So I'm suppose to be blogging consistently since I'm a Triabetes captain...but I have not. It's been over 2 months since my last blog, and it is almost 2 months until Ironman. I have time to redeem myself. Summer recap, IT WENT FAST. No racing for me since the Black Bear, just lot's of training. Probably won't be doing any races until Ironman. The cost of Half's and Olympic's is just ridiculous, Triathlon has gotten big, and they can charge whatever they want and races still fill up. So I've just been doing lots of training, it's free, which keeps peace at the Ricci house. Which brings me to a training weekend I did 2 weeks ago. My best friend Sinibaldi asks me if I want to go up to New Paltz to train on some hills, yeah sure, I suck in hills and would love nothing more than to go torture my legs for a day. We head up at 5am on a Sunday with our friend Mark. We will be training on the SOS adventure triathlon course, because they will be doing this race in 2 weeks. Little did I know that I would be training with them as if I were doing the course. For any of you who have never heard of SOS, it's a adventure Triathlon, it does not follow the same format as most tri's. It starts out as a 30 mile bike, followed by a series of 4 runs and 3 swims. The unique part is whatever gear you start with after the bike, you must finish with. So what that means is you have to run with your wetsuit and swim with your sneakers. The run is a bit over 18 miles and the swim over 2. You can be as creative as you wish and swim with a dry bag, or just tough it out and run with wet sneakers. Well I knew the race was wacky but I didn't realize we would be training as if it were the race!!!
Here's how it goes 5am wake up, meet Sinibaldi grab a bagel and coffee and head to meet Mark. We get up to New Paltz and are riding by 9:45am. Mark tells us we are going to be riding the bike course plus an additional 14 miles. OK, this is what I came for, let's roll. I suck in the hills, downhills and uphills. I brake way too much going down and can't pedal fast enough going up. Yup I suck at hills! Ride is going well, we are 6 miles from finish and Mark tells us its ALL up from there. OK, F-in great 6miles of uphill, here's where the cursing begins and does not end until the day is over. I think of Mt. Lemmon I stay in my lowest gear and ride, I try to talk to Sinibaldi, but breathing is an issue, so that ends quickly. We finally make it back to the parking lot where I believe that we will be able to leave our wetsuit, goggles, nutrition, accucheck etc. Oh no, I'm quickly informed that whatever I will need to swim and run I need to bring with me. OK, I remind the 2 crazy people I'm with that I did not sign up for this race. I'm just training for a normal Triathlon(imagine..calling Ironman normal) so here is where I learn I will be running with my wetsuit and swimming with my sneakers if I want to continue to hang out with my friends. I'm in the middle of nowhere, what the heck else was I gonna do. Here it goes, I figure what's 6 miles of running with a wetsuit aound you, maybe a lot of chafing, but I'll hack it. Then Mark informs us that we will be, running around 10 miles. OK seriously, WTF I have to carry my wetsuit for 10 miles and after I swim I have to carry it wet. Just great. I decide I'm going to wear it like a cape and leave my goggles around my neck since my GU's and accuckeck took up all the space in my fuel belt. So here we are running through these beautiful hilly trails looking like a bunch of freaks, we get to this hill its apparently called cardiac hill, are they serious? In a loving manner I continuously curse Sinibaldi. Three miles in I learn we will be dumping anything that's not waterproof, thank god I have my insulin pump and my accucheck, we hang it from my pink fuel belt in a tree so that we can see it when we are swimming back. We are trekking through some deep brush and I'm convinced I'm getting chiggers, poison ivy and ticks, I figure this will just be the icing on the cake. (It was all in my head, I didn't get any of them.) We run about a mile around the lake where we learn that you can only swim in designated spots or you will be ticketed. Great, now my insulin pump is hanging on some tree in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, I need to just go with the flow, who would seriously steal a insulin pump? Especially not a waterproof one(Do u hear me Minimed?). We swim at the designated area for about 25 minutes, the water is chilly and I'm glad I have my wetsuit, UNTIL its time to run again. This time I decide I will try to tie it around my waist instead of the super hero cape format I was running with. We take a different trail to go find my insulin pump and I decide running with a wet wetsuit is abnormal and it sucks. We find my stuff and by this time I've been without insulin an hour and my bg is 245. Its funny how just last year I'd be content with that number, now I know I need to get it down. I dual wave bolus and start running. Mark informs us the next few miles are all uphill , he promises the views are worth it, they are. He also promises us the few miles after that are downhill. I find out quickly he has lied. The run continues he is much faster than us so he goes ahead and waits for us at turns. It winds up being one of the most beautiful places I have ever trained, as much as I wanted to kill Sinibaldi for making me run with my wetsuit, it was definitely one of our most fun memories. The run comes to an end at the twelve mile mark and Dunkin Donuts is our reward. Before that day I'd sworn to Monica that I'd never sign up for that race and now I'm thinking it is a race I must do someday. Tri is always teaching me something, that day it reinforced, never say never, and that I'm capable of doing things that I thought not possible. It will be fun someday to attempt that race as a type one diabetic, trying to keep insulin, and an accucheck dry.

