Life with Type 1 diabetes!

Battle of Turkey Run Race Report

2011-08-02T07:57:00.003-04:00

Well, the good news is I've been riding and racing. The bad news is I had a big diabetes FAIL at this race.

The race took place in Zanesville, OH on Saturday at the privately owned S&S trails. You can ride the trails on Wednesday evening during the group rides. This race was HOT, in a bad way. 91 degrees with near 100% humidity, the course was sticky peanut butter mud due to the overnight deluge that passed through. The stats from the race were about 14.5 miles of course with 2000+ feet of climbing. The overall race was set up world cup style meaning short course with multiple laps, sport class had to do 4 laps.

Goals:
1. finish = complete
2. Not finish last = complete
3. not let my Wheels On Fire teammate Dan lap me = complete! :)

It was a good race, not my best but good. I had some diabetes issues, I spiked my blood glucose and when I stopped after the first lap to check and see what it was, I was out of test strips in my small meter that I carry with me, FAIL. I tried not to freak out, regained my composure and just rode. I thought about DNF'ing but talked myself out of it as I rode. I was alright for now and making it work. I felt like shit but I was pressing on to lap three and then lap four. I also managed to avoid cramps until the last 500 ft. of the course where I hopped off my bike and ran and then hopped back on for the obligatory photo finish! I grabbed some water, chatted with a few fellow racers and headed to my car to check my BG. It was 349, double fail.

Like I said thought, I survived and lived for the next race and I'm not going to beat myself up, if I was feeling better I could have smoked the poor conditioned course!

Here's a picture of me during the race, more to come hopefully!

Sorry, I need to quit saying that. Here's a damn update finally!

2011-06-15T19:42:00.002-04:00

So I finished the Mohican 100K! I didn't just finish, I kicked it's ass! I was hoping to finish the 100K in 9-10 hours, I finished in 8:19:00 with room to grow next year. Thank you to all of the people who have supported me in my training and a special thanks goes out to Wheels On Fire Bicycle Service, my team sponsor.

I took the day off Friday to sleep in and finish getting myself ready. I packed everything up and went to a wonderful lunch with my girlfriend before heading out around 2:00. Loudonville is about 1.5 hours away and you can get stuck behind slow traffic on the back country roads. I stopped along the way and picked up Subway for dinner for some decent protein and carbs. I got down to Mohican Adventures to register and pick up my information pack at about 4pm. From there I went to check in at the Mohican River Inn, this Inn is the main reason why my gf did not want to attend this year. I brought my sleeping bag to sleep on top of the bed linens, we'll leave it at that! I chatted with some of the other folks racing, I would have been better if my blood sugar would not have spiked so high. It was painfully high, so I took the necessary insulin after I discovered my pump hose was blocked. I settled in for a long night of tossing and turning but my blood sugar finally came back to a normal level.

I think I'm babbling a lot so let's get to it. Got up at 5am to get ready, pack everything back up and drive my car to the finish line parking lot. Got the bike and myself ready and then rode the mile to downtown Loudonville for the start. Once at the start line the let us know the 100K folks would be starting 15min later than the 100milers to avoid bottlenecks. Off we went and I knew right off the bat I was going to kick ass. Weather was great and the sun was shinning, a far cry from the rivers of last years crazy race.

Everything said and done:
Official Time: 8:19:13 113th place out of 197 in my class (Winner finished in 4:55:57!) My goal next year is to shave 30 min off!
Bike time from cycle computer: 7:41:15
Miles: 63
Feet of climbing: 7373
Calories burned: 5835
Average HR 163
Temp: 93 and sunny

Picture of me crossing the finish line!

Mohican 100K Time!

2011-06-01T13:16:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I'm here, I'm alive and yes, I've been slacking! I have been training quite a bit for the Mohican 100K, no DNF this year! I'm taking the day off on Friday to get myself together and down to Loudonville, OH for the race. I'm really excited and pretty nervous too! I'm sure I'll do fine, I have more miles and quality miles at that in this year vs. last year. Last weekend I took the trip down to Mohican to ride the 25 mile loop and had plenty of energy in the tank to keep going. I was barely winded!

The weather looks beautiful, the bike is running great and I feel darn good! Time to start making my lists and try not to forget anything this year like I did last year. Who forgets the bladder for their camelbak???

More posts coming soon!

Brief Update

2011-03-11T13:09:00.004-05:00

The training continues! I had a great blood sugar day and some great training yesterday! I did an hour on the trainer to the tune of the following work out:

13 min warm-up
Ladder - 3 minutes at each of the 4 resistance settings from easy to hard and then back down
3 min RIB
10 min cool-down

Also, finally uploaded some pics of events this fall:

I turned 30, thanks Molly for the homemade ice cream maker!

Lexi Pie

My Pumpkin

My Pumpkin's Pumpkin

Getting ready for the worst race of my life. It was bad, severe leg cramps for the last 13 miles of a 25 mile race.

Mohican River Valley

Packed up for a ride at Mohican or Vulture's Knob, can't remember.

Cleveland Air Show with my brother

More air show

Another great workout last night!

2011-03-09T07:31:00.003-05:00

You know, one of those workouts where you push your heart rate so high and hold that you start to feel like your going to throw up! Yep, that's right where I was last night and I loved it! :)

Here was the drill:
15 min. warm up
2 sets of 3 X 3 min maximum power outputs
3 min rest easy pedaling between each mpo
8 min rest between sets
12 min cool down

No soreness today either, looks like I'm going to have to push a little harder on Thursday!

I've actually been riding!

2011-02-25T15:29:00.002-05:00

However, I live in NE Ohio so my riding has been reduced to a trainer. Nonetheless I've stuck to my new training schedule so far this week! I have some miles to put in over the weekend but that's okay! Here's what I did:

Tuesday and Wednesday:
12 min warm up --> 3 X 8 min steady state intervals at 93-95% of max HR followed by a 13 min cool down

Workout this weekend:
Saturday and Sunday
90-150 minute Easy miles 50-80% of max HR

Here is my 2011 season plan so far:
April 10 - Challenge at Mountwood, Parkersburg, WV (OMBC Series)
April 16 - Mohican Wilderness - Loudonville, OH (OMBC Series)
May 22 - Grassman - Coshocton, OH (OMBC Series)
June 4 - Mohican 100 - Loudonville, OH
July 30 - Battle of Turkey Run at S&S Trails- Mt. Perry/Zanesville, OH (OMBC Series)
Aug 14 - Alum Creek State Park- Delaware, OH (OMBC Series)
Sept 11 - Bob Evans Farm - Rio Grande, OH (OMBC Series)
Sept 25 - Westbranch State Park- Ravenna/Akron, OH (OMBC Series)
Oct 8 - Mohican State Park and Forest -Loudonville, OH (OMBC Series)
Oct 25 - Mohican Wilderness Championship Race -Loudonville, OH (OMBC Series)

The answer is, yes, I'm going for a high place finish in the states best MTB series! We'll see how this goes! Here are the rules:

OMBC Race Series: Best 5 races qualify for series awards!

Championship Race is not required to qualify but breaks all ties AND counts as a SIXTH RACE toward total points

Spinning

2011-02-13T20:12:00.002-05:00

Kicked some ass today in a 2 hour Spinning class! Feel great afterwards and now I;m really looking forward to the cycling season. 50 degrees by the end of the week! Kick ass!

Get out and ride!!!!

Ice vs. Windshield

2011-02-03T14:04:00.002-05:00

Check out the damage done to my brothers truck after an ice chunk flew of a Ford Explorer and connected with the windshield. He is fine, just got a glass shower from the inside! Said he was pulling glass out of his pocket and shoe!

In sickness and in health....

2011-02-02T08:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been dealing mostly with the sickness side of things lately. I had a wicked sinus infection that pretty much knocked me out for the past two weeks. In the middle of it all I had to travel to a conference in Dallas for work which didn't help matters.

This Thursday is going to be my grand return to cycling in the form of a spinning class! I can't wait and I'm totally excited to start up again, I love riding and I'm pretty decent at it! lol! Plus my blood glucose levels need to start leveling off a little better. Between the infection and my lack of movement from the couch or bed while healing, I've been a bit all over these days. (sigh)

Hammer Time

2011-01-20T12:56:00.003-05:00

I was suckered into investing in Hammer Nutrition products this fall. Well...not suckered, more like enticed. As part of my renewed focus for 2011 I knew that my nutrition while riding could use some work. I was all over the board and for a Type 1 diabetic cyclist that is not good. I'm going to try some new regiments and nutrition supplies and I was drawn to Hammer products because of their very organic approach to fuels. I feel the less processed the energy source, the better and more efficiently my body can break down and use the nutrition.

Here is what I'm starting with:

HEED Sports Drink: High energy electrolyte drink - subtle tasting, all-complex carbohydrate formula goes down easily and supplies you with consistent, long-lasting energy and the electrolytes you need to keep pushing the pace.

Hammer Gel: Hammer Gel has been the benchmark of concentrated carbohydrate energy gel, primarily because of what it doesn't contain - Hammer Gel has no added refined, simple sugars, and no artificial colors or sweeteners.

Perpetuem Solids: long-lasting, consistent energy source

Endurolytes Fizz: The quality and effectiveness that you’ve come to expect from Endurolytes (capsules and powder) in convenient, rapidly dissolving effervescent tablets. With Endurolytes Fizz you have a deliciously refreshing alternative to fulfill your body’s all-important electrolyte requirements.

Premium Insurance Caps: AKA: cycling specific multivitamin

I Accept the Challange!

2011-01-18T12:41:00.002-05:00

The Challenge:

100 miles or 100k loop consisting of 11,000+ feet of climbing along mostly singletrack, doubletrack or dirt roads, spanning 4 counties through some of the most remote and scenic areas in the rolling hills of Mohican Country. Climbs of nearly a mile, with elevation gains of 300+ feet, rock gardens, streams, and more!

I'm officially registered and have a room reserved! The only way to go after last year is up! June 4th is the day!

29

2011-01-17T12:29:00.002-05:00

Some people may say what the heck does 29 mean. Well...it was my blood sugar Friday night after I inadvertently OD'd on insulin. It happens, I just miss calculated my carb intake and got my ass whopped by a hypoglycemic reaction. It started off with a light-headed feeling and then progressed to sweats and a wicked stomach ache. It felt like I was going to ralph! I was low earlier but had a large glass of OJ and a granola bar. Should have done the trick. I would have been SOL if I didn't have that because my blood sugar would have dropped way lower than 29!

My hero Molly hopped right up our of bed to help! Did I mention this was around midnight??? She helped me get by shot of liquid glucose open (thank you CVS for making the package way harder than what a hypoglycemic person can handle to open) and some additional snacks for me. I the morning my blood sugar rounded out at 124! Crazy diabetes night!

Here are the WebMD symptoms of hypoglycemia:

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms can be different depending on how low your blood sugar level drops.

Mild hypoglycemia can make you feel hungry or like you want to vomit. You could also feel jittery or nervous. Your heart may beat fast. You may sweat. Or your skin might turn cold and clammy.
Moderate hypoglycemia often makes people feel short-tempered, nervous, afraid, or confused. Your vision may blur. You could also feel unsteady or have trouble walking.
Severe hypoglycemia can cause you to pass out. You could have seizures. It could even cause a coma or death.

If you've had hypoglycemia during the night, you may wake up tired or with a headache. And you may have nightmares. Or you may sweat so much during the night that your pajamas or sheets are damp when you wake up.

I think it's safe to say I was well into the moderate level!

Proof

2011-01-14T07:37:00.002-05:00

That Cleveland is the second snowiest city in the US! Umm...I can't believe I'm bragging about this. :(

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/snowiest-cities-in-america.html

Snowiest City?!?!?

