Insanity is Contagious

I walked this evening and that was my workout

2011-09-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

For the second time in about 12 days, I went outside and walked a little more than 1 mile and that was my big workout. This is more of a journal than a blog this time.

I have a life lesson that I have to keep learning over and over. That lesson is seeing a line before I cross it. It is a mental line that I am not allowed to cross in competition. I can not cross a line to try to win an event for no good reason other than winning. This past year has been filled with hard work to finish events to hopefully draw attention to things other than myself because I certainly wasn't winning anything. For people that really know me (and that takes at least 10 years), they know that deep down there is prideful person that really likes to compete. The last time I really went for it, was with my son at the CO state swim championships in March of 2010 to hopefully win as a father/son team and take our own overall titles and create a memory together. We did it and it was a memory that I would go back to Over and Over and Over again over the next year for various reasons and at various times.

Father & Son High Point Winners at the CO State Swimming Championships Spring 2010

The Spoils

Leading up to that, I was able to renew and strengthen several relationships through swimming and by making the promise to show up if others would too. That got me to the point physically of being able to make this special memory with Michael.

This was right before I signed up for the Ironman as a diabetic knowing that the schedule would include one event after another guaranteed to kicked my butt with a "finish" hopefully waiting at the end. With that year behind me, I forgot to watch out for my inner competitor. As I was training with friends and getting ready for their first half Ironman on Sept 11th, I signed up for the AquaBike since my feet are probably fried for life in the area of running (or at least I hope so ;->). As the event approached, I started looking a little too much at previous results in my age group. I starting checking my times against the previous splits. If I found a weakness, I hammered it. I got my open water time down to right at 25 minutes for 1.2 miles but I still needed to nail the bike and that needed to average 22-23 mph over 56 miles or I couldn't take my age group. I then called and reserved a carbon fiber disk and Zipp 808 front rim to "rent speed" for the day. I think that is when I crossed the line. Anyway, I am finishing where I started. My big exercise today was an evening walk which is the limit of my physical abilities right now and that's okay. I just hope that I can find something noble to do before I start do Masters swimming again ;->.

I don't need any feedback, I just needed to journal this and get this out.

My Tribute to Mark Cancel - Please Read

2011-08-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile but I have to blog now because I have a lot on my mind at a critical juncture in my life. This blog is dedicated to Mark Cancel and the power of God when allowed to work through the life of one individual who is sold out.

I met Mark Cancel more than 20 years ago and due to some unfortunate circumstances, he has become my absolute best friend during this stage in my life. Mark is leaving September 1st to move permanently to Lokichoggio, Kenya and my last opportunity to see him before he leaves is Tuesday. Mark is very humble and underspoken. Mark just retired as a Master Sergeant in the Air Force and has served our country with honor in some very dangerous situations. He and his brother, Mike, have been money transfer agents in times of war and conflict. I fully intend to also get to know Mike very well in the future. It was during one of Mark's deployments that his wife decided to start dating which eventually ended in Mark being single for the rest of his life. Mark was already a very close friend at that time but that moved him from friend to family and my children know him as family and is always a part of Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays. He has always been there for me in the best and worst of times over the past 20 years.

Mark isn't perfect and he is downright goofy sometimes. He was raised in a military family and moved around the world as he supported the service of his family. Mark will tell you that he is probably a sober addict and he hit a point in his early 20's where he was either going to go straight down the toilet in Austin,TX or he had to make a change. He reached out to God but didn't really know how to. He asked his Mom what to do and she suggested that he find a church and just go. He did that and knew that something was different there and that he wanted what everyone else there had. He looked at the schedule and tried to show up to everything. This part is cool and funny to me. Jesus is quoted in the Bible as saying, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me (Jesus) draws him to me". Mark was being "drawn" and he walked into a group that was about to go out to meet with people in the church with various needs. I can just see them praying, "Oh God, help us to be open to your leading to however you want to use us today" and then a 20 yr old Mark knocks on the door to see what they were doing. Needless to say, they didn't leave that night because God had a special delivery for them.

Let's fast forward now. Mark is retired/retiring from the military and is being drawn again to God's calling to help meet a critical need for water in Northern Kenya and Southern Sudan. Upon retirement, the military will move you once to your permanent location. For Mark, that location is Africa. He is team with Mike Vincent, an architect and builder from Colorado who has also abandoned the comforts of America to serve people in desperate need of water. Their primary purpose will be drilling and repairing water wells for the Turkana people group. His group is called Gospeltecture:

Gospeltecture News

Mark and Mike have an ability given to them by God because neither are married or have families and can therefore fully dedicate to this mission. The Bible is true when it states in 1st Corinthians 7:32-34, "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. ³³ But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— ³⁴ and his interests are divided. " Most people can not do that and that is a gift from God to be able to truly honor God with a wholesome life as a single man.

Mark has been worked with the Turkana people several times on several trips and knows that this is what God has for him. He has planned his finances such that he can do this on his retirement pay and all donations to the organizations can go straight to serving the people in need.

Turkana People of Kenya - In another world of another time

Mark and Mike Enjoying Time with the Turkana People

When Mark arrives in Kenya, he and Mike will be driving for 3 days to get to their location.

Merille & Turkana Tribes Kill for Water and Cattle

Moving to LOKICHOGGIO, Kenya

As I have finished up a year of training and outreach to diabetics, it struck me last night that it is okay to risk your life as long as the motivation is honorable and not self serving. If your risk gives others life here and after this physical death then that is an incredibly honorable and noble purpose. If it is to draw attention to yourself and prove how great you are then that seems like quite a waste. God knew the number of our days on earth before we were born. Let's use them in an honorable fashion! It may seem that Mark is taking a risk and that may be true from our perspective. From God's perspective, our lives are in His hands and nothing is going to change what God has for us. Why not be inspired by people stepping out and take some risks for HIM?

I have had the privilege of meeting some of Mark's family like his Mom and sister. His sister died suddenly earlier this year which was a tragedy that opened up some really special moments and relationships between Mark and his brother and between Mark and his father and his uncle. I have a Sushi dinner date planned with his brother on October 12th and I hope to get to know Mark's Mom and Dad better in the future. Mark got to build a relationship with my Dad the last 7 years of my Dad's life and I hope to do the same with Mark's family.

Mark with his Mom in San Antonio

Mark, his Dad, Hector and his brother, Mike

I don't know everything about Mark's family but I do know that through the tragedy of his sister's death this year, relationships have been restored. Mark loves his Mom dearly and considers his Dad a very brave man at a very deep level.

My Favorite Photo of Mark - This hunting trip was a birthday adventure gift for him

A Song to Live By! - Nothing to Prove, Nothing to Lose, Nothing to Hide

I talked a lot about God and being a Christian. Let me end with this as you try to comprehend why Mark is doing what he is doing:

Our Problem:
"All people have sinned and will be punished for that by God" Romans 3:23
The Solution:
Jesus Christ sacrificed himself and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins that God requires. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord".
How is this different than any other religions?
Other Religions: Most other religions are trying to earn their righteousness and earn their way to heaven and God through their own good efforts.
Christianity: Christianity understands that everyone is sinful and we rely on the righteousness of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. If we acknowledge our sins, accept Christ's sacrifice for payment of our sins and let God take control of our lives then we have the hope of heaven and a personal relationship with God.

Copy & Paste - Hey, Its a blog

2011-06-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought that I would get started again with this article that I was asked to write and copy it here to cheat. I figured since I plan to start hammering the open water swimming and cycling again that I should also start blogging again.

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My name is Brian Phelps and I am a 46 year old type 1 diabetic who is also taking meds for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and depression (bye bye HIPPA). My Mom and both of my brothers also had type 1 diabetes and my Mom and oldest brother have died from the complications of the disease. I have always enjoyed swimming and I try to swim at least once each week with friends. In 2008 I noticed that the scale was gradually and continually showing weight gain. Although I was a fast sprint swimmer and “my friends” thought that that I was in good shape, I knew different. I decided to make a change. I lost about 40 lbs from the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2009 and have managed to keep the weight off by small daily habit changes. I would encourage everyone to take a realistic assessment of where you are physically and find someone, WHO IS HONEST (not polite), to evaluate your assessment. Most people are overweight and really need to do something about it.

Getting Started:

1) Learn how to read – labels.

a. Fats (saturated & trans = bad)

b. Protein (generally a good thing)

c. Carbohydrates (minimize the grams of sugars)

d. Just for free – Cholesterol in food doesn’t cause cholesterol in you, saturated fat does. Eggs are almost perfect as a food and should not be avoided because of the old wives tale that they cause cholesterol.

2) Sign up for a sporting event to compete in, pay money for that event and ask other people to come watch you. Fear is a powerful motivator.

3) Ask to join others that are already exercising or ask someone else to join you in your adventure. You need this for accountability, to develop friendships and to open ministry opportunities.

4) Check vitamin levels

a. Vitamin D – at least 3000 IU’s per day.

b. A good multivitamin

c. Fish oil pills

5) Stretch – old people like me really need to stretch everyday to avoid a blowout

6) Work activity into your habits. For my daily prayer time, I now walk the dogs for about 1 mile and have been doing so for several years now.

7) Pray for discipline – no big buts (but I am diabetic, but I am busy, but I am not an athlete, etc.)

One of my friends was about 60 lbs overweight and started working out and setting goals. He asked me what I thought he should weigh and I told him maybe 180 lbs or so. His overweight response was, “I will look emaciated at 180 lbs”. I said, “Okay, then shoot for breaking 200 lbs”. Now that he is around 200 lbs, I thoroughly enjoy telling him how emaciated he looks - NOT ;->. He is now shooting for about 180 lbs for his ultimate goal and he has signed up for several endurance events to keep him going. In America, it is very easy to feel okay about being unhealthy and overweight. I was on a plane once with someone from Norway and he was commenting on the portion sizes (and people sizes) in America and how large they both were. He was asking me how people can possibly eat that much. Treat this like an alcoholic treats an addiction. Get accountable. Find someone else who struggles and is winning and join them. It doesn’t do an alcoholic any good to ask another drunk at the bar if they think they are drinking too much.

