I’m so far behind on blogging it’s not even funny. I might be even further behind on posting my Diabetes365 photos…that’s even less funny. So here we go, the stuff in my head or half started blog posts that I need to finish and get up.

1) North Carolina Tour de Cure Day 1

2) North Carolina Tour de Cure Day 2

3) Beach Conversation

4) Releasing The Anger surrounding my diabetes

5) Returning to shots

6) Endo Appt that results in an A1c of 7.1

7) Being diabetic vs having diabetes

Phantom Pancreas

9) Being In Control Vs Being Controlled

10) It’s like a jail cell

11) June goals (I know it’s midway through June and I didn’t post May’s either, but I gotta do it)

12) Preparing for Tour de Cure Colorado’s 100 mile ride

13) Thoughts on MTM’s book.

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So, I was traveling on thursday and I discovered a couple things. Well, more like several things.

1) If I take my bike with me to the airport, I get to go through the fast check-in lane because, and i quote “it’s easier if you go that way with your bike”…therefore, i got to go through no line as opposed to the 30 people long line…

2) Southwest is the cheapest airline for putting my bike on the plane at $50 compared to everyone elses $100 charge.

3) Southwest doesn’t have seating arrangements, which goes to show just how long it’s been since I’ve been on a Southwest plane.

4) Since Southwest doesn’t have seating arrangements, the best place to sit is next to old people because they take the middle seat and the aisle seat and are more than happy to let you have the window seat (yes, i still get excited about having the window seat)

5) Landing an airplane, it’s the same landing pattern as when we land when skydiving.

6) The Midway airport, it sucks…

7) The Raleigh airport, it’s all kinds of small.

renting a car from Alamo, specifically, an SUV, they’re the cheepest and their insurance is the cheepest.

9) my bike, in it’s case, with various gear inside (i.e. helmet, shoes, tools, waterbottles) weighs 59 (or 69, i can’t remember) pounds.

10) i like going to new places, and it made me think that I need a job where I get to travel. Cause I love flying and going to new places.

11) there’s one thing I don’t like about new places, and it’s how some places (ahem: Raleigh, Durham, it’s all I’ve seen on NC) don’t have signs between the stop lights, they’re on the corners, and you can’t always see them, so you don’t know where you’re going or where you’re supposed to turn.

12) Garmin Nuvi has become my best friend. I’m all about having one when I go to new places.

13) When I travel, once I’ve established a general route that I go to and from, it’s THE route, any other route, and I get confused. Even when the directions say to go another way, I’ll find a way to go MY way.

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My brain, it doesn’t ever shut down…it’s running like crazy, I’ve got so much in it that I don’t know where to start…I’ve got stuff in it stored up from weeks ago…so I figure I should jot some of this stuff down, I’m gonna need some input too for some of it…

1) I have a site redesign in mind that I’ve not been able to work on because of the lack on interwebs at home…it’s so sad having to do something other than be on the computer at night when that’s all i want to do…

2) I’m working on my web presence, you just can’t feel it yet…and my personal brand, the personal brand, it’s pretty cool if you ask me

3) I’m thinking about doing some sponsored posts on this blog

4) On Saturday, I’m riding my bike 100 miles, and I’ve not ridden my bike in a couple weeks, and further more, I’ve not ridden my bike while taken shots in a couple years…it’s gonna be interesting.

5) I’ve been on shots for two weeks and I’ve not really told anyone that, but it’s going to make for an interesting blog post concerning the definition of “free”, or my definition of free in terms of diabetes.

6) I had some really cool thing happen to me with something I did blog about, but, I can’t tell you yet, but it will be a blog post.

7) I think on May 31, I’m going to ride in the NM Tour de Cure, it’s 75 miles. And then for sure, on June 6-7 I’m riding in the Raleigh, NC Tour de Cure, 75 miles each day.

I need to get new Moo Cards pronto

9) I’m going to Orlando in October for IzeaFest and I’m mucho excited

10) I’m also doing the Expedition Everest Challenge while I’m in Orlando for IzeaFest

11) I really want to run another marathon

12) I’m deeply contemplating running the Disneyland Half Marathon over labor day weekend

13) I’m very behind on posting my update on April’s goals…could be because it’s going to be a sad update…but I’m not sure, I’ve not revisited them since I wrote them, but it also means I’m behind on posting May’s goals…I have some work to do.

