Only 3 days to go....Oh Yeah! Although I fell behind my training last month due to business travel, I've been able to accomplish all my training these past two weeks. I feel ready. Thanks to Epic, Fleet Feet, Gear for Multisport and Team Hendryx for their awesome support and encouragement. Y'all have been really great! I'm excited and looking forward to a great race and hopefully a podium finish (would be my first at this distance). I stopped drinking alcohol about 2 weeks ago (Man!..what a drag!) to try and give me the best possible chance to do my very best. Normally, I'm on a low carbohydrate, low fat diet to assist me in controlling blood sugar levels but this week I've changed the program and have been consuming lots of carbs to see if stamina is increased during the run. I've had some difficulty maintaining my strength and stamina during the run portion of longer races...maybe it's due to diet...we'll see what happens. I've also increased my salt intake...normally, I never salt my food which may also be responsible for some decrease in run performance on hot days.

 On race day, I'll take my fanny pack for the bike and run. In it, I'l have my glucose meter, test strips, and lancet device in a ziplock. I'll also carry a vial of Humalog insulin and a syringe along with EnduroTabs (salt/electrolytes) and seven (7) Hammer Gels for carbohydrates with one (1) Hammer Bar. On the bike I'll have one water bottle with water and the other bottle with Hammer Perpetuem. My plan is to start the swim with a blood sugar of around 200 and then check my glucose in transition prior to starting the bike. I'm hopeful I'll not need to check my glucose again until back in transition to start the run...but you can never tell how this will work out...sometimes I do need to stop the bike and run a glucose check. During the run, I'll see how I feel and, unless I feel sluggish, I'll only stop to check glucose at miles 4 and 8. If sluggish, however, I'll need to stop more frequently to test. While testing is certainly necessary, the drawback is that it normally takes about 1.5 - 2 minutes for each glucose test...I've got to stop, open the fanny pack, dig out the ziplock, open it, take the meter and strips and lancet out, put the strip in the meter, try to dry my finger, prick my finger with the lancet device, get the blood on the strip, wait for the reading, and then put everything back and either...take out the insulin and syringe for a shot if glucose is high, or consume some carbs if blood sugar is low. If I check my glucose 4 times during a race...I've already lost betwen 6 and 8 minutes...hard to make the podium when you drop that kind of time...such is life...the way I look at is that you just do what you have to do because.....the alternative is not very attractive.