k run before Doug and I head to Toronto for a day of family visits, friends and trips to fountain pen stores.

For those of you who care about such things, did you see what is coming out very soon?

Pretty! Soooooo pretty!!! 

And this week I made a date with three fabulous ladies to go see the second Hunger Games movie. Dinner first. Then wicked movie. We're all so excited that it's almost funny. 

Except it's not. 

Because we're just so excited. 

Talk to you all on Monday eh?

Road to Hope 2013

A long long time, I can still remember how their music used to make me smile...

...the musical sounds of the pounding feet of my Runners' Edge running group that is.

I started running on my own several years ago but quickly decided that I would benefit from joining a running group and learning how to run properly. I joined Runners' Edge and spent the next few years getting stronger, getting faster, learning how to run up hills...and making great friends.

I haven't run with my running friends in a while simply because the times they run don't work well with my schedule - work, diabetes and eating schedules that is. But I do so enjoy the moments when I'm able to meet up with my running peeps. Especially when there is a race involved.

A week and a bit ago, I ran my half marathon and proudly sported my Runners' Edge vest. I was cheered at almost every corner by someone from the group.

Yesterday, it was Doug's turn to race, at the Hamilton Road to Hope half marathon. I grabbed my camera and spent a few hours chasing him and a bunch of my Runners' Edge friends around the course.

The gang minutes before the start. It helps that they wear such easy to spot clothing. As that they pose in clusters based on their outfits. 

This is at the 5k mark, right before they turn on to the highway and run down the escarpment. It's also right after Doug high-fived a big shark. 

A little over an hour later, here he is mere seconds from the finish line. Going so fast he looks like he's flying. Looking no worse for wear.  

Every runner has a story as to why they were running that day. Most stories I will never know. A few I have the honour of reading a chapter or two. 

My friend Judy, who was running for herself and in the memory of her father. 

My friend Prudence (on the left) who was about to run her first marathon. She rocked it by the way. And my friend Melanie (on the right) who has improved as a runner more than anyone else I know. 

My friend Shane, who has been, literally and figuratively, transformed by running.

My friend Vince, who set himself yet another lofty goal for this race and met it. 

And Doug, who ran the Road to Hope marathon two years ago with one goal: to quality for a guaranteed entry to New York. 

He beat the cutoff time by a mile and, exactly one year later, we were in New York for the 2012 marathon that never was. 

Now he was back in Hamilton again - on the very same day that 48,000 runners were toeing the line in New York for the 2013 comeback. How bittersweet the first weekend in November has turned out to be.  

So many stories. 

So many moments. 

So many reasons to be a runner. 

So many reasons to document their journeys. 

A Grand Toast

Life is full of good days. Days when you feel good. When the weather is good. Days when you get all the green lights on the way to the pool. Or when you get to the checkout counter and there is no one ahead of you.

Occasionally, there are days that are better than good.

There are days that are grand.

Wednesday was a grand day.

Wednesday started off as any other day. I went to work. I ran a meeting. I responded to emails. A 2pm however, that all changed. At 2pm, my good friend Erin (hi Erin!) and I played hooky from our respective places of work. We left early and met up in St. David's at the St. David's golf course.

It was October 9th and the weather was spectacular. Shorts and a short-sleeved shirt spectacular. The leaves were changing. The air smelled like it does when you're camping in the back country. The course was teeming with life and lush with colour.

Erin had not been out to play once all summer. I had been playing all summer, trying to wrap my head about the game. Turns out that made us pretty evenly matched.

We hit fabulous balls, we hit horrible ones. I lost my favourite orange ball in a water hazard and almost took out a car with one of my erratic drives. We agreed that, if this is what retirement is like, we'll take it.

It was a grand afternoon.

We drove back to my place where Doug was waiting. He had waved me off with a grin and a warning to 'swing smooth' and set himself to work making our dinner. We walked in to the kitchen and were greeted by a fabulous aroma of dinner smells and a glass of red wine.

