Do What you Do

The Monday/Thursday posting plan is quickly going out the window.  I like to talk too much and when I'm home during nap time, I have no one to talk to.  So this is my outlet.

Today I did a little cross training at the Y.  20 minutes on the Arc Trainer, which is kind of like an elliptical but a little harder, in my opinion.  What I like about the Arc is that I can put good music on and kind of exercise to the beat of the song since the machine is very rhythmic and you can slow down and speed up at any point during your workout.  If I could, I would totally dance around the gym and lip sync to my music.  But I don't want to be the crazy lady at the gym so the Arc Trainer is going to have to do.  I also did a few nautilus exercises to build back and ab muscles.

While jamming on the Arc, I noticed a man in front of me on the treadmill.  He was running and watching the Kathie Lee and Hoda show on the personal tv attached to his machine.  Assuming that he knew that he could change the channel and watch whatever program he wanted, I found myself being proud of him for not being embarrassed of his viewing choice.  That is pretty much the worst show on TV during the 10am hour but he didn't care.  He was getting his fix of over 50 women drinking wine at 10am.  But, for whatever reason, he is into it enough to run to it so good for him!  Do what you do!

He did look at me when he got off the treadmill as if to say, "don't judge."  Little did he know that I was doing just the opposite and, resisting the urge to pat him on the back and said "good job!" for shamelessly watching terrible talk TV while running.

My long drawn out point is that it doesn't matter what your "thing" is.  If you are doing something to make yourself or others better, then do it!  If you like wearing cut -off denim shorts to the gym, do it!  If you enjoy watching Anderson Cooper sort out the problems of Honey Boo Boo's family unit while you cycle, go for it.  If you are into wearing the same thing to the gym every day (talking to you, dude in the gray hoodie), then just make sure you wash said clothing item on a regular basis, and do it!

I, personally, like to fake dance on the Arc Trainer and I have to say that I'm pretty darn good at it!

Do what you do!

Here's a little bit of awesome for a Tuesday

I was going to write a motivational post about why you should do what you should do.  But then I saw this on Facebook.  He said it all.  I LOVE this kid.  Kid President.

http://youtu.be/l-gQLqv9f4o

LIKE A BOSS!

Happy Monday!

We are starting the week with a snow day which was not part of my plan.  The good news is that my plan is to run Tuesday/Thursday/Friday anyway, so Monday workouts are a bonus.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I got sucked into the Brazilian Butt Lift infomercial last year AND I ordered it!  As you can probably guess, I never used it, so maybe that will be a part of this cold, rainy, icy snow day.  While I'm  certainly not Brazilian,  I would not mind if my butt looked it it was : )

And speaking of butts, other good news is that my "fanny pack" came.  I really need a cool new term for this thing since we are going to be spending a lot of time together.  Maybe I'll call it the Brazilian Butt Pack (BBP).  But seriously,  it's perfect!  It fits very snug and just enough room for what I need.  Its the Ifitness Ultimate Race Belt II.  I ordered it through Amazon after reading lots of reviews and this was the one that looked the best for me.  It was $33.45, with shipping and PA tax, which is more than what I wanted to spend but I also wanted something that would last.  There is a zipper pouch that will fit my phone tester and pump along with 5 elastic bands that will hold running gels.  I will update on Thursday after I actually run with it.

Here is a pic with my pump clipped and my CGM in the pouch.  My phone fits with the CGM but I needed it to take the picture.  They come in black with lots of different accent color options for the zipper and such.

Bad news of the weekend is that I forgot to pack my CGM for the beach so I'll be working on that this week.  

We made a quick stop at the Under Armor and I left with a few things for running but overall no great finds.  I did get two pairs of shorts for under $8 though...woo hoo!

Now I just need to make sure that school is in session for tomorrow and week will be back on track!  See you on Thursday!

It's the Freakin Weekend!

No running for the weekend...we are spending it at the beach and its 15F outside and no treadmill.  The drive down was brutal.  Snow, bad drivers, and more snow.  I did make it to the Y this morning and ran a total of 2.5 miles with intermittent walking AND did a little weight training.  I decided not to drink coffee before running today.   Still confident in that decision : )

I'm slightly addicted to Luna Bars.  Great for counting carbs and not a ton of calories and very yummy.  They make a protein bar version but there are only 3 additional grams of protein and the regular bars taste better.  My challenge right now is that I'm starting with a high blood sugar and ending with a low.  200 bg to start and 54 right after.  Need to find a way to meet in the middle.