2011-01-13T07:55:00.003-05:00

An article yesterday listed Cleveland as the second snowiest city next to Denver. Having lived here all of my life, I BELIEVE IT!

It makes it tough for cycling but the snow doesn't last long. I was able to ride well into November this year. It may have only been 20 degrees out but as long as the legs still move and wheels still turn, I'm riding! My cut off is snow, as soon as it starts snowing and they start salting streets I'm done and migrate indoors for riding. We get so much snow that the streets are always caked in salt and brine solution. Great for melting snow and melting carbon fiber and bike parts.

This is what my dog thinks of winter!

In the Spring I'll venture back out after we get a few hard rains to wash away the salt. This usually happens at some point in mid to late March. In between I ride on the trainer and do Spinning classes at the gym to keep at least a minimal level of fitness.

I guess I'm just happy that we only have to deal with roughly 3.5 months of snow vs. more. There is ample time for riding!

Here is my car yesterday after a 45 minute meeting at Goodyear HQ

2010 In Review

2011-01-02T17:52:00.003-05:00

Well, I accomplished most of my goals and left a few on the table for 2011.

Goals Accomplished:
- Raced in more MTB Races this year
- Road more miles this year
- Kept my A1c below 7.0

Goals yet to be accomplished
- Finishing my first 100km or 100mile MTB race
- Breaking 3,000 miles in a year

2011 Goals are pretty simple a straightforward
- Finish the Mohican MTB 100
- Race in at least 4 races
- Break 3,000 miles
- Keep my A1c below 7.0

I will elaborate more as the year goes on!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T15:44:00.000-05:00

2011 will be great! Look for many more posts this year! Have a great year everyone!

Editing Videos

2010-09-13T09:59:00.003-04:00

Editing video at a studio means that I will have plenty of down time. I'm not editing nor directing, simply being the account person means that I get to play voice-of-reason since our deadline is the end of the week.

It also give me time to update my blog! :)

Molly and I went to D.C. and did the touristy thing. We hadn't been there in over a decade and wanted to see and appreciate all of the sites. We had an incredible time and found some great places to eat! I found a place that had a crab stuffed soft pretzel which was rich and amazing! We hit up all of the monuments and most of the Smithsonians, my favorite was the WWII memorial, it was amazing and thought provoking.

Here we are in front of the White House

We also found this amazing cupcake place! The cupcakes didn't make it back to the hotel! :)

Work has been busy! Product launches out the ying-yang and I had some additional Goodyear accounts added to my watch due to people leaving the company. One of my more recent projects was helping Goodyear develop a United Way donation goal tracker for their campaign. The lady in charge is the Director of Blimp Operations, so needless to say I got a VIP tour of the Goodyear Blimp Hangar in Akron, OH!

Installing the camera for a Browns football game!

The Goodyear Blimp!

Riding and racing!
I've been riding as much as I can fit in! I surpassed 2,000 miles and I think I've over 2,200 to-date! I've been trying to get out on the MTB more but with the days getting shorter the road bike seems to be a quick alternative before the sun goes down.

I raced The Big Valley Race at Camp Manatoc and finished 10th out of 20 in my Sport age group. Way better than my 13th/last place finish last year! I also cut 43 minutes off of my two laps with an added mile this year on the second lap!

I plan on trying to do a few more races before the end of the season and maybe get some night riding started with the days ending earlier. Maybe next year I'll hit up some more endurance races and maybe my first 12-hour race!

Everything else is gravy these days! My blood sugars are under control with my most recent A1C of 6.8. My brother and family are healthy and happy and Molly is as amazing of a girlfriend as she has ever been!

Happy Monday everyone!!!

No Excuses!!!

2010-08-16T07:46:00.003-04:00

For not keeping my blog up-to-date! I've been busy yet find the time to keep on others blog without adding an entry myself! WTF!!!

Here's a quick rundown of my world with more detail to come:
Personal - Molly and I went to D.C. on July 29th and I have to share some stories and pictures from that trip. Shame on me, the pictures aren't even on facebook yet and that's even easier to upload! Families are doing well on both Molly's side and mine. We are starting the hunt for a new apartment after some incredibly noisy neighbors moved in upstairs. We've had grown men live above us before that were not even close to the noise that these two "kids" produce. Hidden Lake apartments in Stow have gone downhill consistently since I moved in almost 4 years ago. I would not recommend these apartments to anyone looking to move to this area.

Riding - putting in a lot of miles on both road and MTB. Broke 1000 miles on the road bike alone this weekend, need more off-road miles. Next weekend I will attempt Eric's Hill Challenge climbing 14 hills out of the valley. All hills are at lease 250ft. of climbing over .25 - .5 miles in length, a true leg burning experience. :)

Work - Busy, same story as everyone else. Less people but with more work = profitability in 2010. I've been keeping it real and getting things done though.

Health - Awesomeness! I had lab work done on Friday for my endo visit tomorrow. All should be great! I also had an eye exam where the Optometrist said my eyes were better now than the last time he saw me two years ago, no new glasses = saved money!!! ;)

That's all for now, I'll be back soon!

Hittin' the Streets

2010-07-22T07:38:00.002-04:00

Gangster style! Well not really but heading out for the ABC group ride this evening. Hopefully I will get a good 35-40 mile workout in. I'm planning on riding the Sweet Corn Challenge this weekend with the MTB. Getting ready for Big Bear Lake in 2 weeks. :)

Happy Thursday!

CGM, not again!

2010-07-21T07:47:00.002-04:00

As I tried to piece my stomach to insert my continuous glucose monitor today it hit a tough spot in my stomach. The piece stopped half way in and half way out, the problem with that is you then have to manually push it in or say screw it and pull it out.

This is the lose, lose situation. Pushing it in is like trying to drive a spike through yourself, the needle is pretty big so it hurts both physically and mentally. Pulling it back out destroys the sensitive flexible sensor that is supposed to stay in your skin. Now you've just wasted $30. I choose option 1 so we'll see how this goes.

The good problem I have is that I've lost a considerable amount of weight eating healthy and cycling. Not that I was that big to begin with but dropping 15lbs. from 160 is enough to lose pretty much all of the extra fat on your body. I've had to buy new shorts this year because my old size 32 and 33 waists were so big I didn't have to unbutton to slide them off and now my pants are following suit. I can slide my full, clinched fist in between my stomach and belly facing out and still have room. I need to replace all of my jeans now that hang off of me. :(

Life is has it's complications whether you are tall, short, heavy or petite. :)

Thank you fellow riders!

2010-07-15T07:36:00.002-04:00

Thank you to all the folks who offered me a tube or to help me fix my flat tire on my trip back to my place! For everyone who passed and didn't say anything or laughed...well...I would have still offered you help if you were broken down.

My tire went flat about 2.5 miles into my ride. My stupid ass old MTB rims SUCK!!!! I'm throwing that shit away. I'll just swap tires on my new kick-ass Mavic rims if I want to ride the MTB slicks on the road. However, the WTB Graffiti tire was strong enough to hold on the rim and let me keep a 7mph pace back home instead of hoofing it. Obviously I didn't care for the rim at that moment.

Bottom line, swapped wheels, back out by 6:30pm and got 27 miles in! Can't hold me down! :)

Group Ride Fun and Pissing People Off!!!

2010-07-09T07:44:00.003-04:00

So, I showed up at the regular Thursday night Akron Bike Club group ride sporting my 26 pound Trek Fuel EX 8. I got plenty of funny looks from all of the shaved legged roadies on there carbon fiber rigs waiting to eat me alive! I loved every minute of it and on top of that I wore my Red Riders jersey so everyone new I was a diabetic. It was pretty warm yesterday making me nervous as to whether or not I could keep the road pace, even though I have switched out my tires to use my dirt jump slicks.

We headed out and around in the valley, much to my surprise I was in the lead group of about 5 riders or so. They would try to speed up and I was right with them. People would try to pass me and nudge me out of line and I wouldn't let them, I even took my turns pulling at the front. Then came the first hill and up I went, this is where I felt the heat. My heart rate danced at about 192 bpm! Finally at the top I was the 4th person to finish out of 20!

From there we cruised around the top of the valley before dropping back in at Boston Mills road. We cruised on Riverview Road for a little while before heading back to the parking lot. A few guys peeled off to add some more hills to their day the rest were heading back. I kindly said goodbye at the 303 interaction so I didn't have to ride to the lot to ride back to go home.

The stunned crowd asked, "You rode here???". Heck yeah! Jaws were agape when I said maybe next week I'll bring my road bike! lol!

The final summary was 33 miles at a 17.08 mph pace. If I didn't chill out on the way home my pace for the fist 25 miles was 17.8mph. I was asked no less than 4 times to please stop making people look back. They can buy a MTB for group rides if they want to kick-ass as well! :)

Happy Friday!!!

My July

2010-07-08T07:43:00.002-04:00

July has been great so far! Had a crazy busy holiday weekend and now I'm settling in for some training during the dog days of summer! I have some races and whatnots coming up:

July 18: MTB Time Trial at The Thorn
July 25: OMBC Race at Alum Creek SP
Aug 7: Big Bear Lake MTB Ultra (50 miles)
Sept 18: 12 Hours of Mohican
Sept 25: West Branch SP

I'll keep myself busy in between! Tonight I'm taking my MTB with slicks on to the Akron bike club ride. I'll either show the roadies what's up or embarrass myself! :)

Almost forgot!!!

2010-06-15T21:08:00.001-04:00

Mohican MTB 100, 700+ riders started. 287 finished. Great job to those that survived!!! :)

Mohican MTB 100 Race Report Part 2

2010-06-15T20:12:00.003-04:00

We were awoken at 4am by the continuance of thundershowers moving through the area. It poured so hard that it woke up my girl. Buckets, cats, dogs, the works. Uggg, was the only thing going through my head. My stomach hurt I was so at odds. I had busted my ass training for this race and now everything was jacked. Since my girl was awake she calmed me down and reminded me I didn't bust my ass to let a little rain slow me down. Damn right!!!

So we packed up and headed to the start line. The weather broke right before the 5 mile trip to the start. We found a great parking place for me to get ready and it was close to the bathroom!

Now I'm not sure where everyone came from be there were over 700 riders that started the day. It certainly didn't seem like there were that many cars around.

Here I am getting ready, having no idea what lie ahead.

Warming up, getting the blood flowing.

Here is everyone at the start.

I'm in the middle pedaling my little heart out.

Thus we were off, the first few miles are along roads until you are out of town. There roads go straight up BTW. Then we hit the mud. It was every where and deep! It was just a plain mess. I was moving along okay but slow for the first 20 miles or so and then I started to notice a problem. My chain was not shifting into the upper 3 rings on the cassette, then the top 4. WTF!!! There was so much mud every where that I couldn't see what was what down there. At the first aid station I was able to splash a cup of water on but it didn't help much. The peeps at the station said station two had power washers so I pressed on. It was tough though, I only really had three speeds that I could bounce around in the front chain rings. My bike slowly becoming useless against the mud, I needed the upper chain rings. I finally made it to the second aid station about 36 miles in and cleaned off the bike. Nothing doing. It was still jacked.

After some thinking and cursing I decided to pull out. It wasn't worth destroying my entire drivetrain. I tucked my tail between my legs and headed back to the finish line to meet up with my girl. She helped me scrape up my ego and pack everything up. She had mentioned she was worried about me and I asked why, she proceeded to tell me the tornado sirens were blaring and a tornado touched down about 8 mile north of where we were at.

Wow, news to me!!! Shortly after I arrived back it began to absolutely pour again. :( Covered in mud I was able to find a shower to stand in with all of my gear on and slowly strip down and try to clean everything off.