So this weekend was their race, this weekend was also a heavy training weekend, my 20 year reunion and my 38th birthday. Saturday comes and I have a 4 hr bike ride 30 minute run, followed by 20 year class reunion, and then a midnight drive to New Paltz. The reunion went fast and it was nice to see everyone after 20 years. I pound 5 diet cokes and prepare myself for a long night/day. It's weird how those four years stay with you for the rest of your life. Looking back it all seems so insignificant and life is so much better now, but even after all those years it feels like just yesterday I was a teenager trying to "fit in." I think how far I've come, I'm now running around trails with wetsuits wrapped around me, far from normal behavior. It definitely doesn't matter to me anymore if I fit in, because the beauty of age is that we realize who we really are. And the people that we surround our self with, accept us for all of our good, and not so good qualities.

On the drive up I am singing and happy. I am happy that this is my present, I had just left the reunion, my past, but this is my present, and there is no place I'd rather be other than driving up to see my bff race. Yup, at that moment, Life was so good. I arrive at 2:15am and Sinibaldi is awake, we stay up till 4am giggling like a bunch of teenagers, then sleep for an hour. Funny 20 years ago I had sleepovers with long lost friends I had just seen, and now every race away from home brings more sleepovers. Triathlon makes you feel like a kid again, swim, bike, run and hang with your friends, yes it's the greatest.

The race starts at 7am and Mark's wife and I navigate to find them at different transitions. These people are tough, Sinibaldi is tough, the cold mountain lake water causes most to cramp, they are crawling out of the water. It inspires me, what makes us do this torturous stuff to our body, out of our own free will? Anyone who has participated in endurance sports knows the answer. It's the mental toughness you feel when you are done. The sense of accomplishment is like no other. Some day I will sign up for this race. Sinibaldi finishes and we head home, she is my hero, tough as they come. I'm in bed by 10pm and CRASH. The next day is my 38th birthday, I wake up knowing I have a 6 hr bike to do followed by a short run. I head onto the bike feeling so content. I'm 38, a diabetic for 24 years and I can ride my bike for 6 hours, I am lucky. There was no place I'd rather be. The weather god was out in full force, the sun was shining my sugars were perfect what better present could I ask for. I think of my dad and brother, why would they commit suicide? I still don't get it, I work hard to stay healthy, I mean real hard, and they just give in. As my training days get longer and I push through hard workouts, I think of them a lot more. Not a ride or run goes by, that I don't feel their presence. I wonder if they can feel my pain during the workouts as I push through, are they up there thinking "Yup, that's our girl, she sure is tough." Well that's what I like to believe they are saying, and it is sometimes what keeps me going. Nope I will not be a quitter in life like them. The way I lost them has affected me more than I'd like to admit, I miss them everyday. Sometimes I wish I could forget, bury their memories far away, I can not. I'm a 38 year old women that wants her dad and brother back, I can only hope they are watching over me proud, especially since I had my best hgb A1C ever, 7.3! Still not in the 6's but a far cry from where I was last year! "TRI on my friends! I'm off to swim!"

