It's Here, It's Here!!!

Yes, to most people it means nothing but to me, the world! My new insulin pump!!! Yes, I did open it at work because I was too excited! Check out all the "stuff", now if I could only get some to show me how to use so I don't accidentally kill myself! lol I did make a trip out to restock glucose tabs and instant glucose gel in case of emergencies. I will keep everyone up to date as I learn more and get this party started!

The real question of the day is can I keep numbers like this once I start on the pump? I hope!

For those who can't read horrible, blurry pictures:

7 day average after 26 checks is 110

14 days 109

30 days 119

60 days 120

90 days after 393 checks 120!!!! Freaking Awesome!

Package delivered at work:

Package contents on desk at work:

Package contents spread out on table at while reading the literature:

My weekend!

This weekend was great! I went riding Friday and put on a solid 30 miles. Did I mention I love riding? lol The whole time I was thinking about getting my insulin pump, how will I ride with it? Where will I put it? How do I adjust for exercise? All the normal things running through people's minds! Right?

I slept in until 8am on Saturday! Funny, I know, but getting up at 5am all week long means 8 is 3 extra hours!!! I went out to my parents to help with some projects as usual and visit with my brother. He is doing well with his chemo and all, here is a picture of him and I. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully everything will keep moving along pretty well.

Sunday I rode the Sweet Corn Challenge put together by Eddie's Bike shop. It was an in credible day for riding!!! Perfect temp, perfect weather!!! I met a group of guys training for the MS 150 and rode with them for most of the 53 miles. It was a great ride, fairly challenging for the area but fun as well. I finished in 3:10:00 but the best part was that my blood sugars were perfect all day long. Now that I'm finally getting these under control while riding so I don't go low I'm moving to the insulin pump. My goal is to be up and running for the STOMP metric century at the end of the month. Wish me luck!!! On that note check back to see pics as I get my pump delivery tomorrow!!!

FINALLY!!!

Monday my insulin pump will arrive! A whole new era in my life with diabetes! I feel like it's Christmas in July! I will admit that I'm a little nervous about getting started but know it will better in the long run. I'll keep everyone posted on how this journey goes and how it changes my life, hopefully for the better. :)

Here is a pic of the pump in the color I will be getting:

Monday

Well, I was finally able to get out yesterday at about 6pm. The weather looked a bit shaky up until then. I had the news on, Internet weather and kept walking out and looking at the sky. Finally I said screw it!

I got my bike and myself ready and went out. The ride was great and I tried a new route which ended up being 29.4 miles, close enough to 30 for me!!! I felt great, like I could ride another 20 miles. However, I wrestled with my blood sugars for the ride. I was low when I started (BS 67) so I fueled up and about 9 miles in I went low again and had to stop in the valley for a Power Bar gel which is a solid 30g of carbs. Felt pretty good for the rest of the ride. when I got home my BS was 57 but I knew I was eating dinner so I was ok.

Checked again at 9 and my BS was 110 which is a-OK perfect as far as BS goes. I took my Lantus and had a small snack, the usual nighttime ritual. However as I was going to bed a little after 10 my BS was 41!!! Back to eating again. Sheesh! Being diabetic is tiring.

On a good note though HUGE cold front moving through bringing the temp and humidity down. 77 and sunny today!!! 40 miles here I come!!!

Boo, the weekend is over!

Back to the grind here at 7am. The weekend was good, I came off last week with a few more miles on my bike under my belt. Last week at some point in time I pulled a muscle in my back. I rode a few more days with it but it bothered me enough to take Friday off the bike. Not doing a heck of lot except relaxing with some heat on my back catching up on the weeks DVR or the Tour de France. Saturday I went home to help my Dad out with a few projects, visit my brother and see some relatives that were stopping by on there way back to NY. While taking some toolboxes back to my Dad's shed I tweaked my back again. Son of a B%#@*!!! However, I wasn't letting it ruin my ride that evening, after popping some Motrin I managed to tough out 35 miles in the evening.

