Running (10k+) and Type 2 Diabetes - Experiences

[target6point4]

Greetings everyone,

I am posting this specifically in the T2 forum as I am interested in hearing from people who run longer distances and durations (10k+ or 60+ min) and are managing their T2 condition.

I personally am a 45 yr. old T2 diabetic, diagnosed in 2013. I have weighed between 70 and 75kg for these 13 years and stand at 1.8m tall. I am always mistaken for a T1 by every doctor I meet for the first time.

My last A1C numbers (May 26) were miserable to say the least, I have since switched to a newer insulin plan and started taking running a lot more seriously since June 26. I have always been an enthusiastic runner but never focussed on any particular goals. While setting myself a specific goal, I turned to the Internet for advice and found that there wasn't any particular information about this.

My plan going forward is simple, I am going to corelate the distances run per month and see how my A1c numbers look after that. I plan to keep my diet and insulin regimen constant unless I am advised by my Internist to do otherwise.

I would be grateful if some of you could share your experiences about running longer distances and T2. Till date my longest run has been around 80 Mins. (very slow though) and I have managed all my runs without hypos or any diabetes related issues. My regular runs are at a very slow pace (around 8 Min/km). At a couple of running events, I have managed to go as fast as 6.5 min/km. I have read that most runs up to 90 - 120 Min can be managed without consuming any sugars/gels but how about longer runs? Are there any runners who are much faster or can run much longer despite being T2?

 

[LiSwati]

Greetings. Thanks for your thread. I, too, would love to hear more on this subject. I cannot run but I like walking at a quick pace (average 4 km/hr). I am 56 year old, male, T2, with a well controlled BG.

I have been thinking of doing a 10-21 km marathon (walk). Should we raise our BG before we start (and during), like eating a banana? And within what time frame (minutes before start)?

Note: The marathons starts early morning, by which time my BG is usually at its lowest, plus I am on intermittent fasting, so I normally start eating at 11 am.

After every walk I have done (longest has been 10 km and always late afternoon), my BG has dropped quite low, and this worries me. So what’s the best method to prevent this from going too low, considering that the marathons start early morning when my BG is normal (within a good low range)?

 

[RH70]

Hi, as a recently diagnosed T2 diabetic I am also keen to find out how T2 runners manage their fuelling. There is relatively little information out there given how many runners there are and how many T2 diabetics there are. From the information which is available it seems that most runners fuel as a non diabetic would during the run and stick to their usual diabetic regime before and after the run. I'm 56 y/o 79kg and 1.78m and my diabetes was flagged up in a routine health check, I had no symptoms that I was aware of. I have been running for 5 years and have run distances from 1 mile up to 50 miles.
I usually only take on fuel if I'm running 10 miles or further.

I was diagnosed a week after doing a 50 mile mountain ultra and the diagnosis came as quite a surprise. I have experienced no symptoms of diabetes that I am aware of when I've been running and fuelling with gels for road runs and proper food such as sandwiches and soup from aid stations for ultra distances. Because there are so many variables with diabetes I'm aware that everyone's experience may be different but I plan on not changing my fuelling too much during runs and managing my T2 diet strictly pre and post run. I will discuss this further with my clinician to find out if they have any further insights. The only advice they have given me so far is to keep on exercising.

 

[Sweet Cycologist]

I have been pre diabetic (family history so sadly inevitable) for 4 years and am an endurance cyclist.

For any endurance activity you have approximately 90 minutes of usable stored energy in your body so if you want to run/walk/cycle much beyond that you need to fuel your muscles accordingly - diabetes or not!

The good news is that when you exercise sugar is transported by your blood to your working muscles which is why medics will tell you to keep exercising. Your blood sugar will fall.

Naturally everyone is different so you will need to experiment to find the level of carbohydrate that will sustain your energy levels but if you try to do longer activities without sufficient fuelling, you will suffer for it! Ideally I would suggest you need to aim to eat something at 30 minute intervals and drink more often than that - real food ideally.

It’s a giant leap of faith, I know because we are told to control our carbs. That is all well advised in day to day life but if you’re doing extended aerobic exercise, ie, beyond 90 minutes, you need to fuel properly and in the long run your body with thank you for it with better diabetes control.

Hope that helps.

 

[LiSwati]

This is also a subject that interests me, especially at the moment. I'm someone that has run up to half-marathon distance in the past and also used to longish club cycle rides of 4 hours or more. I've starting back running and cycling again the first time since being diagnosed as T2 (I walk the dog a lot and that's been my main exercise for the last few years) and have been looking into the implications that it has for fueling for a T2 who's managing things primarily via going low-carb.

