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IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc
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This was my second attempt at IMLP. Last year I finished in 11:47, with race report to be found here. 2012 was not as I hoped, but they can't all be I suppose. I've learned a lot with each race and I'm determined to nail the distance and logistics.

Swim: 1:07:28
Usual contact, blah blah. Felt fine and I actually don't mind it anymore. I was more nervous prior than during it. I would call this considerable progress in two years. I swam inside or at the line the whole time. I didn't take advantage of a draft much of the second loop. Sortive regret that as I positive split by two minutes. I ended up swimming about 5 minutes faster than last year. I would attribute that to being more comfortable with contact and being willing to fight for position.

T1: 9:17
I again lost my glasses. Volunteer emptied my bag on the ground and my glasses ended up...somewhere... who knows. Dark and steamy chaotic, they were lost in the mix. Next year I'll tape them to my bike frame. I was on track for a quick transition though. I tested and stuffed my glucometer into my jersey pocket and ran out to my bike. Took it from the rack and then realized my tester had fallen out en route to bike. I had to re-rack my bike and run ALL the way back through athletes to the tent looking on the grass for my glucometer. I found it, but wasted a lot of time. About the same as last year for T1.

Bike: 5:48:54
Loop 1
My plan was to bike much more conservatively than last year. I was testing every safe spot I could. I just slowed down as I had practiced and tested in aero position. It was pretty seamless, but required me to lose time. I was ok with that. The goal was to run the marathon. I was disciplined and stuck to watts goal that was about 5-10% BELOW last year. On the beginning of my first loop I noticed my glucose trending up again. I was worried I was on track to repeat what happened at Tupper Lake(went high glucose after swim). So I dosed to compensate. I was trending high and I was not yet consuming much nutrition so I needed to take some insulin. Ultimately, I should have probably been more patient and held off on dosing because eventually my pre-swim bolus kicked in.

Loop 2
I was still feeling great even though my glucose seemed to insist on hovering at 85mg. This was not a good place to be. I had shut off my pump and did not seem to be responding to the sugar I was taking in. I must have overcompensated and stacked my doses because I couldn't get it back up, even with extra gels from aid stations. For the whole second loop my pump was suspended. I was having a really hard time keeping my power up and for the first time on that bike course, really felt like I was in trouble. The final 15 miles were pretty rough.


Watts: 189 NP
Avg: 174 watts
FTP: 308watts (I know, seems high considering my race but like I said, things fell apart out there. Target was 200NP to compensate for slower run)
Weight: 170-172lb
Height: 5'10"
Bike: Cervelo P2, Hed Jet 6 front, Hed Jet 9 rear with wheelcover


T2: 3:20
I tried to get my spirits back up and stay positive. I tested at 135mg and felt like I was back on track. Grabbed my camelbak and visor and intended to hit the mile 1 bathroom

Run: 5:03
I started out feeling "ok". I was tired and demoralized after the tail end of the second bike loop, but figured I could salvage a decent run. My plan was to stick to 9:00's till I hit Ski Jump hill. That felt good, I knew I could run way faster, but tried to keep in mind that second loop. By the time I was at the first turnaround I knew something was up. I couldn't piss. It felt like I really had to go, but whenever I tried it just wouldn't happen. Not a drip. I kept thinking I would piss myself running, only to find myself stuck unable to relieve myself. A strange sensation. I had taken a lot of extra calories to get my sugar back up during the bike and figured maybe this was some form of gastric distress. I struggled to breathe and my chest felt really tight. After the race I thought I might be having some kind of weird heart attack because of piercing pains in my chest when I tried to breathe in. It was basically downhill from there. I started cramping and was wheezing. I walked most of the second loop just trying to finish. Some wasted guys who were hooting and hollering at the uphill went oddly quiet just as i walked by and I heard one guy say in a low voice "Hit the aid stations dude..." and then to his friend "...that guy looks totally fucked." And I was. Completely and utterly.

The final time was 12:12. Not a good day. Considerably slower than last year. I'm signed up for 2013 and will give it another shot. Looking forward to it even after Sunday.




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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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I usually read every word in a post with "diabetic" word in it due to the fact im pre-diabetic type 2 (no medicine ' just watching a good diet).
Congrats on another finish.
I wonder what do you consider as a high glucose level and what is the "safe" range for you?
Is there any reason to compensate for peaks? I always assumed that during activity the low levels are the problem due to the fact your muscles use the glucose even if it a bit high (im not talking on extreme hogh leves).
Your right nutrition if tested before should take care of low levels.

Congrats again ad looking forward read your next one :)

I hope i'm wasn't nagging here to much.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Nutrition is so difficult to dial in for non-diabetic athletes, I cannot even begin to imagine how much harder this has got to be for diabetics. Great job !

