So this is the week that I realize I have a problem. Not to sound over dramatic. In fact it is not really a problem just something that needs to be fixed, and the fix is good...eating more food! That is right I think I need to up my caloric intake a little mostly on running days. I have lost 10 lbs. in the last 3 months. Actually I think it has been in the last month and a half. The good news is that I am now down to my ideal weight, but the bad news is that if I continue to eat like this I think my weight is going to continue to drop. The worst part about it is that my last two weeks of training have been awful. The problem has mostly been with my tempo runs which have been on Thursdays after two other runs. I have just had no energy and I think it is because I haven't been recovering properly from the first two runs. So after my latest Costco trip I have purchased some granola, crackers and cookies to try and up the carb intake a little bit...stay tuned to see if it helps.

My GPS watch is so awesome!! I love how it maps your run and gives nice details like pace and heart rate throughout the run. First time I used it I thought it got the path I ran wrong, but then I thought about it and it was right and I had just forgot what I ran. Today for the long run I mapped out the course beforehand and uploaded it to the watch and then ran the course. The watch lets you define a pace and then race a 'virtual' partner...I kicked his *** by a mile (1.1 to be exact). Also the distance to go alerts are nice and for races the virtual partner will be very helpful.

As for runs this week it started off very well. The two easy runs on Tuesday and Wednesday I maintained a slow pace and good heart rate. But like I said above Thursday I ran out of energy and my tempo run was cut short. That is two weeks in a row and is unacceptable. Because of my energy issues I took Saturday off and killed the run on Sunday.

Sunday was the first mandatory team run and there were a ton of people there which is awesome. I ran 3.5 before the team run at a decent pace, and for the 6.2 mile team run I went all out and ran a 6:46 pace which is well below even my tempo pace. There was a lot of stopping at lights so this was not as difficult as an actual tempo run, but a good one for me anyway's.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday -  6.03 Mile Easy Run - 48:59 min, 7:51 pace

• Wednesday - 6.19 Mile Easy Run - 53:25 min, 8:14 pace

• Thursday - 6.66 Mile Tempo Run - 54:06 min, 7:36 pace

• Sunday - 9.73 Mile Long Run - 1:14:16 min, 7:37 pace

This was just a bad, bad week. It seems I have let the start of the marathon team training get me a little too excited and I have gotten away from sticking to my training plan. The biggest problem is running the easy runs easy. I have commented before how my easy run pace was too slow, but now when running with the team I am trying to stay near the front of the pack and thus running too fast.

Next week I will be more disciplined and will have a little help from my new tech. That is right I finally broke down and bought a GPS watch, the Garmin Forerunner 305. I bought the 305 over the 205 because I am interested in doing some heart rate training. With the 305 you can set alarms for dropping above or below a given pace or heart rate, so hopefully it will help me stay easy on easy runs.

What really sold me on the watch is the ability to program speed and tempo work. This is a very cool feature that lets you go from warm up to interval to jog to cool down, each with different alarm settings, with the touch of a button. Suffice to say I am very excited.

Like I said above I ran too hard on my easy runs this week. My tempo run on Thursday was awful because I was so worn out from the easy runs earlier in the week. The long run on Sunday was pretty good however. I kept my pace down a little bit and finished with some strides, which reminds me of something I have just started working on...the length of my stride.

Last week Ted mentioned that my stride seemed a little short, and I could increase my pace a bit by lengthening it. So I have started working on getting my knees higher after pushoff. It feels a little strange, and I think it might looking funny as well but I think it is working. I am gonna keep working on it and will update progress next week.

