Make sure if you do, you apply the duck fat! That way you will be tasty for any sea creatures that come along.
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You swam 3.5 miles today. So do that 7-10 more times (depending on the conditions of the current) and you are across.
Lots of people have done it, but probably not a lot of diabetics. Go for it, DM!
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HAHAHA! 
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the longest i have ever swam for is 2.5 hours. and, afterwards, i could hardly walk when i got home by dinnertime. 
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TOO MUCH IOB EXPERIMENT #1:
what a bummer of a swim today. when i started my prep with ZB, my BG was 152, so i pre-bolused strong, giving myself .9 units. it worked great to bring my sugars down, but when i got into the pool, i still had .4 units OB and that was really magnified by my exercise. this was a new experience for me, so i was not prepared for how many glucose tablets to take to keep my BG in a safe target range. i went from a BG of 136 down to 62 in just one hour. at 62 i decided to call it quits and i got out of the pool. then, when i got back upstairs to the locker room, i didnt bolus enough for all my missed basal insulin, and i didnt realize it until i got home. so when i bolused for my Boost Shakes, i just added on the insulin to compensate. i am so used to swimming at the same time every day, and being on ZB for the same amount of time that when i replenish my insulin, i do it automatically; i dont have to think about it, because its just second nature. live and learn.
so there’s nothing that special about my BGs today other than it was a definate learning experience. in the future, if this situation arises and i have all that IOB before i jump in the pool, i will know that i need much more glucose/carbs to keep me afloat !
here are the stats:
11am bg 152 bolused .9 units and turned off pump, then waited 2.5 hours on ZB
1:20 bg 136 with .4 IOB took no tablets, just jumped in and started swimming
1:55 bg 95 took 1.5 Gtabs and jumped back into the pool
2:25 bg 62 (with still .1 IOB) got out of pool and bolused 1.5 units (should have bolused 1.7 units, but what the heck )
after a 20 minute walk home, and realizing that i hadnt bolused enough, i bolused for my Boost shakes and added on that missed .2 units.
one thing i want to mention here is that while i am swimming in the water, i have absolutely no sense that i might be either high or low or somewhere in between. i dont know if any of you guys out there experience this similar problem while exercising. i have this,too, even when i am just rushing about the city. i dont usually feel low until i reach my 50s. but i am used to having relatively low BGs, so this would make sense to me. i know that Eric likes to run with his BGs on the cusp and feels perfectly comfortable. i can be in my 60s and not notice it at all, but when i go lower than that (or if i am just trending low) i can really feel it and it comes on very very quickly.
anyway, that was today’s experience. i hope that it helps someone out there. it was an experience that certainly helped and educated me. 
signing off,
DM
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Perspective…
++++++++++++++
I wanted to share this with everyone. I asked DM if I could share it, and she said I could.
On Tuesday she sent me a message after her swim.
She said she was disappointed, and she said “…landed higher than i would have liked to”.
Here were the numbers to which she was referring:
I asked her, “What do you mean? You landed at 97, didn’t you?”
And she replied, “…would have preferred landing between 70 and 80.”
I loved it. I was delighted to see that. She ended up at 97 and was not happy with it. It was wonderful to read that comment from her.
If you have been following this thread for almost two years, you know why that was such a wonderful comment.
DM, I hope you are never satisfied. 
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OKAY OKAY OKAY!!!
you’re right again, as usual!!! Perspective is essential. i get it!!! 
DM
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You continue to amaze!! Fabulous numbers!!
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I want to chime in on this one, DM. An aerobic exercise session where your BG ranges between 125 and 97 over a two hour period is a spectacular success from an objective point of view. Feel free to strive for any result you like, but I hope you can also revel in your obvious victory and the genuine expertise you have so clearly demonstrated.
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Thank you; it truly means a lot to me. i work so hard at it. 
