Best. Swim. EVER!

My swim tonight was seriously the best swim I have had in YEARS!

Well, not blood sugar wise. I tested at 8.0 (144) at 5:45 and had a bit of IOB from a 3:15 correction of a 12.0 (216). I set a two-hour temporary basal of -30%. At around 6:15 I ate a 12g fruit leather with no bolus. But when I was at the bus stop at 6:45 I was 2.7 (49). So I ate 12g of glucose tablets. At 7:00 I was at the pool and was 5.8 (104).

I swam 1 km again which again took about half an hour. I used my inhaler about 15 minutes before swimming. And it made a huge, huge, HUGE difference!!! I did not have to stop at ALL to catch my breath. I have not had a swim that easy in years. In fact, I’m wondering if I never really “outgrew” asthma at all, and just assumed it was normal to be out of breath while swimming. I’ve never been able to jog, especially in cold weather, without getting wheezy, but other than that I’ve only done lighter exercise on recumbent bikes and ellipticals. With swimming I’ve always had to stop at the end of each 25 m to stand or tread water and catch my breath for a bit before continuing. Tonight I barely stopped at all, and when I did it was mostly because I kept hitting slower swimmers in front of me. It was amazing! Such a HUGE contrast to two days ago when I could barely finish each length and felt dizzy by the end of my swim.

After swimming I tested at 7:55 and my blood sugar was 2.6 (47). I had zero symptoms other than I felt a bit unsteady walking to the change rooms. I ate two glucose tablets. It took me an hour to get home due to the bus schedule (it’s a 10 minute bus ride). When I got home I tested at 9:00 and was 4.7 (85).

Now I’m having some eggs and toast and cheese for dinner, because I feel like breakfast food. I’m going to reduce my basal rate tonight and will have to be very careful about lows.

I am looking so forward to Friday, when I’ll swim again. I might try going for 1.5 or even 2 km, if I feel as good as I did today! I looked forward to swimming all day today, and if tonight was any indication, next time should be even better.

wonderful ...and maybe a test during the night ??

Those pesky slower swimmers! LOL! Watch stretching the distance out as, if you start your second kilometer at 47, the slower swimmers may be blowing by you!! I'm glad to hear the inhaler helped and also that you did a great job managing your BG! Sorry I missed this last night, I'd have suggested not to worry too much about lowering your basal rate, unless you were running low? The 47----> 85 seems ok to me, obviously not the 47 in the pool but fixing it to 85 seems very reasonable.

Great job on your swim. How did your bg stay through the rest of the evening?

That is awesome. Achieving a physical goal can give you a real "high" of satisfaction. Some people think it is endorphins, but I think it is also about achieving something that is "all you."

That's right on the money, as usual, Brian! I am still buzzing from the marathon even though my running has gone to hell in a handbasket, or bag of potato chips!

My BG was 9.3 (166) after dinner/before bed (ate dinner really late). I still had some IOB so didn't correct and set a temporary basal rate of -20% overnight. At 2:00 AM I was 7.3 (131), and at 6:00 AM I was 9.3 (167). So next time I will try -10% instead, but I'd rather these numbers than lows!

I'm so glad you had a good swim, Jen!! Just yesterday I read your blog post about a terrible one, and I so empathize with the frustration of trying to do this exercise thing that's supposed to be so good for us and feeling like it's practically impossible. Good for you!

Your after exercise bg don't seem that bad to me. This stuff is so hard to work out. I would also prefer to be little high at night than going low. Keep up the good work Jen.