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Type 2 doing an Ironman. Is it safe?

alpman65

alpman65

Member
Hello. I was diagnosed with Type 2 in October 2014. I have taken on board the advice to lose weight and exercise and have entered an Ironman race in July. It involves a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike and then running a marathon. It will take me around 17 hours to complete. I am 49 years of age and currently weigh around 17 stone although I anticipate being around 2 stone lighter on race day. I am struggling to find anywhere to get advice regarding this. Is it safe for me to do this race. Are the risks greater for me due to my condition. Whilst training at present I tend to pop a jelly baby every half an hour or so. My diabetic nurse doesn't seem to be any help. I really just want to know that provided I drink plenty of water and eat plenty of carbs on the day I am unlikely to keel over with some kind of hypo. If anyone knows any information source that deals with a sensible diet for a Type 2 participating in endurance training I would really appreciate hearing about it. Many thanks.
 
Which Ironman are you doing? Have you done any triathlon before? Can I suggest that you do at least one sprint / middle / Olympic distance triathlon before hand so you get an introduction to managing aspects of races, such as registration / race admin, arranging kit, transitions. I'm guessing from what you say in your first post on this thread that you aren't on insulin? I don't compete in triathlons myself, prefering endurance events that require navigation, but I work on several each year, and there's another T1D volunteer, male who competes in at least one tri a year, volunteering at most others. I have found from volunteering at Henley and Weymouth Challenge triathlons [Ironman distance] plus many other shorter triathlons, that the company that serves Northamptonshire, Belvoir / Beaver etc is particularly diabetes friendly, keen to attract people of a hige range of levels of fitness & ability.
 
Is it a drop in BS that is worrying you? I may be quite wrong, but my feeling is that if you are not on insulin or insulin promoting medication, there is no reason why your blood sugars should drop more than a non-diabetic's would. Or do you often see low levels during exercise?
 
Maybe check with your doctor if your nurse was no help. They might do an EKG and other tests to make sure there are no other conditions that could be an issue.

I don't get the eating carbs for exercising, although I suppose this is conventional wisdom - carbs for energy. When I work out (weight lifting and running up to 10 km) I do best with no carbs. I tried it after eating carbs recently and it was horrible - my blood sugar spiked up to 12, then plunged to less than 4 and I had to stop at 2km due to hypo symptoms, which went away as soon as I stopped running. I find it much easier to train on a low carb diet than a high carb diet, but maybe you're getting different results than me.
 
alpman65 said:
Hello. I was diagnosed with Type 2 in October 2014. I have taken on board the advice to lose weight and exercise and have entered an Ironman race in July. It involves a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike and then running a marathon. It will take me around 17 hours to complete. I am 49 years of age and currently weigh around 17 stone although I anticipate being around 2 stone lighter on race day. I am struggling to find anywhere to get advice regarding this. Is it safe for me to do this race. Are the risks greater for me due to my condition. Whilst training at present I tend to pop a jelly baby every half an hour or so. My diabetic nurse doesn't seem to be any help. I really just want to know that provided I drink plenty of water and eat plenty of carbs on the day I am unlikely to keel over with some kind of hypo. If anyone knows any information source that deals with a sensible diet for a Type 2 participating in endurance training I would really appreciate hearing about it. Many thanks.
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If you check your BG, you should be able to build up a picture of what happens when you exercise.
Ironman is a hard endurance, so respect to you.

I don't do that much work, I work out at the gym, swim, and scuba dive.
I carb load as required beforehand, (Type 2, minimal meds, normal BG), and work out what I'll need to exercise.
This is based on my experience.

I know that food I'll get when out won't be ideal, it will be carb heavy, and high GI, and everyone will have the same, but if I am used to eating carbs, and working hard, I have tested, and I know I'll be ok with what I choose to eat when I am exercising, without raising my BG.
If you can't carry it all with you for 17 hours, you need to plan what to do with what is available.
(My kids did a full marathon recently, it was energy/snack bars, bananas, and water)


It is very unlikely you with go hypo, unless you are on meds that cause it.

I would suggest you test as you train, and build up a routine.
It's worth finding out what refreshments are available on the Ironman, if you survive on it, or if you need to sort out the food you'll need to keep you going on the day.
 
Actually, being endurance events, triathlons, and Ironman distance, especially are the type of event when non-diabetics [or diabetics not on insulin or other medications - even those on metformin in this situation] can and do become hypoglycaemic.

I prefer endurance navigation events, competing or marshalling, which is why I was once faced with my then partner, a fit non-diabetic male who tended to lose a lot of salts in sweat, virtually collapse on the doorstep of a camping barn where we were staying while placing controls, indepently, on northern Lake District fells - he'd done more than me, on a very wet, cold & windy day, and he hadn't take enough food with him. I got him into a chair and started handing him hot drinks, sweet biscuits etc until he'd warmed up enough, raised his blood sugar and corrected his electrolyte balance. Then peeled off his clothes as his hands weren't working, to get him under a hot shower to warm up more, then change into warm dry clothing.
 
alpman65 said:
Hello. I was diagnosed with Type 2 in October 2014. I have taken on board the advice to lose weight and exercise and have entered an Ironman race in July. It involves a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike and then running a marathon. It will take me around 17 hours to complete. I am 49 years of age and currently weigh around 17 stone although I anticipate being around 2 stone lighter on race day. I am struggling to find anywhere to get advice regarding this. Is it safe for me to do this race. Are the risks greater for me due to my condition. Whilst training at present I tend to pop a jelly baby every half an hour or so. My diabetic nurse doesn't seem to be any help. I really just want to know that provided I drink plenty of water and eat plenty of carbs on the day I am unlikely to keel over with some kind of hypo. If anyone knows any information source that deals with a sensible diet for a Type 2 participating in endurance training I would really appreciate hearing about it. Many thanks.
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Hi alpman65

How's the training and fooding going?
 
what you don't say is what your current training/racing regime is?

I'd have no concerns related to the T2, but I'd be concerned that you're biting off more than you can chew with just 3-4 months to go to an ironman.

In my opinion, you should be able to go to at least 50% of that distance/duration now, and nearer 2/3 with a month to go to the event.
 
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