I love, love, love my Garmin. I had a running friend just GIVE me my 205. And it has been a great way for me to learn about keeping my pace and tracking my mileage. One somewhat quirky thing is that as I travel to other parts of the metroplex, I find that it takes a while (like sometimes 15 minutes) to track satelites. But free is free, and I can't complain. But ever since I have gotten it, I have been working on learning the different bells and whistles like laps, auto-lap, and history settings.
Last night, I had in my mind what our coach had told us about how runner's don't make excuses...part of running is giving up the lame excuses and running no matter what...even if that means running around the parking lot, running up and down the block, running at 5 am or 11 pm....and running even if you're sick, or hurt, or sad, or whatever. I, myself, have a very low tolerance for those who give excuses, so I like this idea. In fact, it is one of the things about being a part of a running group I like...being around persistent people. After walking a half marathon in 93 degrees and 100% humidity, and then running in 13 degrees a few weeks ago, I figure all my excuses are up. If I think it's too hot or cold, I can just remember those days.
Well, weather is not usually my excuse, but my diabetes has been a good old standby for me in the past. And yesterday morning (well, actually all weekend) I felt sick to my stomach, icky, and just a general sluggishness. My blood sugars were hanging in the 250s and 300s and just wouldn't come down no matter how much insulin I gave myself. Then I had the epiphany about lunch time (on Tuesday) I might be dehydrated, and come to think about it, I had been drinking Diet Dr. Peppers all weekend and barely any water.
I overheard a coach saying something to someone on Saturday morning about only drinking 1 soda a day, but I LOVE my DDP and tried to act like (to myself) that I didn't hear it. I didn't even want to think about drinking only on soda a day, but lo and behold my dehydration would show me that I do need to drink a LOT of water and that I need to only drink one soda, and...to start watching my foods with a lot of sodium...which is pretty much anything processed.
Anyways, as I started to drink more water my blood sugars started to regulate and the insulin I had been giving all day started to activate. And it just kept making my blood sugar low, low, low. So, I had to eat, eat, eat. And it wouldn't stay above about 80 or 90. I can't go exercise when it is below about 140 or I will crash out on the course. A perfect scenerio is about 180 for a 30 minute walk/run.
So, when I was ready to go walk/run around the neighborhood before heading to Dallas around 7:30p, I couldn't. Not an excuse, an actual medical modification. BUT...the difference today is...I then just wait until I can go run. I knew rain was in the forecast, so I was hoping to get my run in before the meeting not afterwards. I got dressed and decided that after my 45 minute drive to Dallas my blood sugar would probably be high enough and that I'd go running at Brookhaven Community College. It has a paved track around the perimeter, so that was the plan. I knew going into it that the track may be too dark, but I kept repeating the mantra...no excuses.
I pulled up and back to my first paragraph...the Garmin wasn't loading correctly. And I wasn't sure how long it would take...I pulled up in the parking lot at about 6:50 and needed to be done by 7:25p. And I could almost hear our coach's voice in my head saying...you are not out here to punch a clock, time a lap, or compare a pace...you are out here to run. So, what is the next best thing if the Garmin isn't loading...I just started walking. And I'm lucky to have my insulin pump with me at all times, so I looked at my clock on that. I usually have my Ipod with me, but since training I have started not using it...and since I was at a new course, I wanted to not have it for safety. I could have used my phone, but I had turned it off, because it is a mental distraction if I get a text during my run. And last week I decided that there is nothing that I would need to interupt my run for that I couldn't take care of when I got back to my car.
So...I started my walk on my insulin pump time of 6:54p and knew to start running at 7:03p. By the time I got close to 7:03p, I realized I could use the timer on the garmin but only from the end time of the last run. So I was able to time from that point forward. So, distraction #218 out of the way. And I knew the track was a 2 mile loop and was feeling strong and sturdy, so I decided to loop it. I then reached a construction point where the trail just ended. So, I turned around and headed back, cut across the parking lot, and then was done. I went home and tracked my mileage on mapmyrun to find I went 2.2 miles in 32 minutes.
This week is a week of changing from the mindset of minimum goals and standards to pushing beyond and running around the parking lot if I have to. Just like everything else I'm learning with running, it is a process. And I'm still learning so much!!!
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