you know you're from ontario or michigan when...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted here... perhaps that's because I had to wait until my fingers warmed up. Did I mention that we've had some chilly weather this spring? And speaking of chilly, I'd like to give a special shoutout to all my Triabetes teammates who train and race in tropical climates. By tropical, I mean water temperatures that sane, ordinary folks would venture into.

Fast forward to this morning, when a group of us met up at Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton Michigan. This wasn't an organized event - just 22 crazy triathletes in training that figured today was as good as any to start some good, solid training.

We left home at 8:30 to make it over the bridge and there by 10am... the weather seemed promising - 48 degrees outside and the sun was shining. I had to chuckle when the customs officer at the bridge looked at me kind of funny - not sure he really believed I was going to actually swim today. By the time we all got settled into our wetsuits ( I was the lucky one to also have "booties") and dipped our toes in, the water temperature was somewhere around 52 degrees. Good thing adrenaline kicks in fast!

Some did sprint distance, some, like me did OLY distance, and some improvised their own version. For my first time doing all three this season, it was a great day. I've never been to this place before and was happy to be riding on hills that are probably very similar to Madison. I'll definitely be training here more often. It was also my first triathlon as a diabetic, so I was eager to see how my BG was going to hang on.

At the start I was 5.9 (108), so I had one gel and headed in for the swim (with another gel tucked in my arm sleeve just in case). After the swim I was 6.5 (117). I had a strong bike leg, considering the hills and wind. I did a little extra sipping on Gatorade and at the end of the bike I was 9.8 (180). On the run I reduced the Gatorade, ran about 37 minutes and drank only 1 bottle off my fuel belt. I was 5.6(100) by the finish.

All in all, sugar-wise it was an awesome day and I was very pleased with the fitness side of it. I've been doing a lot of running over the last nine months and I can see that it's really starting to pay off. I'm able to maintain good speed off the bike without spending a lot of mental energy to fight the fatigue.

Oh... and did I mention that I did all this in my spiffy new Team Triabetes jersey? Fits like a glove, and I'm sure it had a lot to do with the good vibe today - all that positive energy coming from the team.