I was going to ask you about this…about whether you rate your workouts in order to determine what your post-workout needs might be. I’ve read a lot of your thread, but I don’t remember specifically any mention of RPE, which is how Eric got me to evaluate my runs. I ask because once I started categorizing them, I had a better idea what I would need later. The higher the RPE, the lower the amount of insulin I’ll need following the run—in either basal or food boluses. Is that what you’re doing with your 1-10 scale??
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Eric just laid this out for me the day before yesterday. but it is something that i did discuss with my endo last year b/c i realized that my dinner meals needed less insulin (ICR) on swim days than on non-swim days. now i am noticing that i am VERY insulin sensitive after my swims.
tomorrow, after my swim, iu will not be giving myself quite as much insulin as i did these past two days. although today, once i started dropping, i ate more. (One of Eric’s favorite things to do: EAT CARBS 
.)
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you sound like my mother: “Eat, eat,eat…!!! You’re too thin…” Oy Vay!!!
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I am learning to do small doses of insulin after my runs. Including the ones I do upon finishing. I used to do a bigger bolus as soon as I was done to make up for missed basal, but I’m also insulin sensitive after my workouts. I turn my basal back on now before the workout is done, usually start working back in some small boluses before finishing, and then kind of go by feel after that. If I finished at 70 and am back up to 90 within a few minutes, I’ll add half unit. But I’m refraining from giving myself any big boluses as they seem to be more than I can handle sometimes.
I hate to say it, but I think he’s right about the carbs, too. It’s not necessarily intuitive… to add more carbs after a workout. Or at least it isn’t for me. I’ve had to adjust some of my old thinking, but I’m getting into it. 
I don’t feel bad about having crackers with my soup or an extra yogurt. The way he explained it to me was that my body is going to get it one way or the other. I can do it up front on my own terms, or I can do it in the middle of the night when I’m crashing. Between a small basal reduction, small boluses, and extra carbs, my overnights have been great. Now if I could stop telling myself I need the cookie. And just back away from the cookie. 
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i hear about this technique often. unfortunately, i am in the water without my pump on, so this wouldnt exactly work for me. 
bummer.
i have no problem eating more, but i do get full from my re-fueling shakes. my work-out is done close to my dinner time, so if i over-due it with the pre-dinner food, then i dont enjoy my dinner. my re-fuel is always the same: 2 Boost Carb/Protein Shakes. (32 gms of each) okay, sometimes i add cheese and nuts, but i really want to just feel satisfied, not stuffed.
Hey Guys, particularly Eric,
i have been spending my entire evening eating, and eating, and eating. thank God for great chococlate 
i just hope it doesnt all decide to pile up at once and bite me in the tushy at 1am.
(of course, if it does, i will be prepared with an IM shot of insulin waiting bedside)
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Now why would you hate to say I am right?
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I often need to increase nighttime basal when I have eaten a bunch.
Do you remember our night in Brooklyn?!? I bumped my nighttime basal up to cover all of that.
I think the idea that basal has nothing to do with meals is wrong.
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i wish that i had done this. at 11:45 my BG spiked to 175…but i did a quick correction and within an hour, all was well again (91). and for the remainder of the night my BG was in the 80s.
and i just started prepping for my swim. my BG was 80, and i am now on ZB and i pre-bolused .4 untis to hold off a spike. hoping all will be well. i still get so nervous, even when i know it will always work out.
you’d think that by now i would be able to stay calm and roll with it. oh well. i am who i am 
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Your swim will be great. Just enjoy it. Everything will work out.
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2 hours of ZB and about to leave for the pool. my BG is 107.
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SCARY BUT COURAGEOUS SWIMMING EXPERIMENT #1
as was with my swim prep yesterday, my BGs were stubbornly low when i began my prep with ZB (80).
so i ended up taking 1/2 a glucose tablet after an hour in on no basal. i stayed low until i got to the pool.
when i was getting ready to start swimming, my BG had come up to 127, so i thought nothing of it and just decided to jump into the pool and swim my heart out. no extra carbs necessary. but, after 1/2 an hour when i got out to test, i had crashed down to 80. in my panic, i took 2 gtabs, waited 15 minutes, re-tested (87), and then jumped back into the pool again. i got out in another 15 minutes, re-tested, my BG was 87, so i knew that i had plateaued and just jumped back in with confidence and swam my heart out for the last 1/4 hour. but, when i got out, and i re-tested (again), my BG had come up to 98. i considered jumping back into the pool for another 1/2 hour, but i was so darn frustrated, that i decided to call it a day, and spent way too much time in my head thinking that i should have only taken 1 tablet instead of 2 and that now i would probably spike.
