May Goal Update

I'm liking this monthly goal update thing. It keeps me accountable and I get excited when I am able to report progress.

In January I announced my goals for the year:


- log 1000km of running this year
- run the Tel Aviv half marathon
- complete three triathlons, including one Olympic distance
- stay injury free
- pay down debt

Then, as winter turned into spring, I had to make a few adjustments to my goal list due to injury.

My new goal list, as of April, is as follows:

- complete three triathlons, including an Olympic distance
- pay down debt
- log 1000k of running this year
- complete two events in the Activ Swim Series this summer
- play 10 round of golf

- play the baby steps golf course until I can do it in 50 rather than 61.

Drum roll please...

Complete three triathlons, including an Olympic distance. Well, I'm in the early days of my return to running after my second stress fracture program so I don't want to get to far ahead of myself but I think it's still possible. If there are no setbacks, I should be running the 10k distance I need mere days before the Olympic triathlon in July. I'm a little worried that I won't have had a smaller distance tri first to get into the swing of things but c'est la vie. And, if I'm in good enough shape to do that race, I'll be signing up for two more sprint distance triathlons later in the summer. So this goal is still very much on the table.

Pay down debt. I continue to cut corners and limit spending as much as possible and I continue to see my debt slowly but surely decrease. I managed knock another $400 off the pile in May and not add a single penny to my credit card. That's pretty exciting. I need to make a large insulin pump supply order in June but I'm waiting for my quarterly cheque to come in so that I can charge the order to my credit card and immediately pay it off. My goal for June is $500 towards the debt and no credit card purchases other than pump supplies.

Log 1000k of running this year. I was on track in the first three months of the year but April was stress fracture month and I didn't run 100m let alone 100k. I started my return to running program last week and can proudly add 20k (does walk/run count?) to my total. I've gone from 258k to 278k. Not much but more than I could add a few weeks ago so I'll take it. The goal still stands because, if the healing goes well and I can plan for a fall half marathon, there might still be hope. I solemnly swear not to work on this goal if it puts me at risk of re-injury.

Complete two events in the Activ Swim Series this summer. I mentioned this series in April. It's new this year and put on by a local triathlon store. They are organizing weekly open water swims for half-ironman and ironman distances (1.9k and 3.8k respectively). I thought it might be fun to try the distances out and see how they go. The spring in Canada has been on the cool side so there is no open water swimming yet for me as I do not own a wetsuit. Another two weeks I hope and I can test my mettle in the Welland Canal. I'll start with the 1.9k and then, when I'm feeling braver, try the 3.8k.

Play ten rounds of golf. Well, one down and nine more to go. I have three golf lessons under my belt and about 8 (I forgot to keep count) trips to the driving range. I need to book golf games but I'm so focused on getting better that I prefer to spend my time on the range. I guess a balance of both is probably a good idea. By the end of June I'd like to have played two games at least. And a shout out to my friend Erin who said she wants to brave a golf game with me. Just waiting to book the date...


Play the baby steps golf course until I can do it in 50 rather than 61. My first golf game was at, what I nicknamed, the baby steps golf course. Only nine holes and all of them a par three. My first time there I played rather poorly for a golfer but not to shabbily for a newbie and scored a 61. My goal is to play it 9 more times this summer and get that score down to a 50. Since I've only played it once so far, I have nothing to report. Ask me at the end of June.

Speaking of which, come back in a month for the next goal update.

Snowbirds

Yesterday was rather busy at work. I got home late and was home for about 12 minutes before Doug and I hopped in the car and headed out again. So I didn't have time to blog very much when it was all said and done.

But I can show you what we hopped in the car to go see.

The famous Canadian Snowbirds were flying over Niagara Falls last night. The sky was blue. The weather was lovely. How could we not head over there, cameras in hand, to try our luck at aerial photography?

Scaling Back

The first time I had to take 8 weeks off of running for a stress fracture I lost ten pounds.

I admit that I was worried because I knew I would not be running, or cycling, and I had not yet discovered swimming. Basically I was not going to be doing very much of anything for two months. That is a pretty dramatic drop after the marathon training I had been doing.

I figured I would have to carefully watch the scale and watch what I ate to make sure I didn't gain a pile of weight.

That's why it was so crazy when the pounds started falling off, without any effort on my part. I never lost a pound in the years I ran and, suddenly, it's dropping off and I'm buying new jeans.

I chocked it up to:
- starting to swim which was a different kind of exercise and
- decreasing my calories since I wasn't eating to fuel my running and fend off post-run lows

When I went back to running I then wondered if the weight would come back on again. It didn't. I stayed stable at my new weight for a year and a half with no effort on my part.

The second time I had to take 8 weeks off of running for a stress fracture I gained four pounds.

Yikes!

