Sweet Victory

Given the Hallmark sponsored world we live in, you might be aware that November is American Diabetes Month, so if you were going to buy me something, you're fresh out of shopping days. All of this culminates on World Diabetes Day on November 14 . As you might expect, there are a couple things you could do, if you're so inclined, to celebrate the festivities. I've listed a couple of these things below, with my own opinions as to how I feel about them, given my lifestyle as a Type 1 diabetic and my vocation as a marketing professional: 1) The Big Blue Test . The concept here is simple. Do a BG test, exercise for 20 minutes, and do another one. Upload your results. I'm a big fan of this one because it's primarily going to be done by diabetics (more on that in the next paragraph) and it's a concrete way to show the benefits of exercise. It's not foolproof - someone who doesn't understand how anaerobic exercise works might lift weights for 20 minute...

(L-R) Ryan Jones, Matt Patrick, Marcus Grimm, Jon Obst, Tom Kingery, Benny Madrigal and Rhet Hulbert Nearly two weeks ago, I found myself at a cocktail party for a business expo. It was a good event with a lot of local business people. The cocktail party was sort of a pre-game for the expo, which was starting the following day, but not for me. Toward the end of the expo, I found myself in a conversation with three other people and learned that one of them was also a type 1 diabetic . She’d also had it 24 years, nearly as long as my own 28. In the course of the conversation, she dropped one of those sentence “bombs,” as I call them – words that can derail the entire conversation or at the very least change the attitude of all the people who hear them. “Let me tell you,” she said, mostly addressing the two non-diabetics in our foursome. “Diabetes is the worst.” Admittedly, I have trouble with such declarations. On one hand, I can’t deny someone their own feelings, gained hones...

This past weekend was the Tails 4 Trails 40 Mile Ultra in Hanover, PA. For me, it meant the 2nd of 3 ultras in a 6 week period. Going into this race, I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. I had never run in Codorus State Park, before. Moreover, the previous weekend had been my only failed workout of this build so far – a scheduled 5-6 hour long run that I pulled the plug on at 4 hours due to a head cold. And just to keep the mystery elevated, I elected to get my flu shot the day before the race. I’ve been getting them for years, and tend to respond fairly well to them, but sniffles and a little fatigue wouldn’t have been unexpected. But rather than stress about these unknowns, I opted to go into the race with a “Let’s just see what happens” approach. Either way, I had to run long this weekend, so why not make it a race? I woke up at 4am, with a perfect blood sugar of 112. I arrived at the race site an hour before the scheduled 7am start, which meant I got there in pitch blackness....

I had been interested in the 12 hour Labor Pain Endurance Trail Run ever since its first running in 2010 when my teammate, Ryan Jones had won it, but this was the first year I was able to fit it into my schedule. Unlike a fixed distance ultra, the concept for Labor Pain was different. The course consists of 5 miles of technical trail running over rocks and mud, the first half of which has 325 feet of vertical climbing before giving all of that elevation back on the last 2.5 miles. Runners could stop whenever they wanted, but awards were given for furthest distance traveled in 12 hours. Elapsed time only became a factor if you had run the same number of loops as other runners. Based on the results of the previous two years, I decided to set a stretch goal for myself of 60 miles. Fifteen minutes before the race, I tested my blood sugar and found myself at 48. Whoops! Fortunately, I had planned to take in carbs just prior to the race anyway, so I set out feeling fine. My plan con...

We are 1 week until the 12 hour Labor Pain Ultra. Man, do I hate the week before a big race. Of course, calling it a "big race" isn't exactly fair. Truth is, it's the first of 3 ultras on my calendar for the next 6 weeks and my training is structured in such a way that, results-wise, I'm probably not ready to do something awesome this weekend. Then again, who knows. I've done 3 runs greater than 5 hours so far in this build. Last time before my 50 miler I did 4. So I'm in pretty good shape and have plenty of time before my peak 50 miler on Oct. 13. But still, confidence is in a bit of short supply right now. I've noticed the paces for my 5 hour runs haven't quite been where they were on my last ultra build. I'm hopeful that it's due to the fact that these have been in August when the last time around was February, when it's easier to maintain a quicker pace. But the truth is, I won't really know for sure until the weather turn...

