Family Day Afternoon Skiing

Monday, February 17th marked a skiing first: I successfully went skiing in the afternoon at Kamview!  Not only was it a success, but I managed to go farther than I ever have skiing this year (the grand total was about 6km!)

To begin with, I used my regular strategy (25-30% basal, 30% bolus at lunch time).  I had the basal running for about an 1 - 1 1/2 hours before going skiing, continuing for about an hour (that was my guess of how long we would be).  I started the day at 7.2 mmol/L (that was my lunch blood sugar).  By the time we finished the first trail (the Jackrabbit), I was 6.4 mmol/L and had gone about 4 km! 

At that point, we went back to the chalet for some hot chocolate and juice.  My glucose went back up to 10.9 mmol/L. At that point, my brother and mom talked me into going for longer (we had payed for the day, after all).  Unfortunately that's where I had trouble.  We were heading off to ski either the Aspen or Beaver trails, which start about 1 km away from the chalet.  When I got there, after 1 km of skiing, I was already down to 6.4 mmol/L.  I turned back while everyone else skied one of those two trails. 

I wasn't surprised that I had troubles during the second part of my skiing adventure; while having hot chocolate, my insulin went back to normal.  And so when I tried to ski, it was like a repeat of when I was failing a couple of years ago.  But that was okay.  I made it back to the chalet safely (I was 5.4 mmol/) after skiing for a grand total of 6km!  If I ever go afternoon skiing again, I'll have to experiment with strategies to see if I can stay high enough to go further!

Why Pilates is Awesome

Last night, I decided to do a bit of Pilates.  I chose 10 Minute Solution's Pilates Perfect Body because I'm a fan of that DVD.  I ended up doing the abs, buns & thighs, and stretch segments; to date, I haven't tried the other two.

The thing I really like about pilates is that it doesn't seem to affect my glucose level too much.  With many other activities, like skiing and biking, I need to prepare quite heavily.  Even yoga seems to drop my glucose level much faster that I would have believed.  But not pilates!  The other night, I doing thirty minutes of Pilates Perfect Body, I dropped exactly 0.2 mmol/L, from 9.4 to 9.2.  You wouldn't believe how awesome that is! 

And let me assure you, I still felt this workout, especially during the buns and thighs routine. 

So yes, in my opinion, pilates is an awesome activity for me.  :)