I am fourteen and have found that every time I exercise, I loose all the benefits by having to take in sugar because of a hypo. Now I have great control, I quite fancy getting back into running. Has anyone got any tips on how to build up fitness by running and what I should do with diabetes. At the moment, I like short distance and middle distance running but I would love to progress to long distance due to the health benefits of it, How should I work my way up and what does long distance do to your sugars compared with sprints?
Are you on a pump or shots? I think everyone’s body works different and it’s kind of trial and error but I will tell you what has worked for me and maybe it will give you a starting point! A little background: i am 27 and was diagnosed last summer and i wear a pump! I find that the best time to run is when I have no or very little active insulin on board, which is usually about 4 hours after I eat. I always wear my pump at 100% of basal and usually if I run less than 3 miles I don’t have any change in sugars (this is because your heart rate is up high enough that it’s using sugar from your body stores and not your blood). If I’m going to run 4 miles or more then I take a hammer gel pack about half hour before I run. Yes this is sugar but it’s a slow releasing kind that doesn’t causes spikes and gives you energy. I think once I start seriously running at get to the 9-10 mile mark I will have to take another gel halfway through. Even if you aren’t burning off the calories from the sugar you have to take to prevent hypo, you are still exercising your muscles and keeping your heart strong, along with many other health benefits. I hope this helps at least a little to get you started, let me know if you have any other questions and keep up the good work : )