As always, it seems when I'm not blogging, that means I'm running. And if I'm really not blogging, well then I must be really running. The weekend long runs have now reached 5 hours. Last Saturday's topped 30 miles. My last 30 mile run 18 months ago was about half a mile further, but it was in January, and this was August, when the temp was close to 90 when I was done. All of which goes to say I think this build is going better, but it's hard to say. And of course all of this running isn't just to run, but to race. And over the next 2 months, I've got a pretty cool calendar planned: 1.) Labor Pain , September 2 - This 12 hour event will be my first timed race. I've had my eye on this one ever since it started 2 years ago, but we generally are out of town for Labor Day weekend. Not this year, and so this one is on the calendar. Ironically, the course record for this one is owned by my Team Type 1 teammate, Ryan Jones, who went 72.5 miles in 2010. Gi...

The first thing I got when I opened my car door at French Creek State Park yesterday was, "I should've brought bug spray." Within seconds, I was bombarded by gnats. The good news, however, was that the car beside me included 2 runners in the process of bathing themselves with OFF and were happy to share. Crisis #1 averted. Aside from the bugs, though, I felt ready for 18.6 miles of trail mayhem. My blood sugar was a very nice 121 thirty minutes prior to the race. 15 minutes prior to race time, I had a Clif bar. Rather than set my basal rates to 50%, I get them normal for this race, as I wasn't sure if the trails would allow for a full-out effort. Some of my recent trail training runs had left me a bit higher than I wanted and I didn't want that to happen here. Five minutes prior to the race, the thunder rolled in and at race time, the rain was coming down. For better or worse, however, the sun was out within 5 minutes. I had read online that the first 2 mile...

As mentioned previously, my first key race of the fall is the North Face Endurance Challenge, in October. That will be my 2nd 50 miler, but the first on a truly technical course. (My 2nd "key" race will be the Sacramento Marathon in Dec... a much different race) But being prepared for the Endurance Challenge means some interesting "challenges," along the way, the first of which is this weekend's Double Trouble. The reason for the name is simple. The Double Trouble consists of a 15k loop (9.3 miles). Once you run the first loop, your results are recorded for the 15k race. But then, you're welcome to continue for another loop. Hence the 30k and the name. Unlike any other race I've done, you don't even need to decide whether or not you're continuing until you finish the first loop. Thus, runners can (and do) finish up to 2 races, and are even eligible for awards in both. As for me, this will be my longest trail race in a couple of years, but...

I had 4 low blood sugars, yesterday. Or more specifically, I had 2 VERY low blood sugars yesterday; the kind where you have the type of snack that normally would swing you back to normal land but this time was merely like pumping the brakes on the sliding BG and required twice the amount of sugar to bring me back to the magic 100. The first one was late afternoon. The CGM alerted me about 5 minutes after I knew it was coming on. I had a pack of peanut butter cups (probably my favorite "diabetes doesn't have to suck" treat), but 15 minutes later, I knew that I was still falling, so I doubled down with somewhat healthier and almost as yummy Clif Mojo Bar. 43g of carbs later, I was 115 and level. And then just before bed, the same thing; a low that I just knew wouldn't be averted by a simple pack of fruit snacks. So I doubled down with a Kashi bar and some delicious chocolate babka. Again: twice the amount of carbs to bring me back to normal. The same snack that on...

The summer can be an interesting time for runners; particularly those of us who run year-round. The winter for me tends to be a build toward spring races. In this case, it was arguably my best build ever toward the Boston & Cleveland Marathons. Unfortunately, PR attempts were thwarted in both cases by global warming. In the end, all I had to show for it was a 5k PR. And as you hit late spring and the temperatures climb, the paces on your workouts do the same. You feel sluggish and look at the race calendar, knowing that if you race, the heat won't allow you a time you'd want to brag about. But summer running is extremely valuable for another reason: it is the build that leads into fall, and for that reason alone, it's critical. It doesn't matter so much exactly how fast your workouts are as it does that you are doing the workouts. It's funny - I tend to do the same thing every June. I run just as much, but I get less religious about keeping my running lo...

