Gloomy Forecast

Time to amend the prediction around how this hamstring might impact Saturday’s test.  Despite laying off Sunday, the short four mile stretch on Monday was not promising.  I was hobbling over the first mile and entertained thoughts of punting, but it did loosen up a bit and I pushed on…though that may not have been wise.

Monday evening I could barely walk, so how the heck am I supposed to run fifty miles five days from now?  Well, let’s begin by scratching the last two training runs --- only three miles on Tuesday and two miles Wednesday, so no big forfeit.  Kim made a great suggestion to schedule a massage and direct some soothing attention towards the hamstring, so that has been booked.  But still…running fifty miles is so utterly beyond my comprehension and piling on the injury, diabetes and now no friends around for support seems an ill omen.

The good news is that the race consists of three 16.5 mile loops, so call me fruity, but I suppose I can take it a loop at a time…

To Run or Not To Run?

Completed the ten mile run on Saturday in good time, especially considering how hot it was, but I backed off several times when I felt my hamstring complaining…and it really tightened up afterwards.  So for the first time throughout training for the fifty mile ultra-marathon I sat out today’s run (six miles).

Even though I worry over my ability to actually make it fifty miles in one shot, I remain confident the effort won’t be compromised by this injury.  I am aware of the hamstring when running, but it only becomes an issue when I try to accelerate and the few times I thought I’d have to punt at the start, it always loosens up and the run goes okay.  Perhaps I’m crazy to think this won’t screw things up for such an extreme test of endurance, but for the moment we are all systems go.

Clouds are perhaps gathering on the horizon.  This injury is certainly not a good sign and I couldn’t even walk easily today.  Add to that the boom to bust guest list à Paul registered for the run but had to cancel out because of his knee; my old college buddy Jim who lives nearby is helping his son move to NYC next weekend, so that rendezvous is shot, and; John and Jody also had to deep six plans to be in the Finger Lakes over the Fourth.  But Marga from Texas might still make it up, so fingers crossed I won’t be a lone ranger.

Also scoped out some possible hikes for Friday as there are many beautiful waterfalls in the Finger Lakes and I’ve never had the opportunity to check them out.  Still hope to get the last three tune-up runs in (four miles Monday, three Tuesday and two on Wednesday) and may schedule a massage for Wednesday evening to soothe the hamstring as much as possible.  This will all be over in a week, fingers crossed for a happy ending!

Winding Down to Get Pumped Up

So this is the true off week in this running adventure.  Only 32 miles scheduled, comparing favorably to the last ten weeks à over that time period I’ve logged a total of 530 miles or an average of 53 miles per week, with forty miles being the lowest one of the ten.

I’ve slogged 18.3 miles thus far (sixteen scheduled), with three runs back in Dayton this week.  The weather was rainy but I managed to dodge getting wet, and to be honest the cloud cover made it quite pleasant.  Still have to do ten miles yet today, complicated only because my flight home got delayed and I wound up getting stuck in Charlotte last night.  Versus the original plan of dispatching the ten miles first thing this AM, I find myself in the groggy state induced by airplane misery and not psyched to head out.

Of course ten miles seems like a no-brainer now, so I plan on hitting the road around 4:30PM to complete the run in time to go out to dinner with my wife and daughter.  Temps will probably be near ninety when I start, so a snail’s pace is guaranteed for the final double-digit length before next Saturday’s hurdle.

The Finger Lakes Fifty looms near on the horizon, killing my ability to savor the reduced mileage this week.  I go back and forth between absolute dread and the comfort of experiencing similar feelings before the half and full marathons.  I think the strategy will be to not dwell on the race and rely on time slipping by until game day arrives.

I did manage to trace a puppy dog during Tuesday’s run, which I will include below.  Especially fond of the ears and tail, but disappointed with that little spike on his back --- having to avoid being run down by a pick-up truck necessitated a slight off-road experience during this run…a case of graphic violence???

