I have been working in children endocrinology since 1989.There are plenty of my patients with type 1, going in for sport (ice hockey,aikido,athletics,dance,soccer,rugby)
Since I ran my first marathon in 2008, I got interested if people with diabetes (especially type 1, but type 2 is also VERY interesting) run long distance.I tried to imagine possible problems and its resolve but you know better, how far life can be from any theory.
I would be pleased to hear about your personal experience in running.
I do a bit of running, but haven’t gotten to the marathon stage yet. I was diagnosed T1 two years ago and up until then I had only run as a way to stay in shape for other sports and had never done more than a 10km run. Last year I started running on somewhat of a regular basis and got to the point of a half marathon, when I tweaked my ankle and it was winter by the time my ankle was feeling 100%. Living in Canada I don’t run outside much in the winter, I mostly do indoor volleyball and downhill skiing. Winter ran extremely long this year, so I have only been running a few times this year usually 10 km runs. The idea of running a marathon still interests me and I may attempt it by this fall. I don’t find that being T1 is much of a problem for running once you have your glucose burn rate determined it is just a matter of taking the right amount of sugar and go running, I usually test every 30 minutes or so when running and try to keep my bg between 8 - 11 mmol/l during the run and burn around 30 grams per hour when running. A major benefit of running or any other heavy cardio is that it drastically reduces your need for basal insulin.
I have had type 1 since I was 7 years old. I am now 25 and running in my third marathon in 2 days. I wear a pouch around my waste that I put three GU gel packs in for the duration of the run. As of a year I wear the continous glucose monitoring system. I can see exactly what my sugar is doing throughout a run.
T2 runner diagnosed in 96 whiel training for my first triathlon. running is great for controlling sugars and dealing w/ the stress of diabetes. check the athletic diabetic group and marathon runner group here as well as glucomotion website
I wish you good luck with the marathon!
What is your usual schedule of treatment?
Do you change the quality and quantity of meals and the amount of insulins in the last week and just before the race?
How did your training plan look like?
I’d like to know where does the race take place,see the pictures from the event and read your recallection.
Do you wear also a Forrunner or the like gadget? It would be interesting to compare your race pace and glucose data during the marathon.
I’ve run 3x 1/2 marathons and usually run around 20 miles/ week w/ occasional bursts 30+ miles, last week I ran 36 which I think is the most I’d ever run in a week. I have all sorts of gizmos, pump, CGM, Garmin 405, One Touch Ultra Mini, etc.
I haven’t had too many problems while running but I’ve had a couple of fairly severe hypos perhaps related to bursts of running 3 days in a row and then having distractions, etc. outside of running. The weather here (Chicago) has really sucked for a while now (since the second week in January maybe?) so any nice day, I am going to figure out a way to run. I also like biking but I signed up to run Chicago in October and have just started training w/ a group through a local running store that seems like a really good idea, for motivation and cameraderie and, apparently, faster times? Maybe I don’t push myself enough? heh heh heh…
What is your best time on 1/2 marathon?
Running in a group may be a good idea when the weather is bad and you know that your friends are waiting for you)).
I don’t run more than 40K a week,usually less, even when I prepare myself for a marathon.I read the books by Dave Kuehls and Joe Friel and agree that the amount of the miles you have run during your training days aren’t equil to your finish time at the race.Now I’m training for Half-Ironman in Estonia, August 6.Tomorrow I’ll participate in a small triatlon in vicinity of Moscow: 1/2 mile-swimming,13 miles-crosscountry bike, 3.5miles-running. It is interesting to try, though I don’t feel good in any kind of sprint distances.
2:02 although the wind was about 20 mph that day. I’m not all that keen on swimming w/ the CGM/ pump, etc.
I just completed my first 50K a couple of weeks ago (it was a somewhat tricky trail race that took 7+ hours, so there were stretches where it was more like fast hiking). I didn’t run into any problems (either hypo or hyper), mostly taking a small but steady intake of carbs along the way, and did not inject for the duration. I’ve only been diagnosed as T1 for a year and a half now (using Lantus and Novolog), so my honeymoon period might still be tailing off.