At some point today it dawned on me that the summery pink shirt I was wearing was the same shirt I bought the very first time I went to Portland like four years ago (yes, it’s undergone some repairs over the years, but I love it so much I just can’t give it up) and with it brings great memories of my most favourite American city – the same city of the marathon I’m gearing up for! Eeeeeeeee! So exciting!
![PortlandPink](http://princessofpavement.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/portlandpink.jpg?resize=500%2C422)
I haven’t yet registered for it, and I probably should to make it more real, but I’m always scared of registering for races, because the last two times I’ve signed up for half marathons, I got injured both times. The only time I completed a half was a self-organized half with me as the only participant.
Last night I went to a Medtronic-organized presentation featuring Canadian cyclist Jonny White, who’s also a type 1 diabetic on the pump. When Mario and I registered we thought it was just going to be Jonny speaking on his experiences cycling the Tour D’Afrique, 120 days and 12,000 km of pure cycling from Cairo to Cape Town. But unfortunately it was more of an information session on Medtronic (I’m on Animas ) and Jonny only spoke for about 15 to 20 minutes, and didn’t really go into much detail about his experience as a cyclist and a diabetic, which was too bad … I did, however, learn that it’s not the end of the world if you travel overseas and forget your insulin at home (who does that?) apparently Jonny does! He forgot his insulin, and had no problems getting supplies in Germany … I’d so be freaking out if that were me!
The cool thing about the night was the people sitting at our table. Across from me was this woman who looked really familiar, and the guy next to her sounded really familiar. But you know when you think you know someone, but you’re not sure, and you don’t want to sound like an idiot asking them if they’re so and so? Well, I took the risk. After awhile of staring and eavesdropping, I finally leaned over and asked the woman if she used to work at Children’s Hospital (where I spent many of my young years) and she did – she was my dietician! And the guy sitting next to her was my favourite doctor! It’s been like 14 or 15 years since I last saw these people and I was so excited. Oh, oh, oh and the doctor gave me some handy pointers for when I want to eat out. He told me to find restaurants with their menus online and figure out the carbs before going out, and then later on use those same guides for other restaurants that don’t have their menus online.
So, the evening ended up being worthwhile after all … although, maybe not so much for Mario – he doodled dinosaurs and parachute men and chubby Kyle Wellwoods (hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks) the whole time!