Running with Type 1

Been awhile huh?  A lot has happened since 2018 came upon us, and I've been holding on for dear life, but, all is well. Back tracking a few steps.. First, I now know that the cliche, "just wait until you have kids" isn't so much a cliche, but rather a humbling reality.  Your life really does get flipped upside down, in the most beautiful, exhaustive way possible.  My man is 6.5 months now, so the sleep does get better.  You just need to accept sleep walking for the first few months, and eventually, it balances out, hopefully. It was a long, and painfully cold winter.  I tip toed and flirted with exhaustion on a regular basis due to the lack of sleep and not so much overzealous workouts, as I have in the past.  I had a lingering foot, ankle injury that I couldn't seem to shake for the 2nd half of February and all of March.  I'd take several days off, run easy and feel good, and within 24 hours, the lingering pain would creep back in.  It ...

I have another splash of caffeine on a Sunny Friday morning. A light workload for the day, before 8 am, the weekend is oh so close, and the good vibes are flowing. Jotting down some random clutter in my head, I get an itch to check the local race schedule.  With a Half Marathon in 3 weeks and 2 weeks post a 30k road race, I am planning on a few more strong yet shorter efforts.  All in an effort to peak for 13.1 on 5/6. "Hmm..no 5ks in sight, 10k maybe?"  I ponder back and forth, ultimately deciding against any spur of the moment race effort. All of a few moments later, I jot down another note, and then, like most impulsive runners, "Alright, one last look.  How about runhigh.com?"  We're in luck.  Saturday April 14th, 22nd Annual Martha's Run, 10K @ Mt. Lebanon High School.  I read in a little more; oh wow, there's a lot of history here.  It's a tribuatory race towards a local slain officer who loved to run.  I call my wife, s...

"Just wait until you're my age, kid.." A phrase that is used and abused, one that sends shockwaves down my spine as nails on a chalkboard, yet a phrase that unfortunately carries some truth.  Growing up as athletes, it's like we're blessed with endless energy and our days are non stop.  Heavy weights in the gym, pick up basketball for a few hours, come home, shower and then head out until late night.  Maybe eat some junk food past midnight, get to sleep late, wake up and do it again.  You're invincible with hardly any color under your eyes.  Somewhere in your late 20s, at least for me, but many others alike, you start to take a second look at your life's shenanigans and wonder how you can better utilize time, and more importantly, rest.  The idea of overtraining or going too hard wasn't even a thought until almost 29.  I jumped into Half Marathon training, and too my ignorant surprise, I was terribly run down and my vitals had shown it.  C...

A fair question to runners, what makes you tick?  What's so damn enticing about the whole endeavor? I ask myself this quite often.  I didn't grow up with runners in my family, it was nothing that I was ever exposed to at a young age.  I grew up in a football obsessed family and community.  I've alluded to this before in earlier posts, but until 21 years old, anything over 1 mile was long distance running.  I am not even sure if I ran for 30 minutes straight before I was about 23. To have predicted that in 2018 that I'd be training for my first marathon is about as bizarre as it gets. Initially there was zero desire to venture towards 26.2, very naive and humble beginnings. When you hear somebody say, "running is an addiction," I'd gladly co sign that statement.  If a licensed psychologist was to break down the psychology of endurance runners, there would be many parallels to an addictive personality, for a lack of better terms. I've found the r...

At the beginning of 2017 I channeled my focus on getting more time on my feet and logging more miles.  After the death march of my first Half Marathon in May 2016, I loved the hurt so much, I had to do it again.  Odd?  Yes, probably. I ran for years before, but crossing that finish line of the HM after several 5 and 10k's let me know, there's a lot of room for improvement.  I now consider 2009-2015 my ramp up years.  I was running for fitness, blood sugar control and the fun happy endogenous chemicals following a run. My quest to run 100 miles in one month was something looming over my head for awhile.  In reality, it's a pretty modest number of miles for a guy aspiring to run Half Marathons and eventually 26.2 and beyond.  But, I am realistic. Jumping up from my usual 15 mpw split across 3-4 runs for years, to suddenly ramp up to 50 mpw would be a recipe for disaster.  I want to be smart with my approach.  30 years from now, I hope to be...

After years of keeping a personal journal, and brainstorming with my younger brother, I finally pulled the figurative trigger with a blog, one year ago today. No it hasn't generated a million followers, no I haven't gained sponsorship.  Collectively, I may have a couple hundred views.  However, that's a couple hundred more views that I wouldn't have if never published.  Maybe, just maybe, somebody came across my stories and found themselves relating to their own journey thus far, and clicked away with some positive reinforcement. I opened up with word vomit about my early struggles with diabetes and the slippery slope of athletic dreams.  Being an athlete was something that gave me identity, it gave me confidence, it gave me desire to keep pushing. I didn't know what anxiety was in high school.  I didn't understand the cumulative impact my nightly panic attacks were taking on me, yet.  Terrors of low blood sugar and waking up in a hypoglycemic seizure...

"In our 40 years of the Pittsburgh Great Race, we're experiencing record high heat, stay hydrated, be safe out there, good luck runners.." Blood sugar, in check.  I pat both pockets, 1 chocolate GU, 1 salted caramel GU.  Shoes tied.  Phone securely locked in place on my waist belt, my tunes at an appropriate level.  The countdown to the gun, now under 1 minute.  I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes, opened them up, seconds before the gun.  I glanced ahead, the gun is fired. The summer heat was brutal here in Pittsburgh.  I pushed through every run and told myself, tough training for fast fall racing.  The past two years I've raced in end September, especially last year, the cool Autumn air was in full effect.  Last year I can recall wearing a beanie because the morning air was quite chilly. Conditions out of a racer's utopia.  I checked the weather forecast one week prior to race day, my mouth dropped.  "Sunday September 24...