Got it. I was afraid it wasn’t going to happen tonight, but I got it.
1/2 mile warm up at 6.5
3 sets of 1 mile @7.8 then 1/2 mile @ 6.0
1/2 mile cool down
Not great on the flat BG for start of the run. It looked kinda like or and not like or .
Sorry. I know you do not think this is funny.
Anyway, I was riding the roller coaster trying to get it right before the run, but that was because we’ve been running around all day. I managed to start at 138 and end at 99 though with only one GU thing and 4 “energy beans” which are, I believe, just over-priced jellybeans. RPE was about 7.5-8 throughout most of it. I’m telling you it is HARD for me to just hold a steady pace. It takes a certain kind of mental energy that I don’t need when I’m changing it up. I did hold good form all the way through, hip felt great, and I held a cadence of 200. That was those energy beans.
I’m off to pretend like I’m up for a party before sneaking off to bed at 11. Happy New Year to any FUD family still hanging around here tonight.
I’m not good for a serious and thorough report of my run today. I’m running on fumes. But I’d still like to get it in before falling asleep…
I 40 minutes. 4.72 miles. RPE like 7… I was working today even though I think I remembered you filing today under “easy”. Ummmm… started a little high, too—- 188. I forgot to cut back my basal— forgot I could cut back my basal— and ended up overcompensating before heading out. Had a few “energy beans” almost 2 miles in out of concern I was going to crash and burn, but my Libre’s report of a steady climb from that 163 makes me think I may have done that without good cause. That and my ending BG of 216.
Overkill. It was my son’s birthday today though, and if I were the excuse-making kind, I might throw out the difficulty in needing to take the opportunity when it arises rather than being able to take the run when planned. In reality, that’s also the essence of life with diabetes, and I’m learning.
You know what I don’t worry about getting right? My rest day.
Yes, today is supposed to be easy. Note the pace range I gave you:
If an easy day feels like a 7, you need to slow it down bigtime. Easy days should feel like a 4. You ran this on the fastest end of the pace range. Next time slow it down, okay?
The important thing is that you got it done. It doesn’t have to always be pretty. You do the work every day. That is what matters. No single run is vitally important by itself. Rather it is the collection of runs that are important. You got it done today, despite challenges. And that’s all that matters.
You don’t need to always hit the top of the paces, okay? There is a range for a reason. Go by feel on these. Easy days are about an RPE of 4. Easy days are supposed to be easy, so that hard days can be hard.
Did the workout just as written except I ended with 5.8 miles. Not quite sure how. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I was a little confused my meter and Dexcom/Libre readings today, so I’m not sure what it all meant. I planned on running early this morning but wasn’t feeling quite well enough. I had to cancel the temp basal, do some insulin, and sleep. When I woke up, I set a 50% temp for about 30 minutes which was really just the amount of time I needed to get ready to run. I needed coffee to see straight, so I did have that, but my BG was still looking good. Just before starting, my Libre and Dexcom showed matching scores of 158 with an upward arrow. When I did my finger stick, it was a 133. I checked all 3 of them a few times before starting, and nothing budged. As soon as I started my run, both the Libre and Dexcom proceeded to head up to almost a 190, but I have no idea if that was real, or if were more like a 175. Either way, I finished at 126, and my RPE was about 7 for the majority of the run with small widows of 7.5-8. Cadence was great— between 94 and 99, and I needed one GU, 2 glucose tablets, and one Transcend gel to get me through. As soon as I got off the treadmill though, I was starting to climb, so I bolused, then crashed, then overcorrected, and was right back on the next rollercoaster.
Did my 25 minute run today that actually felt easy. I’ll call it an RPE if 4 but am not even sure I worked that hard. My BG was okay— not great. I started at a 143 and ended at a 78. However, I didn’t have any carbs at the start or during. I was not feeling great again today so I dropped the kids off at school and ended up getting back in bed. When I woke up, I had just enough time to do the run so there was no cutting the basal before it. I started my sensor on my pump the other day— not even realizing what I was doing— and was tossed into Basal-IQ. I thought I had turned it off. Since it came on by itself, I’ve been a little intrigued and haven’t turned it off yet, but I’m trying to work with (and understand) the suspends. My point is that I had had about 40 minutes of a suspend about 30 minutes before starting my run, so I was trying to see if I could use it. And almost kind of did. Both my Dexcom and Libre showed me very high numbers again today, at 185 and 193 respectively, even though I tested at a 143. Second day in a row. Trying to understand that, too.
