Just joined this site and group. I need a little guidance. I began training for a marathon back in Dec. 2011 but was cut short by unexpected bypass surgery, no heart attack, just pressure after my Sunday long run. Long story but ended up with a triple bypass and no marathon, anyway, in April the Dr. finally said I could start increasing my mileage, was only doing 4 miles/5 days a week until then. So my longs are now 11 miles right now with a total week mileage of 35. Normally I temp basal my pump to 0% for about 30 minutes before my run and leave it there for the length of my run. BTW before that I try to get a BG of between 150 and 180. Right now that leaves me with a BG of between 90 and 110 after my runs. I have never had a low during a run, a couple after, but not many. I have run a couple of half marathons in the past, before surgery, with no problem, but I am concerned that I need to start figuring out when I need to start to supplement some carb intake with the longer runs if I expect to finish a full standing. My schedule right now is to do a half in Dec. and May, and finally do a full next Oct. I know everyone's different but I really don't have anyone I know in the area that runs and is T1 so I could use some of your experience on where to start. I haven't hit the wall yet but on Sundays after my longs lately I do get a little insulin starvation and find it difficult to cover meals as I normally do. look forward to hearing from some of you. Thanks
I like to have some carbs every 3-5 miles, like every other drink station at the long runs and then maybe a Gu about 15-16 miles into a full. I run Chicago and they have beer (not official but guerrilla beer...) at mile 20 or so and I'll have a couple shots of that. I run my basal a bit hotter, 50-60% and it seems to cover the gatorade ok at about that rate of consumption. I bolus for 1/3 of the carbs of the gu, although in 2012 I forgot to "cut" the bolus and then had more frequent Gatorade. I have a CGM too, which I've found very helpful. For 5K training runs on my quick loop around my house, I can have a small glass of skim milk, run, it'll warn "predicted high" within a mile of starting and then "predicted low" by the end of the run.
I'll have to start throwing in some gels during my long runs and see how my BG's do. Sound like I'll have to make adjusts to my basal to cover that. Trial and error I guess. I also have a CGMS that goes with my medtronic I only wear it for a couple of weeks a every other month or so, might be a good way to see whats going on. I have trouble keeping it from falling off, I* tend to sweat a lot. any kind of tape that you use that you would recommend?
Hey BJ,
Here is a link to a tape that has saved me in order to adhere the Dexcom and Omnipod securely.
As far as your temp basal is concerned, have you run that by your doc? I was doing something similar to that and my doc basically explained that my body still needed the insulin. If you’re doing an 11 mile run with a temp basal starting 30 mins pre-run, that’s roughly 2.5 hours without basal delivery. Regardless of what your glucose reading is, how do you FEEL? Tired, sluggish during the run or afterwards? Once I kept my insulin going during the runs I started having stronger runs & recovery.
I personally think it sounds like you need more carbs for an 11-miler though. I find I definitely need something for any runs over 4 miles.
In any case, have you heard of Team Wild? http://teamwildathletics.com/teams/run-training-programs-marathon-halfmarathon-10k/
You can get some remote personal coaching from diabetes experts to manage the training and nutrition.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Joanne
Hi BJ - By the way - Good luck on any races you do the rest of this year and next.
For me I try to start any long run, 1/2 or full marathon with a BG of 110 - 130. I find if I'm anywhere lower than 100 I have no endurance. If I'm too high (160 or up) I find I also have energy issues as well as endurance.
So the pattern I find that works is that on the way to the race (or workout) I want a good steady 110 - 130. Then I temp basal on my pump to 30% about 15 minutes before I start. I also have about 10 to 15 carbs. Then as I'm running I try to have a GU with or similar product about every 4 to 5 miles. Key thing is that I need that first 10-15 carbs before I run as it takes about 15minuets for it to have any effect. And with the insulin on board it should help with that.
As long as I'm running and have a Gu every 4-5 miles through my run I end up finsihing with a BG of about 115 to 125. But for the rest of the day I really have to watch my BG. The issue is that I'll start dropping for the next 4 to 6 hours. So I have to keep my pump on temp at 60% for about 3 hours after I finish.
This took me about a good year of playing around with settings and nutrition. But I'm happy where it is now. I'm running the Twin Cities Marathon this Sunday Oct 6th. I've got all my GU packets purchased and ready to go. So good luck to you and look forward to hearing back on how well your progressing.
Thanks, it seems like the 30 -50% for basal is being bounced around a lot so I think I'm going to start with that (30%) and some gels at the 4-5 mile marks and start experimenting. I have a half scheduled for Dec 14. so I have a little time to figure it out before the race.