Good intentions are a great starting point, but plans don\’t always work out.

When I decided to ride Tour de Cure this year, I sat down and drew up my training plan. The idea was to be doing 50-mile Sunday rides by now.

Not so fast. Things got in the way. First came the COVID-19 shut-down. That didn\’t really interfere with my riding, but I did miss the ride to and from work; and the 5 miles or so that it gave me.

More recently, there were weather threats. First from Hurricane Sally; and then it looked like Hurricane Beta might be heading our way. I\’m thankful that neither storm had any real impact on us.

In August came the second A1c test of this year, and my level hadn\’t dropped. That means I\’m still in the prediabetes range. I\’m working with a nurse practitioner, and she says to aim for 150-200 grams of carbs per day.

That\’s not terribly difficult so far, but it\’s not a breeze, either. I\’m always tracking what I just ate; and planning what to eat for my next meal. Often I seem to get hungry again too soon. Maybe the reduced carb intake is why I\’ve been feeling tired.

Do I need to eat brown rice and beans before a ride, instead of a banana? I know this much, it won\’t be very helpful if I stuff myself and then go out to ride 10 minutes later; especially if I plan to do hard intervals.

It will take time to figure out what is best to eat at what time of day. How spoiled I was when I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. With prediabetes, good intentions won\’t make the cut.