So I didn't get in here and update like I wanted to. Things got really hectic before and after the marathon, but I think the pace is slowing a little. So here's the story (in a way that only fellow 'sugarpeople' will understand).

I woke up about 5:00am that morning with a 198, which is pretty typical for me. I ate a light, but fairly high-carb breakfast (for me anyway) and adjusted my insulin to what I thought was appropriate. At 7:20am, just moments before the start of the race I decided to check again and was shocked to see a 348! I blame the combination of a) breakfast and b) nerves. So I took what I felt was an appropriate adjustment, but it made me a little nervous given that I was going to run for the next 5 hours (how do you plan for that?).

Off we went pretty close to our planned pace of 11min miles (no world records, just steady) and it was a great, crisp morning -- perfect. We met some great people along the way (I'll tell you about John, Carl, and the pregnant lady another time). The first planned stop/blood-check was at about 10 miles -- 121. I was a little surprised to see that it had dropped that much in just under 2 hours, so I bumped up my Gatorade and gel tabs a little and kept going. The next plan check was about mile 21.5, and I almost thought about skipping it at one point, but boy am I glad I didn't. Really glad.

At that check I was shocked to see a 63 pop up on my meter! I wasn't feeling bad (well -- except for the fact that I had been running more than 20 miles so far -- so who knows). Here's the saving grace (and this is not a product endorsement, just the facts). One of the sponsors of the marathon was Cliff Shots and they were handing out their gel packs every couple of miles. I hadn't been taking them mainly because I had my own stuff with me that I trained with and wanted to stick to my plan. At one point though, I did grab one and stick it in my pack as I ran by. After seeing that 63 I immediately grabbed it and sucked it down. I probably should have stopped and waited at that point, but I didn't...(go ahead and say it, it wasn't smart, I know).  But I did stop 10 mins later to check again and saw that it was back up to 97. Not only that, but at about mile 23 I started to feel great! I had made it through the wall and was on the home stretch.

With Gatorade along the way we crossed the finish line in 5:19, a little off our planned goal time, but it was a great feeling (and after eating a little was back at 121 20 mins after finishing, so all was well).

It was a tremendous experience. Not one I'm sure I'm ready to do again, but I'm not ruling that out yet.

More stories to come on this, but it was a great time and I survived! Stay healthy and keep putting one foot in front of the other (it really is the only way to get anywhere!) - BP