We regaled Doug with our golf stories while he grilled cheese for our appetizers, prepared perfect steaks with homemade mushroom sauce for our meal and baked pears that were served with cherries and blue cheese for our dessert.

Erin and I agreed that he is the most wonderful man on the planet and we told him so. Several times. He grinned and waved us off but we knew he was pleased as punch with himself. And rightly so.

The golf season for 2013 won't last much longer. We may yet squeeze in another game or two before it becomes too cold to play. But I'm raising my glass to toast 2014 and may it be filled with many grand retirement-style afternoons on the golf course.

Bye Bye Comfort Zone. It Was Nice Knowing You.

Yesterday I wrote a blog about being stubborn for stubborn's sake. 

Refusing to wear a wetsuit without even trying one on. 

Refusing to wear a golf glove despite mounting evidence (ie. blisters) that perhaps I should. 

My friend Jeff started writing a comment on my 'stubborn' blog which quickly morphed into an entire blog post singing the praises of the wetsuit. 

Jeff has given me a lot of advice in the past few years. About running, cycling and swimming as well as about type 1 and race day diabetes management. I have yet to disagree with anything he has said to me.  It's always well thought out and supportive yet he gently pushes me out of each comfort zone that I dig myself in to. 

Jeff likes wetsuits. Jeff competes in wetsuits. Jeff thinks I should have a wetsuit. 

Damn him. 

Thanks to his convincing arguments I've gone from hating the idea of a wetsuit to being open enough about it to wonder where I would put my insulin pump. 

In fact I'm already wondering whether I should try one with sleeves or one without sleeves. A full suit or a shorty. 

Yet again he pushes me out of my comfort zone just enough that I feel safe enough to walk a few more steps into the unknown. 

Did I mention that he does half-ironmans and has got me thinking that they're not so bad either? 

Damn him. 

I learned...

Things I learned this week.

1. I learned that communication, no matter how hard or awkward it is at the time, it better than no communication. As you know, I decided to go with Animas for my new pump. Talking to them was easy and fun. Talking to Medtronic was not but I did it anyway. I could have just disappeared from their radar, quietly mailed back my pump in a few weeks and gone about my business.

I chose the high road and emailed the local Medtronic rep to tell her about my choice. She called me. I saw her number on my call display and agonized for a few seconds about whether or not to answer. I answered. I told her why I made my choice and she was wonderfully supportive about it. No hard feelings and she's even willing to keep my name on her list of presenters in case she organizes a panel discussion and can include me. It might never happen but, still, I'm glad we chatted.

2. I learned that a decision made that is immediately followed by a feeling of relief is probably the right decision. I made two decisions this week. One was about my pump. I signed on for five years and felt immediate relief. The other was about whether or not I want to take University courses to upgrade in order to apply for a Masters. A decision to do this would have meant me starting classes next week and being in school part-time for five years. I decided, for a variety of reasons, that this is not a good idea and felt immediate relief.

3. That being said, no decision, no matter how positive, happens without regret. I will miss my Medtronic pump. And I am sad that I won't be adding Masters student to my list of pursuits (at least for now).

4. I learned that homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are really tasty. So is homemade curried celery soup.

5. I learned that I follow baking recipes to the letter. I use cooking recipes as guidelines and scribble all over them so I remember the changes I made for next time.

6. I learned that people make the weirdest cakes for baby showers. Check this out if you need a laugh.

7. I learned, again, that diabetes is crazy. Like possessed. I swam on Wednesday like I always do. I hopped in the pool with a blood sugar of 5.8 AND I bolused 0.3 units just to keep me in line. I left the pool to discover that I was 14.4 instead of my usual 7.0. I changed my site, bolused for breakfast, waited 20 minutes and was 18.9. I bolused again (the full amount for a second time), waited 20 minutes and was 16. It took an hour for it to drop low enough to eat and then it shot right back up again to 18.

By lunch, I was fine and have been ever since. Crazytown.

8. I learned that I can indeed master the super tough Bending Crank Arms cycling workout. It's rated a 9.5/10 for difficulty (which I only noticed on my fourth time doing it thank goodness). I now finish the workout feeling energized instead of wanting to die and I no longer walk around for two days afterwards with aching muscles. Only took four times.

