Do you think I waited too long for the Huma gel? Should I have tried to avoid that drop from 96 to 70?
No, that was fine. That’s an ideal time to fuel up. It let’s you take in carbs and not spike. That’s exactly what you want, carbs on a slow drop to 70.
The trick is countering with the right amount of insulin. It just depends. You can get a feel for it. Maybe a little less or little more depending on how hard you are working and how quick the drop was. You did great today.
If you find you took too much insulin, no big deal, just take more carbs a mile or two later. Your body will be happy with that.
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Thank you. I’m beaming. 
I’ve got the kids back at school, I’m here to volunteer (and hopefully catch my new little friend), and then I’ve got the day to do nothing but read, sleep, and dance.
And to get my MRI scheduled, of course… and the other stuff on my To Do list. 
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Can I try my run today outside??? I can use my Runkeeper to keep an eye on my pace?? It couldn’t be prettier out…
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I’m not your coach.
But I’ll always advocate for an outdoor run. That’s the whole point to me. 
Clearly there’s a reason I’m not a coach.
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Couldn’t agree more, coach. I’m already out. 
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Approved! Run outside.
Any day is fine for outside, except sometimes when you have to do intervals and it’s hard to get the exact distance when outside, or if you have to stop for traffic and can’t hit the intervals, or it isn’t flat.
Other than that, outside is fine.
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Slept like a baby last night. 10pm-8:30am. Napped yesterday. Thinking about napping now. I haven’t slept well in about 15 years… the last year has been horrendous. But I’m sleeping now. And it’s oh so good…
That’s why I didn’t post last night. That’s my point. Here it is though:
Decided to go outside because it was 70. Swallowed 2 bugs within the first 4 minutes. Almost went home, but it was 70. Closed my mouth. 
I didn’t have any carbs for breakfast yesterday, volunteered at the school, and was a bit tired when I got home. It was way too late to bolus for anything, but there was plenty of time still for a coffee and .5 unit IV. This was an hour and a half before leaving, so I figured it was still following the rules. I did still spike from the coffee to a 190, but it fell immediately, and I was back to an even 103 for 30 minutes before leaving for my run. I decided to have 2 glucose tablets on my way out the door… because I thought I should.
Starting BG: 92
Mi 1: 83
Mi 2: 72
*Had a transcend right after testing, but I think I wasn’t done putting everything away until almost 2.85 miles… so it looks like I didn’t test again until 4 miles
Mi 4: 59
I knew I was dropping there in the last .5 mile, but I was too lazy to test and knew I wasn’t bottoming out. I wasn’t surprised or concerned with the 59. I was also still a mile and a half from home, so I resumed my basal and made it back home at a 64 without taking anything—- point being, that 59 back there was pretty stable.
It was a nice run. The hills were harder than the treadmill but not too bad at all. I did find keeping a steady pace difficult, but I was also relying on Runkeeper to tell me what my pace was, so I can’t be sure just how off I was at any given time. I’d have to say it was an overall RPE of 6.5 though, and my total time was a 34:29. (The run was supposed to be 4 miles at 9:13 pace— and this was my first attempt at holding a real pace outside).
Okay. I’m already into today’s mission of trying to keep up a good BG before my long Saturday run… so I better check myself… before I wreck myself.
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The first 2 miles tells you a lot. If you are steady at that point, you are in good shape for the rest of the run. But a drop like that within the first 2 miles tells you what you need to know for the rest of the run.
You can carb up at that point and be fine. But use that 2 mile mark as an indicator for the rest of the run.
I agree, without a bunch of insulin behind it, a 59 is no big deal to handle.
Give your Garmin pace indicator a try. Or you can use the virtual training partner feature, and set it for your planned pace and it will show you if you are going too fast or too slow. 
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Hi. 
I’ve just ordered my shoes and am in the process of ordering my spibelt and insert things… except I can’t find where you put the link to the inserts. Any chance I could just get you to give me another link?? Please? Or I could continue scrolling through all the threads and threads and threads…
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I’m getting ready to go for my run soon. I’ll grab the Garmin and see what I can get it to do.
Never mind. Found it.
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Just finished today’s run. It was lovely. Ran it outside, and the wind and hills made the first couple of miles hard, but once everything got going in the right direction, it was miles of sailing. I think my RPE was higher in the beginning, maybe 6.5, than it was from miles 4-7, where it dropped to less than 6. Last mile was back uphill and the wind picked up again, and it was easily 6.5 until the end.
Had everything in line this morning. No boluses past probably 9 in the morning, and I didn’t head out till about 2:15. I only had 2 cups of coffee when I first got up, so that wasn’t an issue either. My BG about a half hour before heading out was flat at 90ish, so I took a banana with me since it’s a half mile walk to where I start my run. Had the banana just before starting and saw that my BG had dropped to a 67. That’s where I started my run. Oh, and I had probably had my basal off for about 45 minutes before starting.
Starting BG: 67
Mi 1: 72
Mi 2: 61
*Stinger gel
Mi 3: 59
*Stinger gel
Mi 5: 67
*.5 unit bolus
Mi 6.5: 57
*Gatorade Prime
*.5 bolus
*resume basal
Mi 7: 58
Mi 8: 60
*1.8 unit bolus
20 minutes after finishing (still walking) BG: 91
It was good. My Garmin is not tracking pace… at all. It bounces so that it’ll show an 8:15, then 9:15, then 7:50… like every couple of seconds. So all I had was my Runkeeper, but according to that I did 8 miles in 1:08, with miles ranging from 8:29 to 8:51.