I will never, repeat never, do this again but here is what I have done as an outreach to the diabetic community this past year. Because I had dropped 40 lbs and was in decent shape, I agreed to be a national captain for Triabetes which meant that I agreed to train hard for one year and attempt the toughest Ironman course in the world this past May. During this year, I had the opportunity to speak to over 200 children with diabetes at an American Diabetes Association camp (and get to again this year), I have made friends with hundreds of other diabetics and their families across the country and had the privilege to mentor kids with diabetes. My job was to inspire other diabetics to get out and dominate their disease, to educate them how to do it and have them explore their perceived boundaries of what they can do. This has given me opportunities that I would have never had before and these opportunities continue to present themselves almost daily.

I have never been able to run well and I will probably never run in a race again. The farthest that I had ever run in my life prior to 2010 was 3 miles.

During this training process, I attempted and finished the following events (slow but finished):

Bolder Boulder 10k run (6.2 mile run - 5/2010), Olympic Rattlesnake Triathlon (1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run - 8/2010), 100 mile bike ride in Tour de Cure (8/2010), Full Marathon – Denver Rock & Roll (26.2 mile run - 10/2010), Half Marathon in Carlsbad, CA (13.1 mile run - 1/2011), Ironman California (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run – 3/2011), Full Ironman in St George, Utah (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run – 5/2011).

Guess what? I still need to take meds for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and depression and I don’t have six-pack abs (not even close). I also feel great and can take on any invitation for an adventure knowing that I am fit enough to enjoy myself. I have developed very close friendships that continue to expand as others join in on the fun. Don’t neglect how this new journey of yours can open up new opportunities and allow you to be a part of completely new friend groups. You can practice with a Masters swim team, join a local running group, join a local cycling group, join an adult soccer team, join a walking group, etc.. Don’t let anything, including your pride stop you (remember no big buts). If you ever want to go on a bike ride, do a lake swim or fish with me, just ask.

Thanks

Brian

Phelps Race Report - Ironman St George

2011-05-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

I will be posting two different blogs. This one is the race report and the next one will be a recap of the past year. I feel that I can do the race report but the summary blog will probably take two days to process all of the emotions.

I will start by saying that I received great advice prior to the race from several people that had the same theme - "stay in the moment" and look up and enjoy the scenery. Don't think about the entire race because it will overwhelm you.

Stats: High temp was 95 degrees with basically no humidity and 25 mph winds. Thank you Lord for letting me be born and raised in the Central San Joaquin valley where I had 18 years of heat training!

2000 signed up for the race, 1650 decided to start the race and just over 1300 finished. I believe that there were about 300 men in my age group and 141 finished the race. I burned about 12,000 calories during race day.

Swim - 1hr 3 min - Water temp 58 degrees:
This was very enjoyable. I got in the front row of the mass start and everyone there just wanted a smooth start with clear water in front of us. My blood sugar was 117 at the start and 137 at the finish one hour later. I felt very strong in the swim and was surprised by my time because I expected it to be under 1 hr but I was still pleased. The front row of swimmers were all very experienced and about the same speed. This was great except that we were all aiming straight for the first turnaround buoy 1000 yds away which created a very crowded pinch point. I did have people trying to draft on me (which is legal). That was fine until they started to mess with my feet. I then would kick very hard as a warning and then kick straight back if they were still messing with my kick. I only connected one time. We lost one teammate from the swim who missed the cutoff by 1 min. That wasn't really fair because he was in a crowd that was still standing on land when the cannon went off.

Transition 1 - 12min:

Bike - 7hrs 29min - 6972 total elevation gain:
I enjoyed the bike but was waiting for my teammate, Daniel, to pass me since he is such a strong rider. I never saw any teammate and that had me concerned. The bike ended up causing problems for 4 teammates with one crash/concussion, two heat exhaustions and one trip to the ER with very high blood sugar level from dehydration. He started to blackout and he knew a DKA (very dangerous) was coming. My heart rate stayed good between 129 and 140 (with one spike to 150). My blood sugar started at 143 and edged up to 158 before dropping into a range of 80 - 140 for the remaining 7 hrs. My maximum speed was 51 mph. I was very conscious of the heat and drank like a madman consuming 180 ozs of liquid and never had to pee. Overall, I enjoyed the ride and felt good although it did numb up a fairly large area that stayed numb until Sunday morning. There were a lot of ambulances on the bike route. I know that at least three were crashes but I believe most was from the heat. I did have to walk a bit twice on the second loop. I would have normally pushed through but I knew that I had a long day in front of me on the run. I hit with insulin 4 times with 2 units of Novalog each time. I took in about 1400 calories on the ride including two Snickers bars. I took in pure carbs at first and started the electrolytes about 3 hrs in. I also used Perpetuem throughout the ride. I took my first Advil at 1 hr into the ride and continued taking one every two hrs until I reached the max of 800 mg and kept that level through the run. I knew that could damage my kidneys but I had to avoid the inflammation in my feet for the run.

Transition 2 - 17 minutes:

Run - 7hrs 49 min - 2495 ft total elevation gain:
When I finished the bike, I knew that I had just less than 8 hrs to finish the race and kept very close tabs on the time. I was on a fine line between going fast enough to finish but not too fast get into trouble. My heart rate stayed ranged from 97 to 131 bpm. My blood sugar at the start was 97 but started to rise immediately as I started to run. I knew that it was probably dehydration so I drank as much as I could at each aid station. I hit insulin 3 times within the first 15 miles (4 units, 4 units and 2 units) because I was trying to fuel heavy. At mile 7 or so my right foot was really hurting and I knew that would happen so I had acquired Xylocaine prior to arriving in Utah and I had to inject that into the ball of my foot at the pain point in a porta-potty twice. Again, I know that this was risky but this was going to stop me if I couldn't solve it. The pavement was also so hot that I had to look for the lightest colored pavement to run on because the heat was coming right through my shoes. I swapped for full syringes when I got to the run special needs bag at about mile 12. This is where I made a BIG mistake by forgetting one step. I forgot to test with the meter in the bag to calibrate my Dexcom. Running is very hard on me and my Dexcom can get confused by the way my body reacts. Anyway, the CGM was floating in the low to mid 200's which ended up being an error that would have been corrected with a meter calibration (which I did do out of the water and off the bike - both were dead on with the Dexcom). It was now dark and I start to head up Red Hills Parkway. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't hold a straight line and why I felt like I was going to pass out. That was when an angel named John Moore found me and asked if I was okay. I said "yes" and he got within 6 inches of my face and asked me about my blood sugar level. I told him and he flat out said that it was wrong and that I was low and needed to eat like a madman at the next aid station. The Triabetes tent was at a location that I saw them 8 times which was amazing and Triabetes made a huge impact on all the athletes and the Ironman staff. My triabuddy, Zyler, and our son, Michael, tried to stay with me as much as possible. Michael was my unofficial coach and I think that he felt personally responsible to get me to the finish line. I frightened my peeps by pushing the limits of becoming an Ironman but I did it with about 10 minutes to spare. I thought that I finished with my arms raised powerfully with my needle and CGM in my hands but I looked more like a zombie in Night of the Living Dead. There were points in the race that everyone that passed me put their hand on my back and asked if I was okay and if I needed help. I had already stated that I was going to finish or die trying. Apparently I looked like I was going to die instead of finishing at certain points during the run course. My blood sugar (tested) at the end was 107.

Thanks and I am so glad that this is done ;-> Now its off to fishing next week

YouTube Link to the Video of My Finish at Ironman St George

Me with my wife after the finish

Our family, Michael (son 23), Michelle (daughter 18), Me, Pam, Melissa (daughter 20), Megan (daughter almost 15)

Very Blessed to have a huge crowd of friends and family that came to St George to share this moment with me

Brian Phelps

Nearing the End

2011-04-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

It is now less than two weeks before the start on Ironman St George. I drive one week from tomorrow to St George to get ready for the event and get acclimated. I really am hoping for warmer weather because I am tired of being cold.

I finished my last round of hard workouts with a 2.4 mile straight swim Friday, a 5hr 15 min ride on Saturday and a 10 mile run today (which sucked as normal). I have a swim tomorrow before getting a day off Tuesday. Wednesday I have a triple swim/bike/run then get on a plane for Jacksonville for a sales call on my off day. Friday I have another strong workout day followed by a 90 minute deep athletic massage from hell.

I posted this on Facebook and also want it here because it is important to me this Easter. 15 years ago, on Easter morning, my Dad & I were in an unfamiliar church numb and sad. My Mom died a few hours earlier (she was 73) as the result of T1 diabetes complications. Christ dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and then arising again victorious over sin & death was very real. On that Easter morning, my Mom's faith became sight and it was a great resurrection day celebration for her! That thought got me a bit emotional today during church. I really enjoyed church today, the celebration, the message and sharing it with friends.

I am the perfect example of the game in Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong". This is the end of my endurance journey. I love swimming and I have learned to love cycling. I have also learned that I have no business running. Whether I finish Ironman or not, this year has been amazing. I have literally met hundreds of diabetic athletes and have had to opportunity to make an impact on a few and make some lifelong friends. If I don't finish, an ambulance will be involved because I am very OCD about finishing things that I start. I am amazed by my fellow captains and the barriers and challenges that they have busted through this year. They are an inspiration and I appreciate them letting me pretend to be in the endurance crowd for this year.

Follow the excitement and carnage on Saturday May 7th. My bib number is 1553 and you should be able to follow me at:

Ironman Live Tracking - Bib#1553

Thanks and it was an amazing ride

Brian Phelps

Apex Training Weekend Finished - Taper Begins

2011-04-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

I will start by saying that I have enjoyed this journey and it has been healing for me. I have met hundreds of new friends in the active diabetic community and am encouraged every day by them. It seems like I meet someone new on every training ride and every swim.

This apex training weekend started on Friday with a 4000 meter straight swim in a pool with my wetsuit on. My buddy, Steve, went with me and did 2000 straight himself. Ironman is a 4000 yd swim so this was approximately 4400 yds. I did it right around 58 minutes and it felt good. I pushed the last 1000 meters. After the swim, a young man swam over and ask me to watch his technique. His name is Sam and is training as a special ops para-swimmer. I LOVE coaching technique and he had good technique but I was able to give him some tips on increasing endurance. That felt really good.