Francois in Montreal
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [ilan_k] [ In reply to ]
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I've found that I often go high after the swim because my insulin pump has been off for a while and the adrenalin surge out of T1 causes your glucose to spike. I documented this in my Tupper RR.
Once you start going high in a race, I find its usually more difficult to manage than a low because you have to start bolusing to deal with it. This introduces more variables to manage.

I find a safe range for racing is between 150-200mg. For the Canadians or Europeans that's 8.2-11mmol.

I should note here, I never actually got low. I just hovered right on the edge of getting hypoglycemic regardless of all the extra nutrition I was taking on. Normally, being at 100mg would be awesome.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Great job.

I am T2, race mostly half so have an appreciation for how hard this is to do. Because I don't supplement with insulin I am limited to 120 or so calories per hour. It's rough.

Question on the highs.

I was under the impression that once you go over 200 the body because more insulin resistant. It certainly does for me. Do T1s see this ?

What I find is if I go over 200, there is a high probability it will crash soon after.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [marcag] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, it's a lot more complicated in a way for you T2 guys by having to control it almost entirely with nutrition. I do notice some insulin resistance at high levels, but usually not unless I've reached a pretty high level, like over 300mg. Once you start dumping ketones resistance of course gets really bad. My goal this race was to attack that eventual high early in the day, but I was too aggressive it seems. Keep in mind I wasn't just dosing for the rising glucose, but for all the liquid nutrition I was taking on. I was probably mostly water for the first 30minutes.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Alan - you are fuckin stud.

I can't even imagine trying to do math while working an Ironman.

Congratulations and hope to be riding with you soon - I am on for TriLife 2013 and IM Tremblant.

-blue skies
murph

2013 Battenkill - Rock the Ridge 50 - AmZof Chris Gleason Memorial - Rev3 Half - IM Tremblant - SOS - Stone Mill 50
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [campmurphy] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks Murph! Can't wait to have you on the team again. I'll never forget when you saved my ass as I was rolling around the New Paltz countryside in a bonked out stupor. Let the epic training begin(in about 2 months..)!
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Congratulations! I saw another diabetic stop, test, inject, and move on during the bike leg, so there were at least a couple out there. (I doubt it was you, because he would have been a few hours behind.) I am also type 1 and just had a disastrous IM at CDA last month -- walked to a 16:25 finish (was expecting about 5 hours faster than that...) and tested at 492 at the finish line. Suspect in retrospect I was that high or maybe higher all day (no glucometer w/me...BAD CALL) and no insulin either... suffice it to say I am re-working my race plan! I had done 3 previous w/no issues, fastest 12:03, but last one was 8 years ago -- pre-babies, which apparently changed things a little for me. In any event, after that day in CDA I have newfound respect for any person -- particularly diabetic -- who can keep it together out there-- which sounds like you did. Great job.




Fine Line Racing - "this is living"
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Congrats on a great race. I'm curious how you handled your breakfast bolus this year. I remember your RR from last year where you took a 50% bolus with breakfast and ended up with a sky-high BS before the swim start. I suggested you do a normal bolus with breakfast b/c the swim start is more than 2 hours away and your bolus will be mostly worn off by the time the gun goes off. It looks like you still rose from 45 @ breakfast to 250-260 before the swim start. Better than last year, but just wondering how that correlated with what you chose to do at breakfast.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [RobLindqu] [ In reply to ]
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Hey,
Cool that you remember from last year. Here is what I did this time.

Breakfast:
2 Ensure, 1 English Muffin with plain PB, 1 plain english muffin

I bolused at 100% as you suggested. I think the steady rise was likely adrenaline.

Dosing
I gave myself 2 units of Novolog via syringe 40 minutes before swim start. I also gave myself 2 units via pump. I decided to split it since the absorption rate on the pump should be slower and I didn't want it to peak all at the same time.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [RobLindqu] [ In reply to ]
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I forgot to mention that I also had a Roctane gel just before entering the water. More of pre-race ritual than a concern about getting low. Glad I did or would have been lower coming out of the water.
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Congrats on a great race!! I think the fact that you were still walking around after the race is a testament to your strength and understanding of your body. I'm still working on my nutrition as a non-diabetic and have hypoglycemia issues so DAYAM on your accomplishment!! Not sure but I may have been your catcher at the finish line...brought you over to a chair to sit down and had your team mate fetch your inhaler from your gear bag possibly? Anyway, look forward to reading your report next year and possibly catching you at the finish again!!
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Re: IMLP 2012 RR - 2nd IM, Diabetic, Watts, etc [amclean] [ In reply to ]
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Alan,
Agree with Murph and a bunch of others here, you are an inspiration for tackling this and adding not one but two additional levels of complexity above that of a "typical" IM athlete, specifically glucose levels and power data. I look forward to learning from you in the upcoming season, and chasing you once again on the bike. I am determined to match or better that 5:49 IMLP bike leg with another year of training.
Last edited by: joelvolterra: Jul 31, 12 7:13
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