“Puppy Dog” --- Toe Painting, by Vance

Will Run for Scrapple

Sneaking one more update in before heading off to Ohio.  Had a great run this morning and got off early due to some prime motivation.  Since it is Father’s Day, Kim got me some scrapple for breakfast!

Scrapple is a Pennsylvania Dutch concoction --- basically leftover pork scraps mixed with cornmeal and flour.  Growing up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, mom made this occasionally for breakfast and we would smother the delicious strips in molasses.  Things didn’t get any better than that.  Of course I need to pass on the molasses these days, but I haven’t enjoyed scrapple in years, if not decades.  Further, my wife and daughter are both vegetarians so at home I’m a ‘default vegetarian’ (of course I still eat meat because I am afraid of making a big miss steak…).

Kim treats me to a scrumptious omelet Sunday morning, so the routine has been to enjoy a hearty breakfast and then get my ten mile run about an hour after (the training schedule has had me run ten miles seven of the last eight Sundays).  But Sunday runs have been nasty lately, between exhaustion from Saturday’s long haul and heat from the delayed start, so I took off at 7AM so I could really relish my scrapple.

A good plan.  The run went well, benefitting from cooler temps and feeling a bit more on my game by virtue of not having run a marathon the previous day.  And then I got to sit down to a wonderful scrapple feast…Happy Father’s Day, indeed!  J

Another factor in this morning’s success was likely that I donned a fresh pair of sneakers.  This ultra training is expensive stuff and even though I’m trying to get 400 miles out of every pair, it only took seven weeks to rack that mileage up for the latest pair.  Below is a snapshot of the “old” pair, retired yesterday at the ripe old age of seven weeks, and the “new”, still vibrant with only ten miles underfoot:

The pair on the left was just as white seven weeks ago…

I figure the latest pair will be what I use in the Finger Lakes Fifty, as there should only be another forty miles of training over the next two weeks before game day.  Hallelujah for that!

Board Game

Rather incredible how this morning’s sixteen mile run seemed a non-event.  I mean, after running twenty-four or twenty-six miles the last three Saturdays, chopping ten miles off made things a walk in the park.  It was certainly reassuring to cross Snow’s Cut this morning and realize I only had to make a quick tour of Carolina Beach State Park, rather than plodding on down to Fort Fisher.  The sun was shining brightly so the heat underscored the value of an abbreviated agenda.

As scaled back as it was, my two weeks of wind-down enter the free-fall zone now.  Now  only a pair of ten milers tomorrow and next Saturday remain as the longest segments before the main event on July 2^nd.

One of the spin-off benefits of this crazy venture has been my wife’s involvement with JDRF.  When I initially met with them they mentioned needs around public communications and I hooked them up with Kim, who is wonderfully adept in this arena.  After working with them for several months her talent led to being made a member of the local JDRF Board!

Thursday evening we attended a fund raiser where the new board members were introduced and it was quite an eye opener.  I was surprised how many other Type I diabetics there are out there (although we still make up less than 10% of all diabetics) and it was a rare opportunity to interface with folks sharing my affliction.  When I attended the lecture during World Diabetes Day back in November I first learned about “continuous glucose monitoring” devices, though the consensus seemed to be that they were expensive (i.e., didn’t often qualify for coverage under health insurance plans) and not terribly accurate.

Kim has shared that folks with JDRF have been talking these devices up and another Type I at the event, Jim, gave a pretty solid review…so I will be exploring this option once I get past the Finger Lakes Fifty (have a regular check-up with my doctor the week after and Jim advised that free week-long trials are often available).  Another significant advance in the management of diabetes, fueled by your generosity à if you haven’t made your contribution to my drive yet all the info is in the header of this blog!

