Fundraising with Little Help from My Friends

To follow along with the Beatles' References, I wanted to mention an extraordinary and amazing fundraising event that Holly and Mark Pepper put on to help Triabetes. Holly is a Type 1 and Mark is her amazing husband who also happens to be a fantastic chef. They are both doing Iron Man St. George, so I'm sure you'll meet them.

A while back, shortly after I met them, they volunteered to put on a dinner at their house for friends, cook some amazing food, and charge for it, to help Triabetes, and my fundraising efforts.

I was touched that they wanted to do that, and agreed to even donate all of the food and much of the wine! And.... I am not joking when I say that I had the best meal I've ever had in my life. Here is the menu:

Amuse Bouche

Heirloom tomato puree with fina basil

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Celery root soup, chanterelle muschrooms, micro arugula

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Dungeness crab friiter, citrus, mango puree, micro cilantro

or

Maple vanilla glazed tofu, micro cilantro

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Range Brothers pork loin, bacon cream, candied pecans, blistered tomatoes, king trumpet mushroom

or

King trumpet mushroom and fresh baby corn sautee, oyster mushroom cream, candied pecans, blistered tomatoes

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Cheese and contrast

Cowgirl creamery Mt. Tam triple cream, frog hollow preserves, macrona almonds

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Rasberry almond tart, meyer lemon curd

As you can imagine, it was delicious!! I am so appreciative of their efforts, touched by the generosity of them, and all of those that attended, and more committed than ever to continue to work to support the work that Triabetes and we are doing.

They are even up for hosting another one early next year!!

Back in the Saddle

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. Life is indeed what happens while you are busy making other plans. That's probably one of the most overly quoted, but so true statements.

Since Barb's Race, I haven't slowed down too much. A day after it, I went to Maine for almost 2 weeks and had a really great time with my family there. Among other things, we did our first Taunton Bay Biathlon. Accompanied by my sister in law, brother, niece, dad, and cousin, I swam out to the Island. Liz, swam with me, and it was amazing! The water was pretty cold. As a kid, looking out at the island, we never thought we could just up and swim out there. It's about 2/3 of a mile or so. Then, on the way back, Nicole, my sister in law swam back with me. It was really rewarding to feel so much support, and just out and out fun!

Then, if that wasn't enough, the next event was a 20 mile run. John, my brother organized the family, so that 4 people would do 5 mile shifts with me. And they brought my meter and food to the top of the driveway (dried figs and almonds, and a water bottle). It was awesome!!!! First 5 miles with my other brother, Chris. It was pretty warm, we went out the back road, turned around and back. Then, Liz was waiting at the top with the goods. She and I went back out and back for another 5 miles. Then, Omar, her husband. This was a little harder, but still so wonderful to have company. Then, my other brother, John was there for the final 5. It was a little slower (I was estimating 9 minute conversational pace miles), but we did it! And my two nieces, sister in laws, other brother, and the whole crew was at the top of the driveway to meet us. It was really cool.

I had a wonderful time in Maine also. We did some great hikes, swam to Little Moose Island in Acadia National Park, with my friend Beth's kids, which was a lot of fun. On the island we found blueberries, cranberries, rose hips, seaweed, and crabs! Then, we swam back. It was chilly.

And, we did a 1 mile run and a 5k race. I remembered how slow I am at 5k's, but it was nice. I left that same day as the race, and headed back to California.

I'm following my training plan that Andrew set up, but really, with the exception of yesterday, I hadn't taken 1 day of a break since Barb's race. But I've been feeling really good. I finished reading Born to Run, and have been inspired to run smoother, and to remember the sheer joy of it all.

And, I've gotten really really excited and into biking. I can't believe what an amazing thing it is. From the beautiful views, to the newly discovered thrill of going down hills, and speeding thru the cool air and sunshine; I love it!

And, I bought a new bike. I totally splurged. I went last week and test rode a Cervelo S2, and started to really think about buying it. It was an amazing price, and I couldn't resist. It has all the fancy bells and whistles, and most of all, it's just a lot of fun to ride. I had a huge smile on my face when I rode it.

Since then, I've finally gotten fit and found that I need a longer stem, and a more comfortable seat, and wow, what a difference that can make. I rode on Friday a good 60 plus miles, in the seat it came with, which was pretty uncomfortable, and the handlebars were pretty close. I had to relearn and regain confidence going down hills too, especially on bumpy roads, as you feel everything with the stiffer carbon frame.

Then, today, my neighbor who I've been cycling with, and how has been so super kind in helping me out, tried putting a longer stem (it came with a 90, and he thought I should get a 110 or even a 120). He had a 130 laying around, which he knew was too long, but he put it on, and I got a better seat from the bike shop, and immediately, with the longer stem, I felt way more relaxed. It's such a good feeling to finally figure out what is wrong and correct it.

So, I'm pretty stoked on biking these days. I did the Santa Rosa 1/2 marathon today, and it felt pretty good. It was about a minute slower this year than last year, but I felt a lot better. This year I did 1:43 (7:52 minute miles). I felt really good till like mile 10, then it got a little harder. But I think that I have a lot more endurance now than I used to.

Also, we had a Santa Rosa area Dawn Phenom event on Saturday, which was small, but really nice. I met a couple of new people, and talked to a few more. I can't believe how many people are interested in the Insulindependence shirts!

Okay, more soon. It's nice to be back in touch.

Today was the Santa Rosa 1/2 marathon.