Next time, there will always be a next time. I'm in the best riding shape of my life and I don't intend to waste it!!!

Here's a picture of me in action.

We packed up and headed to Columbus for my good friends wedding.

Bottom line, my chain seized up on me. I had to take it off and throw it away before we even made it home. You know what that means??? Yes, time to upgrade! I know have a 9-speed KMC chain that is titanium and nickel plated. Hopefully problem solved!

As for the poison ivy, I had it everywhere. Apparently I didn't do a great job washing my hands after handling my bike. It was all over my face. I toughed it out and it has all cleared up now.

Additional pictures and videos courtesy of people other than me!

http://www.vimeo.com/12351313

http://teambikesour ce.myphotoalbum. com/view_ album.php? set_albumName= album102

http://picasaweb.google.com/waderlewis/MOHICAN100MILEMTBRACE?feat=email#

Mohican MTB 100 Race Report Part 1

2010-06-10T07:34:00.006-04:00

I know better late than never!!!

I'm not sure where to begin, this was quite the weekend to remember.

Friday: In the morning I continued to pack and check things off of my list. My girlfriend said I was being to anal with my list and I said I will forget something for sure. So after getting made fun of a bit I finished gathering my gear and loaded up the car. My girlfriend had to work in the morning so around noon we ate lunch she finished up and we were on the road by about 2:30. Mohican is about an hour and twenty minutes or so away from Stow, OH.

It was pretty stormy with rain starting and stopping the whole way. As we were reaching the outskirts of Loudonville, I suddenly got a sick feeling in my stomach. I forgot my CamelBak bladder. The pack is useless without it and I have no other good way of carrying water on my FS MTB. So after I registered we went to check out the local bike shop to see if they had camelbak bladders of even the whole dang thing that I would just by, pack and all. Nothing, the closest store was back in Wooster. Keep in mind the Loudonville bike shop was about 1/3 bike gear and 2/3 auto parts store. Nice!

So back up to Wooster we went it was about a 20 mile trip back. We located the store, found a pack and grabbed some dinner before heading back to our hotel. Keep in mind heavy rain was turning on and off like a light switch at this point in time. So, on we forge to our hotel...well Motel I believe is the actual term. My girl was not exactly excited when I told her that the place was a Motel, they sound dirty and sketchy. This one wasn't horrible but it was pretty far away from civilization. It was called the Mohican River Inn and it was a quick 5 mile jaunt away from the start line. So we check in and unload the car, as we unloaded the parking lot quickly filed with more riders stopping to check in. So we unload the card and try to get comfortable while I work on getting my bike set for the morning. This is when we realized problem number two. I had forgotten to grab the garment bag hanging in the closet by the door full or our dress clothes for my very good friends wedding. :( Another plan was concocted that while I was riding my girlfriend would drive back to Wooster and go shopping for clothes. Needless to say she was much more excited about that than waiting 6 hours in Loudonville for me to finish.

Our motel room, note the cinder block walls like a prison cell!!!

The girlfriend, relaxing. BTW, she hates raccoons. Check out the art between the beds! lol!

Silly grin while getting the bike ready for the race. Note the flashy new Mavic Crosstrail rims and Kenda Karma tires! :)

Three days out

2010-06-02T09:45:00.002-04:00

And I'm a little nervous. I've been training for this weekend since January. The Mohican 100K MTB race is this Saturday. I know I can do it but I'm getting butterflies right now as I think about it. I can't think about these meetings I'm in right now, all I can think about is riding.

I'm thankful for many things including the support of my girlfriend, my family, the guys at Eddy's Bike Shop and the bewildered stares I get from coworkers when I tell them what I'm doing.

I'm pumped to be riding with diabetes, after all we all ride for the thrill and challenge, I just have one little additional challenge. I rode a big chunk of this past Sunday but pulled out half way through the 2nd lap due to the heat. I felt good overall though. 90 degrees was just really hot and humid, especially in the woods! My legs felt good and I'll only be doing part of the crazy 25 mile loop before we jet out of the woods on to back roads and new courses. Much of the 100 mile and 100K course is on hiking trails and private property that is only open for riding this one day of the year. How cool is that?!?!?!?

I'm getting myself ready, slowly. Making sure nothing is forgotten. I'll keep you posted over the next few days and do my best to document and keep track of this incredible start to my 2010 season and endurance career!

In a lighter final note, I tried the new Snapple Trop-a-rocka ice tea that Bret Michaels created on the celebrity apprentice. It is probably one of the best diet drinks I've had. Way to go Bret!!! Try it for yourself, it also supports the American Diabetes Association!!!

Plenty to catch up on!

2010-05-27T07:22:00.003-04:00

Sorry, life has been a bit busy these days with my free time being consumed with the final preparations for my 100K MTB race next weekend. After hearing many different good and bad stories about the race as a whole, I think I have done everything I could/should have to be ready. Could I have done more, sure. But, I could be a lot worse off right now. I've been working towards this goal since I registered in January of this year. I'm confident in my skill and knowledge of my body, diabetes and training. I simply need to relax and put all of that to work, I know easier said than done.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of riding from my house to my old diabetes camp in Newbury, OH. A mere 30+ mile trip one way. However, since I was hungry for more I decided to cut down into the valley on my way home to add a few more hills and miles. In total the trip became 86.9 miles and I was able to keep a 15.6 mph average over that distance with all of the hills.

Here's a pic of me in front of the diabetes camp:

MIA

2010-05-18T19:03:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone, sorry I've been MIA. I've been riding and working out a lot. If the rain would let up I could get out more and ride vs. opting for the gym. Starting tomorrow I should be able to get some great riding in.

My blood sugars have been out of whack to. It seems that my body has become used to working out. Before my sugars were going hypo, now I can't get them out of the upper 100s and lower 200s so I've gone back to my pump settings that I used pre-working out. It has helped so now I'm back to small tweaks here and there. It's amazing how difficult it can be to figure in diabetes to all of my riding and training.

I rode a lap at Mohican last weekend which was awesome!!! The course is wicked tough, it will be very interesting to see how much more difficult it becomes when you add 400 additional racers on the course. It took me about 2:45:00 to complete the 24+ miles. I couldn't fathom that it only takes the pros 1:20:00 to cover that course. AMAZING!!!

I've been upgrading equipment, new shorts, new tires, new PowerBar nutrition. I've been getting used to all of the pieces and parts before the race on the 5th.

In the meantime I've been working, hanging with my beautiful, supportive and very understanding girlfriend and raising money for my Tour de Cure ride on the 13th of June.

It's been busy to say the least, however, that is no excuse to neglect my blog! Back at it!!!

Mountain Bike Magazine Article

2010-05-05T15:53:00.003-04:00

There's a great write up of the Mohican 100 I'm riding in on June 5th. It's a little disconcerning that Tinker Juarez and Floyd Landis have both DNF'ed this race in the past. Here goes nothing!!!

New Stuff

2010-05-03T07:59:00.002-04:00

I tried out the Sigma BC 2209 MHR Triple Wireless Cyclecomputer this weekend! It seemed to work beautifully for the most part! The feature list is below and all functions worked except the Altimeter We had some crazy storms passing through the valley and it was making the pressure crazy. Also if anyone knows how I can find the distance above sea level please let me know!

The triple wireless means the speed, cadence and HRM are all digitally coded for my computer and no wires are necessary! I put 40 miles on before the rain set in, I felt god for the ride and look forward to hitting the bikes hard this week! I'll get some pictures of the computer installed this evening for all the interested parties. Set up and installation was incredibly easy and painless! I'll explain why with the pictures.

Here are the features of this computer:

General Functions:
Auto start/stop
Auto conversion between MPH & KMH
Large display with easy to read icons
7 available languages
Integrated storage chip for data backup
Low battery indicator
(computer head & transmitters)
2 adjustable wheel sizes
Automatic recognition of bike 2
Backlight
Current temperature
Compatible with wired speed harness
(sold separately)
Weatherproof
PC compatible

Bike Functions:
Current speed
Average speed
Maximum speed
Trip distance
Current/Average speed comparison
Total distance bike 1, bike 2 &
bike 1+2 (not shown while riding)
Current and average cadence
Programmable trip section counter;
up & back

Time Functions:
Ride time
Clock (12/24 hr)
Stopwatch
Countdown timer
Total ride time bike 1, bike 2 &
bike 1+2 (not shown while riding)

Heart Rate Functions:
ECG-precise
Current heart rate
Average heart rate
Maximum heart rate
Calorie counter

Altitude Functions:
Current altitude
Day's climb/descent (programmable)
Day's maximum altitude
Total altitude uphill bike 1, bike 2 &
bike 1+2 (not shown while riding)

Hiking Functions:
Hiking Time
Stopwatch
Target Time (countdown timer)
Clock (12/24 hr)
Current temperature
Current heart rate
Average heart rate
Maximum heart rate
Calorie counter
Current altitude
Day's climb/descent (programmable)
Day's maximum altitude
Total day's climb
Total hiking time

Quick Update

2010-04-29T07:35:00.002-04:00

I dropped 36.5 miles yesterday on the new grips and new Sidi shoes. Both we incredible!!!! My hands had little to no numbing like they did with the old grips and the shoes were like having my feet stuffed into two clouds! Obviously I'm feeling a little better now and I swear I was taking it easy yesterday, just got a little excited with the new gear! :)

New Grips for My Bike!!!!

2010-04-28T12:06:00.004-04:00

Well, after getting drastic with the cold medicine I've finally been able to feel a tad better. I had to dive into the Sudafed that they keep behind the counter and have to write your name down for you to get. So far it's worked like a charm.

In other news, my new Sunline Big S grips arrived yesterday!!! They are really nice! My old/stock grips were thin and beat up and made my hands go numb after about 20 miles or so of riding. I'm investing in new grips and gloves to help with the hand issue. I also do the stretch and shake of the hands if they do go numb.

Installation of MTB grips these days is a breeze due to the lock-on mechanism most serious grips feature. I popped the old grips off and then slid the new ones on, however, the new grips have an integrated lock-into-grip on the inside of the bike and then another lock at the end of the bar. So I had to shift my brakes and shifters in a little to account for the extra space which was actually perfect. I was planning on cutting my bars down a tad and now I'm able to narrow my position just enough that I'll be even more comfortable for the endurance rides.

Below is the story you just read in pictures:

The package:

Old grips:

Inside lock:

Outside lock:

Naked bars!

Finished Installation:

Bloggin About Death

2010-04-27T12:15:00.003-04:00

I found this article front and center on cnn.com this afternoon.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/27/blog.terminal.illness/index.html?hpt=C1

It went on to talk about how people are using technology to share their journey to the end of their lives after receiving a terminal diagnosis. I'm 100% for it. It truthfully gives me a face of any given disease instead of just being a word in a book. Diseases are not black and white, straight forward like the line in a medical book. Diseases have names and faces, the people with those diseases have dreams and goals. I think sharing those goals with people is a great way for those dreams to live on with the family and friends.

Just my thought for the day.

Feeling like crap.

2010-04-25T21:16:00.003-04:00

I received the gift of a nice Spring cold from my girlfriend. I feel bad because she was pretty upset about getting me sick knowing how hard I've been working towards the Mohican 100. I had some short but higher intensity workouts this weekend to rest. Over coming these set backs will make crossing the finish line that much sweeter! :)

I'm still planning on hitting up the Grassman race this weekend. A brand spanking new course and part of the OMBC series. The weather is supposed to break on Tuesday and hopefully my cold will as well to get out and rock out a few days this week on the MTB.