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If there’s one holiday that causes me more problems than any other, it’s halloween. Even before diabetes, we didn’t eat candy, we didn’t go trick or treating with the other kids; it was a treat if we got to go down our street. Whatever candy we got was filtered, we’d eat maybe a fifth of what we got. And then, when I got diabetes, it got worse, I couldn’t have any candy, so then I started sneaking the candy. I’d go steal it from the bowl that we were handing it out from when no one was in the room and I’d hide it. And then, in the middle of the night, I’d eat it, all of it. Whatever I’d thieved, it would all be eaten in the middle of the night.

Nowadays I wouldn’t be able to eat all the thieved candy in one sitting, but I do have my favorites and I have no problem having a piece or 2 as a treat with my lunches.

1) Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

2) Bite size Snickers

3) fun size Butterfingers

4) peanut m&m’s

5) Milk duds

6) bottlecaps

7) fruitie tootsie rolls

8 ) payday

9) mary janes

10) whoppers

11) candy corn

12) twizzlers

13) bit o honey

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So, I’m still kindof on my half marathon high. I mean, I completed a whole half marathon without running, which was huge for my knee, and without my knee hurting when it was said and done which was huge for me. I could actually walk when I completed this half marathon which was a vast difference from the first half marathon where I couldn’t barely walk for a week.

The only thing wrong with me after the half marathon, besides my hipflexors hurting because I was making fun of the racewalkers were the blisters I had on each foot.

1) I had 1 blister on each foot just below the big toe area.

2) The one on my left foot was bigger and more impressive than the one of my right foot.

3) The one on my left foot was almost the size of a nickel. The one on my right foot was a little smaller than a dime.

4) The one on my left foot hurt more, but it was bigger and poofier and filled with more stuff than the right one. It’s my pride and joy wound from this half marathon.

5) Every morning, every day after work, and every night, I take a look at my blister because it’s that impressive to me. It’s flattened out a bit though.

6) When I came home and saw my blisters (because I had been feeling them for several miles while I was walking) I consulted a wide arrange of fellow runner peeps to find out what should be done. Half said leave it, half said lance it. And one person, the one I listened to, told me to leave it unless the pain was too much to bear. Another person concurred with her and told me to practice some restraint.

7) I walked around in pain for 2 days after the half marathon waiting for that blister to reabsorb itself. It’s still not fully reabsorbed, but it also doesn’t hurt anymore either.

8 ) I wanted to lance my blisters, except had I lanced them, I also would’ve peeled off all the skin because it would’ve bothered me that there was a pocket of skin that was for all intensive purposes not attached to my foot. And then I would’ve gotten infected feet, which is not good. And then that’s where the threats of gangrene and amputation come in.

9) It’s a good thing I didn’t lance my blisters.

10) My blisters are now more like large callouses on my feet, which are almost as bad as a blister because I’d really like to not have that skin there so I’m tempted to remove it, but again, I’m practicing restraint.

11) I’m very proud of my blisters, they’re like a battle wound that I can’t show anyone, but I can tell them all about them. They’re cool, what can I say.

12) Because of my blisters, I get to go for a shopping spree at REI for some sexy toe socks.

13) My blister wasn’t nearly as impressive as this blister:

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1) This weekend, Sunday to be exact, I will participate in another half marathon (The Duke City Half). You may remember my last (my first) half marathon, I could barely walk when it was all said and done. This time, I’ll be walking the entire half marathon, so I hope that I can still walk when I finish and that I won’t be in as much pain when I’m done.

2) I’ve done the math, and I should finish in a few minutes less time than I did in my first half marathon where I ran (the first few miles until I destroyed my knee and then I limped).

3) As far as I know, I won’t know anyone out there on the walk course so I’ll be flying solo this “run” but I do know that I’ve got some of my Outlaws on the run course so theoretically, I’ll be running with some peeps. I’ve also got Lolo, said she’d get up and run on Sunday morning and run with me. It’s more enjoyable to do these races and train when I know that someone is out there with me, even if they’re not “with” me.