this experience was entirely new to me. when i crashed, part of me thought, “oh well, forget the rest of your swim. just get out and call it a day.” but i REALLY wanted to have a good pre-weekend swim. i didnt want to bag it just because i went low. i thought to myself, “What would Eric do in this situation?” and of course the answer was simple: Eric would have some carbs and continue on his run. so why not me? i’ll do the same. i was scared, but i wanted to see what would happen. i practiced a little patience, a little courage, and a little daring. it all worked out in the end, so rest assured. it was just something new, and i had to navigate my way around it. i relied upon my past experience, my gut, and (Eric’s favorite) THE FORCE.
so here is the breakdown:
my stats:
1pm bg 97 (2 hours of ZB; walk to pool)
1:25 bg 127 jump in
1:55 bg 80 (took 2 glucose tablets and waited 15 minutes)
2:30 bg 87
2:55 bg 98 (got out and bolused 2.5 units ASAP )
3:20 bolused 1.6 units for my Shakes (50% of total carbs)
3:35 bg 102 ( i did not spike, so i drank my shakes)
its 4pm now, and i just finished drinking my shakes. i dont know what tonight will bring, but i know i will be able to deal with it. BG too high? take insulin. BG too low? take carbs. Cool beans. Phew!!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!! Until next time,
signing off,
DM
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Wow, still great numbers. Yes, how many times do we second guess ourselves? I know I do countlessly. Usually those end in disaster, too. I’ve often arrived at the Preserve, ready to reduce the basal for a long run, then suddenly I get a spike. So I decide not to reduce, big mistake. More often than not, it is best to keep with plan.
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if i spike very high, not according to plan, i will quickly correct; but if i spike later on in my prep and am still under 200, i know swimming will burn it off, so i just let it ride. not happily, but i will. also, i could leave to work out earlier, still having some IOB. i understand you liking “sticking to plan,” but i know for myself, that i must be willing to modify the program one way or another.
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POST SWIMMING EXPERIMENT #1:
just an update regarding what happened yesterday evening after my swim: i never spiked and i never crashed. i remained in my target range throughout the evening as well as overnight. (70- 95) i did however adjust my dinnertime ICR to deliver LESS insulin, from 1:12 to 1:14 . this landed me softly post dinner at 63 (which, although a little bit low, not bad at all.)
so looking back at my BGs from my swim yesterday, I think that THE FORCE was definitely on my side. i made some good, on the spot adjustments, and i will remember this for the next time this happens (although i hope that it doesnt 
).
its sunny and beautiful here in Brooklyn today. we are going to a big “mob” type of wedding this evening and there will be an abundance of food. i am preparing ahead of time just thinking about Eric’s “double bolus” trick. exciting, and, of course, yummy. 
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Under normal circumstances, a 47 point drop like that in only 30 minutes while exercising could be troubling. But with no IOB and 2 hours of ZB, it really isn’t the same kind of drop. 2 gtabs got you back. That’s really very little compared to what you might normally need without the ZB.
You ended it all perfectly, so that looks like a great day! Congrats!
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Take a bunch of insulin right when the food comes out and just eat your way through it all night! 
Have fun!
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A DIFFERENT TYPE OF EXPERIMENT #1:
so i was prepping for my swim this morning, and i had turned off my basal for 2 hours, but couldnt get my BG above 83. instead of waiting till i got to the pool to dose up on carbs before my swim, i thought i would try something different. i took 4gms of carbs BEFORE leaving for the pool. now remember, 4 gms may not seem like much at all, but i was on ZB for 2 hours without any IOB.
well, when i got to the pool, just 20 minutes later, my BG had climbed to 140 ! now that may seem outrageous, but i anticipated it…or at the least, something close to it. well, now with a BG of 140, i felt TOTALLY comfortable jumping in the pool without the help of any more carbs. i swam for a solid 90 minutes without taking any additional carbs, and it was a great, strong, and confident swim. i knew i wouldnt crash, and i knew that my BGs would come down and that i would land gently; and thats exactly what happened. how great is that !!! 
here are today’s stats:
12:30 bg 83 (took 1 glucose tablet; 4gms of carbs)
1pm bg 126
1:25 bg 140 (jumped into the pool)
1:55 bg 125
2:25 bg 108
2:55 bg 98
3:35 bg 85
and i will be back in the pool on thursday and friday. now i know a new trick if i should ever be low again before my swim.
singing out,
DM
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Yes, those carbs when you are on a ZB are extremely amplified. I have had to learn that I don’t want to take any carbs until right when I start, because if my start gets delayed, I always spike.
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i get it now. but at least i ended nicely. phew. 