New pieces and parts that will be reviewed in upcoming posts:
1. Sidi Dragon 2 shoes, I finally found Speedplay Frog replacement cleats for!
2. Sunline Big S lock-on grips - Black
3. Sigma Sport BC 2209 MHR - Cycle computer, HR monitor, Cadence, altitude and much more!
4. Marathon MTB tires - TBD

That's all for now, I'm going to bed!

What have I been up to???

2010-04-22T07:18:00.002-04:00

Well...riding...a lot! I've trimmed down my schedule to focus more on the events I really want to do well in with the first big event being the Mohican 100. I had a ton of races on my schedule and I was all over the board with my training trying to fit the smaller events in. Like next weekend I'm racing at a new venue in the OMBC series but to me that race is for a few reasons other than winning.

1. I don't want the Mohican 100 to be my first race of the season, it will make me nervous.

2. Working on giving Harold (my MTB) a bit of a face lift and that will be a good venue to try some pieces and continue to get dialed in.

3. It will give me a good feel of my overall fitness for the 100 with 4 solid weeks to do something about any problems between now and then.

On the diabetes side, everything has been going great except my boluses from my insulin pump. With my activity being up my metabolism is up so the amount of insulin I take to cover the carbs I eat has been fluctuating a bit. In short I tend to go hypoglycemic after meals so I've had to dial down my insulin to carb ratio a bit.

Also, I stocked up on the foods I love to train with!!! Gatorade G2, low carb for the diabetes in me yet gives me the electrolytes I need! PowerBar Power Gels, just the right amount of boost for the evening rides and taste great! Strawberry Banana is my favorite! Finally, PowerBar TripleThreat bars, a great snack for longer rides and post-ride as well! The bars taste ridiculously good as well! Here's my stock for about two-weeks! Okay, well, the G2 is more like a months worth! :) It was on sale, what can I say!

Been too long, since I left you...

2010-04-20T07:36:00.000-04:00

without a dope beat to step to. Sorry, need to get back to my blogging! BRB!

100 Miles on a MTB in 9 hours

2010-04-07T14:38:00.003-04:00

Here is some information on the race course that I will be tackling on June 5. I'm a little nervous but my training has been progressing along pretty well.

Mohican 100 NUE Race Map

Criss cross four counties, climb more than 11,000 feet and go toe to toe with the pros on this legendary ultra-endurance 100 mile loop in Northeastern Ohio. For more information, go to Mohican.net.

Source: GPX file
Distance: 95.7 mi (Change units)
Elevation: Total Gain: 8481 ft
Total Loss: 8458 ft
Net Change: 24 ft
Difficulty: 10 / 10

New Shoes, Thank You Sidi!!!!

2010-04-06T07:47:00.004-04:00

The shoes from Sidi have finally arrived! I'm the proud owner of a pair of Sidi Dragon 2 shoes. Now if only I had enough sense to get my Speedplay cleats while I was waiting on the shoes. Doh!!! Here are some pics of the new guys, I'll take some more pics as I set up the cleats and give them the first spin. For starters, they fit great and are incredibly comfortable. Here are some other features:

1. Adjustable heel cup - no more sliding around back there when torquing up a hill!

2. Toe Guard - wouldn't want to ruin the beautiful Italian leather...oh...or break my toe! :)

3. Ratchet closure strap with single click loosening - meaning when you over-tighten your shoe and you hit the release on the strap, normally you pop a few clicks out. This set-up allows you to loosen one click at a time to stay dialed in.

4. Rebuilable sole - that's right! 100% rebuildable for years of use.

5. Free! Oh did I mention that these were won in a writing contest??? I did not have to pay the MSRP $450 for these fine Italian shoes! :)

Hill Day Yesterday

2010-03-25T07:41:00.004-04:00

I had a great ride yesterday! I was able to climb Hines Hill which has been my nemesis ever since I discovered it. I've never been able to make it up will sitting and spinning in the saddle, I've always had to stand and pump, even at the end of last year. I feel like that's a great sign starting off this year!!!

Here is the elevation profile of the "big hill" portion of Hines Hill Road:
150 ft. of elevation gained in about .25 miles! My heart rate hit 228. :)

This road is a great training road, once you get your ass kicked by the steep part the rest of the road is pretty much uphill leaving your legs burning.

Ray's

2010-03-16T07:50:00.005-04:00

Here's a picture of probably 1/5 of the entire place!

No, not Ray Charles! Ray's Indoor MTB Park, in Lakewood! That's where I spent my afternoon and evening off yesterday! The place is ridiculously fun and there is tons to do from the foam pit, pump course, trials course and XC course to the expert area and grind park. There is something for everyone that rides on non-motorized, fat two wheels.

It's exactly like the dozens of MTB articles describes the place. Very chill! You can sit in many different places and watch the action happen as much as you can go join in the action!

I think I rode for about 4.5 hours all together with only one complete wipe out on the pump track, one slam of the pinky against a random guard rail and blisters on each finger due to the ripping of the course!

I also met some fellow bloggy friends from the Cleveland Triathlon Club who were having an event yesterday evening! I hope they enjoyed themselves as well!

Awkward

2010-03-11T07:45:00.002-05:00

Awkward is finding out that the lady in your Spinning class that is there every day when you are is actually your client.

I was in class yesterday warming up and clamoring away with another guy their when he asked what the name of the company was that I work for. I said Hitchcock Fleming and Assoc. and as soon as I said that the ladies head popped up and looked straight at me. She said I thought your voice sounded familiar. Here it ended up being the marketing lady for Goodyear's Retail Stores division who I was on the phone with a few times on Monday trying to iron out some production issues. Small world???

My Spinning class felt tainted for a minute, I got over it!

Paralympic Games

2010-03-09T12:57:00.002-05:00

Hi bloggy peeps! Don't forget the Paralympic Games have start Friday in Vancouver, check them out! Go USA!!!!

First Ride of 2010!!!

2010-03-07T21:31:00.002-05:00

I got out today for the first ride of the season! It's always an amazing feeling to get out and ride. I put down 29.1 miles and dropped into the valley and then road back out. The normal paved hike and bike trail is still snow covered so I had to take to the roads. Here is the run down:

Weather - cold. It was 33 degrees when I started and 40 degrees when I finished. I was toasty warm thanks to all of the cold weather gear I have in vested in over the winter. It could have been about 10 degrees colder before I would have started to feel slightly uncomfortable. Otherwise, sunny with a 5mph breeze from the SW. Nice!

Bike - I set up the TREK 5000 last night and got all of the gear ready. It felt great, the shifting was a little goofy and could use some adjusting of the STI levers. For whatever reason it was not catching all the time when downshifting on both sides. Hey, they bike is carbon fiber and was built in 1996, it's lasted this long with a little TLC. I also installed some tire liners because all of the crap on the road ends up on the side with the plowing over the past 3 months. So there are plenty of glass shards, metal this and thats and potholes trying to slow me down. They worked so far, no flats!

Me - Felt great, blood sugar was on point with a little snack before I started and a PowerBar Power Gel half way through. The Spinning classes have me legs feeling great, lots of power churning up hills in heavier gears than I finished last season with! Now I get to work on the endurance. Recovery was great as well, I think that has to do with my increased focus on breathing and relaxing my upper body.

All and all I would give today's ride an 8.5 out of 10! A great start to the year with a little bit of tweaking I can be in performance shape before I know it!

Happy riding!!!

DKA is a Killer for Diabetics

2010-02-26T07:45:00.003-05:00

Take care of yourselves...well ourselves!!!

Casey Johnson did not have to die. She did need some support and some professional help which it sounds like she was on her way to try to get. She died of Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

DKA is basically when your body does not have enough insulin to function properly. For example, not taking your insulin injections if you are Type 1, like in Casey's case. Without insulin your body can not break down food and store it for energy. So once your body runs out of it's energy stores it looks for the next thing to break down to keep it going, fat. Once all of the fat is gone it moves on to the next thing it can find, muscle. By now you are in pain and should now that something is not right. Even at this state there are things that can be done to help reverse the affects and get you as close to "normal" as you can get. However, if left untreated, the body starts breaking down all muscles like your heart and other organs your body needs to stay alive. Once you've reached this point there is very little that can be down to stop a diabetic from dying. It can be done but your quality of life will never be the same once you reach this point.

So, lessons learned here??? Take care of yourself, take your insulin and check your dang blood sugars.

Diabetic Olympian

2010-02-24T12:30:00.003-05:00

I'm pulling for you Kris and from now on I will have an extra PowerBar Gel at every sporting event I go to just in case I run across another diabetic in need! Congrats only your Olympic appearance!

Diabetic skier motivated by more than self, teammates and country

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/olympics/2010/writers/david_epstein/02/23/freeman.diabetes/index.html#ixzz0gTYXFEOZ
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription

Two Big Wins!!!

2010-02-23T12:46:00.002-05:00

The first is against diabetes and the second is for cycling!!!

Big Win #1 Diabetes:
Last week I had my bi-annual doctor appointment. I usually get lab work drawn before the visit and we discuss the results after the visit. This time there was a SNAFU with my scheduling and I wasn't able to get lab work until the day of the appointment. So, I came prepared and printed out all of the tracking graphics and charts that my insulin pump stores and processes through CareLink. Done with the boring background now to the good news!

When I called the doctor yesterday to get the results of my A1c I was told that it was 6.2 for the second time in a row, that mean I've been at 6.2 for over a year!!!! :)

Side note: Per www.WebMD.com

Importance of the Hemoglobin A1c Test

I know you are going to ask what those complications are. Again, per www.WebMD.com

So my 6.2% minimizes to the extreme my chances of complications! :)

Big Win #2 Cycling:
A few weeks back I entered a contest at Sidi Shoes for those of you who don't know, Sidi is one of the top brands of cycling shoes in the cycling world. The top three world champions last season were all in Sidi shoes!

They had a contest to submit a story about Sidi shoes. It was pretty open ended, you could write about why you like them, write a poem, submit a picture or whatever. I wrote an essay about why shoes are important to diabetics and how I look for only the best and have found that in my Sidi shoes.

Low and behold I made it to the top 50 essays winning my choice of Sidi shoes!!!

Here was my essay:

Sidi, Cycling, Diabetes and Life!

As a Type 1 diabetic I’ve always done my best to live a “normal” life, as normal as life can be on multiple daily injections of insulin. Part of maintaining my health is through regular exercise, the equation is simple, cycling = exercise, exercise = better controlled diabetes, better controlled diabetes = longer life and better quality of life. My love of cycling was born out of my own drive to maintain my own body and blood sugar control.

Diabetics are highly susceptible to foot injuries which can lead to bigger problems and amputations this is due to circulation issues that accompany diabetes. How do you fight this? Check your blood sugars, exercise regularly and watch your diet. Check! Another layer of protection I always follow is, don’t skimp on footwear! When I look for something to put on my feet I looked for the best. Not only do I have diabetes but I also have really flat feet. Two strikes out of the gate?!?!?

I’ve tried many types of shoes and the bike shop I go to tried to get me in 3 or 4 different brands of shoes that were all good but not great. Then I saw it, a red box with the Sidi logo on. I couldn’t believe it these were the Holy Grail of shoes growing up, I never thought I would see myself in these shoes! I found my size and they felt amazing! My feet felt like I just slipped them into two little clouds and the sun shined in on my feet while angels sang.

(Record scrrratch)

Snap out of it son, buy them and hit the darn trails! I did. I love my Sidis, there durable, light and let my feet breath! I put 1,000 miles on them last season and they are ready for 2,000 more miles, as soon as the 15 inches of snow melt! I love to ride period!

Ride to live, live to ride!

and the shoe I am choosing is the Dragon 2 Carbon SRS how awesome are those!