Barb's Race - First 1/2 Iron Man

Well, it's officially done. And what an amazingly fun time. I was probably a little too casual about the whole thing (I got there about 20 minutes before it started), and didn't get sunglasses till the night before, but it was a lot of fun. Somehow, I'm just not the type to think it all thru entirely the night before. At any rate, I can't believe how much fun it was.

So, first of all, I went to the Windsor High school on Friday to get my packet, and set up my bike to run transition.

Then, I got up at 6 AM on Saturday morning, checked my sugar (207), took 1 unit, ate a breakfast of almond milk, raspberries, and hemp seeds (covered by 3 units), walked my dog, and was out the door (with my bike in the back seat) by 7. I got to Windsor around 7:35, and had a hard time finding a place to park. I was a little nervous, since I was cutting it pretty close. I brought way too much stuff to the swim start line (transition 1). I tested right after I set up my stuff, and per Ed's really good nutrition planning and advice, ate two small clif bars, covered by 1 unit, took my 4 units of Lantus, a swig of gatorade, hit the bathroom, and got into the water.

SWIM (1.2 miles) - I got in the water and started at 8:10 AM. I kept to the right hand side, since there were less people and swam up. I probably could have left the wetsuit off, but thanks to Blair's good advice, I hiked up the sleeves and legs to allow for more limb movement. I started my watch, and took off up stream. The water was the perfect temperature, a little cool, but definitely not cold. Some people were waiting along the river, kayakers were on the side, and it was pretty peaceful. My arms kind of hurt. I didn't take it very hard, barely kicked I think, and went back and forth between really concentrating on my stroke, and pushing all the way back with my arms, and piercing the water in front. I also tried to glide and make my strokes last a while. I checked my watch at some point. I was kind of shooting for about 40 minutes, and was pretty close (:39:34). I got out, ran to my bike, and fumbled around. My sugar was 109 I think. Here is where I made a mistake. I got worried that it was going to go up, so I took in a handful of good and plenty's, a small clif bar, AND a gel. In retrospect too much! I seemed to take too long here (:07:17!!). Ran with my bike, and then clipped in to bike up the hill

BIKE (56 miles): This was by far the most fun. I rode pretty conservatively for the first 15 miles or so. I was sipping on a mix of hammer fuel powder and something else. My water bottle had 80 grams of carbs in it, and my plan was to sip half of it during the first 28 miles, and the other half for the second half. The other bottle had water plus Nuun in it, and since then I've found out that Nuun has artificial sweeteners, so I won't be having any more of that. At any rate, I was sipping on the bottle, and kind of holding back on the flats (15 - 17 mph about). At around mile like 20 I think, I started to feel thirsty and a little tired. I decided to test as I rode (right after I was past a station, which again wasn't too smart. 400. Great. So I kept riding and took 2 units of Humalog. And within 15 minutes, I started to feel pretty good. I kept going. Around mile 32 or 35, I told myself "okay, 20 or so more to go, and I'm starting to feel great. After Chalk hill, I took off, I went up to around 21/22 mph, and started passing people. It felt great. I was totally grinning downhill (and even hit 37 mpg, which used to scare the heck out of me.) I really wanted to break 3 hours, but did 3:06:58. I managed to swap my nuun filled nasty bottle for a water bottle at the last aid station and was psyched to down all of the water. I kept sipping a little on the carbo loaded bottle. So, I wasn't sure how smart I was being by going hard on the bike, but I calculated that going 18 mph versus 17 mph on a 56 mile ride would save me like 15 minutes! That seemed a lot easier than cranking my running pace up. So, I ended the bike, and spent :04:56 in T2. That was a little better, but not great.

THE RUN (13.1 MILES) - Blood sugar then was 109 I think. It felt good. I had a little sample size clif bar, and a gel, and started out (and some water). It was hot, and I was a little tired. I'm not sure how fast (or slow) I was going. The run course was hilly! I heard it was a little hillier and different than the 70.3 two weeks before. At any rate, I kept looking at my watch thinking, hmm, I might be able to break 6 hours, but I'm not sure. And the mile markers weren't great. The first out and back was a total of 8.7 miles. Around the hill before the turn around, I started feeling pretty good. I tested about 30 minutes into the run and was like 129, which made me realize I had to consume the same amount of carbs for the next thirty minutes to maintain a good BS. So, on the way back, around what was probably mile 5 or so, I realized that I still had 8.1 miles to go, but I had about 90 minutes to do it. So, even if I did 10 minute miles, I could still make it under 6 hours - that was really exciting! The run back was better than the run out, but around mile 6 or so, I got tired. I had my second gel, and then was out of stuff with me. So I alternated between warm water and warm gatorade at the aid stations. And I grabbed (and ate) 4 clif shot blocks. And then I passed Andrew (who by the way, was 5th overall!!! and first in his age group on the full vineman - what a stud - glad to have him training me). Then, once I got back, and went out for the final 4.4 miles, I was feeling pretty good. Got back, and finished the run at 1:53:52, with an overall finish of the whole thing of 5:52:39. Unfortunately I didn't have anyone waiting for me at the finish line, but I felt good. And BS was like 159. Here are the results: http://www.j-chipusa.com/results.php?eventid=3093&resid=1380

I feel so grateful for all the help I got on this. From Ed's awesome nutrition life saving advice, to Andrew's training and encouragement, Holly's tips on what has worked for her, to my neighbor's giving me some great sunglasses, and fitting me to my bike, and giving me gear, to encouragement and tips - thank you all!

What an amazing fun adventure. I am really looking forward to more!