9. I learned that it's really hard to describe things in words sometimes. I was writing a basic iPad user manual for work and couldn't believe how hard it was to describe all the different gestures we use when using an iPad (like pinching two fingers together to shrink a page). Try it for yourself. Do a specific gesture with your hands and then try to figure out how to describe in words what you did. Hard.

10. I learned that it is really nice to sit after work with a glass of wine and chat with a good friend, or with my parents, or with Doug. This week I had the chance to do all three and each conversation was stimulating, hilarious and wonderful.

Presentation Time

Tonight's the night.

I'm heading to Hamilton after work to present to a room full of doctors, nurses, dieticians, diabetes educators, pharmacists and other folk who support people of the diabetic persuasion.

My presentation is ready and memorized. My Powerpoint (well, actually I did it in Keynote but not everyone knows what that is) is full of pictures and facts and even a video that I was kindly sent a copy of by Sara over at Moments of Wonderful.

I decided to divide my talk into a few sections. I'm going to start off by telling my diagnosis story so that they can get a sense of where I'm coming from. Then I'm going to quickly tell my running story so that they can see that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to exercise and diabetes management.

But the majority of my presentation is actually going to focus on the DOC. I want to tell them how isolating, scary, relentless and frustrating diabetes is and that, even with the best medical support, we spend most of our time dealing with this disease on our own.

We all have questions, fears, scary moments and hilarious experiences and the DOC helps us connect to other people just like us who have the same questions, fears, scary moments and hilarious experiences.

My goal is that some people in that room leave inspired to check us out. To read a few blogs, to see what Twitter is all about and to understand the value in pointing other diabetics in our direction.

Until I found the DOC I had no idea that I was even missing anything. Once I found it, I realized how alone I had been when it came to the diabetic part of me. Now I have running friends, swimming friends, photography friends AND diabetes friends.

Wish me luck on the presentation! I'll write later this week to let you know how it went.

Last Rock

We're three weeks into the curling season. 

I've curled 6 times so far. 

I've won 5 games and lost one. 

The ones we won were won well. Some were hard-fought down to the last rock. Some we dominated from the first rock. 

When we win, it's tradition for the winning team to buy the first drink for the opposing team. So I've been buying a lot of drinks. 

On Friday, we were scheduled to play against our good friends Chris, Janice, Benny and Leslie. We decided to switch it up a bit and went with a good ol'fashioned girls against the boys game. 

The boys team: Chris (lead), Benny (second), Ian (third) and Doug (skip). 

The girls team: Cathy (lead), Leslie (second), me (third) and Janice (skip). 

The experience teeter-totter was significantly heavier on the boys side but we made up in ambition what we lacked in skill and experience. 

So we hoped anyway. 

We play a six end game on Friday nights. 

By the end of the fifth end we were losing 13 to 0. 

You'd never have know though because the scoreboard said we were tied 5-5. The boys were kind enough not to broadcast to the world the real score. 

The game was fun but it got really interesting when we were down to the last rock in the last end. The boys were poised to take 3 or 4 more points. The only possible way we could stop them was for Janice to throw a hail mary kinda shot. She had to squeeze her rock through two of their rocks and hit one of ours on a perfect angle to send it through two more of their rocks and settle nicely on the button for us to get one point. 

It's not like we had a chance of winning so we decided to give it a whirl. The experienced boys didn't even think it was possible but they had enough sense to stand back and let us try. 

Janice got into the hack. I held the broom for her to aim at. Leslie and Cathy were ready to sweep on command. 

Janice threw. I dropped down to get a view of the line. It had to hit perfectly and with the perfect weight. I help up my hand to let them know not to sweep. I watched the rock. It began to slow just a hair and I yelled "Yes!! Hard! Now!!". 

They swept. Hard. 

Janice's rock squeezed through the boys' rocks and hit ours at the perfect spot. That rock then squeezed through two more of the boys' rocks and settled absolutely exactly where we wanted it to. 

