Written bei Heidi –

Does Type 1 Diabetes stop you from achieving your goals or doing what everyone who doesn’t suffer from the condition does……? The simple answer here is no.

 

How do I know? Because I do accomplish these “challenging” tasks, along with doing more than probably a lot of people who don’t have a life long term condition don’t.

Where it all began
I started running in 2014 where I ran my first 10km race in London.

I then decided to challenge myself to train for a Half Marathon at Silverstone in March 2015. Followed by Windsor Half Marathon in the September.

After getting comfortable with running 10mile / 16km distances on my own quite regularly, I jumped at the opportunity to run the London Marathon in April 2016, to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis to support my niece who suffers from the condition.

Now this is when I started to really learn about my diabetes and exercise. Half marathons, I managed to control my insulin and blood sugars by just having 1 gel around mile 9 / 14.5km to support me to the end. Marathon training however was a very different ball game……

I personally wish I could provide every Type 1 Diabetic genuine advice to help them manage their blood sugars well throughout a long run. I have learnt that unfortunately insulin is a hormone that decreases your blood sugars, reacting differently to every individual under the circumstances they are going through. For example, this could be being poorly, drinking alcohol, being stressed or upset, for us ladies that “time of the month”, along with different types of sport you complete.

Running severely lowers my blood sugars, more than any other sport. I have a very high intolerance to insulin, meaning my body reacts very quickly to it. Unfortunately, this has meant managing my blood sugars well throughout long runs has been a challenge I have had to learn over the last four years.

 

Into the world of Marathon Running
My marathon training for London. I was not on my insulin pump (known as Penny) back then so I was injecting slow and fast acting insulin. Slow acting insulin (Levemir) manages my blood sugars throughout the day with no food, to help keep me alive. I would inject this twice a day as it lasts in your body for 12hours. Fast acting insulin (Novo Rapid) is what I would inject myself with when I had any food that included carbs which increase my blood sugar. This would last in my body for around 3-4hours. For my long run’s I would decrease my morning Levemir by a unit, and also decrease my Novi Rapid with my breakfast by a unit or two. I would then have a gel from miles 8-9 / 14km, followed by another one after 16miles. This worked for me. I learnt the hard way however that I would need a gel after 20miles also, by running my last long run three weeks before the race which was 22miles / 35.5km. My blood sugars were very low after this run and I knew for Marathon day, I was not going to risk this and I would take one at mile 20 / 32km.

Trial and error. Like everyone, even without diabetes. Just unfortunately Type 1 Diabetes may get you a little more poorly when you don’t get things right.

After my long run’s I always find my blood sugars decrease incredibly during the night when I sleep. Learning the hard way again by not waking up properly in the morning due to bad low blood sugar hypos. So, I also started to decrease my Levemir by a unit before I went to sleep. Which helped. The same the next morning and day. My body was playing catch up for recovery (your muscles need the food) so I would have to be careful with my blood sugars and insulin intake here. Always learning unfortunately by being ill first 🙂 but that is how I have learnt to manage and now prepare myself better.

London Marathon was very successful. Great blood sugars before, throughout and after the race using the tactic above. Breakfast early, a Naked bar an hour before my race after testing my bloods, followed by a gel at mile 9 / 14.5km, 16 / 25km and 20 / 32km. Bloods were 4.3 when I finished and I had a snack straight away (they are meant to be between 4-7). I finished the race in 3 hours and 51mins and I felt amazing!!

I won’t lie, that didn’t mean some races got any better for me unfortunately. The learnings did continue.

I ran Manchester Marathon in April 2017. I had trained so hard for this race. Strict intervals, tempo runs and cross training every week. I was in a really good shape for race day, even after suffering with Achilles injuries near the beginning of my training.

The downfall came down to the fact that I had trained in cold weather conditions up towards April and when race day came along, the weather was incredibly hot. My blood sugars had not trained how to run long runs (with effort) in the heat. I was doing absolutely fine in the race until around mile 18 / 28km when I started to really feel it. I always carry more gels with me than I need “just in case” but by this stage I had taken 5gels, hitting 22miles / 35km and feeling awful. My pace really slowed down and I was struggling. I am an incredibly stubborn human being however, so I continued to race as I was not letting anything stop me. I was racing with my friend Coren who gave me the last of her cliff blocks for me to have before mile 22 / 35km.

I then told her to go and leave me and finish the race to achieve under 3:45 hours as this was our aim. I wanted her to get good for age for London Marathon the year after. I ended up taking all the cliff blocks, being picked up by another friend who passed me Emily who was trying to support me as I wouldn’t stop running. At mile 25 / 40km my muscles collapsed on me and I fell to the ground. I had to have Emily pick me up, helping me to walk as my body was really struggling. I looked at my watch and it had ticked passed 3:45hours…… I knew I hadn’t made the time I wanted. I then saw the finish line, saw my big brother James and my boyfriend Darryl near the end and said to Emily, I’m going to run and finish this. I’m not getting over 3:50. So I did, I ran. I ran and collapsed on the finish line (literally, the worst finishing race photos ever). I managed to achieve 3:47. A PB on a race where I became very poorly (I shouldn’t really complain but I was gutted as I knew I could do better).

 

Penny my Insulin Pump
Since then, I went on my Insulin Pump (Penny) in June 2017. It has been a life changer. I still have low blood sugars, they don’t disappear. But I can manage my sugars a lot easier. An insulin pump is only fast acting insulin (Novo Rapid) no slow acting (Levemir) at all. It is a piece of equipment I have placed on my stomach constantly, slowly providing me with little bits of insulin throughout the day. I can decrease this amount of insulin when I do anything active for a certain timescale. It also allows me to carb count a lot more accurately with the food I am eating, linking to my blood sugar machine helping me work out the calculations (yes, being diabetic means your brain can be a constant calculator at times). It’s a triangle. Food, insulin and activity. All three have to balance.

Since Penny the Pump came into my life, I have raced 100miles on my bike, completed my first sprint triathlon and ran Athens Marathon last year 2017 after Manchester. I can happily say I managed to control my blood sugars with my pump extremely well throughout Athens, even with the heat. I had learnt from my previous race mistakes and I had my pump Penny to support me.

 

What is next for 2018???
This year, I am taking on the challenge of racing London Olympic Triathlon in August, followed by Chicago Marathon in October.
I also have raced my first Duathlon which I managed to come 4th lady in (don’t ask me how, still doesn’t feel real but it happened 😉 Anything is possible right??

“Life is a rollercoaster” for me personally is a great saying. Along with my mantra “You survive your diabetes, so you can survive what you have to achieve”. Everyone goes through ups and downs in different ways. We all have good and bad days whoever you are. Usain Bolt, Paula Radcliffe, Jo Pavey….. they have all been there even though they are INCREDIBLE athletes. To finish off, I will go back to my sentence at the beginning of my blog though…..

 

Does Type 1 Diabetes stop you from achieving your goals or doing what everyone who doesn’t suffer from the condition does……? The simple answer here is no.

 

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