My plan for next week is to run on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  These are the days my 3 year old is in pre-school.  I may try to cross-train on one of the other days but we'll see.  I'm also going to try to run 2.5 consecutive miles next week on Tues/Thurs and 3 on Friday.  Slow and steady.

Now to the fun stuff...heading to the Under Armour outlet tomorrow to get some new running gear...Best part of running is looking good doing it!!!  And all of the health stuff and exercise too, of course :)

Going forward, I'll be posting on Mondays and Thursdays and only in between if something major happens.  (like new running shoes)

Enjoy your weekend!

Big Day

Race registration...check
Order running pack (it makes me feel better if I don't have to call it a fanny pack) to hold diabetes supplies...check
Blog in progress...check
Now...what's next...oh, right...I need to run...

Keeping in mind that I have not been to the gym since November, my start was very, very slow.  5 minutes walking with incline of 5 on the treadmill (3mph), followed by 10 minutes of running at 6mph, 5 minutes at 3mph, then 10 minutes at 6mph followed by a cool down.  So total of 2 miles running.
Who was it that said "slow and steady wins the race?", a turtle...my hero, the turtle...I may need to seek out a new hero.

Good take-aways from today are as follows:

1. Drinking coffee before running is a bad idea.
2. You must walk before you can run, literally.
3. I used my phone note tab to record my blood sugar before and after the run and any adjustments to my pump, along with distance and speed info.  And since I use my phone for music, I recorded everything before I even got off of the treadmill.
4. Key playlist songs include "All the Above" by T-Pain and Maino (it's rap but it's awesome and the Phillies used it to warm up), "Hall of Fame" by the Script, "Run This Town" by Rihanna and JayZ.  Those are just a few of my favorites.

The plan for this weekend is to get the CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) up and running, or should I say on and running.  My goal is to run with it on in the race with my trusty fanny pack, I mean running pack : )

I also have a feeling that bedtime is going to be getting earlier and earlier, so goodnight for now!

Today I decided to run the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. I will raise $500. I will train for 12 weeks. And I will finish. All with type 1 diabetes. I've never considered life with Type 1 to be too difficult. I just had to commit to it. I had to accept the fact that I would always have to pay attention to what I eat or I would suffer the consequences. And for lots of reasons, I'm thankful that I have it. I've never been overweight, I have two wonderful children that I was able to give birth to with no complications and I have an amazing husband who has learned to accept that I get really mad at him when my blood sugar is really low.

The one thing that I've always avoided is running any more than a 5k race. I've been worried about my blood sugar dropping or spiking at any point during the race and ruining the whole experience for me. Then I realized that I can do it as long as I train differently. I can't just follow a training regimen from the internet. I can't just run each day and change my diet slightly. I need to Type 1 train.

Why do I want to do this? I have a tendency to strive to do things that either I think I can't do, or that other people think I can't do. And while no one has said that I can't do this, the thought crossed my mind that I may not be able to do it and so was born my motivation.

So today is the first day of figuring out how to do it! I thought I would keep track for the benefit of those who may want to do the same thing. Ironically, I had an appointment with my endocrinologist yesterday (best endo in the business - Dr. Ripu Hundal at First State Endocrinology). My A1C is at 7.2. and all other bloodwork came back normal. I'm working at getting my A1C into the 6 range and hopefully training will help with that as well. I'm excited to see the overall effects of training to see if its beneficial to my overall well-being.

Of course, I have no medical background whatsoever so anyone reading this should know that I'm not giving medical advice in any way shape or form. Always consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program, especially if you are a Type 1 diabetic. This blog is strictly for me to record my experience and, hopefully, my accomplishments!

So today, I am going to get familiar with a few "normal" training programs and see how I may need to adjust them. I also need to find some sort of running "fanny pack" since I will need to run with a blood glucose monitor and some sort of glucose packs in case of low blood sugar while I'm running. My plan is to train with that so its normal for me on race day.