Last night I had the chance to meet 7 more Triabetics. This time though, instead of everyone being spread out across the country they were all local, or somewhat! (Within an hour and a half driving distance). We got to enjoy a short run through Central Park, followed by sushi and lessons on how to eat with chopsticks. The thing is, I always seem to learn something from other Triabetics. I always leave more inspired to train, race and take care of myself, and maybe I'll even try to eat with chopsticks again. Triabetes has just changed the way I manage my diabetes. No doctor in 24 years has ever been able to inspire me the way other Triabetics do. That's powerful stuff. My husband doesn't get it, he says I was just lazy before, anyone that knows me, knows I'm not lazy, but maybe I just needed the right tools and inspiration to take better care of "the betes" and Triabetes has been it. Years of being a nurse and watching the horrors of what this disease can do to your body if you allow it, was not good enough. It doesn't make sense to me either, but I know meeting other Triabetics has been key for me. Amputations, non healing wounds, blindness, kidney failure, nope not good enough. Go figure. So when I say Triabetes has been powerful, I really mean it.
Anyhow, once again last night, there was instantly a unique bond, one that I hope grows as the East coast Triabetes Team trains and races together. Being a captain of the team puts a little pressure on to keep this thing growing, it's a welcomed pressure though. Maybe it's the start of a strategically planned coping mechanism for myself. I've already started thinking about how sad I will be after Ironman AZ in November, coming down from a Ironman is hard enough, but coming down from one of the most amazing years of my life... I'm not looking forward to it. After Ironman AZ, will the 15 captains NEVER be together again. Reality tells me that is probably what will happen, the delusional side of me likes to think that we will all be able to meet up a few times a year. That's why I feel responsible to keep our East coast team connected and growing. If each captain can help make this team grow to inspire better diabetes management through exercise and continue to learn from each other, then we all will have done our job to make sure Triabetes is around forever. I remember feeling envious with the bond that Peter, Bill, Anne, Heather etc already had when I first met them in November. It did not take long to develop the same connections. I feel like I've known a bunch of them for a lifetime. After meeting some of the East coasters last night, it was clearly the same bond. As a team we are responsible for keeping this alive, I know I am captain for the New England region and if I was wealthy, (I'm not, see 3 blogs below....) I would love to train and race in New England. Recently, on Phrendo one of the New England members said they felt the region needed a boost. I had guilt over that comment, like I wasn't doing my job as a captain, the truth is we can all reach out to our local members and commit to making this team be well known in the triathlon world. There are 100 + members on the team now, and it is only growing. The New England region will meet at the DESA conference this weekend and I hope they can form a bond also. I hope in years to come, I will be at local tri's and see Triabetes jerseys all over the course. (Well at least a few-I guess asking for hundreds of diabetic triathletes in one race is a little optimistic) But seriously, I think we all owe it to ourselves to put the time in to keep these Phrenships alive ;) Jen had an idea last night that we all TRI to get together to meet at least every other month. I'm so on board with that. We have so many opportunities, to train and race together in this region and every region out there has the same opportunities. Life, time management it's all hard sometimes, it's easy to make excuses but I promise, these phrendships will be worth it. I don't ever want to be without my Triabetic friends. As I've said before, I need them in my life, they have motivated me with diabetes management, beyond what I ever thought possible. Who would've ever thought I'd be taking Symlin, Lantus, and wearing a pump, just to have better blood sugars! So thank you Becca, Kerry, Jen, Mark, Jason, Rob and of course Peter, looking forward to seeing you all again in the near future!

Black Bear

Well,I did my first Half Ironman in over 2 years. I kind of forgot how long a half really is. I almost disrespected the distance until I was in it once again! After doing a full, you get this mentality that "Oh it's just a half." Come race day, weather is perfect, chilly start, but it warms up to the 70's with some kicking wind. Like the hills on the bike were not enough, we had to add wind to the mix. Swim went great, after my near drowning experience at Irongirl I was a bit nervous to get out there again, in fear of another freak out moment and 160 heart rate. Surprisingly,I felt great and kept heart rate 130-140 entire swim, time was 45 minutes, right where I wanted to be. Need to cut off 5 minutes to have the 1:20 Ironman swim I would like. Still 5 months to go, should be possible.
The bike was a different beast. Hardest bike I've done to date, I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I'd thought I'd be done in a little less than 3 hours. Nope 4:05, I guess I under estimated the hills in the Poconos. It was sure a beautiful course though, one minute you were going 40 mph, than you were doing 5 I stopped at the bottle exchanges and poured my fluid into my Triabetes water bottles, I could not BEAR to throw them on the ground in replace for some Black BEAR labeled bottles. I'm sure I lost 30 seconds there:)My cleat broke the last 10 miles of the race and I had to ride with one in and one out, no big deal though, if this stuff has taught me anything, it's that there will always be some sort of glitch in the day. I wish I had put my compact crank back on though, I sure could've used it. Actually I was proud of myself that I could get up the hills without it, I know a few years ago, it would not have been possible! If anything it was a great training ride, it brought back memories of climbing Mount Lemmon with my Triabetes teammates!
Run went good, I was hoping for a 2:15 but had a 2:23, it was a beautiful trail run. I felt really great during the run though and talked to anyone who would talk back, I kept my heart rate below 150 the entire time(it was into the 170's during the bike-YIKES). Funny thing was, I kept looking at my Polar thinking, there is noo way this is right I am running faster than almost 11 minute miles, well Polar was dead on! Funny how I was convinced I was faster, can't even blame it on hyper-hypo glycemia, cause sugars were near perfect all day! That was the best part! Well maybe that was the second best part... I see my BFF on the run, now I'll rewind the story a bit. I gave her this race as a birthday present, and she winds up in the ambulance with a minor eye injury on the bike, but she carries on as she always does. So I see her and she is not looking very happy with me, I give her a big sweaty hug and say my usual "Love ya Sinibaldi." I love being at races with my friends, THAT is the best part.
On the ride home she is driving and says "You're going to need to drive", because, she has once again made herself "race" sick. We get a little farther and here it comes, she pukes her guts up. It sounded like everything she could have possibly drank the entire race, even her 6am coffee. That's why I couldn't Twitter on the ride home! At least she can now proudly wear the red headband I bought her at Irongirl that says, RIDE TILL YOU PUKE! Happy Birthday girl-- It's just a bonus birthday gift that I had to share that story with the world!

