From Swimming To Running; Adjusting to the Pandemic

Type 1 & LADA
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This is exciting! A new runner! (I am not a runner, but am newly back into spinning, despite the continued frozen shoulder, so the “activity” posts are invigorating…) And I love a good sportswear conversation…

For bottoms, check out my company violetcourtwear.com - our shorts are designed for tennis wear, but we have a number of women using them for running and I specifically designed them with diabetes in mind – the ball pockets will hold a pump, glucose tabs, etc. We are not actively selling right now, but if you are interested let me know and if we have inventory in your size, I will give you a nice discount.

For tops, I am all about two things: built in bras and lightweight fabric. If you are small busted (sounds like you are?), it’s the easiest thing in the world to not have to deal with a sports bra. Athleta and Lululemon are my favorites for this. Lululemon has some super lightweight fabric, but that usually doesn’t come with an integrated sports bra. My favorite is when it has mesh built into the top. You can catch any breezes through it! (sorry if this is tmi for anyone)

I love hearing about all of this! Jessica

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To each their own. I think it totally depends on one’s own comfort and where they live. For Daisy Mae and I, social distancing while out for a jog isn’t super realistic.
This is where I can go for my runs normally, in late February, before the pandemic and lots of people taking up outdoor activities. I wouldn’t say social distancing would be comfortable in February:

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And then in my mind, social distancing feels next to impossible during the pandemic on this trail:
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Running on streets rather than trails certainly has pedestrians as well. Yes, I could pick really early morning or at night, but running in the dark isn’t a high priority for me as a woman.

It sounds lovely, but unfortunately, for me at least, it’s not always easy to pick up when someone is behind me while running and avoid passing any air droplets in time. I don’t touch my mask once I have left my apartment to avoid passing contaminants from hands to mask to face.

I’m not trying to be political or polarizing here. We’re all adapting and making it work in our own ways. Running isn’t easy on its own. Living through a pandemic isn’t easy on its own. And together, it’s certainly tricky figuring out how to stay healthy and safe as well as keep those around you the same way.

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Wonderfully stated. a kind, and very appropriate sentiment. and right back at ya, girl! :+1:

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Far from it for me to suggest anyone do anything they’re not comfortable with. I wouldn’t want to run on a path that had that number of unmasked people on it either. On the other hand, I wouldn’t feel any safer wearing the mask that I have on that path. I use a simple surgical mask, not an N95 mask with proper fitting, and the CDC says a mask like mine really only works to protect other people from me, and not to protect me from other people. I haven’t tried to buy an N95 mask since I think those are best reserved for the workers who need them, especially since I would never take the time to properly fit and deploy it.

I actually don’t worry about touching my mask, since again, I don’t view it as a substantial defense against strangers who have covid. I really view it as a way to reassure other people that they don’t need to worry about getting covid from me. When around people I don’t know (like if someone approaches while running), I use social distancing; besides slipping on my mask I’ll make a wide berth or move from the sidewalk to the street. That used to be considered offensive, but now I assume everyone is happy to see it.

Nor am I, hope it didn’t sound that way. (p.s. I live in the hardest hit county in MA, so not as bad off as NYC where my sister lives, but we’ve been having our issues here too).

I thought this article had some reasonable tips for outdoor exercising in the time of covid: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/outdoor-exercise-coronavirus-safely_l_5ea89f6dc5b6e7b159f8cf38

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ANOTHER EXPERIMENT, WITH A DIFFERENT TEMP BASAL:

for the past few days, I have had my pump set on an 80% TB just to keep my BGs above 70. I think that my body is readjusting to being more active and I am burning more glucose than when I was more sedentary during those first weeks of the pandemic.

so when I set out today, I had my TB at 65%. so far, this seemed to work well. Also, I took Larissa’s suggestion about not overdoing my carbs before my run, as they would work differently while on the TB (I wouldn’t need as many) so I was very conscious of that today.

