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Long distance training

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Deano79

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi all, im type 1 diabetic & after any advice out there. I'm quite active as i play football once a week & train twice a week. I also gym & swim at least twice a week. I am hoping to take part in a half marathon then eventually a full. I was just wondering if anyone trains long distance running regularly & how they prevent major hypo's etc. Any hints or tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Amber
 
Welcome to the forum Amber

I'll tag the member @Snapsy in to your thread as I'm sure she's a runner and may offer you some tips and advice.
 
Morning @Deano79,

JRDF have just published a document about exercise and diabetes, it's a great read. I've just got home from a 10 mile jog, it's been very hit and miss over the last 5 months with training but seem to have cracked it. Remember what works for me might not be right for you. I eat a big bowl of porridge before leaving the house, just waiting enough time for my bloods to start rising. I tend to have 1x gluco tablet every 8 minutes, normally don't chew them, just let them dissolve in my mouth (sure my teeth will love it long term) I've got a freestyle libre at the minute but it stopped working this morning as it was too cold. I've got back 1 hr 30 minutes later with BG at 5.2mmol so had a cereal bar and will reduce my insulin for the next 24 hours.

This has taken me a while to get to grips with, it's difficult but I've just had to keep checking myself all the time to work out how my body is dealing with it. I probably test my BG about 20 times in the 24 hour period after running, and also check trends with the freestyle libre.

Hope this helps a little, I'm pretty new to all this as I've only been diagnosed type1 for 5 months
 
I'm currently training for the bath half.

I would recommend having a look at the run sweet site for lots of things to consider with managing insulin and exercise - http://www.runsweet.com

For me personally, long runs first thing when I have no active insulin on board and when I've had uncovered carbs for breakfast - so I tend to set off when it's on the rise, but I find it difficult to do anything in double figures so I try to start running to level off the rise. I'm on a pump, so I've also got TBR to play with. Then I also take my metre and hypo treatments with me on a run. I wear a dexcom so that tells me if I need to stop and test, or suggests if I need to start eating haribo during the run!
 

If you don't mind me asking do you get the Dexcom on prescription? Really like these monitoring devises, work so well for doing sport but the one I am wearing is £48 every 14 days and it's just not within my current budget
 
Jeff_uk said:
If you don't mind me asking do you get the Dexcom on prescription? Really like these monitoring devises, work so well for doing sport but the one I am wearing is £48 every 14 days and it's just not within my current budget
Click to expand...

No, despite the fact there is a clinical need as I have no hypo awareness, it's self funded. It's pretty unusual for CGMs to be NHS funded.
 
catapillar said:
No, despite the fact there is a clinical need as I have no hypo awareness, it's self funded. It's pretty unusual for CGMs to be NHS funded.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed things change as it's completely revolutionised my understanding! The information is priceless and will save the NHS a fortune in dealing with complications in the long run.
 
Hi @Deano79 - although I'm currently training for a (mere!) 10k I don't have a long history of running, and although I have run 8-10k a couple of times, my more frequent runs are 5-7km. I have worked out what works for me.

I'm on a pump, and the time of day that I run is either 9/9.30am or 7/7.30pm. If it's the former, I'll've had 2 boiled eggs with my normal breakfast bolus insulin at my normal breakfast time, and before starting my run I will set my pump to 50% of my normal basal rate for the duration of the run. I find that running makes my blood sugar rise for a couple of hours afterwards, so as soon as I've finished my run I will set my pump to give me 130-150% (depending on how hard I've run) for two hours.

For my next meal I tend to have only half of my normal mealtime bolus insulin, otherwise I drop. If I find I'm dropping more (which can happen for me 6-8 hours post-run) I lower my basal rate again for a couple of hours.

It's clearly not an exact science, and I find this frustrating - but post-run I keep checking my Libre to see where I'm headed. I couldn't be without it - although as @Jeff_uk says the sensors don't co-operate in the cold, so I find scanning during a run is - at the moment at least - fairly pointless!

I'd thoroughly recommend the Animas Sports Weekend to any type 1 who's interested in exercise - you don't need to be an Animas customer, just a type 1 - I did this in May last year and it was really, really helpful. If you drop them an e-mail they'll let you know when registration opens for their next one (and places sell out fast!).
https://www.animascorp.co.uk/SportsWeekend

Hope this helps!
 
Thank you for replying very much appriciated.
I will check out the Animas sports weekend Cheers Amber
 
Jeff_uk said:
If you don't mind me asking do you get the Dexcom on prescription? Really like these monitoring devises, work so well for doing sport but the one I am wearing is £48 every 14 days and it's just not within my current budget
Click to expand...

Good morning
Fantastic news in the Daily mail yesterday https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...ggnMAA&usg=AFQjCNG6_Fh1gJKE9gMt7Lz21dAlTNaO7A

Freestyle libre is/was very good for me too but like you say unaffordable for most ,let's hope this comes off
 
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