Anyway. 2.5 miles. Hips were kind of tight to start with but loosened by about a mile in.
I have questions about my post-run basal rates. I know I need to turn back off the Basal-IQ so I can be the only one in charge while I learn how to handle it, but I’m also looking for some general tips on when I should cut basal a little, when I shouldn’t, when I should bolus, and when I shouldn’t. Just general stuff to use for some little experiments. Last night, I think I could’ve used a decrease. Two long suspends, 6 Welch’s Fruit Snacks, and an applesauce, and I woke at an 86.
I think the best thing to do after a run is eat carbs and protein. Protein helps your muscle tissues repair. And carbs to help you avoid needing stuff all night long. Your body will get if from you one way or the other.
So taking carbs right after means you are being proactive and doing it on your own terms.
So after a run, take insulin and eat carbs and protein right away.
For significant runs, like the long stuff or the ones where your RPE is 7 or more for a long time, cut your basal a few hours after, and do it for several hours.
The length of basal cut and the amount of basal cut depends on the LOE.
Have you heard me mention that I generally do not use CGM for runs?
There ya go.
There is a better way. Give me a few weeks.
BTW, there is something I need you to do… Do you remember what it is?
It is… to sleep? I remember that one. To figure out nutrition stuff? To stretch out my hips today… I remember that.
Yes, you have. I absolutely understand why not.
Okay, and I’ll try to get organized out a post-run routine for the carbs and insulin and whatnot. You had me doing it before I got hurt, and I was getting control over those numbers. I’ll get these.
Long run tomorrow, I think. Must sleep and mentally prepare.
Had a great run today, but it’s definitely going to leave a mark on my excitement over Saturday runs. Just out of curiosity, do you realize you keep putting the hardest part of the run at the end?? I’m sure you do, but I just wanted to call it to your attention in case it were a mistake.
My BG was great, but it did require quite a bit of GU stuff. 3 gel packs to be exact. Basal IQ had me in and out of suspends all morning, so I wasn’t exactly sure how many carbs I would need at start. My BG was a 112, so I decided on a banana, knowing it was a long run. About a mile and a half in, I had my first GU. I had another almost immediately and another with 15 minutes left in the run. And a small handful of expensive jellybeans. Even though my BG dropped (according to sensor so MAYBE dropped) to a 60 and stayed down the entire run, I did start feeling a little strength return just in time to start the last 20 minute segment. There was a five minute window there that I felt great, but then I started feeling queasy from all the sugar. That was a lot of sticky sweet stuff for an exercise session, and it finally caught up to me in the end. I did it though, and it mostly felt great. I don’t mean to make it sound like most of my run didn’t feel great because I think that’s how it all reads. Most felt great, some felt hard, and some felt queasy and hard… I’ll take that.
RPE was about 4-5 for the first 20 minutes, about 6 for the second, and around 8 for the last part. The last part was tough— I’m not gonna lie, but if I had been worried about whether or not I could do a 60 minute run before today, I’m not gonna worry about it now.
What else? Cadence was great— about 94-98, and heart rate topped off at 185. I only hit that in the last 10 minutes.
That’s so your body can learn to run on tired legs. Anyone can run fast on fresh legs. Big deal. At then end of the race, everyone’s legs will be tired. But Nicky’s legs will know how to deal with it. And Nicky’s heart and mind and soul will too.
That’s great. More fuel for your body to use. You should not be running an hour without taking in some carbs. I am glad you had some. Nothing wrong with doing that.
What type of gels were you using? GU?
If so, try the Huma Gels. They might be easier on your digestion when you are running because they use both fructose and glucose, instead of only glucose like the GU brand.
Was the total about 6.6 miles?
Don’t worry, next week will be different. This was great stuff today! Very happy for you.
Did you eat well tonight? Consider a basal cut tonight.
Awwwww… that’s really nice. I appreciate you looking out for my heart and mind and soul.
Need to put this at the top of my To Do list. I was about to order a bunch of the Transcend and GU stuff, but I’ll get some Huma Gels, too. Yeah, it was kind of like eating a bunch of dental fluoride throughout the entire run.
Yes and so very proud. This was one to be proud of.
I did eat well, and I did do a basal cut, and my Basal IQ cut it even further. Much further. But I’ve had a great night for numbers. I also meant to mention that I did a 3 unit pump bolus as soon as I got off the treadmill… and then another 3 by IM. A couple of weeks ago I did a couple of units right after a run, and it ended up being a disaster. I was worried I was about to do the same thing, but I felt like I needed that much… so I did it, and it turned out to be perfect.