Also, today, I spent much more time running than speed walking. (yes, you read me right : I said RUNNING, not jogging. Here’s the course: imagine sets of rectangles with one side facing the EAST RIVER, and the other side facing Brooklyn Heights. then imagine the sides of those 2 “ends”. I would run for the longer length stretch, then speed walk for the shorter stretch, then run, then speed walk, etc. Make sense? (and of course there was the travel time to get to the peers from my house and back, for which I use the time to warm up my body at a nice clip)

anyway…

here are todays stats:

10am BG 95 turn down basal to 65%
11am BG 100
11:30 BG 103 ate 5 Wheat Thins and headed out (NO Gtabs)
12pm BG 110 took no Gtabs
12:30 BG 82 took 1 Gtab
1pm BG 62 took 2 Gtabs and raised my basal back up to 80%
1:45 BG 90 Finish.
2pm drank 48oz water, ate Goat Milk Yogurt (didn’t bolus)
2:30 BG 110 drank another 24oz water

now one more thing : I was carrying that darned knapsack, and I ended up getting cuts on my shoulders and my back. very painful. UGH. tomorrow my husband will b wearing the Spibelt, which Eric suggested I buy (which is unfortunately too big for me) bc I want to c how it feels to run without the knapsack. also, Eric made me this amazing wristband that has a meter and test strips attached to it. its kind of like a tennis sweat band with, and he is so clever, NY Yankees Team sewn onto them! (they’re Navy with White stitching) So cool.

I was out for 2 hours and 15 minutes today. we went 8 miles. I feel great and am really looking fwd to tomorrows expedition and experiment. (but I think that today went pretty well. :star_struck: :+1: :running_woman:

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the water next to that trail looks lovely. Makes me want to take up kayaking!

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There were a few people kayaking in the East River this afternoon. But they were going with the tide (which was rather strong). I somehow doubt that they were planning on turning around to go back in the opposite direction.

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Thank u for this. It’s exactly what I did today and it worked out very well, as I mentioned above in my latest post. I really appreciate ur suggestion and ur help. as I mentioned earlier, I am up for anything and will take all suggestions. I am wondering about getting down to the ZB stage.

btw, what would u say is ur average running pace? I need some goals .

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Wow, these are super numbers!!

I can’t wait for you to use your BG meter. And once we get the SPIBelt modified, that will make it easier too.

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ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:

last evening I had to turn my basal down to a 75%TB right through the evening, overnight and this morning. then 1 hour before I set out, I turned it down to 60% TB. my BGs were not trending up or down, just a nice flatline, despite the lowered basal rate, but so be it. I headed out anyway :running_woman: :blush:

here are todays stats:

10:15am BG 106 turned down basal to 60%
11:30 BG 94 ate 6 Wheat Thins and headed out
12:15 BG 96 took 1 Gtab
12:50 BG 51 took 2 Gtabs and kept going (felt a little lightheaded)
1:15 BG 76 took 1/2 Gtab and turned my basal up to 80%TB (to hopefully avoid the post workout BG spike)
2pm BG 74 finished, drank 48oz water and Goat Milk yogurt
2:30 BG 76 drank another 24oz water (might lower my basal, but uncertain yet. I’ll report back on that one :wink:)

So todays workout was wonderful! I didn’t need to carry that dreaded backpack, bc I used the Spibelt that Eric recommended; it had two stretchy pockets which were large enough to carry a tube of glucose tablets, 2 Transcend gels, a piece of paper and a short pencil (for writing down all my info), a credit card and my drivers license. Also, one of my Nike runners t-shirts had arrived so I was able to ditch the cotton shirt I’ve been wearing, and have on a nice, sweat-wicking shirt instead.