Great motivation as well to get out and ride and be the best diabetic racer I can be!!!

Stay Tuned!!!

2010-02-23T10:07:00.002-05:00

When I get a minute I will update you on my A1c results from last week as well as my big win in a Sidi cycling shoe contest!!! :)

Two big wins!!!

Lent

2010-02-16T19:51:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am Catholic and participate in giving things up to better myself for Lent. Even if I don't go to Church.

My list of things I'm doing to better myself:

1. Giving up all carbonated beverages. Pop or Soda for the rest of the world, energy drinks, carbonated water. Gone.

2. Giving up alcohol. I'm already half way there since I don't really drink anymore.

3. Exercise at least 4 times a week. Not only does this help me feel better but has made my diabetes control second to none!

Doctor Appointment

2010-02-16T19:47:00.001-05:00

Had my bi-annual Endocrinologist appointment today! I got the usual clean bill of health while my Dr. eagerly asked what I had in the works for this summer. I told her about the 100 mile race and some of the other plans, she was pretty excited. She said if she had more diabetics like me her life would be much less stressful! lol!

One side note, my Doctor's office was moved at the Cleveland Clinic leaving me feeling like a Freshman on the first day of school. I had no idea where anything was and had to ask three people for directions.

Spinning and Sweat

2010-02-11T07:33:00.003-05:00

Another great Spinning class last night! They really now how to kick my ass! I think my heart rate stayed between 178 and 187 the whole time, with a max of 190, it feels great to push it during class. You know what I'm talking about, sweat in your eyes, muscles are on fire to the point where you could get of your bike and just empty your stomach, but instead you push and push harder. That's where I was last night! A brief warm up and hour work out helped me incinerate 1245 calories!

I can't wait until the weather clears to mix up the rides more! Spin one day a week, hit up the group hammer fest with the guys of CAMBA at the West Branch trails and then knock out a group ride with the Akron Bike Club on Thursday. Then use the weekends for extra long solo excursions, t-minus 3.5 months until the Mohican MTB 100 feel free to join me!

I want to keep a higher variety of workouts this season, I feel much better when I do, stronger as well working the different terrain and scenarios. Back to the grind!

Low Blood Sugars

2010-02-09T12:13:00.004-05:00

Well, I hate to say it but it's my own fault that I've been sporting a low-blood sugar all day. Unfortunately with diabetes the only person you have to blame for your challenges is yourself. Luckily this is an easily reconcilable problem. A few tweaks to my basal (base) rate of insulin, a few more carbs for lunch and I should be good to go! :)

Dare I say a good problem to have??? What is really happening with my body? No, I am not pregnant! What really is happening, is that my metabolism is starting to pick back up causing my blood sugar to drop lower than when my metabolism is slow. Now that I am back in the gym 4-5 days a week working out my systems are slowly getting back to the green zone which I am A-Okay with!

I think I have learned my lesson for being lethargic. My diabetes control had become all out of whack and I was trending on the higher side with my blood sugars which increases my risk for diabetic related complications like neuropathy, amputations, blindness, organ failure and potentially death. I haven't forgot that diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in the US. Granted I am no where near that point with my diabetes control and probably have a better chance of being struck by lightning but the fact is it is on the list. My girlfriend absolutely hates when I bring this up, however, facts/stats like this help drive me to better control and that is what matters.

Someday I will inspire someone to take control of their diabetes and of their life thus saving it. Until that time I will continue to work on inspiring myself.

Happy Snowday...I mean...Tuesday!!!

Snow!

2010-02-08T07:52:00.003-05:00

Yes, we have plenty of it! Unfortunately I left the cable to download my pictures at work. So here is the delayed report from Stow, OH. These pictures were from roughly 7:30am, I had a spinning class at 9am to get to, of which 4 people showed including the instructor.

My scientific measures shows the snow at about 11"

Here's my car, nice and plowed in. Thank you Mr. snow plow man! Shortly after all the snow behind my car found it's way back in the driveway. :)

Snow between the cars, pretty far up my rims

Layer of snow on my car!

A neighbors parking job after a big old FAIL at making it to a parking space!

The forecast is calling for another 5-10 inches starting tomorrow. Fun?

Diabetes. Blood.

2010-02-05T07:44:00.003-05:00

Ah yes, the lovely world of diabetes. I started yesterday evening with a gym appearance, Molly and I went and worked out on some kind of high performance stair climber thing. It seemed to be half stair climber and half elliptical. Either way, totally worked the lower body. 5 minutes in and the burn already started, so we finished with a solid 30 minutes on that machine before we went to the free weight area for a little weight training. Afterward we left and headed home to cook some chicken up to make chicken salad.

As Molly cooked I gathered all of the medical supplies necessary to refill my insulin pump and install my CGM (continuous glucose monitor) sensor. Here are some picture to illustrate:

My Pump

Injection site that needs to be changed every three days. There is a small 30mm catheter that is actually in my stomach and delivers insulin 24/7. My digital pancreas!

The change is where the problem began. As I removed the old infusion set from my stomach I must have nicked a blood vessel. Blood was slowly trickling down my stomach towards the waistline of my pants. However, I cupped right underneath the site and let the palm of my hand fill up with blood until I was able to be rescued by Molly with a paper towel! Diabetes can be such a pain in the ass! Outside of being a little sore, everything ended up turning out OK and I was able to insert my CGM that talks with my pump to show real-time blood sugar trends. Here's a pic:

On a brighter note, hitting the gym has helped to restabalize by blood sugars no and I'm feeling less run down these days! :)

Stay Safe!

2010-02-02T15:24:00.002-05:00

Check out the deal on this tail light!

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail.htm?stylePkey=19340&offer=EM102EM1

With the increase in cycling vs. vehicle accident and fatalities this year, make sure that you can be seen. Thanks to technology drivers are spending more time adjusting their navigation systems and send texts while driving. Even talking on the phone is distracting. The most recent Bicycling magazine said drivers using a cell phone have the same impairment as someone with a .08 BAL. That is legally drunk in Ohio!

Please try to do these two things:
1. Always try to be visible and be prepared to take evasive action. I ride with a tail light whenever I'm on the road, even if it's a bright sunny day. Hitting shade can throw a drivers vision of you off.

2. Try your best to not be part of the problem, turn your phone off or don't answer calls or texts while driving. Pull over or wait until you get to your destination to answer.

Happy riding, stay safe!!! :)

Spinning

2010-02-02T07:50:00.002-05:00

I attended my first spinning class last night and it ROCKED!!!! I can't wait to go back for more! I was a little worried at first when I started to sweat profusely after just 5 minutes of spinning. I told myself to quit being Nancy-boy and just do it. I made it through the entire hour of spinning! :)

We did all kinds of hill climbs and jumps and sprints. I only got one pretty noticeable cramp in my right calf, after dialing it down for a minute it worked itself out.

I was a little worried about my blood sugars since this was something new and pretty intense for my sedentary winter lifestyle but with a few adjustments I was fine.

The spinning classes are pretty popular around here so I got to the gym about 45 minutes early to sign up and claim my bike. Before getting to the gym I let my blood sugar float up to about 140 because trying to get out of a hole when your sugar is low and working out is very difficult. I sipped some G2 as I was getting ready for a few extra electrolytes.

I dropped the basal rate on my pump to about 75% and walked at a brisk pace for 20 minutes to get the blood flowing. Then I did some stretching and began warming up on the bike for another 10 minutes, then we started and I was ready to go! Like I said it was a little different getting started but it was a great work out! Especially when the weather sucks as much as it does here in NE Ohio. This is part of my "No Excuses" riding season. If there weather doesn't cooperate that's OK, I get to go Spinning!

I would recommend this workout to anyone and everyone, you can go as hard as you would like and there is some structure to adjusting resistance and stand up or sit down sprints. It feels easier when everyone is doing this instead of trying to time your own work outs and hold yourself accountable.

I have some things going on this evening but will be back at it on Wednesday for some more!

Working Out

2010-01-31T20:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, my second appearance in the gym this week now that I'm back from Orlando. I did some more upper body (biceps and shoulders) then I did 20 minutes on the bike and 10 on the treadmill.

Tomorrow is the big day, I'm going to attempt my first spinning class. Wish me luck, I'll report back on how it goes. :) Have a great week everyone!

2010 Calendar

2010-01-28T19:50:00.002-05:00

Is this where I put the disclaimer that everything that has not been registered for yet is tentative?

Here's the plan for 2010:
04/10/10 - Vulture's Knob - I have to redeem myself after last years performance
04/18/10 - This is part of the course for the MTB 100, I think it would be good to get out and race on it
06/05/10 - Mohican MTB 100 - Why not, I'm aiming for a sub-10 hour finish. Right in the middle of last years finishers between 7 - 13 hours.
06/13/10 - Tour de Cure - Got to support my fellow diabetics!
07/10/10 - Vulture's Knob - This course is, by far, the most technical around. It's good experience! :)
07/25/09 - Alum Creek State Park - Just trying to mix it up and get some points in the OMBA series
09/04/10 - Big Valley Race - NEO Power Series, this was a good race in 2009!
09/18/10 - 12/24 Hours of Mohican - I'm going to try 12 hours solo, we shall see how this goes!
09/26/10 - West Branch - my "home turf" should be a fun race with the local folks! Plus OMBA series points!
10/10/10 - Mohican State Forest - OMBA series points
10/24/10 - Mohican Wilderness - OMBA finals

So that's it for now, I'll keep you posted on training, races, changes and diabetes in 2010! Stay tuned! :)

It's Official!

2010-01-28T12:38:00.002-05:00

I just registered for my first race of the 2010 season! How does 100 miles on a MTB sound??? Check out the link:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=10025

I'm pretty pumped about this! Time to start training, I hope I've been able to carry over at least a little bit of fitness. We will be hitting the gym tonight, stay tuned for an update. :)

Fitness Finally

2010-01-22T07:27:00.001-05:00

I hope to use the gym membership I just signed up for, otherwise I will be wasting my money. I thought it would be a great idea since the weather has not cooperated yet as far as warming up, melting snow, etc. The Fitworks gym in Stow seems pretty nice! I'll give it a shot next week when I get back from Orlando!

Symptoms

2010-01-20T07:29:00.003-05:00

Here are the common symptoms of Hypoglycemia:

Mild hypoglycemia can make you feel hungry or like you want to vomit. You could also feel jittery or nervous. Your heart may beat fast. You may sweat. Or your skin might turn cold and clammy.
Moderate hypoglycemia often makes people feel short-tempered, nervous, afraid, or confused. Your vision may blur. You could also feel unsteady or have trouble walking.
Severe hypoglycemia can cause you to pass out. You could have seizures. It could even cause a coma or death.

Awesome right??? Well last night I was having a bowl of ice cream watching the biggest loser and my heart was racing. I mean beating fast to the point that it was very noticeable. I felt 100% fine otherwise so I tried some deep breathing and tried to relax. Having diabetes for over 16 years means you have been through a hypo spell or two and this has never been a typical body reaction of mine. I have been plugged into my continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and my pump was showing my real-time blood sugar at about 120. No need to worry right? So finally it was time to get ready for bed and I checked my blood sugar as normal only to find out it was 50!!! That's getting pretty low and also made me see why the CGM took so long to get accepted by the food and drug administration.

CGM monitors blood glucose subcutaneously as opposed to directly
from the blood stream. This causes a lag in true blood sugar counts
because it takes longer for the blood to get from your veins to
your skin.Thus, per the FDA, CGM should only be used for
trending and not diabetes regulation. My CGM
has been incredibly helpful in dialing my pump and I
wouldn't give it up, but it sure makes me crazy sometimes!