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STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT MY LATEST BASAL RATES; EXPERIMENT #1:
over the past 2 months, my basal rates have climbed considerably. i noticed this when i got to Florida to visit my mother. i had to use a TB of 140% for the entire length of my stay (during which i was doing a LOT of swimming); at first i thought it was from the stress of traveling, then i thought it was b/c of daylight savings time, then i just thought that it was being around my mother 24/7 
. but once i got back home, i was still experiencing the similar problem.
well, as you might know, i keep obsessive notes each and every day regarding my BGs, what i eat, how much activity i have done, stress i might be under…etc. and, i save lists of past basal rates as references for myself. i know it may sound kooky, but it works for me (especially since the Dexcom doesnt).
well, i refered back to old, former, basal rates and realized that my current ones were rediculously low. what was the difference and why had these low rates been working for me and why werent they working any more?? easy answer: while i was sick with pneumonia, i stopped eating carbs…basically b/c i was inactive and not swimming. now that i have gotten back into my usual swim routine, i am back on heavy carbs; thus, i need MORE INSULIN ! problem solved. now, it is just a matter of basal testing (which i despise) and setting everything straight again. (also, my ICRs have changed dramatically in the morning and the evening)
so i am currently in a process of flux. i have to remember to be patient with myself during this period and not be so critical of myself (which i am very good at doing). just one day at a time. tweaking a little here, and a little there.
my swim yesterday was so bizzaar that i didnt even bother to post it. i just was hoping that today’s swim would be better, and that i would be able to navigate how much replacement insulin i would need post swim, how many Gtabs to take to keep me afloat while i was swimming, etc etc… well today was much more successful than yesterday. fingers crossed, so far so good. the goal was to use as few glucose tablets as possible, while swimming hard at the same time. i only had to take 2 tablets for the entire 90 minute swim. so i am glad for that.
here are the stats:
1:20 bg 126 took 1 tab and jumped in
1:55 bg 110 took 1 tab and jumped back in
2:25 bg 95 no more tabs and jumped right back in
3:55 bg 105 (why on earth did my BG go UP instead of remaining the same or going down? this has NEVER happened to me before. OH WELL, Diabetes is one curious creature! )
3:40 bg 70
so i guess i will find out later if my “formula” for today worked well or not. i bolused heavy to replace my 4 hours of zero basal…more than usual, and i bolused heavy for my 2 Chocolate Boost Shakes. we’ll see, and as always, i will report back on how things went.
hope you are all enjoying the Spring weather. its chilly, but lovely here in Brooklyn.
signing off,
DM
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I imagine you only test once when you test, right? Any chance, if you really think it’s unusual, it was just that the reading was a little off? I would suspect the 95… Maybe it just under-read??
Your numbers are sweet, by the way. 
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i think you’re most probably right about that. it seemed a little fishy (no pun intended )
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BG STABILITY SWIM EXPERIMENT #1:
i have noticed that i have not been seeing significant drops in my BG during my swims. i get out of the pool every 1/2 hour, as you must know by now, to test my BG, treat if necessary, and then get right back into the pool. i have also reviewed my diary logs regarding my diet, and noticed that one of the things that i have changed since i have been swimming again is that i am taking in more carbs (when i was sick with the pneumonia, i had pretty much been on a keto diet).
my swim today was unspectacular, except for the fact that i put in a lot of effort and that my numbers were stable and rather successful. i did not require ANY glucose tablets at any point during my swim today. i just trusted my numbers, my body, and the 4 hours of Zero Basal 
.
here are todays stats:
1:20 bg 130 (jumped in and swam warm-up pace)
1:55 bg 122
2:25 bg 111( began to swim harder )
2:55 bg 103
3:25 bg 106
will be back in the pool after the weekend. have a good one everybody 
signing off,
DM
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I think this was very spectacular! Not needing any gtabs is amazing. I think it was perfect!