After running the Boston Marathon together last month, Ben Semeyn and I found ourselves together again, this time in Cleveland. As Ben moves his focus to triathlons, he was signed up for the half marathon. For my part, I decided to add another full to my resume. My plan for a PR in Boston had been derailed by record heat and though I knew I wasn't complely recovered, i hoped the marathon gods might smile on me a little in Ohio. Race day morning came early and I woke up with a blood sugar of 120, which i considered perfect since I wasn't planning on eating for some time. Ben was in the 60's, which was where he spent quite a bit of the weekend. In fact, we joked that he had given me some more of "his" diabetes because he tended to out-low me on every test through our time together. Ben, intent on putting together a fast half marathon did just that, finishing in 1:24, 4th place in his age group, and in the top 1% of his age group. The weather at Cleveland, howe...

So the Cleveland Marathon is this weekend, and I am... well truth is, I don't really know how I am. Since getting baked in Boston , I pretty much got back on the training horse, including some speed work and 3 weeks in a row with long runs of 18-20 miles. But even so, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my legs still don't have the pop they had a month ago. I'd planned to peak for Boston, and well, there's a good chance I did. Unfortunately, I may have peaked on a day with record high temps. The good news? I'm still fit. Heck, I'm on pace to run 190+ miles this month, and it's been a taper month. The chances that I won't at least run a 3:20 marathon are fairly slim. That said, what I'd like to do is run a sub 3:17:30, and at least get a PR out of this build. Given my blah-ness, I have decided to approach this race a bit different. I'm not going after a 3:10, though I truly think I was in that kind of shape a month ago. Instead, I...

I recently had the opportunity to check out a copy of Finding Ultra , a soon-to-be released memoir from ultra-athlete Rich Roll . If you're not familiar with Rich (I wasn't, prior to the reading) he successfully completed the Ultraman a few years back (which makes Ironman look like a warm-up), and followed that up by completing 5 Ironman courses over 7 days. So to call him extreme would be to put it mildly. Because the canon of literature on ultra-distance athletics is so slim, it makes sense for you to check out the book. As someone doing my second 50 mile race later this year, I find it's always good to see people who are well beyond where I am in terms of stupidity and perseverance, and Rich is firmly in that category. The book isn't flawless; it's so rare that a book like Born to Run or Strides comes out, and this book won't be compared to either. But if it's a lifestyle that you're curious about, it will do more than satisfy you. As someone ...

So while the Boston Marathon was the culmination of a lot of work, and it was an amazing experience and I will run it again (likely not until I hit a new age group), let's face it: the record heat made the resulting time a bit of a bummer. If you compared my finishing place this year to 2011, it means I probably would've run a PR 3:11-3:13ish in Boston in ideal conditions. But you won't find PR's at the "would've" shed, so I'm still stuck at 3:17:30. The good news? I'd previously agreed to do the Cleveland Marathon as a Team Type 1 event on May 20. At the time, I thought it would be a "fun" marathon; zero pressure, run it by feel, enjoy Cleveland (side note: I've been to Cleveland twice and was surprised both times how much I enjoyed this seldom-ballyhooed town), etc. But now, well, now there's work to do. After a week of recovery, this week's going to be around 44 miles, including 16-18 on Sunday. Next week will be up ov...

I was fortunate to speak at a joint event held by the JDRF of Eastern PA and the Children’s’ hospital of Pennsylvania this past weekend. More than 300 people attended, a wide mixture of children and adults, all touched by Type 1 diabetes in one way or another. The morning program began with a presentation by Dr. Aaron Kowalski, who oversees the Artificial Pancreas Project. Learning about recent progress of the project was exciting, and the audience was happy to learn of updates currently coming down the pipeline. Next up was a short break engaging with vendors. I was happy to chat with the Sanofi reps and see the forthcoming IBGstar, the blood sugar meter that plugs into an iPhone. It’s hard to imagine any diabetic iPhone fan not picking up this meter as soon as it becomes available. I was the next presenter to take the stage. I began by sharing the latest Team Type 1 video, which was greeted with a resounding applause. As I joked after the video, the only problem with it is m...

