We're Everywhere

Friday night I headed out to see the girls compete in the regional synchronized swimming meet.  Competition started around 4, and I didn't show up until about 7.  During one of the routines, Mom pointed out a little girl who has diabetes.  I've heard about her before, and this mother has wanted to talk to me for a few years.  I asked my mother where her mother was, but she was a judge, so she was poolside.

A while later after all the team routines were done, the little girl was near us and her mother was standing behind me.  She went to ask her mom for a sip of water and as she walked past me, her eyes never left my pump.  And then I hear "mom, mom! she has an insulin pump."  And so I walk over, "hi, I'm Briley.  I'm on the Catalinas."  The mother tells me how her daughter has the Omnipod, and asks if I saw her swim.  I had, and I start to explain how I've been wanting to meet them for a long time, and then my mother walks and the CWD mother says, "Oh! you're Cynthia's daughter!"  We talked for a few more minutes until the mother had to go back down to the pool.

A Synchro Surprise

(I am the second to walk out)

"We define ourselves by the best that is in us, not the worst that has been done to us." Edward Lewis

I'm Just A Social Butterfly

Here is my DSMA March Carnival Entry all about exercise!  It took me a long time to sit down and write this blog.  Mostly because I don't feel like I belong in the exercise buff category or the dreading exercise all together.  I've always been active, and at camp as a kid they would over-feed us so we wouldn't go low; I was in the 300s because I was just as active at home as I was at camp.

Plymouth State tennis team (that's me with the Fischer bag)

On the exercise buff side: *side note: I am not an exercise buff by any means, but I also am not a complete hater of exercise* I love doing things with other people.  You might have heard that I like to ski.  And skiing is something I have always done with my family.  I have friends who ski too, and who have supported me while I was super low while doing it, but for me it will always be a family activity.  It isn't what I would call a workout by any means, but it is what I would call fun, active, getting fresh air, and enjoying myself.  My other favorites are synchronized swimming and tennis.  Synchronized swimming is something I do with one of my best friends, my mother, and a few other women.  We laugh, we talk, we make faces at each other under water, and we work hard.  Holding your breath and kicking your legs up in the air and spinning are hard work.  And then when you come out of the water you need to not look dead and be smiling.  It's hard work, and quite often it sends me to the low range.  As for tennis, I've been playing since I was four, and started with my grandparents.  I took lessons with them, played in the driveway, and even against the garage door (sometimes I even won - sending the ball through the window).  As I got older, I'd take lessons throughout the school year with my friends, and in high school I joined the tennis team.  And in college I joined the tennis team.  That was another four years of working out, working hard, playing hard and having fun.  As a kid, I also did dance, softball, swim team, track along with any sort of pick up games you could imagine.  In high school, I ran cross country, was on the ski team, and tennis team (as I mentioned).  My junior year I ran winter track too.  It's easier to do the working out, working had & playing hard if you're having fun while you're doing it.  I guess that is where my motivation comes in.  My motivation is to have fun; because at the end of every day, that is what it's all about.  I know that if I work hard, and keep up with exercising constantly, I'm going to be able to enjoy it alot more.  If not, I'll be stopping to take breaks, I'll be going low inconsistently & worrying and worst of all (in my opinion), I might not be able to keep up.

Onto the I hate exercise side:  I can always find things that are more appealing.  Because, ya know, working out by yourself is BORING!  I go to the gym and I go running, but no part of that is appealing. Unless of course there is a tennis court or pool at said gym...but I digress.  But the easiest and cheapest way to stay in shape is to go for a run.  Living in the city gives me great loops, that are flat or hilly and that I can repeat or not.  I generally don't go on routes that I have to repeat because I find myself lured back to my apartment.  I haven't been running as much I would like lately, but I'm okay with that because I've been going to the gym.  The biggest thing that I find gets in the way is the time I leave myself to go low after.  Yes, I plan this in.  Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't, but if I'm working out in the morning, I need to make sure I have time to come back up before getting back to work.  When I go for a run, I have my keys tied into my shoes, my glucose tabs in my sports bra, and if I'm feeling really ambitious I bring my phone so I can listen to music.  Having these things with me is much easier at the gym because of the cup holders and shelves on the equipment.  And, if I do feel low, I can slow down, take some tabs and not feel as scared that I'm out all by myself.  As time goes on and I exercise more and more, the lows and such are more predictable.  The one thing I do find difficult though is the lack of predictability in my schedule, therefore my workout schedule can also be hard to figure out.  The days that are the hardest are when I'm free after work one night, and in the morning the next day since I know exercise stays in my body for 24 hours.  I haven't paid attention to patterns when this happens, but if it happens more regularly, this is something I will need to pay attention to.

This post is my March entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival.  If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/march-dsma-blog-carnival

Swimming & DSMA

In case 

you live

under a rock,

there has been

a lot of snow

this winter

and I love it.

But the time has come where I am sick of it interrupting my life.  I love the snow, I love how the kids like to go outside and lay in it and make beds, I love skiing, I want to go cross-country skiing this weekend, and I'm just a general lover of the snow.  I am also a lover of synchronized swimming every other Wednesday.  And while it doesn't always lower my BG, I whole-heartedly believe that swimming on Wednesdays is a great physical benefit for my diabetes and my body.  I also believe that it is good for my overall health getting to see one of my best friends.  All these storms this year seem to have come on Wednesdays.  I wouldn't know this, except that I've had to skip swimming since the beginning of January.  I feel like by the time I get to go again I'm going to sink to the bottom of the pool (I realize this won't happen, but geez it's been a long time!)  I see the forecasts and I get sad.  My bags have been packed in my car and it's sad taking the unused bag back out.  But then I remember that it's Wednesday and I realize that I'll get to participate in the DSMA chat.  And while dsma might not do anything for the physical aspect of my diabetes, I know that it helps my psychological aspect of diabetes.  There's something about talking with other people with diabetes that really helps me.  And it's something that I do look forward to.  The dsma community is huge; so much bigger than my swimming community.  I love being a part of it, but I miss my swimming community.