Bottom line is that I needed to treat my hypoglycemia so I could go to bed. A few glucose tabs and some OJ and I was gangster golden! Ahh yes, just another day in this diabetic life and another symptom on the list! :)

2010 is a Big Year!!!

2010-01-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

In 2010 Cancer will become the number 1 killer in America, surpassing heart disease. What can you do to help???

Donate any of the following:
1. Blood/Platelets - This is easy, free and relatively painless and you can potentially save peoples lives. Blood and platelets play a large part in kick-starting the production of white blood cells that typically get their ass kicked by chemo treatments. I'm no Dr. but donating blood is an excellent way to help!

2. Money - for research and to help those less fortunate that are stricken with this killer

3. Time - There are a lot of fund raising efforts that can not happen with out the tireless work of it's volunteers

4. Support - reach out to those you know who are affected directly or indirectly by Cancer and simply let them know you are there for them and care. It goes a long way, trust me.

5. Bone Marrow - you don't have to donate anything up front, but you can sign up to become a donor. From there your marrow type will be held a database to use to help save someone's life who can't produce there own marrow. Again, easy free and life saving! All you need to do is get your cheek swabbed!

Cancer is a killer that has no feelings, it doesn't care whose Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Son, Daughter, Husband, Wife, loved one and Friend it affects. Help take a stand in 2010 and tell Cancer that we will not let it take any more loved ones from us.

Wow Wii!

2010-01-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

I'm hooked! I love the new Wii! It's a great way to pass some time when it's bitter cold out with too much snow an slop to ride! Next step is to get to Ray's Indoor MTB Park!!! I've got Cabin Fever and need to get out and ride!!!

In the meantime I will continue to stay active and try stay sane over the winter.

2010

2009-12-31T14:49:00.000-05:00

2009 has been good to me. I can't complain! I was able to cycle over 1,600 miles and I look forward to more miles in 2010. I've become a sponsored rider and have many races that I'm looking forward to in 2010.

Happy New Year's to everyone! Take a cab tonight and I hope 2010 brings everyone great luck!

P.S. 2010 goals and resolutions to come!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-22T11:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays to everyone and for those of us celebrating Christmas, have a very merry one! So as expected my will power is low leaving my blood sugar high but added testing has helped minimize the craziness! I love to eat, what can I say???

I'm excited for some time off of work and to spend more time with the people I love instead of at work. It's been 55 plus hour weeks for almost the past month. Then a crazy illness of some sort cut me down two weekends ago. For about a week if I wasn't working, I was sleeping. I've persevered and made it to the holiday, now it's time to celebrate!

FYI for anyone using a MiniMed insulin pump, save yourself the hassle and talk to someone directly to order a refill on supplies. I tried using the dial in system and jacked everything up and had to wait to talk to someone anyway making a 10min reorder take 30 minutes!

I haven't forgotten about my bikes I miss them dearly and can't wait for the roads to dry enough to get out and ride! I have all of the cold gear I need to ride comfortably. May 29th holds a 100 mile MTB race with my name on it! Goals is the name of the game this year. Set them, meet them, period.

I'll leave you with a few pics. Everyone please have a safe and happy holiday and New Year!!!

Cooking some pizzelles!

Our Peanuts Tree!!!

Cold

2009-12-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

Went for a short ride today! It was pretty cold, about 33 degrees. My biggest worry was about my insulin pump malfunctioning due to the cold. I had it tucked in my jersey pocket under my insulation layer and all seemed to go well! Thank goodness!

I tried out my new 661 tall winter weight socks with kept my feet super warm and my new thermal tights which we a kick-ass birthday present from my girl! She's the best!

I hope to keep the riding up as long as the paths are free from crazy water and snow, wish me luck!!! :)

Ready to Ride!

2009-11-29T20:21:00.000-05:00

I've signed up for my first ride in the 2010 riding season! The Tour de Cure on June 13th! It will be my 3rd TDC and my fund raising goal is $1,000! Check out my page at the link below and feel free to donate if you would like! :) I can't wait to start my 2010 season!

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC270418030?px=4222221&pg=personal&fr_id=6868

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-26T22:26:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is stuffed! I've been online shopping and plan to continue to shop tomorrow morning! My "Black Friday" will take place from my couch! My blood sugars were pretty well maintained today. Yes, they did get away from me for a minute but you know how I mitigate that??? Check, check and check my blood sugar again! I know it's tough to keep track of everything I eat on Thanksgiving so, check you sugar before, check it an hour after adjust as needed and check again in another hour. You'll be G-O-L-D-E-N!!!

Here's top 10 list of Thankfulness on Thanksgiving:
1. Good Health
2. Molly, my love!
3. My Family
4. My Friends
5. My job
6. Bicycles
7. Health Insurance
8. Lexi
9. 4 days off
10. My life!

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Sad but true

2009-11-18T13:02:00.001-05:00

Someday we will find a cure. Live strong DAX!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/18/decorate.dax/index.html

Weekend

2009-11-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

I'll catch you up on my weekend tomorrow. Getting a little tired after my H1N1 shot today. :/

Great Birthday Weekend!

2009-11-15T09:33:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm aging. 29 years old today! It's been an amazing bday weekend so far after giving Guy Fieri a high-five during his cooking demonstration at the food network show this weekend! I kept telling everyone about it! He ran down the aisle giving many people high-fives and I was one! Woohoo! He's pretty crazy after seeing him in person! More to come tomorrow when I can get my pictures uploaded! Stay tuned for bday part duex!

Great Quote

2009-11-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

From my girlfriends sister who probably stole it from someone very insightful!

Peace isn't a permanent state. It exists in moments. Fleeting. Gone before we knew it was there. We can experience it at any time, in a stranger's act of kindness, a task that requires complete focus or simply the comfort of an old routine. Everyday we all experience these moments of peace. The trick is to know when they're happening so that we can embrace them, live in them. And finally let them go.

More Riding

2009-11-09T12:18:00.000-05:00

So, I've decided to keep riding until the bitter end of the year. Literally! Until it snows or drops to subzero temperatures outside. I've decided to do this on my mountain bike as well, pushing the heavier yet more durable bike will leave me stranded less, hopefully!

My past excursions with the road bike have led me to find and pick up every piece of beautifully colored glass in the valley. In short, I'm tired of changing flats! :) Plus since it's dark by 5pm it's tough night riding when leaves cover the trail and you can't see the large bumps and sticks before you hit them.

What I have done is found some pretty bad ass hard-pack/indoor MTB park racing tires, WTB Graffiti is the name of the tires: http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/djstreet/graffitisf/

Per the website above: The Graffiti SF (Street Fighter) performs in the high-stakes environments of urban riding. Its wide, 2.4-inch casing absorbs hard hits and cased landings; the minimal, recessed tread offers firm grip on the street while channeling away loose soil at the dirt jumps. Add even more confidence to your street sessions by choosing the Team DH version, with its Super Duty casing and High Grip DNA rubber.

I picked these bad boys up on sale for $16 a piece!!! Regular price was $50! How awesome was that deal. I was previously running Panaracer Smoke front tire and Dart rear which will be great in the spring for traction since I got them late in the season.

Here are the pics:
New tires with folding aramid bead obviously!

Old front tire

Old rear tire, great for resistance training! lol!

New Tires #1

New Tires #2

I put 23 miles on them yesterday and they were GREAT! Low resistance little noise! They were easy to install as well, didn't even need tools to roll on the rims, just a little elbow grease! :)

Only downside, is that they picked up little rocks from the road and held them fairly well so you would hear random noises from the tires as the rocks hit before they were expelled from the tires. Also, if you are hitting the pavement you should run a PSI closer to the max of 65 vs. using for dirt jumping, indoor MTB parks or racing.

Living

2009-11-04T07:27:00.000-05:00

"It's not about how we die because death is the only thing that is certain in life. It's how you live that leaves the lasting impression on the ones you love!" A man or woman much smarter than I came up with this saying I'm sure. I've recently shared these sentiments with a friends struggling with the cancer diagnosis of a loved one.

I am going to try to turn over a new leaf and instead of being so critical on my blog of what others are doing focus on myself and how I define my life. :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

BTW, I got the seasonal flu shot yesterday! Yes, my arm is still sore. Hopefully I can find an H1N1 clinic without a 3 hour wait for that vaccine as well! :)

Night Riding

2009-11-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

Question: Why do drivers think, just because it's dark, that I can't ride my bike on the road?

I've invested a lot of my money to make sure you, Mr. or Mrs. driver can see me. I think they shouldn't be allowed to drive when it's dark how about them apples???

On a brighter note, I saw 5 deer, 3 rabbits and one cat while I was out and about!

I hope the winter isn't keep all of you inside on your trainer! :)

I LOVE FRIDAYS!!!

2009-10-30T09:52:00.001-04:00

And Halloween parties during the workday! :)

I must be the only person worrying about this

2009-10-29T13:05:00.000-04:00

Why, as Americans, have we accepted the fact that we are "fatter" than the rest of the world. We are in the process of doing everything from glorifying plus size individuals to making clothing sizes larger.

I don't get it, there are no benefits to being "larger". It's incredibly unhealthy.

I'm not saying everyone needs to live by the BMI chart for their weight and height but throwing caution to the wind is taking years off peoples lives, they are killing themselves they just don't know it yet.

Have you tried to Super Size your meal at McDonald's or King Size your meal at Burger King??? You can't! There in on it too! Now you say, "we'll I'll just get the "large"". Guess what that large used to be called? :) You know why those two among others have stopped offering those sizes? To avoid law suits. People are nuts and they will blame McD's, BK and everyone else but themselves when they have there first heart attack. They will try to bring gross negligence lawsuits against these companies claiming they had no idea there were 900 calories in a Super Size fry they ate every day for lunch. Now McD's can say, nosireeee, poor us we don't even offer a Super Size any more.

I think it's piss poor and as Americans we have a duty to stand up for ourselves. We need to take our own health and well being into our own hands instead of letting Fast Food and clothing manufacturers do it for us. We can also thank technology for this. How many hours do you spend in front of a computer, TV or cell phone??? Get out, go for a walk, don't become a prisoner of the world around you!

Wheew! Ok, I have stepped off of my soapbox. Thank you for listening!

Night Rides

2009-10-26T07:54:00.000-04:00

It's a little different when the sun goes down in Ohio. It's like the desert, it gets cold with a quickness! I've been out riding a few nights over the past week and it's not too bad!

Layers is the answer to your question. :) That's how I stay warm.

Best parts about riding at night:
1. Longer riding season
2. No trail traffic
3. Solitude
4. Not smokin' hot out
5. The crunch of the leaves under your tires
6. The scenery changes which doesn't happen on the trainer
7. The smell of fireplaces

Worst parts of riding at night:
1. Lonely in the dark
2. Mechanical problems are tough to fix by feel (especially when your bare hands are numb from the cold
3. Animals, they can scare the shit out of you. They always seem to be right by the trail and run away when I ride by. Last night I saw two dogs, two cats, a fox looking thing, a deer, bats, and one set of eyes that were unidentifiable because they starred at me and then vanished. Creepy if you let them be, I always tell myself it's their world and thank them for letting me ride through it at night.
4. Darkness. Don't look behind you when you ride at night because you can't see anything and, again, it can creep you out. As you can see night riding is a pretty mental ordeal. :)

Here's a picture of an overpass looking down into the valley at dusk.

Dear Mr. Little Tiny Piece of Glass,

2009-10-21T07:37:00.000-04:00

I would appreciate it if next time you decide to jump in front of my rear tire that you wait until I'm out of the valley or jump out before I ride down into the valley. Being in the bowls of the valley is the last place I want to meet you. No offense or anything. It's just much sunnier and warmer at the top of the valley.