Recently I have been doing fairly fast paced longer walks with my dog including one that was 4 hours and over 22km. For that one I did try to do some fueling by eating a cheese and tomato omelette for breakfast, and during the walk I had half of a low carb bar (a Fit Bakes one) about at about 1/3rd distance and the other half at 2/3rd distance. That was mainly because I'd done a similar walk the weekend before (also 22km and under 4 hours) and as I hadn't eaten before or during that (or drank anything) I was quite hungry by the end. It didn't seem to impact pace though, as I was average about 09:30 minutes per km on the return leg (probably 'cause I wanted to get home and eat something!). That was more about not wanting hunger pangs than it was about fueling, but I’m sure the omelette will have helped with that.

I'll definitely need to fuel for longer runs or cycle rides and I'm now trying a couple of energy bars that were recommended (from Veloforce and OTE) that have around 30-35g of carbs each. The plan would be that I’d maybe eat one of those every half hour or so and see how that worked – along with taking some water with a hydration tab added. In the past I wouldn’t generally have eaten anything during a 10km run but I might in the future when I get back to that level.

I did a 5km run with the dog at lunchtime today – just a slow paced one (33 minutes) as I’m still getting back into things. I hadn’t eaten before that but did do a few finger prick tests to see the effect on my blood sugar. I was 7.3 at 08:25 this morning and 8.8 about 45 minutes after the run (and after a 30-minute cool down walk) which was at about 2pm. By 4:30pm I was down to 5.3 (still not having eaten today yet). The rise during and after the exercise was just the body doing its thing I think so I don’t think is issue. Going forward I think I will use energy bars (but not gels) for longer rides, runs and walks but space them out to minimise any blood sugar spikes. Might take a bit of trial and error to see what works though.

My last hb1ac (in July) was 45 so my T2 is reasonably well controlled at the moment (although hasn’t always been) and while my BMI is still a bit higher than I’d like it’s 25.6 at the moment (and dropping) so not too bad.

Your story is much like mine. Thank you for sharing. I, too, do most of my walks, walking my dogs. It’s a win-win (for them and for me). The walks are helping me to loose weight (besides the joy it brings).

For the past year I’ve been following an intermittent fasting (16/8), low card, high fat lifestyle, and it is doing wonders for my BG and my gradual weight loss, with an average HbA1c of 6.0 mmol/L (for which I am stoked, as when I was diagnosed in Sep 2023, I was 33 mmol/L). I am 1.83 m tall and weigh 86 kg (was 97 kg a year ago). My weight target is 80 kg.

I do worry about hypos after long distances (partially early morning when my BG is anywhere between 5.4 - 6 mmol/L), as once after a 7 km afternoon walk, I registered 4.3 mmol/L, the lowest I’ve registered. I have tried dry-fruit before the walk, and that helped, but I am not sure how it will pan out if I do a 10-20 km walk.

I like the advice of fueling 30 minutes before and at 30 minute intervals into the walk, with energy bars (which I haven’t tried before). Any other tips will be appreciated. I have heard marathons runners speaking of bananas as a fuel source during the run.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. All your comments have been very interesting and helpful.

 

[lovinglife]

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[target6point4]

Hello again, thanks for all the replies. Let me add a bit of information about how I do things. I generally wait atleast three hours after taking my fast acting insulin before beginning any exercise. Most of my runs are done first thing in the morning. I wake up, have half a glass of water, do some light stretches and off I go. I make it a point to do a proper warm up and running drills before I do my main run. This keeps me mostly pain free after my runs. Also, most runs are done keeping my pulse as low as possible. I have noticed that this does not adversely affect my blood sugars. I have also noticed that when I do more intense workouts then I start feeling my sugars drop about 20-30 mins in.

@RH70: You appear to run a lot. 50 miles is the kind of distance where you need to properly fuel. How do you do that? How high was your A1C when you were diagnosed?

 

[LittleGreyCat]

For those T2s in this thread not on insulin, I cycle around 20 miles each Wednesday with a coffee stop half way.
In the past I have trained up to cycle 50 miles per day over several days.
I usually cycle fasted, apart from coffee with double cream and butter.
When I cycle my BG goes up high and comes back down after the exercise.
I usually don't take any carbohydrates on my weekly ride, so using body reserves.
If I can get properly into ketosis I am just using fats, which gives a lower energy supply but over a longer period.

On cycling holiday weeks I find that after the first day I can eat almost anything, and don't have to stay keto, but I don't have a need to fuel every hour.

As an aside, on my cycle ride across the Netherlands to Germany with two non-diabetic friends, after an hour I was just getting warmed up and nicely into my rhythm when they became desperate for a coffee and cake stop.
I was still good to go for another hour or so.

My suggestion for those not on insulin (or other hypo risk medication) is to try cycling or running fasted, and see if you can get into ketosis and run on fat.
Almost all people have a far greater fat reserve than glucose reserve, by several orders of magnitude.
It can be harder while your body is adapting, but beneficial in the long term.