Last weeks training (I have stopped using my Nike+ so my pace and times are generic):

• Tuesday - 5.62 Mile Easy Run - 43:37 min, 7:45 pace

• Wednesday - 6 Mile Easy Run - 48:00 min, 8:00 pace

• Thursday - 7 Mile Tempo Run - 53:30 min, 7:38 pace - 3 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo (6:30 pace), 1 mile cool down

• Saturday - 4 Mile Easy Run - 32:00 min, 8:00 pace

• Sunday - 10 Mile Long Run - 1:20:00 min, 8:00 pace

D-Skills is probably the worst 'slang' term I have ever made up. It is what I sometimes call my best kept secret that is not really a secret at all...that I am a diabetic. I only say this because it is not that I don't tell people about it. I do if they ask, but no one seems to ask and I don't think anyone cares to know so I don't openly bring it up.

Now that my dirty secret is out I want to write a post that I have been meaning to write for a while...being a diabetic runner. For some more background I am a type-one diabetic, which is a 'real' diabetic not a 'fake' who would stop having complications if they would just eat better (yeah I am calling you out type-twos). Being a 'real' diabetic my body does not produce insulin which is needed for the body to absorb glucose. This started right before my 16th birthday (woo-hoo happy birthday) when my pancreas broke, well not really but you get the idea. About a year and a half ago I started to use an insulin pump to replace my broken pancreas.

And the insulin pump has completely changed my life. Without it I would not be able to make the small adjustments in insulin rates that are essential for endurance activities. But the real question is how do you know what small adjustments to make, well that is an interesting question and what this post is actually about.

Training last year for the Los Angeles Marathon I thought I had everything all figured out. At the time I was following a 'typical' hydration and glucose intake schedule. That is I would take Gatorade during long runs and use gels every 45 minutes. Throughout training this seemed to work; however, during a few of the long runs I noticed some problems but attributed them to running distances that I had never run before and not anything 'D' related (sorry more bad slang).

Finally when I got to the marathon I learned a big lesson at a rather inopportune time. It started before the race. I was so excited/nervous about the race that adrenaline was flowing rampant in my body. Well for you non-diabetics adrenaline causes a release of glucose, or decrease in glycogen (can't remember which) and that means my blood sugar skyrocketed. Also, I think I was having issues with my pump injection site, which didn't help. At this point I was thinking there is nothing I can do but wait until the race and let the running balance out my blood sugar. Well during the race, I was so worried about hitting the wall that I figured I need to drink Gatorade at every stop and consume plenty of gels. I felt pretty good until mile 18 or so, and then I started to fade quickly. I panicked and thought I was about to hit said wall right in the face. I started consuming gels like a sorority girl consumes free jello-shots (sorry that was awful). This turned out to be a bad, bad idea.

At mile 20 I could not go on any further, my entire lower body was cramping, so I stopped at an aide station. I was treated for cramps, but it didn't seem to help much. Luckily I had my glucose meter with me, and upon checking my numbers I found my blood sugar was above 500. Again for you non-diabetics normal blood sugar levels are between 90 and 120, so yeah I was 5 times that. When your sugar gets that high your body has an interesting response and that is to expel the excess glucose by what ever means possible. Looking back I had used the restroom during the race at mile 17 about 5 minutes before my problems began. My body had expelled all the glucose it could and without a proper amount of insulin in my body none of the glucose that was there was getting to my muscles. Well all you runners know what happens when your muscles don't have glucose...they cramp. And that is what happened to my entire body pretty much.

To try and end this long tale of woe, I spent about 2 hours at the aide station. The doctor there wouldn't let me go until my blood sugar level had dropped below 300. I would like to thank that doctor for being persistent about this because I wanted to leave much earlier. After my blood sugar was closer to normal I continued on. My muscles still did not have the proper glucose supply, but I managed the last 6 miles in about 58 minutes (walking and running).

Looking back I think that this was actually a positive experience. First thing was that during those two hours I got to experience much more of the marathon than I would of had I just ran straight through. I met a volunteer who lived near Bakersfield and had driven to the event at 4am that day and had done so for the past 12 years or something!! Not only that but I got to see so many courageous runners struggling but persisting. That was very inspirational. Of course the second thing is that it made me reevaluate my entire glucose consuming strategy. Which I actually intended to discuss in this post, but that story just went on and on. So it will have to wait for another post...until then friends.