Saturday started at 6:10am for a 114 mile ride on my bike which had 6800 feet of total climbing. I met up with Steve at mile 9 and met up with Joel at mile 28. Steve turned around at mile 34.5 and ended at 69 miles (a new record for him). I told him that I had to run for 30 minutes right after my ride so he promised to do the same and he did it!

My riding buddies, Steve & Joel

Steve, Joel and I met up with a new friend, Stacy, at Steve's turnaround point. She completed Ironman St George last year and gave me some great inside information including a look that could kill when I asked her if she was doing it again. The simple answer was "NO!!!". Joel & I continued on and he veered off to go to his son's track meet and set a new distance record for him at 18 miles. Steve & Joel are both signed up a half Ironman distance triathlon in September.

Once Joel split off, I had to figure out how to get to the base of Lookout Mountain. Fortunately, Stacy caught up with me and she was also going to do the Lookout Mtn climb for the first time and she knew how to get there which was a great help to me. I took a longer break to check BG and eat and Stacy went on up the hill.

My tour guide to the base of Lookout Mtn - Stacy

This is the mountain that beat me when I moved from Visalia to Golden, CO to attend Colorado School of Mines. A roommate who biked noticed that I also had a bike and asked me to do Lookout Mtn with him. I accepted but should have taken a clue from being exhausted just walking around campus at 6000ft after living at 300ft for 18 years. I started up the mountain with him and got very dizzy after a 1 or so and turned around and went back to the dorm. I never attempted it again until today (28 years later). It felt good to beat it without stopping once. I took all the photos while riding.

The start of the ride to the top of Lookout Mtn where the signal tower is at the top. 1350 vertical climbing in 5 miles

This is a view of my college campus in the foreground with the Coors Brewing facility in the background all in Golden, CO.


View of Golden, CO

This view shows how much elevation was gained in just about 1.5 miles

A long way down

A view from my bike as a hit the snowline

A view from the top!!! Very satisfying

It was an amazingly fun ride. I put in more climbing than the St George course so I felt good until I found out that my teammate, Christian, put in 12,000 ft of climbing the same day. The worst part was that I had to miss my Triabubby, Zyler, test for his Blue Belt in Krav Maga which he passed!

Now on to Sunday, short and well short (not sweet). I ran 16 miles, two laps around Aurora reservoir. Starting temp 51, ending temp 43. I fought off a low at the beginning. The cold front came through and blew like crazy for 80% of the run and I froze the whole time but I finished. It snowed a bit and then rained a bit and ended with a nice sunset.

This was the hardest weekend and we taper down from this point. I am ready, mentally, to get this thing done.

Thanks

Brian Phelps

Spring Break - New Start - Ironman CA Report + SWAT Team

2011-04-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

I had a fantastic and tiring week. It started last Friday & Saturday with the Masters State swim meet with my son and daughter. Sunday I ran, went to church and then loaded up and drove to St George on the way to California. Monday morning, I got up early with our son to swim Sand Hollow and check the water temp. Air temp was 40 degrees, the water was calm and 46 degrees. I did swim 1/2 mile and it caused a ice cream-like brain freeze. It also made my feet numb and made walking on rocks very difficult:

We then drove into the San Joaquin valley where I was born and raised and where our son would be starting the next phase of his life. We stayed in Exeter and I got a nice bike ride in on Tuesday with memories flooding my mind from my childhood. This is me on Rocky Hill overlooking my homeland

We finished Tuesday by visiting Sequoia National Park. Wednesday was busy with a 70 minute run and a 30 minute swim in Lake Kaweah. We finished the day playing baseball with family. This is a photo of me with Daniela who is one of my Triabetes cheering squad:

Photo of two more San Joaquin Valley cheerleaders, Brynn & Braelyn:

We left for Oceanside, CA after a stop to have dinner with more family in Bakersfield. Thursday we made it to the beach by Noon in time for me to check in for Ironman California - a 70.3 half. The girls enjoyed boogieboarding and I joined them in the water on Friday.

I had a great meal with two fellow captains and a triabuddy and his Dad at Pelly's.

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Rohto 70.3 Ironman California Race Report:

The day started out with a near disaster in more than one way. We were awoken at 3:55pm by the Carlsbad SWAT team telling us to evacuate our rooms silently and immediately. I explained my situation and they let me grab my bike and race gear. I wasn't going to argue with armed SWAT carrying percussion grenades.

News Feed on Arrest in Room Next to Ours in Oceanside

Note that we found from the Carlsbad PD when we got back to our room after the race:

SWIM: I ate a lot of fruit for breakfast with some yogurt and coffee. PRP was successful. My BG was 140 at the start of the swim and 161 at the end of the swim which I hit with 1 unit of Novalog. I did the 1.2 mile swim in 29 minutes which was 11th out of 307 in my age group. Water was upper 50's. My transition was 8min52sec and I was very careful not to forget anything. I did put on my riding shorts and riding jersey which had my Dexcom receiver, food and insulin. I also had one bottle of Hammer Perpetuem and one bottle of eFuel. I drank a lot of water at transition.

BIKE: It was overcast skies and windy on the ride. My BG's were good and when it got to 151, I gave myself 2 units of Novalog in the thigh. At mile 29 I had some small sore or cramping muscles so I took 4 Advil. I continued to fuel as much as my body would take and finished the last 7 miles with 60 grams of glucose tabs knowing what happens to me on the runs. I was slow on the flats and slight uphills and fast on the steep uphills and downhills. The strong wind hit on almost every downhill which was discouraging. I stayed within myself for the whole bike with an average HR of 132 and a peak of 153. My lactic threshold is 141 which I stayed under except for the steepest of climbs. My time was slow at 3hrs37mins but I felt good and got stronger throughout the bike. This put me at 167 out of 307 in my age bracket. Here are a set of graphs showing my BG, Speed, Elevation and Heart Rate during the ride:

RUN: The run is the run and is my nemesis. I was fairly steady at 13 min miles for awhile with some short stops to stretch my hams and calves. I also walked each aid station where I took water. The base of my middle toe of my left foot became increasingly painful. At mile 9, I had a very enjoyable conversation with another type 1 who asked me how my diabetes was treating me on the day. His name was Jeff and was from the DC area. We are now friends on Facebook - awesome. At mile 11, I had to walk for a longer stretch to get the pressure off of my toe. I actually tweeted my situation. Right after that, I was able to run again and I am very thankful to my friends who later told me that they were praying for me to finish after they learned of my race situation. My "run" was 3hrs 1min. Here are the graphs for my run:

Overall, I finished with a time of 7hrs 22 min which was 204 out of 307 with 1hr 8min left until the cutoff. I have a great deal of respect for these long races. I really concentrated on fueling and my BG's. I nailed both. My biggest threat, once again, was my feet. If I take my result, double it and add 1 hour, that would put me at a finish of 16 hours at Ironman St George with only one hour to spare for a finish. I have to fix my toe sensitivity before Ironman St George.

As we were packing up to leave, a man named Craig pulled up with a bike on his Jeep. I assumed he was in the race. He asked me how the race went and told me that he was a part of the SWAT operation that morning. We had a great conversation and he asked for my contact info to follow our team's progress through Ironman St George. Our group then got in the van and drove to St George for the night. The next morning I swam the lake again and measured the temp. It was mid 80's in St George all week and it was very windy churning the water. I measured a water temp of 55 and it was noticeably warmer. The rangers said that the water was already warmer than last year's Ironman. We then drove home to Denver.

Thanks

Brian Phelps

My Finishing Medal and a T-Shirt I bought at Sand Hollow Reservoir in St George, Utah

Excitement is Building - Running Out of Time

2011-03-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

The competition is fun and the training isn't. My training is peaking and my competition schedule is in full gear. I got the whole week of training in this week although I compressed some workouts into the same day to allow me to compete in the Colorado State Masters state championship meet that started today.

Let's start with the training. The bike and the swim feel great and the run is a killer with my feet and blood glucose (BG) levels. I don't think that I can run any farther than 14 miles in training without risking my feet. I should be fine at St George because I don't have to walk for a week after that event. In addition, my BG's are crashing with every run. Last Sunday, I tried to run 18 miles and only made just over 10 and was very frustrated.


My starting BG was about 150 and it immediately crashed to the mid 30's and then leveled to mid 40's

This process of crashing has taught me how to fuel and walk. It has also helped me, once again, mentally reset to finishing Ironman St George - period. It appears that I can average a 15min/mile pace if I am correcting a low with a walk/run combo. I think that the BG drops are directly associated with the fact that all aspects of training are peaking with April 9th being the toughest weekend.

Okay, on to more fun. I raced the 1650 yd freestyle today at the State meet with our son. I was pleased with my time of 20min48sec even those it didn't make the national cut at around 20min flat. I would never enter a distance event at nationals but I would have liked to make the cut. Tomorrow I am in sprint races and my son and oldest daughter are also in the meet. I think that we are all hoping to challenge for one victory each in our age groups. I am in 4 individual event and our kids are in 3 each. After the meet I get to get on the bike trainer until bedtime (hopefully the 7 hrs scheduled). I will then wake up early and run 14 miles before church. After church we head to California with an overnight stay in St George, Utah where I will swim the lake Monday morning in my wetsuit. Our son is moving to California on this trip and we will be leaving him and a car there. After some time with family and friends, I will be doing my first 1/2 Ironman at the Rohto Ironman California. I am Bib# 2354 and am in swim wave #20 starting at 7:39am Pacific. You should be able to go to the following link to track me during the race:

Rohto Ironman California Link

I then have 5 more weeks of training before competing at Ironman St George. You really need to watch this 30 second promo video of Ironman St George 2011. It was quite enlightening for me ;->.

30 second Promo for Ironman St George 2011

Thanks and follow me next Saturday at Ironman California

Brian Phelps

Ups & Downs

2011-03-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

By far, the up of the weekend was Zyler's Rockin Fundraiser at Buffalo Rose in Golden, CO on Saturday. It was an amazing event that was spearheaded by Zyler's Mom. It was great to see John and Maureen, the Masar's, the Zartun's and the Doyle's again. This fundraiser along with some recent donations and a couple of promised donations, this should put him over his goal.