I also have a few random questions… What kind of earphones do you use?? I hate mine. And what do you do with your trash?? I tried tucking my old trash into my waistline on my back… and I now have two raw spots from where they rubbed. I can’t bring myself to drop stuff on the ground though. Any ideas??
Thank you. Seriously.
I stuff mine back into my pockets. Because I always have to wash my running stuff anyway. Or I carry it until I see a can.
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Wow, excellent numbers!!! So impressed!
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Was the BG comfortable? Taking all the carbs is very helpful on a long run, but I just want to make sure you aren’t staggering low. Your first carbs were at 2 miles, and you started at 67, so maybe a few carbs at the start would help!
How did the Prime feel?
BTW, I love that you are running these under 100. 
I would prefer that over the 150+ runs, absolutely any day!
On some of the Garmin watches, there is a setting that lets you pick the time range it uses to calculate your pace. Like if you had it set for the minimum of 5 seconds, it would be updating your pace every 5 seconds, but would be jumping all over the place. But it would pick up speed increases or decreases more rapidly.
If you had it set for the maximum of 300 seconds, it would not pick up your speed changes very much, but the pace indicator would remain more stable.
I think having it set for 30 or 60 seconds is a good compromise.
In any case, Garmin has a good support group. I’d suggest first updating the software patches on your watch. You can do this by plugging it in to your computer and running the updater, or running the update on wifi. After you do that, call Garmin support and see if they can help you with the pace stability.
Check with Garmin on this, please! They do good work, hopefully they can help you resolve it.
I can send you a link. Mine are the kind that don’t fall out. Not the kind that say they don’t fall out, but do (lots of earphone makers say that). I mean, the kind that really don’t fall out. They hook around your hear and don’t let go.
A few things. First, don’t stick it in your waistband, it will rub raw spots!
Usually I run in a park or in a business area where there are occasional garbage cans.
But when I am running in an area with no garbage cans, an extra SPIBelt is what I would use.
When the SPIBelts are empty, it’s practically like they aren’t even there. So wearing an extra one for garbage is easy. There are a few options.
One is the kind that is somewhat weather resistant. That will help keep the gel or gooey stuff in an empty pouch contained better. Here is the weather resistant SPIBelt. So this would basically just be your garbage holder.
https://www.amazon.com/SPIbelt-Running-Belt-Performance-Weather-Resistant/dp/B012C1GQTI/
Another option is the double pocket SPIBelt. That’s a nice easy way to go. Have one pocket for your unopened gel packs, and the other pocket for the empty ones.
I like this option, it’s more mindless. Take the gel out of one pocket, eat it, and put the empty gel pack in the other pocket.
Plus, if you recall, I was saying you need to get a double pocket one for your race anyway…
https://www.amazon.com/SPIbelt-Dual-Pocket-Sport-Fabric-Zipper/dp/B0091HAL6Q/
On this one 
, one of the pockets is smaller. Use the smaller pocket for the empties.
Anyway, I have a collection of SPIBelts. I can wear one, two, or three, or a double-pocket one, or any combination, depending on how long the run is. I would recommend getting several of them and using them in that way. Wear one with your pump and wear one or two for your gels, plus room for trash.
On the empty gels, one thing that helps is to completely suck all the stuff out of it before you put it in trash pouch. That reduces the mess.
And the other thing is, I think the Huma gel empties are a lot less messy than the Stingers or the Transcends.
One other note on the SPIBelts. They sell them with all kinds of color options. Having a different color pouch for your garbage makes it even more mindless when you are running.
Like this:
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Very. I never felt low at all.
I had a banana just 2 minutes before starting. I thought it would carry me a little further, but when I saw my BG at the second mile, I decided to help it a little.
Great. I almost felt a little guilty doing it so late in the run, but I figured I had a couple of miles left so it wouldn’t be for nothing. I did do a small bolus with it though just so I could head off a spike… in case that was coming.
This might be exactly what it’s doing. I have no idea where to look for the setting, but I’ll start by picking up the watch. And looking at it. It’s a good place to start.
Least favorite thing in the world to do. Hate me some updates and software and trying to run things on my computer. So sad right now.
Yes, please. Between checking my blood sugar, tucking my trash into my pants, fixing my headphones, and on and on and on, I am constantly fidgeting with something. That’s hard work. I’d love a pair of earphones that just stay put.
Okay… I run up a bike path, and they have NO trash cans. I don’t know why. 5 miles of nothing. As far as spibelts go, I did buy a bunch from the Dollar Store. I suppose I could put an extra one on and sneak out of the neighborhood so people don’t point and laugh at me. My mom said I look like a Fortnite character with all the stuff I’m wearing as it is. Like this, only not as fit:
Yesssss… not only do I recall, but I’m actually awaiting its arrival. Thank you very much.
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Ha! I would totally tell you how awesome you looked if you were a pink furry suit and you ran by me. I would YELL that at you! And how does your mom know what Fortnite is? Does she play it?
I think that there are generally no trash cans because people don’t want to empty them – or realistically pay taxes for somebody else to empty them. Alternatively, maybe there is a raccoon or wildlife intrusion problem?! So you need a trashcan that would take you 10 minutes to figure out how to open the lid anyway. 
But my thought is that you carried the gel with you, so you should be able to carry it out of there. And, if you run on the same path, you will find your trash eventually and it will remind you that you threw on the ground which will ■■■■ you off.
There are places on earth that I have passed that are littered with the same type of trash, because the same person throws the same thing on the ground regularly, and it never goes away. I love the idea of you with three spi belts on! Like the inspector gadget of running.
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