Sunday was a bust as well, my back was pretty rough but after spending some time in the hot tub it felt better. My parents and brother came out to go swimming and cookout. I grilled up 7lbs. of ribs for everyone. Slow cooked with dried mustard, brown sugar and honey before topping off with some bbq sauce. I had to ribs left after the 4 of us got through them.

The highlight of my weekend, outside of seeing the fam, was stocking up on much needed refueling supplies!!! See below.

Gatorade G2, on sale until Wed. at Giant Eagle 10/$10 my fav beverage!

Power Bars, love them for riding, working out and the occasional low blood sugar!

Ride plan for the week:

Monday: bike 30 miles

Tuesday: bike 40 miles

Wednesday: Appreciation dinner for Tour de Cure at HOB Cleveland

Thursday: Toss up, 30 miles or ABC group ride

Friday: 40 miles

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Sweet Corn Challenge! 50 miles with Horrendous Hills!!! Yes, I'm sick!

My Cause

And my new prized possession.

Have You Ever?

Been working out for awhile and just reached a point where you say, "I feel like I'm getting better!". I reached that point yesterday, maybe it's mental, maybe it's spiritual. I'm not sure. Yesterday when I was riding all the numbers were showing my heart rate, speed and distance were normal but I just felt more relaxed like I could ride all day. I rode 33 miles yesterday and I was ready to go back out again as soon as I got home. Words just can't describe that great feeling you have when you are busting your ass running or ridding or whatever your workout is and you feel you can just rise above and rock out.

Riding is my euphoria. I don't have to depend on anyone except myself, no one else is going to push down the pedal or get me up the hill. There is a lot going on in my life between work which is always crazy (gotta love marketing!), a little brother with cancer, a crazy ex-girlfriend who can't leave me the hell alone and is crazy even when on medication, all the day to day things that need to get done (i.e. paying bills, grocery shopping, taking care of dog, laundry) oh and did I mention I'm a type 1 diabetic and have to monitor my blood sugar, insulin and food intake every second I'm awake so I don't need anything amputated or have a major organs fail?

Riding = :)

But I love to ride, my goal is to ride over 1200 miles this season. I've covered 508 so far and I've signed up for local rides almost ever weekend I'm free for the rest of the summer. On top of that i get out of work at 4pm now and can make it almost anywhere for a ride in the evening. Here's my plan of attack for the week:

Monday: rest/clean bike (see Ran Man entry)
Tuesday: Ride into the valley and out a few times 33 miles
Wednesday: HIIT Ride 30 miles
Thursday: ABC Ride and picnic afterwards
Friday: Climb every hill out of the valley and then ride back in (more fun than you think!)
Saturday: Visit brother and try new ride route covering 45 miles
Sunday: Loooooong endurance ride

Weekly Mileage Goal 175

Drop a line if you want to come and ride!!! lol Happy cycling everyone!

Rain Man

Sunday's ABC ride was great! Well...outside of the fact that it rained all 65.4 miles of the ride it was great. I felt good for the ride for the most part. I forgot to take my shot of Lantus the night before so my blood sugars were a little goofy but I got them under control quickly. Started off the ride with a BS of 135. A OK!!!

I got all of my gear together and headed out. My usual plan is to go out and find a group of riders that are slightly faster than my average speed so I push myself. I found that group about 3 miles in, it was Goldilocks style! lol First group, nice but too slow. Second group past so fast I yelled car back thinking it was really a car. Then I saw it, through the downpour of rain, a faint flashing red tail light. I kicked it into gear and chased them down. It was a group of 6 guys that ride together and usually hammer through the valley during the week. PERFECT! We kept a solid 16.5 mph pace. This may have been faster if it wasn't pouring down rain so hard. It was the kind of rain that left you with two options: 1. Wear glasses (which I have my clear lens in) and deal with water on them and fogging up all day or 2. Not wear glasses and get the spray from someones wheel in your eye all day.

Roughly 6 hours after the ride my shoes and helmet were finally dry, they gave new meaning to the word saturated!

All in all, great ride and I can't wait to get out and put more miles on this week.

Weekly total miles: 142.4

Sunday Ride: 65.4 miles
4:07:00
Avg HR: 157
Max HR: 183
Avg. Speed: 15.8mph
Calories burned: 3138 Yikes!