Also,as I’ve mentioned, Eric made me that fabulous meter holder/wristband, so I could wear my meter instead of having to carry it. it was amazing. worked like a charm!!! :+1: THANK YOU ERIC!!!

my only problem was that I noticed my FSLibre sensor adhesive got a little itchy while I was sweating. I really wanted, at one point, to rip the darned thing off…luckily the sensation stopped after about an hour, and then I felt just fine. didn’t notice it at all.

It was 70 degrees out, sunny, with a nice breeze from off the East River. It was extremely crowded out today (it is a Sunday ) and very very challenging to social distance. But, I wore my mask, and think I dodged as many others as I could. I can’t wait to get my running shorts so I can ditch these horrid, heavy and sweaty jeans :sweat_smile:

signing out,
DM

PS: would love to hear back from all you D runners with any suggestions you could share with me.

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So it looks like you dropped from 94 to 51 in about 80 minutes when you were at 60%, despite the wheat things and gtab.

It might be useful for you to turn it down a little more. Like maybe a ZB after you start. Particularly if you start increasing the amount you are jogging. If you were jogging the whole time, the 60% basal would be way to much!

Your numbers for the day are really great! I just want to make sure you are prepared for the next phase. Moving forward, I am worried about that 60%…

I am SO glad you used it today! I was so excited for you to get it.

If you have a pocket on your shorts, that might be a good place to put your lancing device. Or maybe in your SPIBelt it would work.

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The shorts that I ordered have a back zippered pocket and 2 side pockets (not zippered). I know that I will have to stick my house keys somewhere, too.

I ran twice as much today than I have in the past weeks even though I still did intermittent speed walking. Also, I ran for 2.5 hours instead of just the usual 2 hours.

Also, the 80% TB was too much after the run, so I had to turn it down some to 77% (which makes it .025 u/h less…which I know you don’t believe is a significant amount, but I am ultra sensitive, and those tiny increments seem to make a big difference for me…YDMV :wink: )

I love it, and I plan on buying the water bottle u recommended to attach to the belt as well.

I think for my next trial, I will lower my TB to 50% and c how that goes. what do you think? bc I am not running 100% of the time yet.

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I think 50% will be better than 60%!

Send me a pic of your meter holder and I can post it for you.

Maybe someone can help you figure out posting pics from your phone.

Posting from your phone, you click this button:

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After that, you click Photo Library:
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If you are not seeing those options, maybe @Chris can help you figure it out, because I am not sure why you don’t see those options. :man_shrugging:

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OK, I was able to get to “Photo Library” and then go to the picture I wanted to post, but then what do I do once I select the picture?

Never mind. I figured it out on my own. C photo below!! :crazy_face:

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this is a sign that is everywhere in Brooklyn Bridge Park, about every 10 yards. And there are NYPD officers everywhere too, handing out face masks to everyone who is not wearing one (that doesn’t mean that the people will actually wear them, though, unfortunately) But at least the effort is being made.

I just wanted to show this photo I took so that others will have an idea of how seriously this pandemic has hit NYC.

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These are pictures of the amazing wristband that Eric made for me to hold my meter and test strips. You can c the NY Yankee motif on the first picture. it totally rocks!!!

You can also see the back of the Spibelt around my waist in the last photo

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Here is the photo of these officers

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Glad you figured the picture thing out! Great pics of custom diabetes gear!

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haha – I had a friend whose husband is 6 feet and he laid down next to one of these signs and said that this sign is not actually 6 feet :slight_smile:
In San Francisco, they had a “keep 6 feet away” sign where there were four people in a square, and the hypotenuse of the triangle was 6 feet – which would mean the people on the sides were closer than 6 feet :rofl: Obviously scale is hard for a lot of people!

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BC of all of the rioting, u c an probably c on the television the massive crowds of people who r not caring one iota about social distancing (although most of them seem to b wearing masks, if I am correct). My thoughts r that this will b the main cause of another wave of the COVI-19 (along with summer time re-opening,etc). This can’t b heading in a good direction :grimacing: :sneezing_face: :mask: :sob:

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