Sincerely,
Mike

Yes, I was able to try out my new mini bike pump. :/

Sponsorship

2009-10-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

Stay tuned to see who is not only my first sponsor for 2010 but ever in my life!!! I don't want to jinx the deal but it is nice to have some support from MTB companies!!! :)

End of season sales!

2009-10-15T14:24:00.001-04:00

This is just my first batch of purchases for the winter and I wanted to show you my favorite piece that was acquired! I can't wait to sport these socks!!! :)

2009 Goals

2009-10-08T12:34:00.000-04:00

As the 2009 riding season draws to a close I wanted to take a minute to reflect on my goals for the year. Some have been met, some have not and some remain a work in progress. Now that the temperature is dipping in NE Ohio, days are growing shorter and rain is starting to fall more frequently, I think a new set of goals are in order.

Here were my goals from my January post:

Goals:
1. Successfully integrate CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) into my workouts and life. Tighter control = healthier me. I'm super excited to start, just have to make it through the red tape of insurance companies. You know, to see if I'm really diabetic enough for it! lol

This goal is the work in progress! I've done a good job using the CGM to maintain better control of my diabetes. Check out my Cleveland Clinic award post from October 6th. This will remain an ongoing goal for awhile if not the rest of my life. So far, so good!!!

2. Compete and complete at least two different genres of MTB racing. One endurance race (i.e. Mohican 100 or a 12/24 hour race) and one cross country race.

This goal was partially complete. I only participated in one genre of MTB events, cross-country racing, but was able to compete in two events. I also managed to ride over 1500 miles this year and there are still some good riding days left! So, I have something to work on for next year!

3. Drink less soda. Yes, it sounds funny but I drink way too much of it. Even if it's diet there can be sodium and it's been shown to make you hungrier and a diuretic if it has caffeine.

Complete!!! I used to drink about 2-3 2 liters of Diet Coke a week. Plus a large amount of cans of DC at work. Probably 3 cans a day. I am down to 1 can a day at best at work and virtually no pop at home. I've gotten hooked on low-carb energy drinks, low-carb juices and water! Just an FYI if you want to lost an easy 5-10lbs. STOP DRINKING SODA!!!! I'm not the only case-in-point many people have found that cutting back on soda is an easy way to lose weight. For those who didn't know "diet soda" has been proven to make people hungrier, so the calories you lose from diet soda are replaced with other calories.

Winter Goals:
1. Continue riding, when weather permits, through the winter

2. Continue "healthy" eating. Meaning keep cooking meals and minimize eating processed and prepackaged food

3. Develop a "plan" for 2010 that has actual event goals to work towards and formal workouts to maintain a higher level of performance

4. Join CAMBA and Akron Bike Club in 2010

5. Relax and enjoy the winter! SNOW!!!!

A salute to the troops!

2009-10-07T13:53:00.001-04:00

I just couldn't pass this picture up. I think it will be one of the top pictures of the year in TIME magazine.

My caption is: Sometimes it's hard to let go.

Here's the story: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Little-Soldier-Girl-Didnt-Want-to-Let-Go-63629627.html?yhp=1

Cleveland Clinic Award

2009-10-06T07:37:00.000-04:00

See, it pays to take care of myself! Besides that fact that maintaining good diabetes control minimizes the risk for complications like vision loss, amputation, organ failure and death. I can also win awards from the Cleveland Clinic!

My Dr. had been after me for awhile to switch the an insulin pump instead of MDIs or multiple daily injections of insulin. I hymned and hawed mostly because I didn't want to have to do battle with the insurance companies. Finally I started the process which took over a year to complete, finally! Now I've been on the pump over a year and have had great results!

Yes, the pump can be as frustrating as any other diabetic task to dial in and set up. Yes, I still have off days where I ask myself WTF??? why is my blood sugar crazier than a 13 year old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert? It all works out and always does!!!

I didn't even know this award existed so naturally I was pleasantly surprised to get the letter. However, now my competitive side has been fired up and I WILL win this again!!! :)

Thank you Dr. Olansky!!!

Here is what the letter said:

Ak-rowdy!

2009-09-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Akron Road Runner Marathon!!! Over 9,500 people strong, holy cow!!! Also congrats to Adam Rose, a Michigan teen who won the handcycle division! Rock on! He's only a sophomore! This has been one of the fastest growing marathons in the country! Who knows maybe Boston with take a backseat someday to Akron, OH! lol!

Running is not my thing, I can and will do when needed but my legs, more specifically my knees, do not like to run. I ran a leg of the marathon last year and it was painful. I have a lot of respect for the people that do run. It can be tough yet incredibly rewarding!

Keep on running and keeping Akron strong!

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

2009-09-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

The outline was borrowed from a blogger friend Jerry's post: http://t1d-runner.blogspot.com/

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 1992

3. But I had symptoms since: A solid 4-6 months prior, who knew going pee 5 times an hour wasn't normal! lol!

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Taking note over every food and drink I put into my body.

5. Most people assume: that I can't eat certain things and most of those things are items that no health conscious person should eat like little debbies. It's all about awareness. I'm aware and I can make it work so back off!

6. The hardest part about mornings are: waking up with a blood sugar that's way off, too high or too low. There's the frustration of trying to figure out what went wrong, but it also can throw your whole schedule off. A high blood sugar will mean that I shouldn't eat breakfast for a while. A low blood sugar will mean that I'll want to eat something right away. (I totally agree with Jerry here!)

7. My favorite medical TV show is: House. It intrigues me for two reasons, one, how can a Dr. that is so mean sometimes still be employed and two, how on earth do they figure out some of those cases!

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: Definitely my blood sugar meter and my insulin pump. I will be hard pressed to ever go back to multiple daily injections. I feel like that commercial, "life just got a little easier!".

9. The hardest part about nights is: trying to correctly judge what and when was the last time I ate. There's nothing like losing sleep because your blood sugar is too low and you have to get up and eat and 3am or your blood sugar runs high and your up every 45 minutes going to the bathroom until your insulin kicks in.

10. Each day I take blood sugars and insulin.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: not an option here.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: hmm, i think the invisible one. You have more control over how it's delivered to strangers and people who don't know.

13. Regarding working and career: everyone is very understanding and proud of how I take charge and don't let diabetes run my life.

14. People would be surprised to know: how often I'm thinking about my blood sugar. (right on here as well Jerry)

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: it's not new anymore. It's just plain reality. I can cry, complain or pout all I want but it will still be there in the end so I choose to accept it.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: ride my bike so much! I love it and it keeps me healthy too!

17. The commercials about my illness: are not aimed at my demographic, there are usually in regards to Type 2 diabetes. I'm ok with this for two reasons, one, it's more prevalent and two, what people don't understand is that for a large majority of people weight loss can cure there Type 2 diabetes. There is no cure for Type 1 at this point in time.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: not having to think so much about every bite or sip I take.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: I refuse to give anything up, I use awareness and moderation to keep my diabetes in check without having to sacrifice. Do I really need a whole elephant ear at the carnival or could I get by with a few bites?!?!?!

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: cooking and baking! I love to do both! So much healthier too!

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: just relax and eat like there was no tomorrow, burgers and fries, steak, Boston cream pie, cheese cake, ... (Yep, I like your style here Jerry)

22. My illness has taught me: Never give up.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:Should you be eating that? WTF!!!! Should you???? Get off my back.

24. But I love it when people: See me for who I am, not my disease.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
I know it has to do with another Invisible Illness but: Livestrong. It means a lot if you think about it.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Embrace your diabetes, it's not going anywhere. If you try to fight it you'll only be killing yourself and that is just not worth it. The quicker you embrace it the better life will be!

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: My family needed to be just as educated as I did about how to control and manage diabetes. Let them be part of your "team".

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: simply ask if I was ok and if I needed any help. Sometimes those simple questions go a long way. Please always be willing to extend your hand to those in need.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I missed it, technically, but I'm always down for raising awareness! :)

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Happy that you took the time to learn a little more about me! Thank you!!! :)

Wow!

2009-09-10T07:48:00.000-04:00

Can you imagine a world without preexisting conditions??? I think insurance agencies invented that word! lol However, the bad news, if insurance companies can't screen and charge based on these conditions then the cost for premiums or something else is sure to rise. Stupid economics.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

Busy weekend with hundreds of miles driven! On Friday I went to pick up my brother to go and visit my Grandparents and Uncles in Buffalo, NY. After a crazy drive across Cleveland we made it to Buffalo at about 9:45pm. We proceeded to play with my grandparents new puppy named Daisy before promptly hitting the sack.

Full moon rising on our way to NY

Daisy

Daisy and Kevin

On Saturday we slept in a little and hung out with my Uncle Dave before my parents arrived joining us for lunch in Buffalo. After lunch settled for the most part we headed into downtown Buffalo with my Uncle Jaime, Aunt Cathy, Doug and Richard for some delicious wings at "The" Buffalo Wing Festival. We also saw the Black Widow (aka. a tiny Asian lady) destroy the wing eating contest killing 177 wings in 10 minutes. Craziness! Here are some pictures:

Entrance

Festival was held on the infield of the Buffalo Bison's Stadium

Eating contest

One of our samples

Entrance cluster f@ck

Once we got back from the wing fest we had some apple pie and ice cream with my Grandparents before hitting the road back to NE Ohio. We spent the night at my apartment which was nice to sleep in my own bed.

On Sunday morning Molly joined us to head up to Cleveland for the Air Show! It was awesome and a great day for the show. On a bad note it was a shit load of walk which wore my brother out big time. I was able to procure a solid chair for him when he needed a break which helped out a ton but I still felt bad that we had to travel so far on foot. Hindsight being 20/20, next time I'll bring the wheel chair. I would have been totally ok pushing him around but I know he wanted to do it on his own. We saw a bunch of awesome airplanes including my favorite, the F-15E or Strike Eagle for short. Here are the pics from that event:

Business end of a B-17

The Continental grill, how cool?!?!?!

Heritage flight with T to B: F-15E (my favorite), P-51 Mustang and the A-10 Thunderbolt

Me and Molly

Kevin and Me

After the show we went back to my parents to drop my brother off and pick up the dog before heading back to Akron.

Monday, I slept in until 11! It was great!!!! Then Molly and I headed out to her parents place in Youngstown for a nice, relaxing late lunch with her family and Grandmother. It was nice to ease back into the work we with a relaxing day on Monday.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Core Exercises

2009-09-07T19:33:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know where I can find a good source for core exercises that are beneficial to cycling or overall strength training? I'm working on putting together my 2010 season of awe and I'm looking for some late 2009 early 2010 training techniques. Thank you for your help!

Three Cheers For Kevin!

2009-09-03T12:18:00.000-04:00

On this day last year Kevin was going under the knife and I'm sure a ton of other medical implements to have his tumor removed from his hip. They removed 2/3 of his femur, 3 quadriceps, 1 hamstring, a ton of hip muscles and inserted an artificial hip.

Here he is post-surgery:

I have no idea how he found his zen state. I think he pictured himself on the beach for my sisters wedding. He made it through many hours of laying on his back, days/weeks/months of therapy, the humiliation of having to have help every time he had to use the toilet, wheelchair to walker to quad cane to regular cane and how many Dr. visits, blood counts and scans???

Here's a picture of us in Jamaica back in May:

Living out those sandy days he dreamed about while laying flat on his back! Life is good!

What a difference a year makes! :)

Big Valley MTB Race Report

2009-09-02T12:06:00.000-04:00

Ok, so here's the skinny! I know I'm a little late in reporting but better late than never, right???