Inked up and ready to go

Now that warm weather is here, it's been easier to get out on the bike...except now that I'm following a training plan, the bike workouts are harder to follow from the saddle instead of on the trainer. High cadence, low cadence, 4 minutes at 95, stand up, sit down, max heart rate, moderate heart rate, blah, blah, blah! My friend Monica who is, oh so clever has come up with a great way to follow the workouts, we write them on our arms with a marker, much easier than following a piece of paper. I think it's a fabulous idea that works well, and I'd thought I'd share it with you all. If you're like me and don't shower for hours after a workout, you'll get lots of weird looks and "What's that on your arm?" but, nothing about this sport seems to be normal anyway! Angelina Jolie has nothing on us with all her tattoos, at least our ink has purpose!
Oh yeah, one more thing, now that the warm weather is here, for any of you that like solid food on long bike rides, cut up salt bagels in bite size pieces in Ziplocs work great. Of course, that was my idea because it revolves around food. Just my 2 cents for the day!

Vegas

Well I'm on the plane returning home from Irongirl where I thought I was going to have my best race ever.... Instead it was close to one of my worst. If triathlon has taught me anything in life, its just to hold on, keep tri-ing, move forward, breathe, and that all the training in the world does not guarantee you for a good race. Life is so unpredictable, all we can do is learn from our mistakes and TRI to become a better person. Pretty valuable lessons in life. Those lessons were what got me through the entire week and the horrible race I had. One week ago I would not have imagined the week, or race unfolding the way it did. Since I'm a pretty honest person, and I tell it like it is, I'll share this with whoever is reading. The day before Irongirl my husband finds a credit card bill-one he does not know I have.( OK... so I said pretty honest) This is not my first cc incident in our 13 yrs of marriage-so needless to say he is less than pleased, I get it -I own the bad spending behavior-just have not figured out how to change it, YET. He asks me if I have a secret life that I am spending all this money on-yeah, but, it's no secret-it's called TRIATHLON.Triathlon gear-triathlon race fees-triathlon hotels-triathlon travel expenses, 35 bike jerseys, you get the picture. Now, this all happens the day before I leave for my race. I have to fight for my marriage before I leave, I'm emotionally exhausted, I'm embarrassed that he has found out that I have done this once again. Much more comes out of this conversation, I need to start being less absorbed in triathlon if my life as I know it is going to survive. In that moment my focus changes to just getting through the weekend, the race seems so unimportant -all of a sudden triathlon seems so unimportant. All the training I've been doing seems pointless, if I lose my family.

I arrive Thursday I have a entire day to chill by myself, a lot of thinking goes on-I realize triathlon is important-all the training-it's what's allowed me to survive 2 suicides and still be a really happy person. It is a lifestyle I never want to give up. You are surrounded by this minority of people who really take care of themselves and it's inspiring in our unhealthy world. I also realize I miss my family when I'm gone and I need a way to balance it all. I will go home and find a better way to manage it all, to have it all, there is no other option, triathlon is what makes me, me but I can't neglect my family or our savings account because of it.

Hanging with all my diabetic buddies this weekend makes me realize that I want to always have them in my life too. That I NEED to always have them in my life. They continue to encourage and motivate me to take care of "the betes." I know I am doing a better job than I ever have in my almost 24 years with it, but it's still not good enough. When I'm with them and I want to be lazy about it, they won't allow it! They remind me, "You are a diabetic Ricci, go get you're meter." I can't talk back to a bunch of diabetics.... because I know they are right. They are my inspiration.

As I'm on the plane coming down from this fantasy weekend that Polar provided, I think about all the work ahead of me, kind of an overwhelming thought right now, but as I've said before, I'm no quitter. Nero called out to me in the airport, "Keep your head up Ricci." NO WORRIES, ALWAYS. (despite my 52 minute swim LOL)

Hey and as far as a race report....Let's just leave it at, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." My husband says it's Karma....karma sure is a bi---!