I actually thought I might lose weight again because I replaced my running with three days of cycling which is not a typical activity for me. Also, cycling doesn't typically cause lows so I don't eat any more than I normally do in the mornings despite working out for an hour. I have the same breakfast I always do, go to work, and eat the same amount of food throughout the day. Increased exercise and no increase in calories should equal weight loss non?

I figured I'd either stay in my steady state or drop a pound or two.

Imagine my surprise when, in the last few weeks, the scale has started creeping back up.

Four pounds isn't horrible by any means but it's enough to notice that my clothes feel a little tighter.

I don't like it.

I don't understand it.

I'm not sure how to fix it.

Here's hoping that being back running again is enough to knock it back down. If not, I'll have to take a close look at what I've been eating to see if portion sizes have crept up or snacking has increased. I don't think I've changed my diet and my insulin usage is pretty stable, if a bit lower than it was when I ran.

I don't know yet what needs to happen but I do know that it's a hell of a lot easier to deal with a four pound weight gain than a ten pound one. So I'm on it.

I Must Admit

Well, I must admit that it is nice to be outside again. 

My swims are, for the moment anyway, indoors. The air at the pool is a bit, um, lacking in the fresh department. Unless you're one of the people who find the smell of chlorine fresh...

My morning cycling routine on the trainer takes place in our basement. I have the fan blowing so there is air movement but, again, it's not particularly fresh.

Now that I'm working my way back to running form, I get to tie on my running shoes and head OUTSIDE!!

I smell lilacs, lily of the valley and mulch. After a rain, I smell fresh dirt and worms. Freshly mown grass and barbecuing. It's a wonderful wonderful thing.

Well, I must admit that it is nice to be able to stretch on my back deck again. 

From fall to spring, I do my stretching and icing routine on the living room floor. Often with a coffee beside me. The radio is usually on, unless it's Sunday morning, and then Sunday Morning is on. It's nice.

From spring to fall, as soon as the sun is warm enough, I bring my mat and muscle relaxing paraphernalia out to the back deck. I find myself a sunbeam and I bask while I stretch. It's really really lovely.

Well, I must admit that it is nice to hang up my coat and tuck my pants to the back of the drawer. 

Living in Canada means that, from one extreme to another, we have a range of 60 degrees of temperature that we rotate through. We can go from minus 30 in the winter to plus 30 in the summer.

I love the extremes as well as the middle. I rejoice when it starts to get colder because I much prefer to be cold than hot. But I also dislike the amount of clothing I need to pull on when I run in the winter time.

As winter changes to spring and then summer, the removal of layers and the transition from pants to shorts and jackets to tanks is cause for celebration. It's celebration time!

Well, I must admit that it's nice to: 
- have breakfast and dinner on the back porch
- come home to a glass of wine and a plate of crackers and cheese waiting for me on the deck
- spend the weekend puttering in the garden, washing windows, and riding around Niagara
- sleep with the windows open
- head to the driving range after dinner to practice my swing
- bring out the arsenal of summer salads and barbecue recipes

I must admit that it's nice, and really important, to always be grateful for the little things. 

Medical Report

I went to see my sports injury doctor on Friday.

I felt kinda sheepish since my injury feels pretty much gone but he told me not to worry. Nature takes its course while we wait for appointments he said. It's still good to come.

I explained the situation. I told him that I ran a half marathon on March 15th and felt no pain. I told him that I then spent ten days in Israel with my sister, walking all over the place for hours and hours every day.

I told him that my foot started hurting and hurt more and more every day. By the end of the trip I could hardly walk.

"Well we both know what that is right?" he asked. "A stress fracture".

I told him I had figured as much and that I haven't run in 8 weeks. In fact I had avoided doing pretty much anything that put weight on my foot for 8 weeks. He approved.

He told me to ease back into running to see what happened.

"This is my second stress fracture in two years" I said. Both happened during pretty intense periods of weight-bearing activity (marathon training and all day walking). "Should I be worried?"

"Well" he replied, "that might be a sign that there is a bone density issue". "Is there osteoporosis in your family?"

Yes, there is. My grandmother and my mother have it.

He suggested I contact my family doctor and ask for a bone density test. I'm a bit young for one but two stress fractures is a red flag apparently.

So I called my doctor and I'm seeing her this Friday. Hopefully she sends me for the test. If not, my sports injury doc told me to call him and that he would send me.

He also told me to get new orthotics since it has been 1 1/2 years since I got my first pair. My feet, as I am well aware, are not designed for running. I am pretty flat-footed and my feet flop flop flop when I run. Calcium issues or not, that doesn't help and contributes to shin splints, tight calves and plantar fasciitis which are always threatening to flare up again.