Off to Dayton next week for work so limited internet access means no postings for a bit, but I’ll return soon and hope to heck I’m not too unnerved by how soon the fifty mile run is…

Hamstrung

Running has been compromised this week due to the ongoing saga around the hamstring I pulled last Wednesday.  I can still feel it complaining whenever I’m not running, but it comes and goes when training, usually in response to a quicker pace.  Just refer back a couple entries (So long sixties ) and you should be able to surmise from the picture that I wasn’t joyous after re-straining it during Sunday’s ten miler.

Had I been training for the half or full marathon it would be a no-brainer to sit out a few days.  But concern over endurance wins out as I figure rest days are ahead and I can mend after I’ve done everything possible to go the distance.  This plan wasn’t looking good after the four miles on Tuesday --- the hamstring bothered me terribly and I felt crappy in spite of such a brief run.  Once again, however, I feel speed and temperature are the culprits which did me in.

Because the run is so short I took off after work, and naturally started strong since you feel like you have to approach these short jaunts at a brisker pace.  So I aggravated it right away and running in the afternoon heat proved to be a one-two combination which left me reeling.  Still, I was determined to stick it out and try Wednesday’s ten miler, telling myself I would sit out Thursday if things got worse.

Fortunately, the ten miles went very well.  I got off at 5:30AM in the slow lane, with cooler temps and a slower pace effectively counter-punching yesterday’s woes.  In fact, the run went quite well and as much as I am attempting to disregard my times, I paced 9:45 miles versus 11:00 for Sunday’s ten…and felt strong when I got back home.

I usually venture quite a ways from home for ten milers, but wanted to stick to the neighborhood in case the hamstring forced me to call it quits.  Trying to kill ten miles in the ‘hood led to the latest toe painting effort:

“Monkey with a Crossbow” --- Toe Painting, by Vance

Hopefully you notice the tail, which rendered it a monkey rather than a man, and I really like the quiver he has for his arrows.  I’ve not received a single comment regarding my Toe Painting yet, so perhaps it won’t be the new rage…but I am amusing myself!  J

Thursday’s eight miler went equally well.  Off to the races at 5:30AM and maintained a slow and steady pace to dispatch the latest eight.  Hamstring was stiff at the onset, but felt okay shortly thereafter and is certainly no worse…perhaps feeling a bit better so I certainly won’t curse the decision to keep on truckin’…

Off Road

How about addressing a few concerns beyond running for once?  There has been a lot of off-road activity to support sneaker time and that can be every bit as challenging.

For the upcoming Finger Lakes Fifty, travel concerns were a bit more difficult than expected.  The site for the race is a fairly remote state park off the shores of Lake Seneca, so I had to pin down an airport where it made the most sense to fly in.  Fortunately I attended college in upstate New York and have a bit of familiarity with the area’s geography.

…but this resurrects a bone of contention I have with that geography.  My school was situated in Potsdam, located about as far north as you can possibly get in the state.  It is so far north, in fact, that we had to drive about 80 miles south from my campus to get to the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid! So I feel justified claiming to have lived in “upstate” New York at one point in my life.

Over time, however, I have come to appreciate there are only two locations in the state of New York.  You either hail from New York City or upstate New York.  For the first ten years after graduation I was consistently sucked in during introductory conversations where the other party would respond to the “where are you from” question with “upstate New York”.  Presuming this was near former haunts, I would follow up to determine exactly where, only to be disappointed with responses like Poughkeepsie (just north of the city) or Binghamton (on the Pennsylvania border for cryin’ out loud!).

At least now I am already smiling in anticipation when I pose the follow up query…

Anyway, my familiarity led me to begin the flight search by triangulating on Syracuse, Rochester and Binghamton, all about two hours away by car.  Prices were a bit salty so I tried Buffalo, which was cheaper but not sufficient to warrant another few hours of driving time back-and–forth.  Elmira, NY entered the picture for a bit, being less costly and closer than anything else, but in a “duh” moment I finally realize Ithaca was right in the back yard.  Hmmm, perhaps my New York geography ain’t so great after all.