4) Walking is the new running. It’s kindof like pink being the new black.

5) Things with my diabetes should be interesting because I’ve not ever trained to “walk” so I don’t know what to expect from my blood sugars. A large piece of me really doesn’t care. It’s a walk, so a large piece of me just wants to get out there and walk and throw diabetes out the window and just got at this as though I don’t have diabetes.

6) This race will give me some idea of what I’ve got to do in preparation for the marathon I’m “running” in January at Walt Disney World.

7) This race will give me an idea of how fast I gotta swim and bike to be able to make it through a half ironman before the cut off time.

8 ) I’m already thinking about how I want to run this race…I gotta stop that

9) I probably shouldn’t worry about time considering I’ve not really trained to walk this distance. I mean, the longest distance I’ve walked since my first half marathon is only 5 miles…

10) I don’t think it matters though that I’ve not trained to walk, I mean, I walk everyday at least 2 miles. Anyone can walk as far as they want as long as they believe they can, and I believe that I can walk 13 miles…actually, I can do better than believe, I just straight up know I can walk 13 miles…I just may not enjoy walking it as much as I semi-enjoyed running it

11) This run is on the river trail which is great because it’s flat, the trail isn’t sloped for rain runoff like a normal road which is good because I fully believe that the worst part of my last half marathon was when I got put on the road and the road was sloped for rain runoff, that just really caused me all kinds of pain.

12) I just thought about running it again, but then I had this image in my head of my feet hitting the pavement and the pounding of it revibrating from my foot to my knee and how it’s going to hurt…I gotta keep thinking “walk walk walk” and I’ll be good.

13) I’m really excited for this run because…well, I don’t need a reason, I’m just really excited.

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I have good strong memories when it comes to bikes in my life. They’re easy to remember and they put a smile on my face.

1) The first time I ever had to get stitches was because of my first bike. My strawberry shortcake tricycle. I was sitting on it and apparently (as so told by my mom and grandma) the wind knocked me off my bike and my head hit the edge of the brick steps and cracked my head open. They tell me that they could see my skull. I’ve got a scar now still because of it. I was 2 years old.

2) Between the ages of 4-6, I was upgraded from my strawberry shortcake tricycle to a big wheel (pound puppies big wheel). All 4 of us kids had them. At that time we lived in a mobile home and so we had stairs going up to the front door. And so we’d run up one side of the stairs with our big wheels, sit down, and ride down the other side (they were A frame-ish stairs). One after the other, those were good times. And we’d walk our bikes up the big hill all the way to the top and fly down it.

3) I got my first 2 wheeler when I was 6. I was in South Carolina for the summer visiting my father and my grandparents and my father bought my sister and I these purple-ish 2 wheelers with training wheels. The training wheels didn’t last long. I learned to ride it without the training wheels in the big back yard which was more like an open field with some trees. Guess it wasn’t quite an open field. But I do remember it didn’t take long for me to learn to ride without the training wheels.

4) I got my first bike with hand brakes when I was about 9. I remember that one night my cousins came over and one of them crashed my bike and scratched the handlebars. I was so pissed off because the bike was practically still brand new at that point.

5) In the third grade, I decided that I was going to ride my bike to school even though it was strictly forbidden. But I figured that since dad had to ride his bike to work he wouldn’t be home for lunch and since mom worked downtown, she wouldn’t be home for lunch either and so they’d never find out. They found out and I got into some serious trouble. I was grounded for like a week. I never did find out how they found out, but I suspect that my friend’s dad contacted my parents and asked why I was riding my bike to school if I didn’t have my own bike lock.

6) My papa, he taught me how to ride my bike without using my hands. I used to even be able to turn corners without my hands on my handlebars. It was all about leaning into the turns. It’s been a while since I’ve done that…I should attempt it again.

7) Back when I got my first bike with gears, all 15 of them, it was just that, a bike with gears, I had no concept of mountain bike vs road bike at that time in my life. What’s funny about that is that dad had a road bike, but it never clicked with me that there was another kind of bike with gears.

