Could it all Come Down to 1 Unit? - Diabetes Duldrums

10/10/10 - The Healdsburg Marathon. I was hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

I woke up feeling strong. The night before was the usual nervousness, hoping I would make it under 3:40, which is 8:24 minute miles. I felt ready. This was the time. I trained quite a bit, hard, built a good base, did some serious spring work outs, was good to go.

I woke up at 6:30. BS was I think 167. Not bad. Went for a 15 minute short walk with the dog, got back 137. Ate a pretty big bowl of brown rice, almond milk, and agave. Normally I'd give myself 4 units for that. I took 2 units of humalog. Got my tights on, shirts, meter in my pocket, syringes, bag of lancets, strips, ultra mini meter, goos, and a lot of dates. I was ready to go.

Drove the 20 minutes up to Healdsburg. On the way I tested and it was 101. Hmmmm, that was only 30 minutes after breakfast, I still had most of my insulin in me, and eaten, and it was 100? So, I ate 2 dates (20 or so carbs), found a great parking spot, ran to the check in, got my bag, ran to Safeway to avoid the line (by the way WHY are the port a potty lines ALWAYS so dang long, why not just rent a few extra?). Anyhow, got back from the bathroom, and it was 91. Shoot, not so good. So, I ate a banana, and another date. I ran to the start, literally got there as it was beginning. Here I go.

I felt good for the first 5-7 miles. Pace (although I don't have a fancy garmin, or watch), I just checked my watch at the mile markers. Miles were about 8:05, 7:58, 8:04, around there. some were a few seconds faster, others, a few seconds slower). Tested 1/2 hour into it, and it was 120 I think. I ate about every 30 minutes too. Then, I tested at mile 11. 67. Shoot. Not good, and I started to feel really really tired. Like really tired. I downed like 4 shot blocks, 2 dates, and hoped that would do it.

But I did know at some level, that once it's dropping that much, you're toast. You can't eat enough as fast as you are burning it. Soooo, I kept going. I hit the half way mark at 1:47. If I just kept that pace, I'd still be able to make it. But that aid station at the turn around was out of water. It was actually pretty hot.

Then, I've never every done this in a race, well since I was like 8 at least. I walked. I was so depleted. I felt so tired. I thought I was going to collapse. I kept thinking that if someone offered me a ride, I'd take it. I was miserable. I felt physically so depleted (which I guess I was because all the glycogen was gone, and I had no reserves). I walked part of miles 14 - 21 probably. The slowest mile I think was 10:32, fastest of those 9:30 or something. Then, I started thinking, maybe I can at least finish in under 4 hours. I knew my hopes of 3:40 were gone. So, I made myself walk for no longer than like 1 - 2 minutes at a time. And, I got a little bit of a second wind at mile 22. But I was still miserably tired. I finished at 3:58, actually got 3rd in my age group. But, I was tired, and a little bummed.

So, I kept thinking, could the whole race really have been different if I had take 1 less unit that morning? Crazy to think.

Now, I'm thinking about CIM, but probably won't do it, and planning on Carlsbad. And, really looking at why I feel the need to qualify for Boston, and if I can.

Not sure what to do now.