Added a hotel reservation and car rental to complete personal arrangements, but there’s also the guest list to consider.  The big disappointment is that Paul will probably have to cancel due to knee ailments and I’m stuck running this monster solo.  The run is essentially three 16.5 mile loops and I’ve been scouting for a “companion runner” (ultra-marathon terminology for someone who accompanies you along the last stretches to ensure your well-being) to run the last loop with no success.  Ultra-marathons are serious stuff and many folks hallucinate when they stress their bodies this intensely --- companion runners usher their runner through the final miles when this risk is greatest.

Naturally this compounds diabetic worries.  I reiterate my perplexity over how the training regimen only has a 26-mile run as the longest segment to prep for fifty miles???  I will press on, relying that I am probably more disciplined in gauging on-the-fly mental soundness than a non-diabetic, in addition to the belief that this fate befalls folks pushing themselves to the extreme.  Once again, the mantra of “slow and steady” should serve me well.

Even if I have to tackle the run by my lonesome on Saturday, Sunday holds promise for a fun reunion.  My friend John (a companion of the Oman adventure) and his wife Jody are headed to the Finger Lakes over the long Fourth of July weekend and we’ve tentatively agreed to rendezvous for a wine country road tour…if I’ve survived the fifty miles I will serve as the designated driver.  Better yet, my friend Marga from Austin, Texas might be in the neighborhood to visit her expectant daughter and I sent an e-mail to a college friend who lives nearby (whom I haven’t seen since graduation day in May of 1983).

Should I manage to complete my first ultra, ultra good times should be right around the corner!

So long sixties

Very happy to be back from today’s ten miler, which brought my sixty mile weeks to a conclusion.  Well, at least until after the Finger Lakes Fifty anyway, but I am psyched for the reprieve, especially after today’s ordeal.

Nothing dramatic, but I didn’t start until 10AM and so I ran in steamy temperatures and to compound things my hamstring really acted up today.  Funny how it didn’t bother me much at all during yesterday’s marathon, but of course I was running a lot slower.  Actually ran today about as slow as yesterday, but only because I began quickly and aggravated the hamstring, resulting in a crawl pace after the first two miles.

Between the hamstring and the heat it was an unpleasant run, but thankfully ten miles doesn’t seem that long anymore so the pain was dispatched relatively quickly.  With tomorrow’s rest day and only four miles on the slate for Tuesday, here’s hoping the hamstring will quickly rebound.

  Back home after the last ten miles of the last sixty mile week for a bit.

Now I can wind down!

Completed the final 20+ training run before the ultra this morning and if I wasn’t so stiff and tired I’d celebrate!  I’ve endured runs of 22 or more miles six out of the last seven weeks and was really looking forward to knocking this one off today.  Hit it early Friday night and woke up around 5:15AM (don’t set any alarm, preferring to rise when I’m rested and ready), allowing me to hit the road around 5:45AM.

Made a beeline south and didn’t switch on the iPod until mile seven, which found me on Dow Road behind Carolina Beach.  I was following last week’s route with the exception that there would be no turn onto Loggerhead Road towards the Aquarium at the bottom of the island.  I was surprised by the number of vehicles ruining my solitude at this early hour, but most had a boat in tow and I suppose they had also risen early to spend a day on the water.

When I passed Fort Fisher it was also active and per the signage they were staging a civil war re-enactment this morning.  Somewhat amusing to be striding past the small contingent dragging cannons out into the field and setting them up!

The running route was simply going to be to run thirteen miles in either direction, but when I reached the turn-around mileage I could see the boat ramp at the very end of Pleasure Island, so I had to add a half mile to claim I had run the entire distance from my house to the end of the road.  I really felt good at this stage so it was an easy decision, and maintaining my slow pace, I rebounded back towards Snow Cut without hitting the ennui wall like the last two times.

It was warming up, however, and by the time I was nearing the bridge I had almost completely drained the hydro pack and both water bottles, mandating a stop at the Food Lion to score a bottle of water.  By this point I recognized I would be putting in twenty-seven miles today, so I held onto the water bottle until I had plodded another five miles until my Sports Watch indicated I had logged 25 miles.