Zyler's Parents who really pulled off an amazing fundraiser

A view from above of the fundraiser

Zyler and me at the fundraiser

Being in Golden reminded me of an old nemesis that I am going to attack on April 9th. Pictured below is Lookout Mtn and you should be able to see the switchback road that goes up the Mtn. That road beat me when I first arrived at Colorado School of Mines in Golden in 1983. In 2011, I am going up that Mtn and back down without stopping. That will be symbolic for me. BTW, the "M" is for Mines as in Colorado School of Mines.

Lookout Mountain

My weekend workouts were less than stellar. I had 6+ hours of sitting on the bike seat on an indoor trainer Saturday morning and I never really engaged mentally. Today, Sunday, I ran after church and immediately hit my low of the weekend within 2 miles. I felt low when I was at 120 and steady so I started to correct what I knew was coming. Sure enough, next was 102 and dropping then 78 and dropping then 57 double arrow down, 55 double arrow down, 41 double arrow down and finally off the chart low (somewhere below 39) for awhile. This all occurred within 10 minutes. The net result was a shortened run of about 10 miles (supposed to be 18) in a time that looked like a walking pace. At least the weekend ended with a family dinner celebrating my wife's birthday.

Thanks and I am looking forward to more competition and the peak and then taper off of the training.

Brian Phelps

5 Guns Down and 1 Put Away

2011-03-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

I had a fantastic weekend in Northern California this past weekend. I was able to deal with 5 starting guns in a Masters swim meet in Palo Alto and was pleased with how I handled the 1000 freestyle which was my most focused race to manage my pace and my adrenaline. This meet was an excuse to have a reunion of high school swimming friends from Visalia, California. We have a team/support group named the Visalia VFibs and our caps have a logo showing a heart beat going to a flatline ;-> We thought that we might lose one of our teammates in the 1000 when he looked like he wasn't going to make it. He has now agreed to do a 1/2 Ironman with me in 2012 and drop 45lbs - that makes me VERY happy.


Start of 1000 yd Freestyle

The Visalia VFibs Winnings

Before the meet ever started, I read an email on my Blackberry informing me that a gun had been put away. I have been attending Al Anon which is for friends and family members of chemically dependent people. I have been the primary contact for "a friend" that put himself in a 30 day in-patient rehab in October and is now finishing up at a Sober Living facility after 6 months which he decided to go to. I am also the primary legal contact during this process. Before I ever raced on Saturday, I read an email from a lawyer regarding my friend's legal issue. The incident occurred 18 months ago and had yet to be indicted by a Grand Jury. Technically he has been out on bond this whole time. The incident did occur and was a stupid act while under the influence (no one was hurt and it did not involve a car), nevertheless it did occur and had serious ramifications. The lawyer simply said that he had talked to the prosecutor and she was going to refuse to go forward with the charges and that the charges would be dropped. This was huge for him and our family. I talk weekly with my friend and he just wanted to face the judge and take the consequences as opposed to waiting indefinitely especially since he was about to get a fresh start as he finishes up at Sober Living. As a Christian, the best example that I can think of is Christ dying to pay the penalty for my sins which I deserve to be punished for but instead Christ paid my penalty. I was absolutely amazed. One of the Al Anon official slogans is "Let Go & Let God". It is meant to address the fact that many of us, like me, desire to control the uncontrollable. It suggests that we need to release it to God.


Words to Live By

As I was reading the email and explaining what had just happened to my childhood friends who were at the meet with me, a gentleman came up to me and asked if I was Brian Phelps. He introduced himself to me and he is a relative that I have never met in person. He saw that I was going to be in a meet (on Facebook) and took the chance to come to the meet and find me. Thanks for making the effort Gary!

Me with my relative, Gary

The Visalia VFib Crew

Later in the day, another gentleman saw my Triabetes jacket and introduced himself to me as the Executive Director of the American Diabetes Association in Northern California. He was competing in the meet himself.

Executive Director of the ADA

Finally, I had the great opportunity to meet Melissa Warren in person. She works for VSP (Vision Service Plan) and sponsors Team Type 1 and my brother as they make an impact in the diabetic community. Melissa's husband is a Type 1 himself.


My buddy, Eric with Melissa Warren and Myself

Go Time - Legs Shaved - Adenaline Training

2011-03-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Let me summarize the last two weeks first by saying that it was a good in most aspects of training, work, emotions, family and spiritually. I haven't admitted to that in, maybe, years. I am typing this blog from the trainer of the bike because I was supposed to ride easy for 6hrs 30min today followed by a 30 min brick run (simulation of bike to run triathlon transition). Instead, I am about an hour into my easy ride trying to get the lactic acid out of my thighs while fighting a bit of a low BG (59 right now and dropping). I am not doing 6 hours and not going to brick into a run BECAUSE I did a one hour indoor triathlon today where I trained mentally to deal with the adrenaline rush and to have fun with my wife and 4 friends who did their first triathlon today. I dealt with the adrenaline better than ever but couldn't turn off the competitive switch and stayed above my lactic/anaerobic threshold for the entire hour (not good).

Our Pastor Joel finishing up his first triathlon

Last night I was a bit late getting to bed because I shaved my legs and will keep them shaved until after Ironman St George. It is a safety factor for outdoor bike riding (hair rips flesh out when it rubs on asphalt) and it is a perceived speed advantage for swim meets. I now have 5 races in 4 cities in 10 weeks with the last one being Ironman St George.

Shaved left calf

I will start with last weekend. Last weekend was fantastic! I got to spend time with three diabetic kids and some of their parental units. I got up last Saturday at 3:30am to get my bike ride in so that I could take the crew ice fishing at 10am. It was great fun and enjoyed the time after fishing as well. The kids and one of our kids played Wii and had a cake making adventure that ended up with an amazing tasting result. I got up at 4am Sunday to run for 3.5 hrs before church. After church we went to John Moore's home to visit with him and his wife Maurine, who is now 20 weeks pregnant with twins. On a side note, I now believe that it is easier to be a diabetic than to be the parent of a diabetic.

Zyler and our daughter Megan - part of the cake-making crew - Ashlee took the photo

Ice Fishing Betes

Ashlee with a live minnow that she let go still alive

The whole ice fishing crew

John & Maureen Moore (recently voted "Nicest Couple in the World") with Zyler and Ashlee and the Twins about halfway to their day of birth

I received the highlight of the week in a message that I received on Facebook. I will include the quote because it means a lot to me but I have removed the names:

"I wanted to share a break through with you. Last night my kid was 66 right before dinner, instead of giving him juice, then not bolusing for all his dinner, I had him take 1 glucose tablet and bolus for his entire dinner. That night my kid went to bed at 135 and woke up this am at 135! No over correcting and 300’s after dinner. Yay us!"

Its stuff like this that will get me to the starting line and finish line of Ironman!!!

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Last Monday I tried to work out but the weekend caught up with me and I could only manage 1600 yds in the pool. Tuesday was much better and I felt great on a 90 minute bike ride. Wednesday I swam 3000 yds with my wetsuit in an indoor pool (had to get the feel of it again) and I ran 7 miles with most being sprint training on a track. Sprint is kind of an oxymoron when talking about me running. The REAL runner among the captains is Jenny Crandell as she proved in the Arizona Ragnar Relay. She claims that she is strongest in the swim but she proved her running skills and I will now refer to her as a "runner". Thursday was an adventure as I went for a scheduled "nice and easy" 3.5 hr ride. I planned a 72 mile ride (BIG math error) and timed it just as a cold front blew in with 30 mph winds. It was an okay ride and my wife picked me up at the 57 mile mark of the ride with hot chocolate because I was frozen. THANK YOU HONEY! Friday was an easy 2200 yd swim with friends. I also found out that I need to travel to New York in a week for a sales call so I will try to connect with my New York Betes while I am there. Its really fun getting to see people in person again. I got to do that today at the American Diabetes Association Expo in Denver where I got to listen to and talk with Carla Cox (genius nutritionist out of Montana) and got to see many friends. I also met about a dozen new friends many of whom I hope to connect with regularly. The last person I met said that he loved the Triabetes concept but that he was a Masters swimmer in Aurora, CO (me too!). I opened up with my frustration that at the big swim meets of Master swimming like the State championship meet with 600 people, you know statistically there should be at least 30 diabetics but I have never spotted one. We have to figure out how to change this. I know that runners and swimmers don't normally get along but its time to reach across the aisle and embrace our common challenges and mission ;->!

Next Friday I fly to the Bay area for a swim meet with friends. I entered my times from last year to get in the fast heats but I am sure that I won't hit them because I am not concentrated on swimming like I usually am. Again, I wanted the faster heats to work on my adrenaline control even though I probably won't be as fast as I want to be.

Thanks and sorry for the long Blog (off the bike now and BG is 106 and rising)

Brian Phelps

Active Diabetes Management - Please Forgive the Soapbox

2011-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

I have had some questions recently from parents of kids with Type 1 diabetes who are active or are becoming more active. The question is usually, "How do we fix all these swings in blood glucose readings?". My answer usually starts with the benchmark questions of, "What was the last A1C?" which is the gold standard for how the diabetes is being managed. This question really gets to the core of Insulindependence and its foundation of ACTIVE diabetes management and not sedentary diabetes management. Before I started training really hard, I had NEVER had a low below 50 and now I am below that most days at some point. When I was first diagnosed, my brother encouraged me to force a low and a high while my wife was around and I had proper rescue foods and insulin nearby. He wanted me to experience it so that I knew how to deal with it. I could easily flatline my blood glucose numbers if I went to bed and got up the same time each day, ate the same food for my meals everyday and never did anything strenuous (sedentary mgmt). Is that really a life? Isn't that letting diabetes drive my life? I want and need to drive my life and I need an advanced degree in ACTIVE diabetes management and learn all of the techniques to keep my A1C under 6 while still living a full and crazy life which is currently being topped off by the peak of my Ironman training.

Here is a chart of my glucose readings over a 4 day period:

For a normal person looking at this, they would say that I am out of control. The reality is that I believe that this is good management because all of the highs and lows are quickly corrected. BTW, I have never had to be rescued by someone because I was too low and became incoherent.

Here are some interesting data points tied to my heart rate for the same period. This is the Carlsbad Half Marathon run showing corresponding heart rate and blood glucose readings for the same period of time. The race started at the peak of my glucose reading on the left and ended as it leveled out around 60.


