Long distance walking and basal rates?

[bryanmccrae]

Hi All,
I'm going to be doing a one week walk along the path of the river Thames next week with mates and am wondering about basal rates.
I'm on a pump and use a Libre sensor connected to my phone via xDrip and also to my Sony Smartwatch when my Blucon dongle works (its not very reliable in my experience).
I've been type 1 for 37 years and am used to adjusting my basal according to activity levels, but I have not done any similar sustained exercise before.
My default basal adjustment to go from a mainly sedentry day (at work) to a more active day eg at the weekends is to set my basal to 40%. I'll be monitoring frequently and will have a large supply of jelly babies with me to top up if needed.
Any thoughts about this much appreciated!
Thanks,
Bryan

 

[Juicyj]

Hello Bryan,

I did the Cotswold Way walk (102 miles) over 4 weekends 2 years ago, walking all day was certainly challenging and I did have a few hypos in the process despite turning my basal down on my pump, however the Cotswold way is quite hilly so some days it was literally up and down hills all day, a few days were less challenging as they were more flat, I have to admit I was walking with people and tried not to stop too long for a hypo so literally necked 4-5 jelly babies, cereal bar and on my way again. It's important to be well stocked with glucose and cereal bars to tide you over, however towards the final leg of the walk I would have jelly beans and werthers in my pocket so would top up during the day with these and had more success topping up with glucose and avoiding going low then.

Ideally it would be useful for you to do a trial day's walk before the event ?

If you can't do a trial walk then err on the side of safety to start with so turn basal right down, aim to keep levels above 7, where you set your basal is of course up to you as we are all different, I also adjust mine in line with what I do, so for a bike ride I would take my pump off, however a walk I would aim to turn it right down to 25%. Walking surprisingly was quite a hard one for me to manage, as you say it's sustained activity for a long duration. Then learn from each day what works and what doesn't and adjust for the following day, but be prepared to also deal with managing your levels after the walk as your muscles replenish themselves and use more glucose in the process.

Finally wear a good pair of boots, I invested in some really good walking boots so didn't get any blisters, but I did lose a toenail a few weeks afterwards.

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @bryanmccrae,
Just to clarify: on weekends you reduce your basal by 60% (i.e. from 100% as sedentary dose to 40% of it)?

 

[Deleted Account]

I think it depends how much walking you are used to doing.
I walk a lot: it is common for me to walk more than 15 miles in a day. As a result, walking does not impact my basal needs much.
As @Juicyj suggests, strenuous walking may have more impact. I imagine the Thames Path is quite flat but an uneven track may make the walk harder.

I think it will be a bit of trial and error.
You could take one of those Robinson Squash'd things with you and, if you find you are struggling to maintain your BG and don't want to reduce your basal any further, you could squirt some squash into your water bottle to take on carbs more constantly than downing jelly babies non stop. (Before I went on the pump, this is the approach I took when exercising at the gym or on the bike.)