Next big ride Sweet Corn Challenge!

Beautiful Weather!

Yesterday was a beautiful day! I ran out of work at 5 and went straight for my bike. I was on the road by 6 after walking/feeding the dog and getting my stuff together. It got a little hot around 3-5 o'clock but by 6 the temp was perfect!

My blood sugar was perfect as well with a pre-ride test of 138 and a small snack the my body felt great for the ride. Why you ask? When my blood sugar is low at the start of a ride I can eat a quick snack but still, part of my bodies energy is going towards correcting my blood sugar instead of the exercise at hand. So even though the "normal" range is 80-120, 138 is perfect for the start of strenuous activity. I sipped on Gatorade G2 throughout the ride and stopped to watch the cows at Hale Farm while reloading on a Powergel. When I finished my ride my BS was 80, perfection!

The ride overall was great I covered 28 miles which included a few small hills in 1:50:00 flat. Hopefully my ride today and tomorrow will be as productive as the one last night!

On a side note everyone say a prayer and send your happy thoughts to my little brother who is going in for his fourth round of chemo. Take care little buddy, love ya!!!

Did I mention how much he drives me? I push myself hard for him, I think when I have a great day that it sends positive vibes up his way. That's why I like to call him and let him know how things are down here.

Take care everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather!!! :)

Alright No Slacking!

I'm doing my best to not be a blog slacker (they should make a name for this phenomena).

My holiday week/weekend was great! I went out to Buffalo to visit the family which was great and the drive was nice as well. Sometimes it's nice to just drive by yourself and rock out to some great 80's music while pondering teh meaning of life. Then I snapped back to reality and realized how lucky we are to have 3 lane highways around most of Akron. Stupid trucks and slow drivers, get to the right side of the road!!! >:(

So I drove from 4th picnic in Buffalo straight to another 4th picnic in Amherst, OH being held by the other side of my family. Then I stayed at my parents to help mulch the front first thing on Saturday morning. By this time I had eaten and drank wayyyy toooo much. I was missing my bike.

Saturday I got home around 3 and headed out on the bike. I covered a cool 30 miles and rocked a few hills in preparation for the ABC ride next weekend.

Sunday I go up at the crack of dawn, well, 7am to hit the road by 8. I made it out by 8:10 but who's counting! I covered another 36 miles Sunday morning. If you add that with my mileage from Tuesday and Saturday I met my goal of 75+ miles for my vacation. Then I hiked around Kendal Ledges with my friend Molly. She was laughing at me because I was getting a little sore. She said every time I got up I moved a little slower. She's mean! lol

So here is the run down of my week:
Monday - Softball
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Hard ride, hit up some hills in the valley. Oak Hill, North Hampton, Ira.
Thursday - Distance Ride 30 miles
Friday - Easy ride - 25
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - ABC Ride in Medina 62 miles

Have a great week everyone!

I love summer holidays!

Here's the scoop, I get Friday off work and half a day on Thursday. I also took the rest of Thursday and Wednesday off as well! :) Here the rundown of my vacation:

Tuesday: started the evening off right with a nice long bike ride. Had to try out the fixed bike which ran like a dream! :) As well as the new HR monitor/cyclecomputer.

Ride stats: Duration 1:56:04, max heart rate 209bpm, avg. heart rate 151bpm, 1321 calories burned, 27.9 miles, 14.5 mph avg., 45mph max speed

Wednesday: Drive to Buffalo, NY to visit with Grandparents and Uncles

Thursday: Big picnic/4th party and my Uncle's house in NY. We party and cookout all day and watch the fireworks so close you have to look straight up to see them!

Friday: Drive from Grandparents in NY to Aunt's house in Amherst, OH for another picnic and to see my cousin who is in from Chicago. Pick Lexi up from parents place (Thanks Kevin for watching my Lexi pie this week, YOU ROCK!) and head home. Depending on what time I get home maybe go out for a ride.

Saturday and Sunday: Ride my ass off! A minimum of 75 miles combined those days. I have to prep for my metric century next weekend for the ABC ride. 62 miles of bliss next Sunday.

Everyone, have a great and safe holiday weekend!!!!