Heart Rate during Carlsbad Half Marathon

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Here is more data from today's indoor base building ride. The first heart rate data is from my 4hr 30min ride and the second heart rate data is from a 30 min stepper brick.

This is the associated blood glucose graph for the combined bike and stepper totaling 5 hours in duration. The exercise started at the peak from breakfast near the left side and ended at the red dot on the right.

So what, you ask, is my point in all this. My point is that this is not a flatline but it is good management and will hopefully result in an A1C under 6 at my Dr visit March 3rd.

Again, Insulindependence is all about ACTIVE diabetes management and living life to the fullest by dominating this disease. We want to Inspire diabetics to get out and live an active life, Educate diabetics about active diabetes mgmt and encourage them to get out and Explore all the possibilities open to them. This isn't 15 years ago when diabetics were considered frail and doomed to a variety of horrible outcomes. I am proud of my teammates and proud of Insulindependence for daring to push the boundaries to allow others to follow in our footsteps through mentoring from other diabetics who have been there and done that. For those living a sedentary lifestyle now, a brisk walk might drive you to a BG of 30. Just be prepared for it, turn it and keep doing it and the next thing you know it, you will be running, then cycling and then swimming and then becoming a Triabetes captain who now has the privilege to inspire others and the right to say, "follow me and I will join you in this journey!". DOMINATE DIABETES and LIVE!!!

All done now and stepping down off soapbox (up at 4:30am tomorrow for a 16 mile run 8-{ )

Brian

Catch Up Day

2011-02-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today was a catch up day at work, at home and with training. I went on a business trip to Florenceville, New Brunswick Canada to visit McCain in the Potato Capital of the World. Before my flight on Monday, I was able to get in 3650 yds in the pool. The trip was crazy with no sleep so I had to take Tuesday and Wednesday off from training.

Bridge leaving Florenceville

POTATO WORLD

Driving in the North Country

Last night I caught up on sleep and went to bed at 8pm after fighting off a rapid on-set low. Today I caught up at work with all the reps that I work with, caught up with most things at home and after work did a 2 hr tempo ride followed by a brick into a 5 mile night run.

I had fun setting up a group on Facebook for all of my second cousins (all in their 60's and 70's). If you don't know my story, I was the extreme baby in our family and I was born when my brothers were 20 and 18 (same parents). My Dad was born in 1917. Anyway, my Dad's mom had 7 siblings and it is that family that I set up a group for and everyone seems to be having fun with it.

Me & my wife, Pam, with my 2nd Cousins at a 2006 Reunion. I was the youngest at 41 (in 2006) and my oldest 2nd cousin was 75 years old (in 2006)

I also went to the gym today and got a Fit Point. I was excellent in stretching, strength and VO2 and average on fat (21%). Not happy with that fat percentage only because I was about 14% before I started training for Ironman and about 10 lbs lighter. I have been told to only worry about fueling my body and not cutting back on needed calories. I am sticking with the program until May, then I go onto my program and get back to where I want to be. I must admit I feel very fast in the water right now and very strong on the bike.

Here is an ad by Peyton Manning that summarizes my battle as a 46 yr old guy:

Peyton Manning Pep Talk on Rock Hard Abs

I am also VERY excited because I entered a swim meet in Palo Alto, CA in three weeks. I will wear my Triabetes cap for the 1000 yd free because that is what it represents. I will then switch to my Visalia VFibs cap for my sprint events (50 free, 100 free, 100 back and 50 fly). I am very excited to see my swimming friends from my youth again and get together at a meet to have a great time. I am also very excited about some of the spectators who will be there to support us. One swam with us as kids and is battling cancer right now - I am sure that we will swim extra fast so that we don't let down the team in the stands.


Visalia VFibs Swim Cap - Designed by Scott Vieira. I really enjoy the flatline at the end of the heart rhythm


Some Vfibers at our first swim meet together in November 2009. The guy on the right is Scott Vieira who designed the cap and the guy on the right is my brother, Roger, with a Dexcom CGM transmitter.

This is the cap I will be wearing in the 1000 free at the meet to represent the endurance challenges of Triabetes

Thanks

Brian Phelps

Winding Up & Winding Down

2011-02-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

The workouts are winding into the crazy phase which means that it is almost over. I vaguely see the light at the end of the tunnel on the 5+ hrs on the bike the 3+ hrs running and the 4000 yd straight swims. I did a 4000yd straight swim Friday followed by my first massage, a hike with diabetics Saturday followed by a 5hr 30min bike followed by a short run. Started today with a 14 mile run, then church then Yoga with my wife. The massage and the Yoga are new additions that I have been told that I need. I already explained why on the massage and the Yoga was added to fill in the gaps with my small muscles. I am also getting fairly good at dealing with lows before they affect me which are brought on by the many hours of training. I think that I have dipped into the 40's on seven different occasions today and successfully turned each one.

On a funner topic, I was greatly entertained with the latest (March) issue of Triathlete magazine. On page 26 is one of my diabetic peeps that we had the privilege to spend time with last month in California. Her name is Jen Davino:

Article About Jen Davino in Triathlete Magazine

In the same issue of Triathlete magazine there is a section starting on page 79 titled, "Top Races for 23 Triathlete Types". The three categories that caught my attention were Strong Swimmer, Strong Cyclist and Strong Runner.

Strong Swimmer is in Vermont (Aquaman Even Up Kingdom Tri), 3.5 mile swim, 30 mile ride and 13 mile run - supposed to be approximately even amounts of time on each discipline (I will go to this one someday).

Strong Cyclist is in France (Alpe d'Huez Tri) - No explaining needed here - just Google Alpe d'Huez and Tour de France - nuf said.

Strong Runner (drum roll please) is in a place called St George, Utah at Ironman St George. It says, " While Wildflower has been a contender in this category, with its brutally hilly trail run and predictable hot and dusty conditions, the newly launched Ironman St George instantly gained fame as having the toughest Ironman run on the circuit. Just looking at the online course profile is intimidating enough, much less traversing the steeply sloped loop two times through. One strong-running competitor in the inaugural 2010 event called the course "pure evil" on her way to a hard-earned Ironman PR". Yes, the running of Ironman St George has been put in the same category as Alpe d'Huez in the cycling category of Tri's. ROCK ON!!! BRING IT ON!!!!!

Yes my friends, this swimmer is doing the Ironman course that "strong runners" should choose ;-> That's okay, though, because when I finish, I won't wonder about whether I could have done any of the other courses. This means that YOU HAVE TO JOIN ME IN Saint George to witness this event that is the culmination of everything that you have supported me through to try to Inspire and Educate the diabetic community and encourage them to Explore all of the exercise and adventure options available to them because they can do anything.

First person (from Australia) out of the water last year in St George

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More people coming out of the water at the 1hr 4min mark (you have a maximum of 2hrs 20min to finish the swim)

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The last two finishers of Ironman St George last year (cutoff is 17 hrs) 2 minutes before midnight after a 7am swim start

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Thanks and I will see you, YES YOU, in St George, Utah sometime before 7am Saturday May 7th. You had better be cheering your face off when I exit the water sometime just before 8am (assuming race goes as planned)

Brian

Bad JuJu is Released - Now flushing out of my body

2011-02-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

I'll start with the end once again. I had my first mandatory deep tissue/athletic massage today. New and interesting levels of pain. I am now in the midst of drinking 135 ozs of fluid to flush the bad juju out from the massage releasing garbage from deep within my muscles. Its been a decent week of workouts and this weekend has 6 hours of riding and 14 miles of running in store for me. I was very encouraged watching two videos this week. One was of my teammate Vic whose daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last week and the other was a video of one of my younger teammates, Sarah, in Minnesota who is about the age of our oldest kid. She is the one who said that I had to get a monthly massage.

Vic Kinnunen - Triabetes Captain from Atlanta

Sarah Hankel - Triabetes Captain

My Triabuddy, Zyler, is doing great with his blood sugars and has beat me overall the last couple of days as we compare our highs and lows for the day.

Without going into too much detail, I had a very stressful day yesterday into the morning which finished with some honestly that released all of the stress. I can not express deeply enough how much that I love my good friends. They stepped in and really let me talk and release. One friend actually contacted me out of no where and asked what was going on. He said that he couldn't get me off his mind and that he was praying for me. You will never convince me that God's still small voice is powerful and is there for people who are listening. I spent quite awhile last night literally on my face in prayer for loved ones and strength for me to get through it. Again, it ended well but God is reminding me that he is in control and I need to stay in contact.

Different topic, but I am really happy with the contingent of people that will be coming to Ironman St George to cheer/jeer me on. The list is currently me, Pam, Megan Michelle, Mark, Steve, Joel (maybe), Anita, Ken, Ernie, Debby, Mike, Heidi, Ashlee, Jeannie, Melissa, Zyler, Terra & Michael with maybe's from Ben, Erica, Erica, Gerry, Grayson, Igor, Joanna, Kevin, Mark, Melanie, Morgan, Nathan, and Sally. I am going for broke and hoping for 100 people to come and watch me suffer and get extremely motivated by the courageous efforts of my teammates as we push through barriers that we have never experienced before. You can Beat the Betes and we are going to rock the house.

Thanks and I hope to blog a little sooner next time

Brian Phelps

Therein lies the Rub

2011-02-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

I thought that this was an appropriate title for today's blog. It was going to be a bit more humorous and sarcastic but my mood went a bit sour when I found out that the daughter of one of my teammates was in the hospital with what appears to be the onset of Type 1 diabetes. Therein lies the rub. This never stops. Thank God her Dad is an expert in diabetes management (because he has been one for a long time). What about those families who never see it coming and don't know what to do? I believe that we may be able to eventually keep people from triggering their immune system and prevent Type 1 from starting. For those of us who have already triggered their immune system, it is all about education and inspiration. We have the tools to dominate this disease today and we need education and inspiration from others already winning this war in their own lives.

Today I did a training ride of 90 minutes indoors (its supposed to go below -20 degrees F tonight). It was rather enjoyable as it was a tempo ride which means that I got to "go for it" for the middle 50 minutes. After creating a lake of sweat on the mat under my bike I went outside to cool off in -2 degrees. My CGM didn't reflect all the carbs that I loaded but I loved the photo next to the thermometer before going outside. Once outside, my wife had to take a video because of all the steam that I was generating in the wind in sub-zero temps.