I do. Just looking for your rationale… and liked it a lot more than what I was expecting.
I need to talk to you about coffee. At some point you are going to need to stop doing that before the significant runs. There are a lot of reasons why it would be good to avoid that.
Easy days, fine. 4 hours before a hard workout, fine. After a hard workout, fine. 10 minutes before a hard run…not so fine.
You want to make it easier on your heart. When your heart beats faster, it is working harder. Lots of things can affect how hard your heart works. Being dehydrated will make your heart work harder. Hot temperatures will make your heart work harder. Lack of sleep will affect it. Being tired will affect it.
Raising your heart rate with caffeine before a run is not helping it. You are adding beats and adding effort.
As an example, someone might be able to run for 2 hours with a heart rate of 140. But they could only run 1 hour at a heart rate of 160. Increasing their heart rate outside of their physical running effort pushes them closer to their limit without them getting more distance or speed. That is the opposite of what you want to accomplish.
There are times when caffeine can be helpful in running. In a very long run, caffeine can help your body use more fatty acids for fuel, and help you spare glycogen. That is a good thing. Caffeine has also been shown to delay fatigue during exercise by blocking adenosine receptors on fat cells. It can reduce an athlete’s perception of effort. It can help block pain receptors so you do not feel as fatigued. All of these can be useful in training and racing.
But right now, your heart rate is a limiting factor on some of these workouts. And you are not able to get consistent and known fueling from the BG spikes you get from coffee. It is too sporadic. So until we get there, please try to cut back on it in the hours right before the significant runs.
1/2 mile warmup @ 9:00-10:00 pace
4 miles @ 8:00 pace (7.5 mph)
1/2 mile cooldown @ 9:00-10:00 pace
Tuesday, 1/8
40 minute Easy Run
9:30-10:000 pace
(note the difference in pace for this one from last week…)
Wednesday, 1/9
Rest day, stretch and core only
Thursday, 1/10
Mile-down
Watch the mile marks carefully. It might be easier to write them all down and put it on your treadmill, because thinking at the end of these might be tough.
1/2 mile warmup @ 9:00-10:00 pace
1 mile @ 7:41 pace (7.8 mph)
1/2 mile (0.50 mile) recovery @ 10:00 pace (6.0 mph)
3/4 mile (0.75 mile) @ 7:30 pace (8.0 mph)
3/8 mile (0.375 mile) recovery @ 10:00 pace (6.0 mph)
1/2 mile (0.50 mile) @ 7:19 pace (8.2 mph)
1/4 mile (0.25 mile) recovery @ 10:00 pace (6.0 mph)
1/4 mile (0.25 mile) @ 7:08 pace (8.4 mph)
1/4 mile (0.25 mile) recovery @ 10:00 pace (6.0 mph)
1/2 mile cooldown @ 9:00-10:00 pace
(total ~ 4.875 miles)
Friday, 1/11
25 minute Recovery Run
10:00 pace
Saturday, 1/12
75 minute LSD
75 minutes @ 10:00 pace (6.0 mph)
Stay on that pace, do not go faster.
When you are finished with this one, you will realize two things. 1) you ran 7.5 miles, and 2) your 7.5 mile run was the easiest run you had all week. Enjoy those two thoughts!
What did I do to get us back in this?? I thought we were kind of in a happy place with this… where it was okay for me to have a coffee no less than an hour before a run. I have, with almost 90% accuracy, stuck to that. And I’ve even told you about the two times I didn’t, and those were before we got back on track…
Found what I did to get us back on this… but you did see that it was only for the last 10 minutes?
Working on that.
I remember that… kind of working on that— or at least respecting that.
Well, that’s trouble.
So… not getting enough sleep can cause heart rate blues, but then so can my coffee fix that I fall back on for runs because I’m going through my day too tired? Holy conundrum, Batman!
But did we ever establish this? We talked about it, and it’s probably true, but before we get crazy here…
Okay.
Okay.
And I hope this is the thing you wanted me not to be in a bad mood when I read it and that there’s not something worse coming—- this was the big one, right?
I was— pardon the language— pissed about the chips… just for that couple of days… but I haven’t eaten them since. I’m not happy about the coffee reduction either. Maybe there will be a happy ending for this, too. Or it might just end up grudge material.
or 
and not like 
or 
.
I remember that one. To figure out nutrition stuff? To stretch out my hips today… I remember that. 