A few weeks before this year’s Boston Marathon, a friend of mine commented that he was proud to have run it last year, during a “record-breaking” day. He was referring to the fact that the course record had been demolished on a day of near-perfect weather. I remarked that he was right to be honored, not even considering that I’d participate in a record-breaking day of another sort. When the sun came up on marathon Monday, there was no denying that the weathermen had nailed it: we were in for a day of record heat. Though Pennsylvania’s sticky summers mean I can do all right in such conditions, that’s only after weeks of preparation and that wasn’t what we were facing. No, we were faced with an anomaly – a once in a lifetime occurrence that was impossible to prepare for. My shuttle arrived at the athlete’s village, early, and I found a space in the shade to sit. At this point, the shade was cool and it was almost easy to convince yourself that things would be ok. But as the sun crep...

This year's HEA Scholarship Race served as my final tune-up for this month's Boston Marathon. Last year, I had placed 2nd overall in 19:12, and then followed that up a month later with my first Boston-qualifying marathon. This year, I was hopeful I'd be faster, as my Boston goal is also more aggressive. Thirty minutes before the race, my blood sugar was a bit too high at 240, but I knew I had insulin on board so I was hopeful it would get below 200 prior to the race. At the gun, three of us jumped out, fast, but I was definitely the slowest of the three. I tried to maintain contact with the two rabbits, but settled in for a wire-to-wire 3rd place finish. When I went through the mile at 5:44, I knew I was either heading for a PR or a terrible crash and burn! I opted to run this race mostly by feel, rarely glancing at my watch. I was deep into the pain well by the first mile and committed myself to spending the rest of the race there. In most races, pain is mandatory b...

Today was my second time at the track this week. Fundamentally, I struggle with the concept of the hamster wheel known as the track - finishing where you started and all. I prefer to do speedwork on the roads whenever possible but neither Tuesday's workout nor today's were conducive to that. Today called for 10x300, at 62-63 per 300, which is approximately 5:32-5:36 pace. In the end, the workout went fine , though intervals this short and fast are always kind of strange for me, as I don't feel I have a gear that's much faster than this. On one hand, you'd think that would make the workout harder, but it almost doesn't. It's like I'm putting it on redline and hoping I can hold it for a minute. On the other hand, it wasn't lost on me that the pace I was doing these 300s at was right around my high school 2 mile PR pace twenty-three years ago. (I'm fairly certain I might hold the Pennsylvania high school record of most 11:01 two milers while n...

Yesterday was a Tuesday so well-disguised as a Monday I'm surprised nobody asked me how my weekend was. I've found that the beauty of horrible days is that they help you appreciate the good ones. Of course, that assumes you survive them and I did. The "highlight" of the day was arguably my hardest workout of my Boston build. While I've done workouts that looked more daunting on paper, this one snuck up on me and gave me a beating I wasn't expecting. Sandwiched in between a warm-up and a cool-down was this: 4 x 400 @ 88-90 seconds with 1 minute recovery after each 1 x 1600 @ 6:20 3 minute recovery Repeat The first 400 was the slowest... a 91. That's not uncommon for me as shaking off the rust is part and parcel of the process these days. The weather yesterday was about 65 and humid... it felt like we were pushing away thick clouds all the way around the track. After the 3rd 400, Mallory said, "I thought I was feeling fast today, but I thin...

Lancaster's Run 4 Luck is a unique distance - 4 miles through a flat suburb of the city. Since the first time I ran this race, it has swelled from about 200 runners to more than 800 at this year's race! In my case, I was using the race as a tune-up for the upcoming Boston Marathon. My previous PR at this distance was 25:13, but I was hopeful a good race could get me under 25. Because it was my season opener, I was a bit nervous and kept a close eye on my blood sugar to make certain the adrenaline wouldn't push me too high prior to the start. Thirty minutes prior to the race I was 124, but not wanting to chance things decided to take about 12 grams of carbs. One of my training partners and I had planned to go for 6:15 miles, together, but I had predicted this would be the race she finally beat me. If my Boston Marathon build could be called excellent, Mallory's could only be called amazing, and I expected this race to show that. Despite my plan to run 6:15 miles...