I tested and was actually okay and rising on the BG but I thought it was a good photo before I went outside

Video of me after my ride standing outside when it was about -2 degrees F. Notice the steam pouring off me with the wind. Notice also that I don't exactly have the Atlas body and never will - sorry.

I skipped the 8.5 mile run today because I am fighting off a recurrence of plantar faciitis after the 15 mile run on Sunday. Therein lies the rub. I will fight to make it to the starting line of the Ironman and the biggest part will probably be to keep walking by managing my runs. The orthodics and Newtons have really saved me but anything over a half marathon seems to injure me.

I swam yesterday for 3600 yds and it felt great after running the day before. I warmed up with a 2000 yd swim which is my minimum now to try to get mentally used to swimming distances. I had a high school boy in the lane next to me who was getting prepared for the upcoming high school season. I enjoyed the company BUT I had a really hard time letting him go by me during the 2000 yds. Therein lies the rub. He appeared to be doing sets of 200's or 300's. He would initially get in front of me and then I got by him by the end of his swim. The problem was that I had to keep going so that wasn't too smart but I couldn't help myself.

I am a type A personality and I like to win when I have decided to compete. The trick for me, mentally, is choosing to compete in as little as possible. Therein lies the rub. When I ran the 1/2 marathon in Carlsbad my sugars spiked at the start line and it took 20 minutes for my heart rate to come down from 190 to 135. This is what I have been trained to do in sprint events. I have to be okay with finishing Ironman - end of story. I have to be calm at the start of the swim, I can't try to sprint the swim portion. I have to let people pass me in the swim. I can't push the bike climbs and I have to stay on the road and not push the descents to 50 mph . Finally, I HAVE TO KEEP RUNNING/WALKING during the marathon portion as people continue to pass me in droves. I am expecting to be in a good position after the bike but will probably lose a couple of hours on the run. I have actually had a recurring dream where the starting temp for Ironman is 28 degrees with a 50 mph wind causing huge whitecaps on the lake and making the bike miserable, not for me, though, because I am wearing my ice fishing gear. The advantage is that it takes out all of the really good runners (except my teammates who are fine in my dream). I know that I am disturbed but that is what my sub-conscience is coming up with for race day. In summary, I have to finish this Ironman because Zyler, my family and a bunch of other diabetics will be at the finish line expecting nothing less from me.

Thanks and stay warm (-8 here now before 7pm and dropping fast)

Brian Phelps

Insult to - Well Insult (no injury) - Long Weekend

2011-01-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

I start with the end this time. This morning Mark and I arrived at Aurora Reservoir when it open just before 7am along with all of the ice fishermen (my people). This difference was that Mark and I were not there to fish. We were there to get in 15 miles of running before heading to church. When we started out running, we heard one group of ice fishermen say, "Look at those crazy runners out here this early!". That hurt, that really hurt. I love being called a crazy ice fisherman but not a crazy runner. That is just wrong especially when the offending party is "my people", other ice fishermen on one of my favorite ice fishing lakes that is 10 min from our home. The run was fine but slow and the muscles in my hips were telling me that I had been on my bike for 4 hours the day before and ran for 25 minutes. I ended up going to bed last night at 7:30pm last night because I had to. I just couldn't stay awake any longer. I signed up for three events on Friday, one of which I am very excited for. I signed up for the Lifetime Fitness 1 hr triathlon for March 5th which I am doing with about 4 friends, all of whom are using this as their intro to triathlons. I also signed up for the Rattlesnake Olympic triathlon August 20th and the Harvest Moon 1/2 Ironman distance race of Sept 11th. My friends, Steve and Joel are joining me for both of these events and it will be the first Oly and Half for both of them. What I didn't tell them is that I actually signed up for the Aquabike on Sept 11th which means that I quit after the bike (this is the one I am excited for).

It is crunch time now for training and competition. 97 days of tough training left before Ironman St George and about 62 left before my first 1/2 Ironman in Oceanside, CA.

I have an invitation for everyone. I am inviting YOU to come watch us at Ironman St George. I have 10 rooms reserved at the luxurious Motel 6 which is right next to the 24hr Dennys and strategically located on the race course. The event is Saturday May 7th and if you need to fly into Las Vegas on Friday, I will coordinate getting you to St George (about 90 minutes away). If you drive from Visalia, its about an 8 hour drive, if SoCal, its 4-5 hours and if its the Denver area its a 12 hour drive. I will be there all week prior and leave Sunday afternoon or Monday morning by car. I will also offer to pay for the Friday night stay at the Motel 6 if that will help you decide to come and join us. Transportation from Vegas and 1 night stay at a Motel 6. Who could refuse such an offer? JUST DO IT!!! I need people to jeer, I mean cheer, me on.

Thanks and there are still slots available for the Ironman St George event if you want to do the event with me ;->

Brian Phelps

Great Weekend - A Lot of Thoughts

2011-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in my hotel room getting ready to present to a class of 80 IBMers before flying on to Atlanta tomorrow. I had a long flight to reflect on the weekend and all of the lessons and memories that came from it. The summary is that it was great but it was also confusing and often frantic and not as planned.

First, let me start by rewinding. For some reason, I played a minor part in living through my friends the death of their loved ones. The first was through my friend Mark. He had planned to travel to San Antonio one week ago Thursday to visit his family and basically say, "goodbye", before moving to Africa this summer after he retires from the military. He received a call 5 days or so before his flight with the news that his sister (in San Antonio) died unexpectedly. Through this loss, he regained a brother. He was able to reconnect in a real and meaningful way with his brother, who he had lost contact with for a variety of reasons. Sometimes when God takes something away, we need to see what he might be bringing for us. The second was with a swimming friend that I see a few times each year in Masters swimming. He is a younger guy (around 30) and wanted to go ice fishing and I took him. What I didn't know was that his grandmother, who lived a few hours away, was on her death bed and he decided to fish because that is what his grandmother would have wanted him to do. He texted me while I was at dinner with my wife that his grandmother died while he was fishing and thanked me for one of the best days of his life. I didn't really know how to process that comment. It was a short afternoon (2 hrs) of fishing for me, except that I got skunked for the first time in 3 years and enjoyed getting a chance to start a new streak. My lesson here is to not underestimate your importance to others especially when you invite them into your world.

Ok, on to the weekend. The weekend started out Friday with a swim workout with Zyler and Jen. That was followed by memories that were made at the race banquet Friday evening where Zyler and Ashlee were presented as Heros of the Carlsbad Marathon and Peter was presented the highest honor with the Spirit of Joshua award.

Me with Zyler in front of his award poster

Zyler with Peter in front of his award poster

Peter had a very meaningful point in his acceptance speech. He told of the time in the Spring of 2008 when his was scheduled to do an ocean swim with his triathlon club. He slept through 3 alarms and didn't make it to the swim. Out of the 9 that did show up, 8 came out of the water alive and Dave Martins was killed by a Great White shark. 24 hours later, Dave's son was swimming in the exact spot where his Dad was killed to prove that the shark was not going to beat him also. To this day, Peter is terrified of sharks but refusing to quit swimming and surfing in that same water. The lesson here is that there are no guarantees in life and that you must face your fears in order to live.

Friday after the banquet, I drove back to San Diego about 45 minutes to pick up my friend Mark who joined us for the weekend and left right after work. He still came even though his sister had died just 2 weeks earlier. That means a lot to me. He made me pay for it though. We ended up going to bed at 12:30am and then getting up at 4:30am (4 hrs later) so I could drive him back to San Diego to see a fishing boat come in that had been out for 16 days. He made me promise that I would go on a 10 day fishing trip with him in October of 2012 when he visits back from Africa.

Mark with a few of the smaller Yellowfin Tuna that were caught on the 16 day boat

After dropping off Mark, I drove back 45 minutes to run with Zyler in the Kids Mile at Legoland. After the race, I took everyone to the beach to join our group for surfing and coffee. After that, I went back to San Diego to pick up Mark and join everyone on the beach. I didn't surf, but I enjoyed swimming and taking photos of our diabetic surfers.

Blair surfing off the beach in Carlsbad

I think that I was doing a little too much because at this point on Saturday my brain was gone, gone, gone. Pam and Mark were really watching me closely because I was not myself and couldn't think (at all). We dropped Zyler and his Mom off at Legoland and Pam, Mark and I went back to the beach where Mark ran, I worked on my speech for that night and Pam enjoyed the warmth and sunshine. We then went to the Insulindependence banquet where I was also looking forward to seeing my brother for the first time in quite awhile. Zyler and I gave a speech to the crowd of about 150 diabetics/family/friends before they raced and volunteered the next morning in the Carlsbad half and full marathon. I have to give presentations all the time including tomorrow morning. I was nervous for this one though. It mixed my life with my family with my faith, with my friends and with my training. This was almost too much for me to process. That might be why my blood sugar crashed as soon as I arrived at the event. Zyler enjoyed watching me shove an entire tube of glucotabs into my mouth at once. I would like you to listen to the speech on YouTube and I have included a link to it here. I think it is about 10 minutes in length.

Zyler & Me Giving a Speech to Diabetic Runners

That evening was really amazing because I got to meet people that I have been "friends" with on Facebook. I also was very happy to see my brother arrive. We went to bed around 10:30pm that night but needed to get up a little while later to help a bit when Zyler had a persistent low that neither he nor his Mom could turn. We got it turned but the next morning I found out that it came back and that it was a very long night for Zyler and his Mom.

Sunday Morning was Race Morning: My brother drove the volunteers to their station and that left me and Mark in the room to prep for the race. I celebrated the day reading out of the Daily Bread for me and Mark and I really enjoyed that time. We had a VIP Parking Pass - THANK YOU Hero Zyler! We had no traffic and parked right by the start line where we relaxed in the car with the heater on for 45 minutes before getting out and joining the crowd. I am proud to announce a very successful PRP (as opposed to Mark's 12 mile MRP incident). I had a good and uneventful race. The weather was perfect and the course was beautiful. My blood sugars started high, around 230, because I could not calm my nerves and my liver was dumping sugar into me. This was the first race, ever, that I carried insulin with me. I ended the race at 65 and level. One less unit of insulin at the turnaround and I think that I would have measured it perfectly. The rise at the end was after I had eaten quite a bit after the race.

