Therein lies the Rub

I thought that this was an appropriate title for today's blog. It was going to be a bit more humorous and sarcastic but my mood went a bit sour when I found out that the daughter of one of my teammates was in the hospital with what appears to be the onset of Type 1 diabetes. Therein lies the rub. This never stops. Thank God her Dad is an expert in diabetes management (because he has been one for a long time). What about those families who never see it coming and don't know what to do? I believe that we may be able to eventually keep people from triggering their immune system and prevent Type 1 from starting. For those of us who have already triggered their immune system, it is all about education and inspiration. We have the tools to dominate this disease today and we need education and inspiration from others already winning this war in their own lives.

Today I did a training ride of 90 minutes indoors (its supposed to go below -20 degrees F tonight). It was rather enjoyable as it was a tempo ride which means that I got to "go for it" for the middle 50 minutes. After creating a lake of sweat on the mat under my bike I went outside to cool off in -2 degrees. My CGM didn't reflect all the carbs that I loaded but I loved the photo next to the thermometer before going outside. Once outside, my wife had to take a video because of all the steam that I was generating in the wind in sub-zero temps.

I tested and was actually okay and rising on the BG but I thought it was a good photo before I went outside

Video of me after my ride standing outside when it was about -2 degrees F. Notice the steam pouring off me with the wind. Notice also that I don't exactly have the Atlas body and never will - sorry.

I skipped the 8.5 mile run today because I am fighting off a recurrence of plantar faciitis after the 15 mile run on Sunday. Therein lies the rub. I will fight to make it to the starting line of the Ironman and the biggest part will probably be to keep walking by managing my runs. The orthodics and Newtons have really saved me but anything over a half marathon seems to injure me.

I swam yesterday for 3600 yds and it felt great after running the day before. I warmed up with a 2000 yd swim which is my minimum now to try to get mentally used to swimming distances. I had a high school boy in the lane next to me who was getting prepared for the upcoming high school season. I enjoyed the company BUT I had a really hard time letting him go by me during the 2000 yds. Therein lies the rub. He appeared to be doing sets of 200's or 300's. He would initially get in front of me and then I got by him by the end of his swim. The problem was that I had to keep going so that wasn't too smart but I couldn't help myself.

I am a type A personality and I like to win when I have decided to compete. The trick for me, mentally, is choosing to compete in as little as possible. Therein lies the rub. When I ran the 1/2 marathon in Carlsbad my sugars spiked at the start line and it took 20 minutes for my heart rate to come down from 190 to 135. This is what I have been trained to do in sprint events. I have to be okay with finishing Ironman - end of story. I have to be calm at the start of the swim, I can't try to sprint the swim portion. I have to let people pass me in the swim. I can't push the bike climbs and I have to stay on the road and not push the descents to 50 mph . Finally, I HAVE TO KEEP RUNNING/WALKING during the marathon portion as people continue to pass me in droves. I am expecting to be in a good position after the bike but will probably lose a couple of hours on the run. I have actually had a recurring dream where the starting temp for Ironman is 28 degrees with a 50 mph wind causing huge whitecaps on the lake and making the bike miserable, not for me, though, because I am wearing my ice fishing gear. The advantage is that it takes out all of the really good runners (except my teammates who are fine in my dream). I know that I am disturbed but that is what my sub-conscience is coming up with for race day. In summary, I have to finish this Ironman because Zyler, my family and a bunch of other diabetics will be at the finish line expecting nothing less from me.

Thanks and stay warm (-8 here now before 7pm and dropping fast)

Brian Phelps