1000 miles, 1000k - January Progress

Well, it was an ambitious task I set myself, to complete 1000 miles and 1000 kilometres before 2010 is through, and although I have made a start I am way behind schedule already! I should have been able to foresee that January is not the best month to commence such a project. The kilometres are fine, as they are done indoors on my exercise bike, but unfortunately I have made no impact whatsoever on the running. I have a plethora of excuses, the principal one being the lack of clement weather. Cold, icy, wet, windy for much of the month. At one time, in my younger years, I would not have shrunk from the challenge. I used to go running in the Peak District in shorts and t-shirt, through all manner of terrible conditions. Once you get going you heat up very quickly, so it’s not as bad or masochistic as it looks. These days however, I don’t have the motivation, nor do I want to risk life and limb on slippery park paths.

So, the mileage portion of the challenge has reduced by…2 miles! In theory, I need to do just over 83 miles each and every month to achieve the target, so I am now 81 miles behind. The kilometres have gone slightly better – a lot better, actually, since I have almost achieved my monthly target there. I have completed 76k out of the required 83. Of course, a kilometre is only six tenths of a mile, so it is an easier taks all round. But it is so BORING!!! I expended a total of 2730 calories whilst doing this.

Next month is shorter by three days, so my task is particularly hard. I need to get my ass into gear and go for it!

Thirty Words for Snow

Sometimes I suffer from low blood sugar, know in diabetes circles as a ‘hypo’, and is technically when the blood glucose level falls below 3.5 mmol/l. Hypo is short for hypoglycaemic attack’, and can often be confused with hyperglycaemia, which is the opposite – high blood glucose levels. However, a hypo can also manifest itself in many forms, so it seems rather simplistic to use just the one term to describe it. It can happen almost imperceptibly, so you hardly notice it is happening until you test your blood and discover it is reading low. Or, it can happen very quickly, accompanied by a real sensation of panic and fear of losing control imminently. You may treat a hypo and recover, but then a short while later you are falling again, leaving you feeling battle weary and exhausted. And you may treat a hypo and then rocket sky high completely out of proportion to the amount of carbohydrate you have consumed.

There are many ways of describing other things, so why not ‘hypos’ too?

The weather comes in many forms,
We have a name for each,
And Eskimos have words for ‘snow’ –
Too numerous to teach!

In Manchester, I’ve heard it said,
So many kinds of rain
Can fall upon a single day,
It permeates the brain!

But what about low sugar?
So many terms we lack…
There’s ‘hypo’ or its bigger friend,
The hypoglycaemic attack!

What about the ‘slowpo’
That takes an hour to fall?
We might not even know
That we are having one at all!

Then there is the ‘plummet’
That falls at such a rate
We panic and we fret and sweat
That we may be too late!

Let’s not forget ‘rebounder’
That strikes just like a viper,
But when you treat it, rockets up
And leaves you feeling hyper!

The ‘raging ocean’ is the worst
With peaks and troughs so wide
That plunge you down, then up, then down,
And floundering in the tide…

So, ‘hypo’ isn’t quite enough,
We need some other way
To let you know when we go low,
Just what we mean to say!