8 ) Papa used to take us out to the mesa, and one time, we took our bikes with us, and he drove us to the top of a big big big hill out there in the mesa and we got out and rode down the hill until the sand got too deep and then the front wheels got stuck and we went flying feet over head.

9) My friend got a mountain bike one christmas and only rode it once. I used to ride it from her house to work. Then when she moved, she gave the bike to me. That was back in 2001. Back then, and for several years afterwards (like until last year when I bought a new mtn bike) that bike was the coolest bike ever.

10) The first time I ever rode a road bike, I didn’t get very far. I crashed and the tire exploded and I flew over the handle bars. It was at that point that I decided road bikes were far to fragile and that I needed to stick to mountain bikes. (that thought barely made it a year)

11) Last year I bought a new mountain bike. It was ok. I was content with it until I went to CO to ride in the Tour de Cure and heard the whizz of road bikes flying past me on a horrible hill. That was the last time I rode that bike, it got sold it this past May.

12) 2 days after the CO Tour de Cure last year, I bought a road bike, 2 days after that I spent a week in ICU. I didn’t touch that road bike until October last year when I rode in the Fort Worth Tour de Cure, then it was winter, and then I had to have a surgery, and so my bike didn’t see pavement again till the Orlando Tour de Cure in February. Since then, that bike has seen over 1000 miles and only 1 crash. I love that bike.

13) I have two bikes in view for my next bike purchases. Both of them are very yum yum bikes. One will be for training and one will be for racing. The one for training will be the Quintana Roo Dulce (it’s probably the one I get first, it’s the cheaper of the two) and then my racing bike, mmmmmm, the Scott Plasma LTD (that will take me a year to save for).

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It’s been a month since I’ve done Thursday Thirteen. I’ve been busy, what can I say? One of those weeks that I disappeared from the planet, I was in Snowmass, CO at Diabetes Training Camp being run into the ground mentally and physically (although, since I was injured it was more of a mental thing than it was a physical thing, but still, I was getting run into the ground).

As far as I can recall, I don’t remember blogging about DTC. And so, without further ado, I welcome you to Thursday Thirteen Volume 2: the 13 things I loved about Diabetes Training Camp.

1) I got to finally meet Laura, who I’d been talking to on the phone since May, and we’d send txt msg’s back and forth before events, and on training days there’d be txt’s about what that day was all about. It was so cool to finally put a face to the voice, to have met her in real life instead of just talk to her on the phone and email her. Plus, instead of just running with her in spirit, I got to run with her in real life.

2) Dr Matt, he cared. He cared more than the doctors I’ve been seeing for the past 16 years cared. I’ve never had someone take my data and analyze it the way he did and to have him offer suggestions and get me from doing something that was really just not great from an athletic perspective (and really caused me to hit walls during races) to a place where that wasn’t a problem. That just meant a lot to.

3) The laughter, there was sooooooooo much laughter. One night, I was laughing so hard I was on the ground, unable to breathe, and I swear, in just 5 minutes, laughing that hard, it helped me get a little bit of a six pack. There was not one day in the entire week where there wasn’t some kind of giggling and deep laughter from the belly.

4) The peeps, I met mostly new people, some of them I knew in person, some of them I knew via email and phone calls, but the majority of them were new.

5) The food, I ate well, very well. And by the end of the week, I was over the fact that I was eating from a buffet style setting, and over the fact that 90% of the time the plates weren’t clean, and I’d just go grab food and enjoy it (it also could’ve been that by that point, I was just so hungry I didn’t care).

6) Breakfast. I’m not a morning person. If anything, on a good day, a normal day, in my normal non-camp life, I’m a growly bear in the morning. You don’t want to look at me, you’ll get your head bit off. But not at camp. It was difficult to be that way when everyone all around was all happy and they just wanted to talk and it was fun and enjoyable to talk to them. I really enjoyed getting up and going down for breakfast in the morning.

7) Snowmass. The elevation killed me, but the views were spectacular and the colors, and the nice clean air. The feeling that I was so far from the world and yet very close to a city. It was just amazing.

8 ) Celeste, the swim coach, she helped me become a fish that’s stealthy in the water, almost bubbleless when swimming instead of a shark attacking a seal. I could swim fast but it was all muscle and no technique. And now, if I actually take the time to slow down, I can swim further than 50m without tiring out so quickly.

