I just opened this up to tell you about my run this evening and saw that line… so I forgot to check. I would’ve been happy to have checked if I had remembered. Tomorrow… I’ll try to remember tomorrow.
I hope this isn’t oversharing, but I figured I’d tell you about this evening in case there’s any useful information in it. This is not to replace Monday’s call to the cardiologist. I’ll take care of that as promised. I went out tonight kind of afraid of a lot of things… among them that I have oversold what I can do and that I have underestimated the challenges. These are hard thoughts, and they made me want to test it. I don’t mean that in the immature way it just came out… but in the kind of way that I just needed to know… I guess the overriding question was can I? or can I not?
So what I got from today was some numbers that make me think that it might not be easy but that there’s certainly enough to pin some hopes on. My heart rate today, again, true to form, jumped to about a 162 from the get go, and that was on a flat. It increased to mid-170s at the bottom of the first incline and maxed out at a 187 during that hill. It turns out that hill is almost a mile and a half long and is followed by mostly uphill clips for another mile. I ran the full 2.5 miles, averaging, according to Runkeeper, 8:46 a mile. It doesn’t shine, but I’ll take it. I had to walk .2 miles at the 2.5 mile mark because of the beginning of the pinching, and my right foot was numb something awful, which started near the beginning. I picked up the run again and finished the 3 miles in under 27 minutes. Did a dance at the stop light… because a victory is a victory no matter how small… and then continued to run for MOST of the next 15 minutes. I did do some walking in there, too. I ended up having done a total of 6.1 miles, 4.5 of which, cumulatively, I ran. Much of the run back ranged in heart rate from 169 to 180… and the majority of it was downhill.
I left at a BG of a 114 and returned at a 64. Didn’t take anything on the run. I totaled up 2 hrs 20 minutes total of a suspend and bolused for 50% of it and then ate a banana and gave myself insulin to cover 20g of carbs. I went from a 64 to a 160ish in a matter of 10 minutes so I jumped on my trampoline for 5 and then immediately crashed. I have had a tough time steadying things out since returning home.
That’s it. That’s a lot. There is pain tonight, but that doesn’t surprise me as I knew I was pushing it. Anyway, it’s nothing a Tylenol can’t take care of, and hopefully it’ll be gone by tomorrow. So this is just information. If you can use it, great, but there’s no pressure to respond to any of it if there’s nothing to say…
That sounds awesome! Nothing wrong with that. Uphill is hard. You can do that on a flat course much faster, so this sounds like you are doing great.
Doesn’t sound like you oversold at all.
The only way you ever answer that question is by trying.
That spike to 160 is no big deal, since you dropped right after. A little longer pre-bolus time would help reduce that spike. And that drop is okay because it means more carbs, and more fuel for the next day.
But I’d like you to try a little more than 20 grams. Can you do 40g ?
All-in-all, sounds like a great day.
Occasionally we need to get you on flat ground for some runs at pace. Your legs need to feel what different paces are like, and you can’t do that when you are always going uphill.
That put me in a perma-grin last night. Ear to ear. Thanks.
So I ended up getting all of the carbs in my pantry last night… around 3 am. I’m going for an earlier run today so will hopefully have more of the evening to try to get a hold of it, but I would like a little help in finding a strategy so I don’t do that again… or at least not right away.
I returned from the run last night at a 64, I think. I did the 50% for the missed basal and insulin for 20 grams of carbs and then ate the banana right away. I felt low so I went ahead and had the banana… but you’re saying I should make myself wait out a pre-bolus? I don’t think I was plummeting so I probably could have made myself wait.
Anyway, I ate the banana at the same time as doing all of that insulin and then was spiking within 10 minutes, as I described before. BECAUSE I had all of that suspend behind me, I wasn’t sure it was purely a spike from the banana or if it weren’t more of a “combination” spike. And because I didn’t know, I got nervous and jumped just the 5 minutes. I’ve told you before though that even 3 minutes on fresh insulin is powerful stuff for me, and I started to plummet within maybe 15 minutes of that. Which put me at a low and dropping blood sugar with a boat load of insulin on board. I managed to make some kind of good decision and go with applesauce or something. It held for 30 minutes or so and then I began to go low again… Third low’s a charm, and I ended up going for the chips. This is always a bad decision. I told myself I could have a serving, but carb-lust took ahold, and 4 servings later I was doing more insulin. At this point, i was just over tired, fed up with myself… blah blah blah… turned upside down any way you cut it. I went to bed with lots of insulin and woke up with a nasty low.