When I got home, I pulled out my Vega protein powder and my multivitamin to check the calcium. Between those two things and my soy milk and yogurt in the morning, I get a bit more calcium than a healthy woman my age should be getting. But I did a bit of online reading on the weekend and what I found seems to say that people with type 1 have difficulty absorbing calcium. So perhaps I am deficient?

Guess we'll find out soon enough won't we?

Early Days

I started my return to running program three days before my 8 weeks were up.

Don't tell anyone!

I just couldn't help myself and, I rationalized, I have an appointment with a sports injury doctor this morning and I wanted to be able to report how things were feeling. So I figured I had better get two days of the return to running program under my belt before I saw him...

So I walked for thirty minutes on Wednesday after work. I walked around and around our neighbourhood. Never going too far from home in case my foot started to hurt.

Despite a brisk pace and more pounding that it has had in months, there wasn't a twitch of pain or discomfort.

Last night I came home from work, changed into my shorts and running shirt and headed out with my Garmin on my wrist. The routine felt nauseatingly familiar. It is one I did 1 1/2 years ago when I was recovering from my first stress fracture that sidelined my marathon plans. I remember that first run well. I had to walk for nine minutes and then run for one. I remember those nine minutes going by much too quickly and being so desperately afraid of running for one minute. I was terrified of feeling pain and being sidelined for another few weeks.

A year and a half ago, I did not feel any pain when I ran that first minute. I did, however, feel desperately out of breath and was shocked at how hard it was to run for one minute. Depressing considering I had been running for three hours before I was injured.

Anyway, I have learned and grown since that time. This time, during my 7 1/2 weeks off running, I cycled and swam hard for to keep my fitness level where it should be. I knew what to expect. I knew what to do.

Still though, as I turned the corner last night and saw 8:45 on my Garmin, I couldn't quite believe I was walking down the same road, preparing to run down that same road, hoping that that same road would not cause me any pain.

At exactly 9:00 I ran. I ran for a minute. I ran at a 7:00min/k easy pace.

I didn't pant. I didn't struggle. I felt no pain. At all.

I repeated this routine twice more, walking for nine minutes and then running for one, for a total of 30 minutes. Nothing to report other than it feels pretty damn good to run again.

Today is a day off and then, on Saturday, I walk 8 minutes and run for 2 (three times) and on Sunday I walk for 7 minutes and run for 3 (three times).

These are early days yet but I am cautiously optimistic and enormously relieved that I have not felt any pain.

I'll let you know next week how the recovery is going. I'm trying not to think to far and not get ahead of myself but, if everything goes perfectly well, I'll be back up to the distance I need right on time for the Gravenhurst Olympic triathlon in July. If there is even a week setback, I won't be running the distance I need to compete.

So I'm thinking about it but trying not to thing about it.

Know what I mean?

To Basal Test or Not To Basal Test?

How many of you out there do basal testing? 

Raise your hand. 

(I'm staring hard into the little camera on my laptop but I can't see any hands up in cyberspace.) 

I've never really done it before. Not in a serious, official, follow the book kinda sense. 

Oh, sorry folks, I should probably explain. Basal testing, for those of you whose aren't pumping, means that you test your blood sugar frequently over a certain period of the day (say from 6am until 6pm) to see if it remains stable. If it is stable, that means that your basal rates are correct. If it goes up or down by any great degree, your basal rates are off. The kicker is that you can't have any carbs during that time period so your meals would look a lot like the Atkins diet. 

My kind of basal testing goes sorta like this: 

5pm - early dinner. 

9:30pm - blood sugar check. It's at a good number (say 6.5). 

Go to bed. 

Get up to pee around 3am. Check blood sugar. It's 6.2. Cross my fingers that basal rates are good and don't eat anything. 

Wake up at 5:15am. Check blood sugar. It's 6.5. Yay, nighttime basal rates are good. 

Yesterday I ate lunch at noon. At 3pm I checked my blood sugar. It was 5.9. At 4pm I checked again. It was still 5.9. I checked again at 5:30pm. It was 4.3. 

My basal rate might be a tiny bit high but then it was dinner time and I had a greek pasta salad and bread so that pretty much ended the testing. 

So I go back to my original question. How many of you deliberately test your basal rates? 

I understand the logic behind doing it. I understand the value of doing it. (I understand that having a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) would help. I'm anxiously awaiting news that Dexcom has arrived in Canada.) I like to exercise every morning and then compensate for the different exercises by adjusting my breakfast bolus. I like my 40 carb super yummy breakfast shake. Oh, and I don't fancy waking up every hour in the night to test. 

But I will if it's worth the bother. 

Is it worth the bother? 

And, if yes, tell me how you do it, what you eat and any other things that might be helpful to know (like how much variation in blood sugar levels is acceptable and how much warrants a basal change? or how many days in a row would you test before making a change?). 

Oh, and thanks!