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STARTING OUT WITH A HIGH BG EXPERIMENT #1:
my BGs were high this morning when i began prepping for my swim, so i took some of Eric’s advice and left for the pool earlier than usual so that i would have less time on a zero basal rate.
right before jumping in, my BG had climbed to 140. obviously i needed no glucose tablets. i didnt even bother with a warm up period; i just swam as hard and as fast as i could from the very first half hour stretch. when i got out to test, my BG was already coming down and still i didnt need to treat with anything. i just jumped right back in.
it was a great swim today. just really hard and really fast. my whole body burned and i know that tonight will be an Advil night and that it is entirely possible that i will not be able to walk to the kitchen without feeling like a rag doll .
here are today’s stats:
1pm bg 138
1:15 bg 140
1:50 bg 130
2:20 bg 98
2:50 bg 92
3:30 bg 65
(PS: when i started my prep this morning, my BG was 124, so i pre-bolused .6 units, which is more than usual, to hopefully avoid spiking. i also drank a large Diet Pepsi, which sometimes, lowers my BG)
signing out,
DM
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SPIKING FROM A ZERO BASAL EXPERIMENT #1:
so in the wee hours of the morning i could not get my BGs up over 59. thankfully, with the aid of many glucose tablets (4gms of carbs each) i was able to get up to 80 and have a nice breakfast (32 gms). by 11am i was ready to turn off my pump and my BG was 79. now, some people like Eric and Nicky have absolutely no problem with going out for a run with BGs this low. not me. i can not possibly bring myself to get into the pool below 100. no way, no how. so, i turn off my pump for 2.5 hours before i even get into the pool. for me, timing is essential. a lot can happen with blood sugars within the span of 15 minutes.
as i was prepping on my ZB, my BGs were stubborn and would not go up to 80. so, what did i do? i tried to help it along and take small increments of Gtabs (a half of one every 1/2 hour; which only amounts to 2gms of carbs) finally, by 1pm, i had gotten my sugars up to 114 and i was confident and ready to head out for the pool. its a very very fast 15 minute walk. as soon as i hit the locker room, i tested; BG had risen to 131 !!! wow. from 114 to 131 within just 15 minutes !!! i was ready to jump into the pool. no more help from extra carbs…just confidence and a hard, fast pace. and i mean, i swam my heart out. by the time i finished, i was walking like a rag doll 
The other night, i was crashing a couple of times about 2.5 hours post bolusing for my Boost Re-Fuel Shakes. Eric suggested to me to give myself insulin for them based upon the intensity of my work-out. i think i had over-bolused; so, today i ranked my swim a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 (for level of difficulty), so i gave myself 55% of the total carbs that i would normally need for 32gms. we’ll see how that works out. i have a sneaking suspicion that i might not have needed that much. but, i’ll know better later, and i am swimming again tomorrow, so i will have another chance to try it all over again and modify where i have to.( and i am assuming that i will still be diabetic then as well .)
here are today’s stats:
1pm bg 114
1:15 bg 131 (my spike)
1:55 bg 117 (swam like a maniac)
2:25 bg 91
2:55 bg 83 (bolused 2.5 units to replenish 4 hours of ZB)
3:35 bg 80 (bolused 1.8 units/55% for 32 gms of carbs)
i feel wonderful. hoping that tonight goes well. and, importantly, really looking forward to tomorrow’s swim! carbing up tonight at dinner and pre-bedtime snack.
signing out,
DM
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Sounds great! Those extra carbs before you started, they kept you afloat.
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turns out i over-bolused. went low 2 hours after finishing my shakes. tomorrow i will just bolus less. maybe i dont even need as much basal replacement as i’ve been thinking that i do???
any thoughts?
DM
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Let me turn that around a bit. You did not over-bolus. You under-carbed.
Do you know what is better than taking less insulin when you finish? Taking more carbs!
Even if I finish at 50, I still take insulin so that I can take a lot of carbs.
I’d suggest increasing the carbs instead of decreasing the bolus. That will help prevent the nighttime drops.
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