Beyond the bad decisions that spawned from earlier good intentions, is there something you can see that I can change this evening? Should I have some sugar tabs before finishing the workout? And if I do have the 40g of carbs, should I have it all at once? Do I dose for all of it? Is there a way to break it up?
I think it’s a little bit of “pay me now, or pay me later…”.
If you have more right when you finish, that will help you stave off the lows later. Having more right when you finish can reduce the chances of needing stuff at 3am.
I’d like you to try 40 grams when you finish.
And you can also reduce your basal a bit before you go to bed. Nothing crazy, but maybe go down to 80%.
All of these things just depend. Nothing set in stone, where you have a definite formula you always follow. I am saying that if you see a trend of spiking immediately after, maybe waiting an extra 10 minutes can help reduce that spike.
The longer you have with no basal while running, the more aggressive you need to be on the bolus when you finish.
Think about driving home from someplace. You can’t use a formula. Every traffic light - do you go on orange or stop? It just depends on hundreds of circumstances.
So use all of the stuff. Longer pre-bolus reduces spike, but increases chances of a plummet. Longer zero basal requires more insulin to recover. Harder and longer runs mean less basal at night.
Are you running before dinner? I think the best plan is 40g right when you finish (or within 10-20 minutes, depending on BG), followed by a healthy and somewhat carb-centric dinner. Nothing crazy, just maybe 50-65% of the calories coming from carbs.
Ideally dinner should be about 1 hour after you finish. That way you can aggressively bolus for the 40g of carbs post-run, and if you are going low, no big deal because you have dinner next.
This, I know. What I’m trying to do here is get organized and follow whatever is being suggested in order to find some things that DO work. If that makes sense. The Zero Basal… this has been a big hit. It’s not that it does the same thing every time, but so far it has meant at least 35 minutes of a workout before needing anything… and I think it consistently has been even longer than that. Since I have learned what it should do in theory, I’m learning how to tweak it to fit my present needs.
Because of the heat, I’ve done all of my running at night for the last week. I used to avoid exercise at night because of late crashes. I completely forgot about that this week and went out for 8pm runs. The last 2 nights have been complete yo-yo cluster ducks. Today was beautiful, and I got out at 3:30 in the afternoon. I ended up leaving a little higher in blood sugar, walked out the door at a 164, and returned at a 102. This time, because I was not low when I got home, it was easy to pre-bolus and wait the 15 minutes for the banana. I did do a little jump later when I started to rise (but this was at a 112), and that helped me keep everything in check. TODAY was great. The run went even better. It’s way past bedtime, and I’ve been sitting at an even 80 for hours. Thinking about a peach…
Anyway. Will call my cardiologist tomorrow to see if I can’t get in sooner than later to get information and clearance. Since running is still running, I’m just doing that until I get an all around go-ahead…
So I know we’re not talking about anything formally or officially until I see the cardiologist, but I wanted to let you know that I did run 35 minutes today for my “easy” run. It turns out “easy” might be as hard to accomplish as “hard” because seem to have only one pace and always end up at it. I had a hard time keeping myself at the 9-10 minute mile range. And not in a good way, but in a way where I couldn’t NOT push myself, turning an “easy” run into something harder. I recognize this is something I need to learn in order to train properly. Hopefully a treadmill will help me with my pace. Oh, and I also want you to know I didn’t do anything outside of what I would normally have done today and won’t do any of the heavier stuff until i’ve been cleared.
I’ll also be more specific with the information you’ve asked for at that time, but for now I’ll just say my numbers were great all day, held for 40 minutes of the workout, and have been sweet since. Terrible numbness in feet and legs, but I get the first nerve block on Friday.