Cover it up!

I know I'm suppose to blog about my diabetes, but what can I say it's there, it's with me, I deal with it, but this issue I'm about to expose is something that a 14 year old kid might write about, not a girl pushing 40, but I'm gonna tell you about it anyway, cause it cracks me up. I don't know where it came from, but it's there.

OK, so I know I have a lot of issues but, one just keeps coming up lately, over and over. Since, I've been swimming 3X a week, I'm in the locker room at the YMCA way too much for my liking. Now this is the silliest thing ever, and I don't even know how it started, but I can't get past the fact, that people actually walk around the locker room... FULLY NAKED. What do they think it is, a locker room or something? They stand there and talk-naked, sit on the benches-naked, walk out of the shower-naked, hang out in the sauna and steam room-naked...WTF , cover up your junk, but nooooo they are walking and talking with all of it hanging out. My friend and I get changed in the shower stall or bathroom, NEVER out in the open, we'd be mortified. I'm not sure why I have this issue, or why it's even an issue but it tortures me!! My best friend and I are like two school girls hiding our heads and giggling. She'll give me "the look" as seen in the picture above, it's the "What the F Ricci" look, once I see that... I know there is a naked person lurking around. She swears they stalk her out and talk to her on purpose. She is even worse than me with this issue, but at least she blames her years of attending an all Catholic girl school. I don't know where my issue with nakedness came from. For goodness sakes, I'm a nurse I see naked people all the time at work and think nothing of it, I insert tubes into holes where tubes don't belong, but, "gosh forbid" a naked person is standing there talking to me in a locker room, yuck-yuck-yuck! Freaks me out! For those who know me, they know I live in a sports bra and running shorts, I'm half naked all the time, my car doubles as a changing tent, so I feel a bit hypocritical, but jees, you'll never find me getting naked with a room full of strangers. I want to scream to these people, "COVER IT UP PLEASE!"

The other day it was like we were being punished, we are both sitting in the sauna in our bathing suits, of course, and this older lady comes in, HOLDING her towel, while she is full blown naked. I'm praying she will put the towel around her because I know we will have to leave the sauna if she doesn't. She doesn't. Instead, she proceeds to sit her naked ass on the bench next to Monica across from me, and she starts lifting up flaps of skin and scrubbing herself dry as we sit there in our swimsuits and try not to laugh, all of a sudden, I get "the look" and it's inevitable the giggles start and we can't stop. I try biting my lip, it does not work. We try to compose ourselves, with no luck! We decide to exit, it's unbearable for us both. No words are said until we exit the locker room, then we bust out laughing, we are so much alike, something so silly, that freaks us both out. That is one of the reasons why I love her so much, thanks to triathlon our paths crossed and I got a best friend!

Well I'm headed off to bed now, so that I can get up and swim, AND see naked people again in the morning!

The Longest Day

As I sit here on the spin bike at 2:30 in the morning, adding in an extra ride that's not on the training plan, I can't help but think of the upcoming adventure I just agreed to. Last year a group of 7 of us did a 208 mile ride from the tippy top of NJ to the bottom of it, called, The Longest Day named after the summer solstice. Up until 3 days ago it was still up in the air whether or not the team was going to reunite to pull it off again. Secretly, I was OK with the fact that it might not happen. It was truly one of "The Longest Days" of my life. It has been the only event thus far that I puked my guts up afterwards. Possibly, the potato chips on the ride home were not such a good idea- but, they were so yummy at the time. Anyhow, potato chips... officially off my list for post race recovery food.

I'd rate the ride as hard as Ironman, being on the same muscle group for thaaaat long, proved challenging, OR maybe it was the bike seat? I guess just the combo. On Monday I saw the strongest rider of our team at the pool, soooo it's.. game on. I guess we are all suckers for this endurance stuff. As most endurance racing teaches you something, I learned a lot about myself and our team that day. It is definitely not a race I am willing to let slip by, as I still have so much to learn, plus it's another weekend to hang out with my bff. It was a awesome adventure that bonded you with your team mates, and they became like family by the end of the day. An amazing experience in my book of life. Everyone had their ups n downs and we worked as a team to get through the physical and mental challenges of the ride. Pushing yourself like that is the greatest feeling out there. There were many laughs along the way. My most priceless memory was my best friend eating a Snickers bar in the Porto-john..that was just NOT RIGHT, but we still laugh about it.
I'm not sure what coach Gordo will say about my newly added adventure, but I have decided I will whine again if need be! There will be no squashing of this idea.

Happy to report bg currently 160, heart rate 135 and only an hour and a half more till I get to swim AGAIN! WHAAAT THE........