We lost 13:1. 

But you'd never guess from the way we screamed and celebrated and the fact that it was the only shot any of us talked about as we shared drinks and food.

It was the kind of shot you see on television. Not at our little curling club on a Friday night. So we enjoyed our free drinks and milked the memory of that heroic shot for all its worth.  

I am Triathlete

Hear me roar!

I really enjoy running.

I like cycling a lot but wouldn't say I love it.

Swimming is my favourite form of physical activity.

Put them all together and what did I learn? I. LOVE. TRIATHLONS!

I think my sister and I approached Saturday's race the right way. We signed up for the super sprint triathlon which is the shortest triathlon option. It's kinda like signing up for a 5k race before doing a 10k - which makes sense. We were able to try it out, and get the hang of it, without killing ourselves in the attempt.

Of course we're now talking about doing the sprint tri (the next longest distance) and the Olympic tri and I've half convinced Janice and Doug to join me in a half-ironman relay next year - yep, I'm hooked!

The day leading up to the event was a little hairy. My sister (Gabrielle) was flying here from Israel and was scheduled to land on Thursday evening. Thanks to a freak storm in Toronto, she was rerouted to Ottawa where she sat on the plane for 4+ hours, spent another 3+ hours waiting in line for a hotel room, got 2 1/2 hours of sleep and then flew to Toronto. She finally arrived at my parents' house on Friday afternoon, a mere 16 hours before the race. She had spent most of the previous day without sleep, food or water.

I showed up Friday evening armed with printouts of transition zones as well as swim, bike and run routes so I could go over the race with her. We went over what she needed to pack, we parted ways, she had an early dinner and went to bed.

Saturday morning dawned and it was beautiful. It was a hot day but the humidity had broken (thanks to the freak storm that kept Gabrielle's plane from landing) so the breathing was good. Race day was busy. Doug was doing the duathlon and his race started at 8:30am. The super sprint tri started at 10:30am. So we arrived at 7:30am, set up our bikes and then I watched him start his race before I turned my full attention to the sprint triathlon. I figured I'd watch their swim and learn lots of tips in time for mine. I learned that I really like how they do the swim in Welland - they do a very dignified staggered start and one swimmer takes off every five seconds. This helps avoid the craziness that accompanies a regular mass start.

Gabrielle showed up and we went to the transition zone to set her up. We got there in time to watch Doug come sailing in from his first run and grab his bike.

Running man...

...turned into cycling man

After cheering Doug on, Gabrielle and I got ourselves ready and then made our way down to the water. We wanted to get some warm-up swimming in before the race. It's a good thing we did - it helped calm the pre-race jitters and helped us get our breathing sorted out before the race started. By the time we got out of the water we were ready to go.

Waiting in line for our turn to swim. 

The swim was by far my favourite part of the race. When it came my turn, I just put my head in and started. I had imagined being part of a line of swimmers and me just following along. I had hoped not to get passed. Well, no one passed me but I sure as hell passed a lot of people. Gabrielle, who started right after I did was near me the entire swim and we came out of the water one after the other. Apparently we share some sort of family swimming gene because we both swam the 400m in exactly 8 minutes and 51 seconds (3/28 in our age group and top third overall!). 

We then had to run 400+m to the transition zone. That was my first ever barefoot run and my poor shins who love supportive, orthotic-filled shoes, were not impressed. But I did the distance in just over 2 minutes which surprised me because I felt like I was gingerly making my way. 

I got to the transition zone just after Gabrielle did (she managed the run in 1:40) and she was out of there a good minute before I was (which I blame on the time spent hooking up my insulin pump and stuffing more gels into my pockets just in case).

Insulin pump re-attachment

I hopped on the bike and set off to chase her down. I had her in my sights by 5k and I had closed the 1+ minute gap to about 20 seconds by the end of the ride. Another kilometre or two and I would have had her!!