Okay… no, I couldn’t get myself to slow down to a 9-10, and I’m not proud. I don’t know how much of it was because I haven’t considered my pace in years and just no longer know what a 9-10 feels like, or if it’s because all runs end up at the same pace from being hard-headed, but the end result is today’s run was not truly an “easy” run. Are you following? I don’t need you to slow down the pace. I need ME to slow down the pace. I THINK getting back on the treadmill and setting a pace and sticking to it will help me learn what they feel like again… maybe.
I left at a BG of about a 120 and returned at a 50. I had 2 tablets with about 20 minutes and 10 minutes remaining. I did have some terrible numbness today, but I think it was exasperated by the low. My feet, legs, and abdomen were numb today, and that’s unusual. Again, my neuro knows about this… and endo… and they both say exercise is fine.
I pre-bolused for a banana and waited 20 minutes to have it. I also scaled back the dose for the missed basal from 50% to probably 35%. That worked out really well, and I STILL got to eat my dinner salad for free. I’m also keeping track of my nutrition stuff, by the way, and will send over a couple of days’ worth later this week. I’m eating well and enjoying a little extra fruit.
I ran for a total of 32 minutes today and got almost 3.9 miles. If I’ve calculated correctly, that’ wasn’t quite following the workout, but I’m aware and am going to keep it in mind.
100 grams of CARBS??? Didn’t think of it that way… okay.
About today’s run. I might be able to get to a track. I might not be able to get to a track. I won’t know until I’m there… or haven’t made it. IF I can’t get to a track, can I use something like Runkeeper to do the workout out on the road? It would be hills… lots and lots of them. But I could try to adjust somehow? Got notification of shipment on the treadmill 2 days ago, but they still haven’t called to give us a time. Which means it’s not gonna be available today.
More accurately, what you did used calories, which are a measure of energy, not carbs.
But since a) calories are not as well known a unit of measure as carbs for diabetics, and since b) carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, I just put it into a carb-equivalent for you. To make it easy to grasp the measure of you work.
Assuming you did not use fat-metabolism (meaning it was probably mostly muscle glycogen because of the intensity), and assuming you did not break-down your muscle fiber to fuel your workout, you can equate it to about 100 grams of carbs that was used.
Calories is the more correct term, but carbs is just easier to grasp, that’s all. Does that make sense?
You need to try and find a flat place that is at least a quarter mile long. Today is a speed workout, and if you are running uphill, you won’t be able to generate the speed.
If you absolutely can’t find a track or flat area, run uphill for a quarter mile, and then jog back down. Work the uphills, not the downhills. Don’t follow the same paces I gave you, just go with RPE of about 7-8.
Found a way to get to a track… at my teenage son’s soccer practice… to his horror and dismay. I told him I’ll try to keep a low profile but actually plan to wave and call his name every time I pass.
Just kidding. I’m not expecting to be able to speak loud enough or lift an arm beyond round one. Or interval one… if we’re trying to talk like runners.
Which I understand to be “dumbing down” and will allow AT THIS POINT. But only because i’ve been too busy to sort out all of the calorie stuff for myself and appreciate not having to.
Right? You read my mind…
Again, I’m going to allow this for now… and then once I have it all figured out am going to make you suffer with LONG painful posts of the meanderings of my mind on the topic. Yes, it makes sense… I should have cake tonight to make up for lost carbs. Got it.
Is it still training if I listen to music while doing this? It wasn’t an option the last time I did interval training… people were still carrying boom boxes…
This thread has been interesting, so thanks for sharing all the details.
But what comes to mind to me is:
Albert Einstein is broadly credited with exclaiming “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.
When diabetes, insulin, carbs and exercise are involved, doing the same thing over and over, with minor tweaks and experimentation is certainly the way to go.
I kind of think it’s fair to say, putting a diabetic spin on it, that doing the same things over and over again (food, insulin, exercise, etc) and expecting the SAME results is the definition of insanity.
It’s midnight, and I have to report on my run, but my IPAD died, and my thumbs can’t take this kind of workload. And I would hate for amount of detail to suffer, as I know you would, too, so i will wait until tomorrow to fill you in.
In short, I thought I was going to die. But more on that tomorrow.
Oh, yes. I was thanking you in my head each of the 86 times around the track. But that’s okay because it will give me time tomorrow, with my inability to walk, to tell you all about it.