At this point I began walking and savored my bottle of water, despite it having lost the icy coldness during its five miles in the sun.  I also had another Hammer Gel as I was feeling a bit light headed, but picked it back up and ran the last mile-and-a-half to complete a satisfying finale for the long program.

It felt great to add a mile onto the scheduled 26 and my attitude is in a good place.  Although I remain uncertain how adequately I am prepared to endure fifty miles, I am getting comfortable that with the reduced workload over the next few weeks I will be as ready as can be…the training programs haven’t let me down yet.

Even better, my blood sugar was 89 at the conclusion.  A bit low, but my primary concern with the Lantus only regimen is that it wouldn’t allow my body to absorb sufficient energy to sustain me during long hauls.  But this morning it kept me going for 27 miles and was apparently still able to keep my blood sugar from spiking, so excellent feedback.  The other plus here is that I haven’t been saddled with the sudden low blood sugar episodes that usually hit me around mile seven when I injected Humalog before taking off.

So I’ll rest easy the rest of today.  Even though this was the last really long run, I still have ten miles to knock off tomorrow and then my first “rest” week begins, and it still has 48 miles to conquer.  But the good news is that next Saturday’s run is only 16 miles.  Did I say only???   J

And to top it all off, I sat down at the PC after lunch and saw another contribution came in for the Ultra Fund Raider.  Thank you, Megan!

Final Push

It’s been slow and steady for the runs during the final sixty-mile week before the big event.  Appreciating that I’m allowed to feel tired has helped considerably, but many miles remain to endure this week of the final push.  Wednesday was the last twelve mile run and I got out of the blocks around 5:40AM to tackle it.  Despite setting a lethargic pace I somehow managed to pull a hamstring around the third mile.  Nowhere near as bad as when I popped that sucker during the half marathon training, but still painful.

I’ve been sticking to the erect posture with short strides throughout the ultra training program, and whether or not it is preserving my knees I can tell you it allows you to forge ahead with a pulled hamstring.  It was apparent I wasn’t aggravating the injury so I trudged on and completed the twelve miles without further ado.  Of course the muscle tightened up afterwards, making me question the eight miles on Thursday.

After the first few strides this morning (again a 5:40AM lift-off) I was ready to call it…the hamstring was stiff as an iron rod and howled in pain.  So I decided to run a short program but quickly realized it was loosening up quite nicely and proceeded to get the full run in.  So I’m 25 miles into the final 60 and optimistic I can survive the last marathon Saturday morning even with this hamstring.

On the companionship front, however, things are not so encouraging.  My buddy Paul had signed up to run the 50K program at the Finger Lakes event, leaving options open to stick it out and perhaps do the full fifty miles with me.  Unfortunately he has been plagued with knee problems and now it looks like he will have to punt on the whole race.  I recommended reading “Born to Run” and shared the author’s concerns that modern footwear is the driver of knee injuries, as well as running style.  Between Paul’s knees and my hamstring I am definitely clinging to the new style I’ve adopted!

I remain a bit intimidated by the upcoming fifty miler, especially now that I’ll be tackling it solo.  At least I have the confidence from how the previous two training programs ultimately had me prepared and look forward to returning vigor with the wind-down over the next several weeks.  Of course there remains that last marathon Saturday before I can start to ease off…

Join me for a Marathon?

So I had to run twenty six miles this morning and thought I would pack along a camera and share thoughts and pictures from the trot so you could come along.

Arose a little after 5AM and shot up with insulin – just Lantus to continue the experimental dosage – followed by a breakfast consisting of a whole banana, carton of sugar-free yogurt and pack of peanut butter crackers (the usual breakfast would exclude half of that banana and the crackers, but obviously stoking the furnace for forthcoming calorie demands).  Preparation continued with application of baby powder to the feet, Vaseline to several strategic areas that would get rubbed raw otherwise and sun block to the face and neck.

