Analyse this!

Its that time of the year when the cycling world starts to contemplate 2009. Will there be a 2009? How successful was 2008? What can be learnt from, improved on, or better enhanced?

I have steered clear away from all of this chatty and intriguing stuff, mainly because it doesn't intrigue me...enough. I was however, fortunate to be a part of a small review with other diabetic athletes on the team. We focussed on our experiences of working for our sponsors throughout the year.

The discussion got me thinking. I don't do it very often, but conditions were perfect: the past two weeks I have been doing lots of riding out on my own in Northern Illinois. On the same roads, the same wind, the same terrain, the same horses, and the same cornfields.

And you know what? Of all the things I could think about, I thought this was pretty sweet. Here I was, not on a plane, no sponsor commitments, 'normal life' with my teammate Bob and his wife Joy, and the Olympics on TV. Pretty sweet indeed. But most importantly, I was able to complete my training and get better from a few problems I have been struggling with for the past couple of weeks on the road.

For me, this has been incredibly important and something that simply hasn't been possible this year. I have had no fixed address - there is no place I return home to after a race, or a sponsor's event. Two weeks in the one spot is a luxury. And I am grateful for the benefits I have already seen.

Want proof? The opportunity to better manage my health has made a massive improvement to feeling right. This has been complemented with proper rest and recovery from completing my training without interruption. I have seen a much more steady use of insulin, and far less outrageous high readings. This has provided excellent conditions to shake off some of the kidney and related issues I have been having in recent weeks. I had no idea how much all of this was playing with my head and my overall health.

I've done some analysis of my recent insulin uptake levels over the past few weeks. It is shown in total daily basal (base rate - the insulin you need to keep your body working 24/7) and bolus (the insulin you deliver for meals or for corrections to help bring your glucose levels back into range).


The big crazy high uptakes was from me trying to shake off a cold, fight the symptoms of a kidney infection, and complete four days work for our sponsors - before another straight four days of work. Oh, and race in the middle of it. As you can imagine, my racing sucked. I failed to finish the toughest race on the US circuit, the Charlotte Invitational Criterium, and finished 15th in the Hanes Park Classic the following day. Although I should make small mention that Charlotte was TOUGH, and I started right at the very back. Positioning in Charlotte is so critical it isn't funny. Of 85 chicks, only 23 finished. The pace was ON from the get-go; I couldn't see the top of the field until half way into it, and only because so many riders had pulled out that the strung-out line in front of me had reduced enough to be on the same straight at the one time. My race was spent jumping gaps as riders imploded around me, until I eventually succumbed to the lightheadedness of dehydration and lactate-drenched thighs.

Excuses, excuses. But looking back on all of this, even just from reviewing my insulin uptake, showed that something clearly wasn't right:

Compare that to the first week I was back 'settling' in northern Chicago.

I guess the bigger things to ponder out of this review are:

* what has this got to do with anything?

* why am I soo slow on adjusting basal rates instead of leaving it all to correctional boluses?

* I am assuming my glucose levels were well managed throughout this time frame. What if they weren't? (still to work out how to upload the Freestyle Navigator data onto the Co-Pilot program, which would have answered this easily).

But for me, I think this shows that my health, if not managed right, can easily be affected from everything we do as part of being a diabetic rider on Team Type 1.

Crikey!

Lets hope the last fortnight of sitting still to ponder, get better, and train right, will put me in good stead for my final round of racing and sponsor obligations..

...but one thing is for certain: if I get the wonderful opportunity to race once more here in 2009, I will be placing a big target on the Charlotte Criterium. I have a bone to pick with that race and I am determined above anything else, to do well there.

I just hope I am healthy enough to pick that bone!