Sweet Victory

So a while back I announced that the Omnipod and I weren't getting along and I had switched back to my Medtronic pump, coupled with my Dexcom. I'd also announced that I hoped to try out the Medtronic sensors to determine if maybe I should just renew with Medtronic (I am still "out of warranty," which is the insulin pump user's version of being a free agent). Incredibly, it's taken six weeks to get Medtronic to set me up with a sensor test. First up, I had to get my Dr. to sign off on it. She was on vacation for a week. But since then, I've gotten a nearly weekly call from Medtronic asking me if my local rep had followed up with me. Each time, I was like, "Uh no," which caused them to respond with disappointment. The whole thing got to be a little odd, as if I was telling on the Medtronic rep for not doing his job. At any rate, the rep IS finally scheduled to come to my office this Friday afternoon. Not sure how many sensors I'll try but I pla...

Friday night heading into Saturday's ultra, I did something I've never done before a big race: went to bed at 9:30 and slept perfectly. I suppose this is what happens when you go into a race without putting any pressure on yourself. I liked it. And when I woke up at 3:30 with six hours of sleep under my belt, I felt like I'd gotten at least an hour more than I expected. Though I was far more calm than usual before a long race, I still had some adrenaline going, which led to the blood sugar being 200 when I woke up. Not good, but not horrible. Also, with a drive to the finish line and a bus to the start, I knew there was no need to eat, yet. I bolused for the the correction and drive to the finish. I made the first shuttle bus to the start and the drive went relatively quickly. I spent most of the time talking to a "Marathon Maniac" making her way around the 50 states for the second time. In many ways, her story was identical to mine - a road runner with little to ...

The 28.4 mile Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra-Trail is tomorrow. As a matter of fact, my best guess is that I'll be finishing it around this time tomorrow. Here's my back-of-napkin math: 1. In a road marathon with no elite competition, I'd finish about an hour behind the winner, around 3:30. 2. Last year's winner of this race did it in 4:05, so the course is roughly 90 minutes slow. 3. Buuuuut - last year's course was 25 miles. This one is 28.4. 4. I expect the winner to be around 4:40. 5. Because it's so much longer and I haven't run trails in a looong time, I expect to be about 90 minutes behind the winner: 6:20. 6. I haven't run more than 15 miles in months. All of which goes to say I'm putting in a goal of 7 hours and hoping that's relatively easy. If all goes well, a 6:45 isn't out of the question. But here's the thing: a 7 hour race, to borrow a phrase, isn't really about running. It's a distance nutrition competition, meas...