Beyond actual time on the road, these runs chew away at the clock just from all the requirements before taking off.  I had started preparation the evening before, filling one of my water bottles with G2 and spiking the other with a Nuun tablet to provide resources for replenishing salts and other stuff I would sweat away during the run.  Also filled up my hydro pack (just water), although that attempt at simplifying today’s take-off would come back to bite me.

Out the door around 6AM, the sun was just climbing up and it was delightfully cool outside, ideal weather for launching the long run.  I started off at a slow trudge, recognizing that I would be out there awhile.  I’ve been a bit disappointed with how slowly these Saturday runs have progressed, but it recently dawned on me that I am clearly not benefitting from the “wind down” which preceded running the marathon last March.  Rather than approaching these monsters on a full tank, I’ve just slugged out a twelve and an eight mile run right before this…and I need to appreciate that this is “training” rather than game day.

A quarter mile down the pike I suddenly realized I forgot to strap my hydro-pack on and did an immediate u-turn.  Sheesh, despite getting the sucker ready I forgot all about it as I was arming myself with Hammer Gels, Clif Bars, the water belt, camera, baby powder, Vaseline, sunblock, etc., etc., etc…

No biggie though, another benefit from the mindset of getting 26 miles in without dwelling upon how fast.

I didn’t switch on the iPod until after I had gone about three miles, just to collect my thoughts and make sure I didn’t need to have background noise all the time.  May have caused my pace to pick up, because I really attempt to build quality playlists.  It’s a rather eclectic mix, but in the first batch “Roam” by the B-52’s was a bit too infectious to run slow:

Roam if you want to

Roam around the world

Without wings, without wheels

Pretty sweet lyrics for running twenty six miles!

The Red Lighthouse, a bit over three miles from home

 
Continued along Carolina Beach Road until I reached the Red Lighthouse development, marked by a unique little beacon that made me stop for the first photo shoot.  I’ve been training for a year now and witnessing this landmark made me respect how far I’ve come.  I’ve expressed that there is value in challenging yourself, but the red lighthouse made me expand that comment to stress patience.  I first reached this lighthouse last June and was enthused by my progress, as expressed in the Taking It In Stride entry.

The significance was that I was anticipating the day I would reach Snow’s Cut Bridge, still a mile away.  Today I would be running over that bridge and then another eight miles before turning around!  You’ve come a long way, baby…

So right after that I was atop Snow’s Cut Bridge and for the first time armed to capture its splendor on a Saturday morning:

Climbing to the top of Snow’s Cut along the narrow pedestrian sidewalk, early Saturday morning (usually much more traffic)

  No fence once you get to the top…just enjoy the view!

Shoreline on Carolina Beach side, all downhill from here

After the bridge I run about five miles along Dow Road, which cuts behind the beach communities and is quite rural (I’ve startled three deer during my morning runs).  Even though the speed limit is 55MPH and folks zip along, there isn’t much traffic and broad shoulders.  There are practically no structures the entire way and I run through sand and weeds most of the time.

Then my route hooks back towards the Atlantic Ocean and into Kure Beach, where I hang a right towards Fort Fisher and the southern end of Pleasure Island.

Pillars marking beginning of Fort Fisher – back to buildings but I can follow the bike path

Only a couple miles until you exit the community area and it is back to nature.  The only things remaining are beaches, the Fort Fisher Historic Site, the Aquarium (where I will turn around today), the ferry and boat ramps.  It is beautiful here!

Fort Fisher with its delightful wind tilted trees

I hooked left onto Loggerhead Road to reach the Aquarium and was soon on the rebound back to Monkey Junction (name of neighborhood I live in)…just thirteen more miles to go now!

NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher

My pace has begun to slack off due to the combined effects of exertion and escalating temperatures, but stay with me because we are still on the move.  In fact, let’s swing by the beach and enjoy some ocean views…just because we can:

Looking back on the beach, already getting filled up at 8:30AM!

