Bionic Woman = 13.1 miles

I'm not really sure what bionic woman implies, but I think it describes very well how I felt during the Boston half-marathon. I took on a lot in doing this race and didn't train as well as I should have - my longest training run was only 8 miles. I'm not proud of this, but I made myself way too busy to go on long runs this september and october with two ultimate frisbee teams, writing two fellowship applications, traveling, and taking a class at Harvard. Luckily, I'm runner, but more importantly I'm stubborn, making it impossible to not run the race. I had butterflies all day saturday and a foot ache that I thought would certainly make me walk part of the way.

I also had something new attached to me that made me nervous, but in hindsight drove me to run faster than my goal and prove to myself that I could do it. I had a brand new insulin pump on my hip and a brand new continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, that checks my glucose levels every five minutes, attached to my belly! This pump/glucose system is all the rage and insurance companies are finally starting to pay for them. For me, the new system comes at an important time in my 19 years with diabetes - I've begun loosing some sensitivity towards detecting low blood sugars during the night. Thus, the race had a larger goal: to put my health first again, and the new pump is an exciting addition to this lifelong goal.

My immediate goal was to finish, even if I was steps ahead of the pick-up crew intended for the injured. Ha, the movies Z caught show me passing people at mile 10 and laughing/smiling the whole way. I finished in less than 2 hours and ran the second half faster than the first! I owe many, many thanks to my Superfan, for she was there for me with snacks, fresh athletic tape to keep the CGM attached to me once I really started sweating, glucose testing supplies (t0 make sure the CGM was working), and biking along the route to take movies - she even perched herself in a tree at the finish line! Thanks Love!