Dexcom CGM showing race blood sugars. Started at 230 and ended level at 65.

My time was 2hrs 15min. Nothing record breaking but it was steady and it felt good. My feet loved the orthodics and the Newton running shoes.


Me between mile 9 and mile 10 of the race showing insulin needle and CGM

Sunday afternoon I took Zyler and his Mom to the airport to fly home. After that, I really enjoyed going to the home of one of my 1st cousins, Dean and his wife, Trish. Roger, Pam and Mark also went. Roger and Dean were good friends as kids and I probably hadn't seen Dean in 37 years because I was pretty young the last time that Dean had seen me. Sunday night was an excellent night of sleep.

Monday was a big day for my brother because it wasn't just his 64th birthday but his daughter, Marisa, also gave birth this morning to his grandson, Jedidiah, who will now share his birthday with him.

Jedidiah born today

Roger, Pam and Mark went to the beach one last time while I went to the pool to get a workout in. It was then off to the airport where everyone went home except me. That is why I am now in Dallas ready to start a short work week. I really enjoyed the sunset on the flight from San Diego to Dallas.

Thanks and sorry for the longest blog entry ever

Brian

Leavin On a Jet Plane

2011-01-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I leave to join a diabetic convergence on the Carlsbad Marathon near San Diego. Weather is supposed to be beautiful with highs in the 70's and lows in the low 40's for the 4 days we are going to be there. I am looking forward to this. Joining me will be my wife, my Triabuddy ,Zyler, and his Mom along with my friend, Mark. Also driving down from Ojai will be my brother, Roger.

Tomorrow evening, Zyler will be presented as a Hero of the Marathon. Saturday morning Zyler, me and his Mom will run the Kid's mile followed by surfing (maybe). In addition, Zyler and I will be the inspirational speakers in Carlsbad Saturday night to the other diabetics that have come in for the event. It will be interesting to see if I can hold it together after watching my documentary and then follow Zyler and his Mom. I am running the half marathon on Sunday along with more than 80 marathon and half marathon diabetic runners. Monday I stick around and get to celebrate my youngest brother's birthday with him (he is going to be 64).

Zyler Zartun - A Hero of the Carlsbad Marathon

Link to the Video of My Documentary that will culminate in May at Ironman St George

This time last year I was traveling to Las Vegas for a Master's swim meet and I fully intended to do the same this year but my buddies and my brother could not make it. I will wait for the weekend to conclude but I have a feeling that this was the right choice. Even though I am a swimmer and compete as a "normal" swimmer, I don't have the opportunity yet to make an impact on other diabetics in the pool. The other swimmers only know that I specialize in the sprint butterfly and sprint backstroke. They have no clue that I am diabetic and I have no clue if there are any other diabetics at the meet (other than my brother). Participating in this diabetic community event in Carlsbad is going to be special.

After celebrating my brother's birthday on Monday, I will travel to Dallas for work Tuesday morning and then travel on to Atlanta until next Thursday when I get to come back home. What that means is that I "worked" on my bike trainer for almost 4 hours today since I won't be back on the bike for a full week.

Thanks and its off to sunny Southern California for a few days

Brian Phelps

It was the Best of Times and the Worst of Times

2011-01-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

I land from Toronto at home last night and get a text from our son saying that he needed to talk to me. I pulled over and called expecting the worst. It was an incredibly emotionally and uplifting conversation because he know what I was going through. No one knows me like Michael does. He encouraged me in ways he will never know. If I finish Ironman, I am going to look for him, hug him and cry my eyes out. He is in the documentary that was just published about my adventure and that is very emotional because he was interviewed before he checked himself into a rehab facility and is now is a much better place.

Brian Phelps - Triabetes Captain 2010/2011

Today started with a lot of work and then I ran for lunch 8 miles around the lake. The 8 mile run around the lake was very enjoyable but slow 1hr 27min. Went back home and got stuff done. I was about to eat dinner and then I saw my portion of the Triabetes filming show up by email. I was half way through it and my wife came in and said my elderly neighbors needed me there now to deal with their grand kid who they are raising. They were afraid he was going to attack them (this kid has a record of arrests and drugs). I was fired up and dealt with the situation without touching him. I then went to swim in a very angry mood. Needless to say my nice easy 4100 yds was done fairly quickly. I honestly tried to go easy for my timed 2000 yds but I kept picking up the pace because it felt good and I felt the anger leaving me. I was expecting about 30 min but I did it in just over 26 minutes. Blah blah blah, quit whining and look at my run time above ;->.

It can't believe I am saying this, but I am looking forward to my 4hr 15min ride tomorrow morning before I go ice fishing at a local lake. Mind numbing exercise is becoming enjoyable now.

Thanks and please donate an obscene amount of money to my Triabuddy, Zyler, as he leads out and inspires other diabetics to dominate their disease just like he is doing.

Zyler is traveling with his Mom to San Diego next weekend for the Carlsbad marathon. He is running in the Kid's Mile. What is SUPER COOL is that Zyler was selected as a "Hero of the Marathon" out of 9000 runners and will be treated as a VIP along with his Mom. He will be presented an award at a VIP dinner Friday evening and will be speaking in front of 200 other diabetics on Saturday night. Zyler, YOU ROCK!!!

Donate to Zyler and Impact the Lifes of Diabetics

Brian Phelps

Its a New Year Transition

2011-01-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

It is now 2011 and I am transitioning back from no routine to routine and from fishing to work and training. I have read several blogs of peers and their struggles that they are facing with motivation and discipline. I will just say, "me too". I have thoroughly enjoyed my break by fishing with friends and connecting with my new diabetic friends like Will, John, Zyler and Madi. We celebrated last night with Madi as her Mom had a birthday, I got to go to a Nuggets and Broncos game with Zyler and I got to ice fish with Will. Although I still haven't met John in person, I am looking forward to meeting him after his next break from school. Reality struck as one of my teammates (Thanks Christian ;->) reminded me that I have a 1/2 marathon to run in 2 weeks, my first half Ironman Tri in 2.5 months and my first and last full Ironman Tri in 3.5 months. The "suggested" workouts are now 2-4 hrs in duration each day and I will have to train smart. In addition, work is now in full gear and I have 4 requests for me to travel.

I am currently sitting here on the couch on a Saturday morning watching fishing shows and dreaming of the Florida Keys. I broke away mentally long enough to get some work done, write this blog and start thinking about my 3hr+ bike ride. I think that I will time the ride to coincide with an NFL playoff game. I am expecting my motivation to hit high gear in two weeks with I travel with my wife, my friend (Mark) and my Triabuddy, Zyler, and his Mom to Carlsbad (San Diego) to run a 1/2 marathon with a couple hundred other diabetics. This will opportunity to meet and get to know the real Type 1 diabetic endurance athletes from across the country. My brother, Roger who is also a Type 1, will be driving down Saturday evening to meet up with us. I am also THRILLED to pre-announce that my Triabuddy, Zyler, has been selected as a "Hero of the Race". There are 9000 runners and Zyler will be one of about 10 "Heros" that will be treated as VIPs. He was selected as a hero for taking life head-on as a Type 1 diabetic. I am so proud and will probably be in tears as he is presented at the banquet on Friday evening of the race weekend.

Finally, I had a lot of time to reflect as I spent a few days with a friend from California. He came out to have an adventure with me on the ice. That occurred and we also had some good talks. He has walked a road that I have also been on but probably didn't realize. It was a great time of getting perspective and ponder the guidance. Thanks Scott.

Let's Ride!

Brian Phelps

Anniversary, Run, Swim, Tree Down and Waiting for Deep Freeze

2010-12-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

I finally felt good enough to exercise again today. I did something last week that absolutely messed me up. I wasn't sick but I needed to sleep all the time and I had zero energy to do anything. That is over now and I am back to feeling somewhat normal. I will credit it to the dinner my wife and I had at Cheddar's last night to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. I got in about 1 hour of running today and swam a little also. I will try to get in a couple of hours of cycling on a trainer tomorrow.

I am looking forward to an exhausting week coming up. Friday we are hoping to have a few friends over early and then go fishing Saturday followed by a Nuggets game Saturday night and then church Sunday followed by a Broncos game on Sunday afternoon (not a big sports fan but it should be fun with a couple of Triabuddies and other Betes buddies). Monday going to ice fish before picking up my friend, Scott, from California who is here to - yep - ice fish. Tuesday morning we should get a good swim workout in early and then head into the mountains to fish for two days. Did I mention that the high this Friday in Denver is supposed to be 10 with a low well below zero? That will really set up the ice for us in the mountains and maybe even here near home. I will do my best to get in my running and cycling in there somewhere. Believe it or not, my ice fishing trips and hauling the sleds at 10,000 feet are usually more exhausting than my workouts. Its probably because I go anaerobic a lot which isn't the best for endurance training (so I'm told).

I must be going a little crazy because I actually paid money this week to buy a 1/2 marathon transfer so that I can run (yes run) in Carlsbad, CA later in January along with my friend Mark. Thanks Jen and Felicia for the slots although I wish you could have used them yourselves without the injuries. I am also running in the Kid's Mile the day before with my Triabuddy, Zyler. Speaking of Zyler, I am very excited for some recognition that he is getting and I will let you know what that is as soon as I know that it is public information.

I am also hoping to meet a new diabetic friend that is visiting his folks here in Colorado for a few days up from New Mexico. He rides way more miles on his bike than I ever will. We connected through Triabetes and we got to communicate a bit about possibly fishing while he is here.

Thanks and I also got the Christmas tree down and out this evening

Brian Phelps

Bad Run - Skipped Bike - Fun Christmas

2010-12-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had probably the worst run in months. I had to skip my run day when I went ice fishing on Tuesday (that trip was by far the hardest exercise of the week) so I tried to run yesterday on my off day. I was going to run 8 miles with my friend, Mark, around Aurora Reservoir and I started out a bit high on BG so I ate more carbs and covered with 2 units of insulin. That apparently was one too many. I started the run at the highest point on the graph below and ending on the second highest point on the graph after rapid corrections. I had no idea why I felt so bad but figured it out when I got the quadruple buzz from the Dexcom. I cut the run short and turned around at 2.5 miles for a total of 5 miles (walk/run). This could have been a new record low because the Dexcom wouldn't tell me the actual number once it dropped below 40.

