First Long Run With the Dexcom 7

On Saturday, I took the DexCom with me for a 14 miler.

My biggest fear about using the Dex (instead of Medtronic) was having a second device and a relatively big one at that. The DexCom receiver is actually a little taller than my BlackBerry storm and is exactly as wide at its widest point.

My idea was to put the Dex into the big pocket of my RaceReady shorts, but once the Storm was in there, that wasn't happening. (Side note: I love my BlackBerry Storm, but it's not good for hauling around on the roads.)

Instead, I decided to use the DexCom holster and just clip it to my waistband. Surprisingly, this worked like a charm. In the end, what I didn't realize about the Dex is that while it is every bit as big as a cellphone, it's not nearly as dense. It's a relatively lightweight device and with a secure clip in place, it doesn't bounce at all.

When I hit the road, my blood sugar was 125. I didn't want to obsess about it, though, so I decided to check it every 2-3 miles, which is pretty much what I did. For the first half of the run, the blood sugar barely moved, always staying between 125 and 130. I kept my pump on a very small basal rate the same time.

As I moved into the second half of the run, though, things started shifting... the blood sugar started creeping up but I also wanted to take a gel because my energy was getting low. This was important, though, as I began to think of the gel not as something to keep my blood sugar up, but as something to fuel my body. I took the gel and took a half bolus, which was good enough to have me finish the run around 150.

All in all, an extremely informative run.

Quite frankly, the entire Dex experience has been crazy educational. This is only my 5th day of using it and already I'm beginning to shift basal rates around. It's difficult, of course, because my body requirements on days when I run 14 miles are a lot different on days when I run none. Not to mention, there's a definite pressure to quickly correct highs, but that just starts a big yo-yo effect. But still, I've got zero complaints and am certain that using the Dex will lead to much better A1C's and - hopefully - a successful marathon plan.

RE: the marathon plan... I'm in week 4(?) of the Higdon Intermediate 2. It's meant as a step-down week, but I've got a 5k race this weekend, so we'll see how rested I am after that.

In other news, I tripped on last Friday's run, spraining my wrist when I landed. I did get it x-rayed and was happy to see x-rays negative. But I stretched the hand and wrist out quite a bit and am wearing a brace, now, waiting for it to heal. Not a lot of fun, but better than a sharp stick in the eye, so there's that. Over the weekend, I couldn't even work the BlackBerry, but I'm back to painful (and poor) typing, so healing of some sort is underway.

Up to NYC to speak on a panel tomorrow... After that, no business travel for the foreseeable future, which puts a smile on my face. :)

Comments

  1. Al3:28 AM

    Glad to hear you like the CGM. From a carrying standpoint, you may want to try a spibelt. You see them a lot at the running expos before a big event. I find it very comfortable to wear. I use it for my mp3 player.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Al3:34 AM

    Glad to hear you like your CGM so far. From a carrying standpoint, you may want to try a SpiBelt. I use one to carry my MP3 player. I like it.

    How did you arrive at the DexCom 7 vs the Medtronic? I know you use a Medtronic pump. Anyway, good luck with the CGM.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown12:14 PM

    Al,

    No sooner did you write that than SpiBelt posted a 10% off coupon on TuDiabetes... ChaChing!

    RE: Dex over Medtronic - I hope to move to the new generation Animas pump next year, which will speak to the Dex. Also, the gauge of the Dex needle is thinner than the Medtronic and I felt that comfort would be important to me.

    That being said: carrying around another device ISN'T fun, so I'll be happy when the new Animas comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anne Findlay6:17 PM

    sorry to hear about your wrist!!

    I love the dex. It puts me into a small rage that my insurance won't cover it at all. It is so helpful.

    -Anne

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The gun in my basement.

Image
In my basement, I have a safe. And in that safe, under expired passports and birth certificates, there's a gun. It's unloaded. Hasn't been loaded in probably twenty years, and yet every time I take it out, I check to make sure. If you're a gun nerd, it's a 9 shot .22 revolver. On this website , it says that "it is true that many people have been killed by a .22 LR in the course of history," but the writer concludes that this weapon is a bad choice for self defense. I didn't buy it for self defense. I didn't even buy it. It was my father's and after he died, my mother gave it me, along with an Elgin watch he'd worn for years. The watch was weathered and worn and I took it to be restored. The jeweler refused, saying it was worthless. Two decades later, the watch is still in my jewelry box. There's no need for it to be locked up. I have no idea if this gun is in my possession legally. No idea if my father had a permit for it, or w...
Read more

Happy D-Blog Day, Uh, I Guess...

So according to diabetics blog-wide, today is D-Blog Day, the day when those of us affected by diabetes are supposed to blog about it. Or draw awareness to diabetes... Or something like that. I'm really a bad poster child for the disease. Not because I'm not in great control (actually, I am), but because I've just never been bothered by the disease so much. Red sums it up well in Shawshank Redemption: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." So if living means three blood sugar tests a day, so be it. If living means being hooked up to an insulin pump, go to it. That being said, I feel for anyone with diabetic kids... I'm a tough guy about the disease. I wouldn't be if my kids had it. If either of my kids had diabetes, I'd be screaming about the politicians who are spending money on wars instead of research, and I'd be yelling about the schools that make it difficult to be a diabetic in the classroom. But my kids don't have diabetes, so instead I ...
Read more

The Bright Side

“ And if you ever get scared, look on the bright side: You’ve got a new life.” – Amos Lee Last month, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Since then, I’ve tried to write this essay a few times. The first attempt followed a narrative arc rife with suspense, with a few years of frustrating doctors’ visits, mysterious symptoms that came and went and the all-around sentiment that the batteries that powered my body were no longer able to sustain a charge or be fully refueled at the end of the day. But if you Google Lyme disease, you realize there’s nothing unique about that story. In fact, the reality that my own diagnosis came only two years after all of this started makes this a much shorter story than it is for many. The theme of the second version was more pitiful, tinged with regret about what this had taken from me over the past two years and what it might take in the future. But honestly, that one didn’t get far at all. If there’s a good time for something like ...
Read more