9) All the staff was excellent, they each brought something to the table and they were great to talk to and get suggestions about whatever I needed to ask about. They were all very helpful.

10) I learned a lot. A whole lot. A whole lot that i’ve not blogged about, but there was a lot learned. One of these days, I might get around to blogging about it.

11) I got to meet and speak with Rick Crawford, who was once Lance Armstrong’s coach. His teachings hit me in the head, hard like a massive boulder, they may have even left a slight dent…

12) It was an awesome feeling to be in an environment where diabetes was normal and being a non-diabetic was the abnormal.

13) For the most part, I was there at camp present in all forms. It was only at the end of the week when I could’ve been in FL with my peeps and a daily call to a friend to tell her all that I was doing and learning at camp when I was mentally not there. I was very present, which is very not normal for me, usually my head is very far away from what’s going on around me.

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This is my first edition of Thursday Thirteen and it seemed appropriate, that since I just rode in my last Tour de Cure of the season (well, my Tour de Cure season, there’s still a few more tours around the country happening all the way through October I think) on Saturday, that I mention what I love about riding in them. Actually, I’m going to mention what I love about riding in the Tour de Cure Colorado (because it is my favorite after all).

Note: these are in no particular order because it’d be too hard for me to arrange them from bestest to bester to best

1) The peeps of Colorado know how to do things right, there are no disappointments (thanks Sara, Tami, and committee members and all the volunteers!)

2) The people of Colorado are way friendly, you can show up to the ride knowing no one and walk away knowing more people than you’ll remember (sorry new peeps, I’m really bad with names, but if I see you next year, I’ll remember your face)

3) There are people there, with smiles one their faces, at the rest stops, willing to make you a pb&j sammich before you head off for the next leg of the ride (that’s my favorite part) but they also make sure that we’re ok if we show up looking no ok (they take care of us!)

4) You won’t get more support on a ride than that in the Colorado Tour de Cure (of course that’s based on my experience of having ridden in Tour de Cure’s in 7 different states). There are rest stops every 10 or so miles, there are people driving around making sure the riders are all ok, and all us riders support each other and make sure that we’re all ok if someone goes down or stops to rest or fix a flat.

5) They have an announcer when we come into the finish so that everyone knows we returned, (thanks Sandria) it’s just cool to hear them announce their riders and recognize that “hey, these peeps went out there and rode!”

6) This Tour, is the home of the Red Riders, it’s where it all began, it’s the Tour that has brought all other Tours the most greatest thing, bonding us all together and recognizing the diabetics. Making the ride even more friendly with all the hooting and hollering that goes on for those people in the magical red jerseys. The Red Riders really help bring to the forefront of our minds exactly what it is we’re riding for. (thanks Mari)

7) There is always plenty of food for the riders when we’re done riding. Good food too!

There are plenty of tables with umbrellas for shade for us to sit at when we’re all done riding.

9) Things don’t start getting tore down until late in the day, so it gives riders the opportunity to all come back, get fed, and mingle a bit. Plus, there are still people out by the finish line to ring the cow bells and let the riders know that they did great.

10) Each year it gets better, and each year, I know that when I go the next year, it will exceed the goodness from the prior year (and they kindof set the standard against which I measure all other rides, so really it drives improvement across the board for all Tour de Cures)

11) The routes are well marked (well, the longer routes, 50k, 100k, 100mi) there’s really no possibility of getting lost (which from an out of towner’s stand point, is very very very important, I don’t like to be scared that I’m going to get lost)

12) It’s one of the bigger Tour de Cure’s that I’ve ridden in, it might possibly be the biggest, this year there was 1990 riders, so no matter where in the pack you are, even if you get dropped to the back of the pack, you’re still with a pack of people.

13) The big routes (50k, 100k, 100mi) have big hills, but the hills reward you because you get to go flying down them, last year my goal was to break 30mph, which I did on a hill, this year down that same hill I was ecstatic to go fast, but then there was a FAR LARGER! hill that I almost broke 50mph going down (48.4mph to be exact)

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