Today, Christmas was probably one of the best in many years. We brought our son, Michael, in by video Skype to join us in the festivities, the family reading of Luke 2 and he was able to play Wise or Otherwise with the family. Midday, I watched two good movies, A River Runs Through It (emotional for me) and What About Bob? while all animals and people slept on the couch (including Mark). Pam and I were the only ones awake. Puppy Koie also livened the day especially when she pulled a fast one and stole Jenny's (other border collie) toy while she was unwrapping it and she was left with just the paper (video below). BTW, I was supposed to ride 3.5 hours on the indoor trainer today and that simply did not and will not happen.

It has been a hard year but I made it through with the love of my wife and friends and my faith. Anyone who thinks they are owed a perfect life is wrong. We all fall short of God's standard and must rely on his forgiveness that He offers all of us through His Son Christ and the price he paid for our sins by being our blood sacrifice on the cross. If we turn from our old life and path and accept His gift of new life, we can have an assurance of our future. That is why we celebrate Christmas.

I am very thankful for my lifelong friends and for the new friends that God has given me this year.

Merry Christmas

Brian Phelps

Great Swim & New Family Member

2010-12-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

I had a fun day today. I worked a bit, finished Christmas shopping and got a good swim workout in.

Swim Workout:
I did 4350 yards and in took me 1 hr 15 min total
600 warm up
2000 timed swim (did it in 28 minutes)
300 flutter kick
100 fly kick
100 breastroke kick
200 backstroke kick
200 fly kick on back
200 backstroke
200 stroke work with alternating breathing side to side
100 one arm fly drill
50 easy
50 fly all out
50 easy
100 IM all out
100 warm down

New Family Member:
Our oldest daughter surprised us by conspiring with the breeder who we are working with for our next puppy border collie. We had already picked her out but we thought we were not going to get her for a couple of weeks. Her name is Koie (KO EEE) and she is named after a Manta Ray that kept chasing Pam the last time we were in Hawaii.

Merry Christmas

Brian

Enjoying the Season of Working Out & Fishing - Fishing is actually a harder workout

2010-12-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

I just finished another 1 hour on the bike trainer and it was easy from a physical and mental perspective. I am feeling that I am getting there although my weight is up about 5 pounds and I am hoping it is leg muscle. I went ice fishing with 15 other people yesterday with 3 newbies. We woke up at 2:30am and hiked about 2.5 miles for the days with the sleds and about 400 yards of land crossing to get around open water. Everyone, including the newbies caught fish including my newest friend, Will. He is a 22 year old Type 1 that I met in line for a Red Green autograph. His is a part of our crew now and will be fishing with us often. That trip of hauling heavy sleds over the land crossing of muddy conditions just about did me in. I have included a photo of Will with his first fish on ice and a photo of me, my Triabuddy Zyler and Will (all type 1's) who are totally wiped out and ready for a comfy chair. Two of us dipped under a BG of 40 later that evening. We knew it was coming and acted appropriately but our sensitivity to insulin was extreme.

I am really enjoying my time with my new diabetic friends and ice fishermen, Zyler & Will.

My new buddy, Will, and his first fish on ice. He is definitely "keeping his stick on the ice" in Red Green tradition

Our own version of Team Type 1 with me Zyler and Will sitting exhausted on our rock after the trek off the ice.

Finally, I wanted to share what I posted today on Facebook and I really believe it:

I am thinking about the "gifts" that some have to minister to others. These "gifts" are cancer, addiction, mental illness, etc. and, in my case, diabetes. Only a diabetic can truly have an honest conversation with another diabetic. Horrible in and of themselves, they also have the silver lining of the opportunity to reach out to others with the same "gift". Here is a Paul Harvey link that I am posting. This Paul Harvey story is a wonderful analogy of why God took on the "gift" of being human at Christmas. It will really make you think.

Paul Harvey's Story of the Birds

Thanks

Brian Phelps

Running is now about Running

2010-12-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

This was a decent couple of days with some hard workouts. I put in 3400 yds in swimming, had some business in St Louis, rode on my indoor bike trainer for 3hrs 15min yesterday morning and then ran 10 miles today. There are no more structural excuses in running now. My only limitations now are muscles, lungs, fueling and blood sugars. No more structural excuses available to me for my feet. I did the 10 miles today in 1hr 38min with my heart rate in the high 140's and low 150's. I ran in my Newtons and they felt great. I started running with my BG at 68 and falling but I had already heavily fueled and knew that it was going to hit soon. About 20 minutes into the run, I was at 119 (good number). As I watched my numbers, I saw them falling again so I hit the fueling fairly hard and never got below 102. My numbers then climbed steadily to about 135 by the end of the run. I know this is obvious to other diabetics but I need to bring insulin with me on my runs because optimally I would have taken one unit when I was at 120 and rising. I owe this to the concept that I learned in iD University that fueling for blood glucose levels is different than fueling for exercise. What this means is that I took more insulin than I needed before the run so that I could fuel heavier. This meant that I was low and going down at the beginning but it allowed me to fuel like I needed to for the run.

A really positive point this week was when I got a photo from one of my Type 2 friends while I was in St Louis showing him getting a good cardio in while he was working at his job. This is absolutely awesome especially since his schedule is ridiculous and needs to multitask in order to exercise. Do whatever it takes to beat diabetes.

Finally, I got to finish this week off at the home of my Triabuddy Zyler's family. We had a very nice Christmas get together with them, Madi and her family and John and Maurine. That was a great time especially since I hadn't been able to meet this part of Madi's family until today.

Thanks

Brian

Motivation Down but Still Going

2010-12-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

This holiday season with its travel and indoor training has me a little unmotivated to make my daily workouts. HOWEVER, I am still doing them. I needed to say that for friends who are perpetually unmotivated to save their lives for their families. Today I rode on my indoor trainer for 1hr 45min as scheduled although not thrilled to do it. I want to enjoy the season which, for me, includes copious amounts of ice fishing. I have to travel again tomorrow to St Louis for business. I will swim with friends before I leave and I should be able to run before my meetings Friday meeting in St Louis.

On the work front, one of the reps that I work with closed a great deal to finish off the year and that was awesome. I also texted with my triabuddy, Zyler and our BG ranges were similar. His high was 239 and his low was 64. My high was 200 and my low was 68. Zyler is really doing awesome and I am looking forward to spending a Christmas get together with his family and Madi's family on Sunday afternoon and evening.

I am feeling stronger and stronger although my motivation is temporarily waning through this season. Again, I am still doing the workouts but just not happily.

My wife and I visited our son in Florida over the past few days and we really enjoyed our time with him and watching him getting stronger and healthier. He is in a sober living facility and is now 90 days clean. I am very proud of him because it was his call to get help and his call to move to the sober living facility. We continue to pray for him and would ask anyone that feels lead to pray for his success as well.

Me with our son Michael snorkeling Looe Key with Sharks and Barracuda

Me just goofing off for the photo. I really LOVE the water.

Thanks

Brian Phelps

Starting and Ending on North Ocean Boulevard

2010-12-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

My wife and I had another great day with our son in Delray Beach, FL. We started the day with breakfast at Caffe Luna Rosa on North Ocean Blvd and I ended the day with a 10k run along the Atlantic ocean on North Ocean Blvd. My calves are sore but it was a great day. Pam and I have to go back home tomorrow and our reality will change. We have been "suffering" through record low temperatures with a severe cold front here in South Florida. Its horrible with the high only being 60 and the low at 35 especially since this is as bad at it gets for Winter here. Its a good thing we are going back to Colorado ;->. We also got to visit the IGFA (International Game Fish Assn) Hall of Fame today. I used to have a world record for a insignificant fish but that even was broken a couple of years ago.

Pam & Michael at Caffe Luna Rosa with the Atlantic Ocean in the background.

Michael & Me at the IGFA Hall of Fame

Thanks and I am looking forward to seeing two of my diabetic buddies on Sunday after I get back home to Colorado.

Brian Phelps

Switch from Women's Seat to Men's Seat - Great Move

2010-12-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

I had to ride for 3 hrs today and was very appreciative of my new bike seat which is a men's seat. I found out the the other seat that I purchased was a women's seat and it really made a BIG difference.

Still no plantar faciatus after the customer orthodics so my running is feeling good also.

Got a shock today to find out that one of my classmates from high school is pregnant (I'm 46). That was exciting and very scary.

I had a great day ice fishing yesterday with a new friend, Russell, who caught two CO Master Angler award fish.

I am really having fun with Zyler. He beat me for the first time today with BG levels. His high was 139 and his low was 88 - basically a perfect day.

Here are Russell's Master Angler Fish from his first day ice fishing:

Thanks

Brian Phelps

For Unto Us a Child is Given

2010-12-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

GOD is Good!
Normally you would start with the appetizer and main course but I am going to start with the dessert of the last two weeks. I received a text yesterday from a friend that we have been praying for to be able to have a child. They have been trying to have a child for years and recently allowed us the privilege of sharing in this with them so my wife and I and some friends have been praying for them for about one month. The text that I received yesterday was, "Your prayers came true! Times 2. We are pregnant with twins.....". It doesn't get any better than this! I should just stop here but its been a busy couple of weeks so I need to add some other things.

Adding a Puppy
We are also adding to our home with a border collie puppy and she gets to come home around Christmas time.

Ice fishing continues although it makes it very difficult to stick to the same level of workouts since these trips really wipe me out. I have a business trip to Madison tomorrow but will fish on Thursday. Here is a video and a photo from a recent trip that you might enjoy.

What Pastor Joel does on his Day Off
Pastor Joel Riding the Wind

Orthodics
I ran for the first time today with my custom orthodics and they appear to work great for my problem. I will, however, have to toughen up my arch because the highest part of my arch began to blister after the 6 miles probably because no shoe had ever been able to touch that part of my arch before.

Thanks

Brian

Test of Blogspot!

2010-12-06T08:33:00.001-08:00

This is a test to make sure the Blogspot is working since Tumblr appears to be having perpetual "issues"