Silicon Valley International Triathlon

Well, I'm totally exhausted, not so much from the triathlon, as from the sun, travel, and just sheer energy of it all. First off it was great to see and meet Holly and her husband, Kathleen and her friend, Bobby Joe (and her really sweet little girls, who got to hand out medals to the finishers at the end), Lucy, James, and others. On Saturday, Peter and I talked to a few people about diabetes, as we shared the shade of the bright orange Triabetes tent with others. Although there was not a ton of action, I think it was really good to have a presence there, as we are the official charity of the race. And, we heard Mark Allen talk. What a stud. He talked about his biggest competitor, Dave Scott, and their races to win the Ironman. For more info, click here. He also talked about his spiritual path and the Shaman work that he as done. I imagine that's a natural desire for a lot of professional athletes, to try to also work on their internal life. All in all it was really interesting - a bit disappointing that so few people were there to hear it. Among other things, he mentioned the importance of taking shorter strides in the run. And how Dave Scott was a vegetarian, and used to rinse his cottage cheese because it was too much fat.

Later, we had a really nice dinner at Sports Basement on Saturday night with James, Lucy, Kathleen, her friend, Bobby Joe, Yetti, Casey, Anne, Peter, and I. What an awesome set up Sports Basement has. They provide really good snacks and drinks, a meeting pace, and all meeting attendees get 20% off when they shop there. And they are super friendly. Like the one in SF, it was just an all out great opportunity for people to talk. Peter pointed that out to me, how it's really all about bringing diabetics together to talk. And so much can come out of that. From inspiration to practical knowledge and ideas, from companionship, to humor, understanding, and so much more.

Following the dinner, we all planned to meet up at 5:30 in the transition area the next morning for the triathlon. My blood sugars had been great during the till an evening 307 out of nowhere for me. I corrected, but still went to bed with it high, and then woke up with around 230 I think. I took 1 unit (1/2 of what I'd usually take to correct).

At that bright hour, Bobby Joe, Kathleen, James, and I were the four Triabetes people (we met up with Holly late) all together. For breakfast I ate a rice cake with peanut butter and agave and took another 1 unit. A little while later it was 286, then right before the swim, (and here is where I think I made a mistake), it was 223, so I thought, shoot, it's dropping, and I ate a little clif bar and 1/2 a banana.

Swim was organized by gender and age group. I started at 7:16. The water left a lot to be desired. It smelled like what I hope it was not; sewage. I had debated whether to wear a wetsuit, and wish that I didn't. Despite the increase buoyancy, it is hard to move, and I felt a little claustrophobic. It was hard to aim directly for the yellow buoys. At one point, I looked all around and didn't see any white caps, and couldn't figure out if they were all behind or in front of me. Eventually, I rounded the last buoy, and headed to the finish. My arms were tired though, and I felt kind of depleted for the first half of the run.

I ran up to the bike, checked sugar, 263, thought maybe it'd decrease on the bike, so I didn't eat anything or take any insulin, BUT I forgot to take some gu's with me. I pushed hard on the bike and felt really good. There was a headwind heading out, but after the turnaround, there was a nice little tail wind. I didn't have anything to track mileage, but by the end, I kept thinking, I should be there, I should be there.

Ended with the bike with the lovely blood sugar of 392. Thought about keytones, took two units of humalog and 1/2 of a gu and the rest in my pocket, since I hadn't eaten anything during the whole event. I felt sluggish at the start of the run. And it was hot. But then about 3 miles into it, I felt a lot better, and finished feeling pretty strong. Although my blood sugar was 353. My overall time was 2:48. Although official results aren't up yet, I believe my swim time was 30 or 31 minutes. And my bike was 1:21 and run was exactly 8 minute miles (49:36). Transitions were like 3 and a half minutes.

All in all it was an excellent time. I'm really looking forward to the next events. Holly, Bobby Joe, James, and friends will plan some rides sometime in the Marin/Sonoma area soon, and hopefully get the dawn phenom events going as well in that SF area too.