There are pleasing views in both directions:

Looking forward to watch the waves break

But all too soon it is back to pounding the pavement through Fort Fisher and Kure Beach to Dow Road.  Weariness begins to set in as I plod back towards the bridge and I finally capitulate and walk during my second Clif Bar after cracking mile nineteen.  I suck my Nuun water bottle dry during the brisk stroll and have hit my hydro pack hard (my throat is so dry it requires big water hits to get the Clif Bar down).

Still have the G2 bottle, but I decide to drop in on the Carolina Beach Food Lion to score another bottle of water.  I have my twenty dollars along, so I pause my Garmin Sports Watch and head indoors around mile twenty.  I had just finished my Clif Bar and assure you I wasn’t low (more on this later but I didn’t consume any more calories until after getting back home), but the effort must have taken a toll.  I was at the self-checkout register but the two dudes ahead of me were having serious difficulties and after standing around for a minute and not noting any progress with completing their transaction I migrate to the Express Line, but not before discovering I’ve lost my $20!

I literally walk around the areas I have been standing at since I plucked the bill out for over a minute before realizing I am holding it my other hand.  Heaven help me when I have to do this for fifty miles…

To perform penance after this silly fiasco I clutch the water bottle and refuse to savor it until I run complete mile twenty-two, returning to walking mode while downing the cool liquid.  As weary as I am, awareness that the end is near and deliberately running at a slow pace brings me back home once I kick back into running mode.  Total miles logged were 26.1 --- and as a closing “footnote” (ha-ha) to reinforce how tired I was --- I didn’t bother sweating out that last stinking tenth of a mile to lay claim to completing a marathon this morning!

Those last few miles I didn’t bother switching my iPod back on because I had already received three French lessons and between mental grogginess and noise from the traffic on Carolina Beach, now that it was later in the morning, I didn’t have the heart to endure another (I stage my playlist as a series of seven songs followed by a French lesson).

Follow up on the Lantus (and why I knew I wasn’t low at the Food Lion) is that a blood test after the run revealed a blood sugar of 107, pretty awesome.     J

 

Hope you enjoyed running along with me à I am blessed with beautiful country to plot courses and there's just one more sixty mile week before the Finger Lakes Fifty!

Insulin-ated

The attitude is rebounding nicely, largely thanks to receiving a nice donation from an old friend (first new receipt in about a month) à THANK YOU, Lisa!  J

In addition, the mid-week runs have been completed without ado.  In fact, I successfully conducted an experiment yesterday to address a key concern for the looming ultra.  Wednesday morning was a twelve mile circuit and I bumped up my units of Lantus (the long acting insulin) to omit taking any fast acting Humalog at breakfast.  Due to the extreme length of time required to trot fifty miles I need to develop a plan for insuring sufficient insulin to keep the system operating.

Since the marathon required four hours I could still just take my usual lunch-time injection after the race and things were pretty much business as usual.  That won’t be an option for the upcoming event, however.  Guessing I will be running at least eleven hours and need to decipher a way to supply insulin so I can fuel my body.  Without insulin all those Clif Bars I’d be downing would never be translated into energy and there would be no option beyond “hitting the wall” (with a resounding thud, no doubt).

I’ll ask my doctor to confirm this notion, but I think I’ll be okay by escalating my Lantus (which is active for 18-26 hours) and avoiding the need to drag a hypodermic needle and bottle of insulin along to poke myself when I’m all sweaty and filthy halfway through the race.  This presents a further dilemma because the faster acting insulin often strikes me powerfully when I’m active and halfway into a fifty mile run it could really knock me for a loop.

My blood sugar was slightly higher than usual after the twelve mile run, but I felt better during the run and was encouraged this might work.  I’ll duplicate the test Saturday morning and we’ll see where the blood sugar hovers after twenty six miles.  I am feeling good that this will keep me insulated from insulin worries for the ultra --- insulin-ated, one might say…