Saturday I woke up nice and early to test ride the course. I have never ridden at Camp Manatoc and it's about 7 minutes from my apartment. Also the little fact that 363 days of the year the land functions as two Boy Scout camps, Camp Manatoc and Camp Butler. However, I woke up at about 5:30 in the morning to the sound of down pouring rain. Boo! So I figured I would get up at 7 like planned and check the weather again. I think it stopped raining at 6:59 so I pulled up the hour-by-hour forecast on weather.com to see what the heck was going on. It looked like the rain was done and the sun was going to come out at around 10. So off to bed I went for another 1.5 hours of shuteye to give the trails some time to drain.

9:30 Up and at'em! I got up, had some breakfast, took care of the dog, packed up and headed out.

11:00 arrive at Camp Manatoc. There was a full day of kid activities and swop meets going on all day Saturday along with a trail preview for $5. Awesome! I started unloading the car when I overheard the all to familiar voice ot Tenant Nabrowski a.k.a Nab and a small group of North Coast Mountain bikers! Great! I don't have to ride alone! So I got myself registered and ready and then we were off.

12:30 Heading out for out loop around the 9 mile course. All I have to say about the ride was mud, fun and mud. Little draining seemed to have happened throughout the morning. So after getting lost and 12 miles later I made it back to the car cleaned and packed up and watched the bunny hop contest and Huffy toss. Fun! Then I picked up my race registration and headed out to get dinner with my sweet!

3:30 unpacked and began the arduous task of cleaning the bike in prep for the race on Sunday. I got myself packed up and ready for the race and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Sunday
8:30 Up and at'em again! Got up and had a good breakfast, packed up and headed out.

11:00 Arrived at the Camp and get set up. It was pretty cold for whatever reason. Not more that 65 degrees I think. Good for racing though! Got myself and bike ready and headed to the start, well, hit the John then headed to the start! :) I also met some other guys setting up and shared my canopy with them since it was misting/sprinkling.

Red Rider representing!

Our "shop"

1:05ish - We were off and racing! I had a rough start after being jousted off my bike by an offending tree branch after connecting solidly with my bicep. Then roughly 5 miles in I was stung by a bee on my calf. I would have been ok with any where else but my calf and subsequent right leg cramped like a son of a gun on every big climb. It burned like a son of a gun as well. Apparently quite a few people were stung by these hornets. My leg is still pretty nasty and itchy. I felt pretty good in the first lap until all of this happened then I tired to collect myself and keep a good pace to finish the race.

I did stop once to help a fellow racer with a flat tire, she was out of CO2 so I gave her my extra to use. No luck. Gotta love tubeless!!!

My bloodsugar was great throughout the race holding steady and not dropping low enough to cause a scene. I like to think I do a great job of managing my fitness and diabetic needs. So far so good! Let's see at the next race!

Either way, I finished in 2:21:11. Great, no. Ok, no. Not a DNF, yes. I know I should arguably be racing in Novice Class. But how will hammering on people who have never raced before make me a better rider or racer. I'm taking my lumps now but learning and pushing for a better future. I may be crazy but I'm having fun and eventually will start finishing in the front of the pack. Someday.

Here are some more race pictures:

Heading throught the woods

Coming out of the woods

The aftermath, not too bad!

"The sting"

The location of the "joust"

Ready to Rock!!!

2009-08-28T21:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the skinny! My bike is fixed, brakes tuned, wheel trued as best as possible! I have steroid cream for my poison ivy! Bags are packed to pre-ride the course tomorrow. Had Molly's incredible pizza for dinner. Now it needs to stop f-ing raining so I can ride the trails tomorrow! WTF!!!

Mother nature, hellooooo, I have a race on Sunday!!!! Sheesh!

Extra long days

2009-08-27T12:21:00.000-04:00

Every time my brother goes in for his scans, the days seem extra long and extra dreary. He goes every 8 weeks since the conclusion of his chemo treatments in February. I know they are long days for him and dare I say he would rather sit through the classes he is missing then go for these scans? But as I sit here at work my mind can't help but wonder how he is doing. Where will I be when I get the all clear call from my Mom or brother, how long will I let the phone ring before I answer, how long will they wait to tell me everything is ok, how long will I wait to breath again? I always wonder on these long days of waiting.

Livestrong Kevin.

I'm a Red Rider!!!

2009-08-27T09:52:00.000-04:00

Mari Ruddy, a Colorado Tour de Cure rider, is the founder of the Red Rider program. Mari has lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years. Here's the reason why Mari wants to recognize people with diabetes that ride in a Tour de Cure as Red Riders:

"I have type I diabetes. I have lived with this challenging disease since I was 16 years old. That's over 25 years of blood testing, shots, insulin pumping, carb counting, and meal planning. If that wasn't enough, two years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of living with diabetes, I thought I understood illness. However, chemo, radiation, and surgery all knocked me down harder than I ever imagined possible. But my lot in life is to get back up no matter the punch. And with the support and love of my family and friends, excellent medical care, and the good fortune of life, I'm officially NED (no evidence of disease). At least no evidence of cancer, as I still have diabetes. That was a rude awakening, if only chemo could cure diabetes.

In my 25 years of living with diabetes, I have walked, run and cycled for the cure for diabetes, but never once at any of these events was I asked to declare myself as a diabetes-surviving person. I was never given a special t-shirt or water bottle. There has never been a special finish line acknowledging the courage, perseverance, and sheer determination it takes to live with diabetes and be out on that course riding, running or walking.

I want this to change.

Mari Ruddy &
Marcey Robinson, C.D.E.

I want you to help me change this. I want to work to find the cure AND to celebrate the people who are courageously living with diabetes. I want you to help me encourage people with diabetes to become RED RIDERS!

One could think I just want special recognition, and maybe I do. Why? Because receiving the recognition on race day gives me and my fellow diabetics the motivation to continue seeing the glass half full on the days when our blood sugar soars to 400 for no explainable reason, or when we have no desire to eat but we must or risk passing out if we don't.

Cancer is dramatic. Diabetes is a grind. Both drop people at the door of death, just in different styles.

If you are a person surviving diabetes, I implore you to ride this year and do everything you can to declare your status, so others on the course and in the wider community have the opportunity to celebrate and be inspired by you. I ask you to get on your bike and ride strong and sure. Riding in the Tour de Cure itself is the affirmation of your courage and perseverance."

Not so bad!

2009-08-26T21:11:00.001-04:00

Had my Dr. Appt. today and received some good results on my A1C. How does 6.6 sound??? Normal people have an A1C between 4-6. Diabetics that can keep there A1C below 7.5ish drastically reduce there risk of complications. Small things like peripheral neropathy, blindness, kidney failure and death. Sometimes you get all of those sometimes just one or two either way I want no part in that.

In other news my cholesterol was low with LDL being 88. :) Bring on more burgers!!!

Otherwise I'm pretty darn healthy, for a diabetic!

I did get out for a great MTB ride and did a solid 10 miles at West Branch. However, I went down hard in the many rock gardens on the back half of the trail. Busted up my arm pretty good, luckily our new butcher let me clean it off as I was weeping down my arm while perusing the meat, my girlfriend wasn't a big fan of the 2.5lb. beef tongue or beef hearts they had for sale. I was intrigued, go figure!

Also busted up the MTB bending the derailleur hanger as I bounced the bike off of the rock garden. I took Herald straight to the bike shop to get him fixed up for the race this weekend! He'll be good as new by Friday!

That's all for now, however, I am working on a plan to hit up some off-road endurance races next season. Some 6 or 12 hour races. Who knows maybe we'll go 24 hours solo!!! :)

Here goes nothing!

2009-08-25T13:46:00.000-04:00

Wish me luck, big Dr. appt. tomorrow with my Endocrinologist marking the one year anniversary on my pump. Let's see if I've been able to utilize the pump to it's fullest extent at controlling BS. I'll keep you posted on my A1C levels when I get my results. Then I will follow my Dr. appt. with a kickass training ride on my new MTB tires. Big Valley Race this weekend! Yikes!!! Wish me luck there too! I'll give a race report ASAP for that.

Subway, WTF???

2009-08-18T12:52:00.000-04:00

Why on earth should I hear a hard working sandwich artist get scolded today for putting to many olives on a footlong veggie subway. As I ordered my incredibly healthy footlong meatball marinara sub my vegetarian friend ordered a veggie sub.

First off, the douche bag guy measured out exactly two little side cups of cheese to put on the veggie sub, Matt and I looked at each other and shrugged it off. Then the sandwich artist started to create his masterpiece and did the ol' Subway grab a handful of olives and sprinkle them on. The douche bag guy comes over in front of the lunch time crowd and says, "Only 6 olives for a footlong sub"! WTF!!!!! That means six half slices of olives for a footlong sub which, you guessed it, means 3 whole olives for 12 inches of bread. Sheesh! How cheap are we getting now??? Subway, are you really giving away the farm by adding a few more rogue olive slices. As we checked out the douche bag continued to scold the sandwich artist saying 3 olive slices for a 6" and 6 slices for a 12". Again, that means an olive and a half for 6" of bread.

Subway you have long since been a cheese hoarder only giving 4 slices of delicious pepper jack on my 12" on bread. If I were making a sub I would have no less that a slice per 2" ratio for better cheese coverage. Get with the program! Charge me the extra $2 to make a damn sub that I would want to eat. And good god, leave the sandwich artist alone! Artists make their own rules, otherwise call them the sandwich sherpas!

How cool is this???

2009-08-18T07:13:00.000-04:00

Part of Lance Armstrong's cycling come back campaign was to help raise awareness about the ever growing need to find a cure for cancer. As any of you know who read my blog know my brother has battled cancer and fights every day to live cancer free. During the Tour de France this year a group of MIT students created a robot that paints inspirational messages along the TDF route during the entire race. Here's a link to check it out:

http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/livestrong/en_US/chalk_messages

and here was my message painted somewhere along the Tour de France route in France:

http://tinyurl.com/n99p2v

I love to ride!

2009-08-17T20:15:00.000-04:00

I felt like a little kid today hurrying home to get myself ready for a quick ride before the weather turns crappy! I got a great ride in and felt strong, even after my accident yesterday while on the MTB. I got a great 22 mile ride in before the rain starts for the week. I think I'm going to hit up Mohican State Park this weekend because it drains way better than any of the local trails and I can get a good training ride in before the weekend of my bike race on the 30th.

Accident, Harold (MTB name) and I were kicking ass through the rock gardens at West Branch when I came to a small decline that led to an incline. The rocks were mossy and slick which sucked, I was trying to keep my weight back when my front wheel slipped off a rock and wedged in between the rock next to it. It felt like slow motion as I lurched over the handlebars. Luckily the rocks that I would have ridden over in front of me broke my fall! lol Needless to say it was a painful landing. Outside of some nice bruises and scrapes up the entire right side of my body, the bloodiest gash occurred on my ankle. Here's a pic:

I got up dusted myself of and climbed back on the rig to keep on truckin'. Then I realized I was about 20 feet from the end of the trail. Sheesh!!!

Can you believe it???

2009-08-12T19:37:00.000-04:00

I completely missed my pump anniversary!!! August second concluded my first year on the insulin pump. I love it, it's been great at keeping my sugars in check and my A1C in a very reasonable and manageable range.

It's probably the single best thing I could have done to better my overall health and probably add some more years to my time here on earth. It's been an incredibly easy transition on the bike, with shots it was kind of hit and miss most of the time. With the pump I have it down to a science as to where my temporary basal rate needs to be and for how long to keep my blood sugars from dive bombing.

I think I've come along way and with my sights set on some late season races and I'm going to start working towards a 12 or 24 hour solo race next year. Diabetes management will be a large part of the planning for that event.

I don't really know what to say in my reflection but as the enlightenment comes I will pass it along.

Rock on!