The end of the bike ride (20k in 22 minutes)

The biggest lesson I learned was during the second transition. I got in just in time to see my sister park her bike, yank off her helmet and start running. She was in and out in 55 seconds. I parked my bike, yanked off my helmet, changed from cycling to running shoes, pulled on my running hat and ran out in 2:07. That's a HUGE time difference in a race. I learned that, unless you're cycling longer distances (30+k) or cycling up a lot of hills, don't wear cycling shoes. The time I lost changing my shoes was not made up for by the time I saved wearing cycling shoes. 

I took off after her but she was out of sight and well on her way through the 2.5k. I saw her near the turnaround point and she was flying. So was I, comparatively speaking, but I was not going to catch her without a jet pack. 

Gabrielle came blazing in having finished the 2.5k run in 11:19. 

She finished with an overall time of 47:28 and placed 7th in our age group (of 28 competitors). Not bad for a jet-lagged, dehydrated, exhausted little sister eh?

I finished my 5k run in 12:31 (5:01min/k) and finished the race in 50:13 - putting me 9/28 in my age group. 

Blood sugar-wise, it went well but I learned some important lessons. I lowered my basal rate to 60% an hour and a half before because I figured the swim would not affect me much if at all but the run and bike would. I then removed my pump 30 minutes before the swim (because we had to leave the transition zone) so the pump was off for about 45 minutes (waiting patiently in my cycling shoe - thanks for that tip Jeff!). My blood sugar was 5.2 before the start and I had a pack of fruit chews and a gel right before getting into the water. I did not test during the race but I was 10.2 immediately afterward. I bolused for the finish line chocolate milk and my blood sugar an hour later was 21 and climbing. I'm guessing that spike was mostly due to my being disconnected from the pump for so long. An extra bolus took care of the high but it would have been nice not to have had it in the first place. I'll have to figure out what to do about that for next time. 

Because there will indeed be a next time. Holy bananas that was fun!! 

The proud father of two triathletes.

Other race reports: 

Doug did his 5k run / 30k ride and 5k run in 1 hour and 53 minutes. The exact same time as last year. That man is a metronome. 

Janice did her first super sprint with us and placed first in our age category with a time of 44:10. 

Klari completely bypassed the super sprint and leapt right into the sprint tri. She finished third in her age group - despite some wetsuit removal struggles that were kinda fun to watch! 

We're all coming back next year! 

Two Years in the Making

It happened more than two years ago now. It was the middle of the night. Three am so the story goes. I was fast asleep (as usual). Doug was lying beside me, drifting in and out, half listening to the radio.  NPR was quietly playing in his earbud and the voices were soft and soothing.

In between interviews and news stories, he heard a commercial. A commercial about Medtronic. A commercial about Medtronic's Global Heroes Program. 

In the morning, Doug told me about it. Apparently Medtronic has some sort of program that people with medical devices can apply to. That's all he remembered. 

So I googled it and discovered the Medtronic Global Heroes website. And I watched their promotional video. 

And I cried. 

Medtronic has a Global Heroes Program that honours runners from around the world who have medical devices used to treat medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain or spinal disorders. Twenty-five people are chosen every year and they come from around the world to run in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon or Ten Mile races. I immediately looked at how to apply but I was too late. The application process had closed for the year. So I signed up to receive a notification the following year when applications opened again. 

Ten months later, I received the email. I applied and I convinced my friend John to apply too. We thought it would be fabulous if we could both be Medtronic heroes together. We imagined ourselves crying together, running together and crossing the finish line together - he holding Michelle's hand and me holding Doug's. 

We applied and, a little while later, we both received emails. John was accepted. I was not. It was hard to be sad when I was so very excited for him. I lived the experience through his stories and photos and I felt like I was running the race with him. 

Two months ago, I applied to be a 2012 Global Hero. I asked Doug, John and Sherri (a nurse from the Niagara Diabetes Centre) to write letters of recommendation for me. They did and every single one of their letters brought me to tears. I completed my application, they submitted their letters and we all crossed our fingers. 

Medtronic sent out their emails yesterday. Over 175 people received emails thanking them for their applications. And 25 people from around the world received emails of congratulations. 

This year, I was one of the lucky ones.