After countless cycling races and almost ten half marathons I still need to train myself as a diabetic. We all know about training for our specific race, you spend hours on the bike or hours running mile after mile in conditions that vary day to day. What about the diabetic athlete, do they doing anything differently than athletes that are not living with diabetes?
I'm sure that I'm not alone but I like to go through diabetes training a few days before the event that I will be participating in. What does that mean exactly? It means that I try my best to recreate the night before and morning of a race as a diabetic. I need my blood sugars to be hovering around the 150 mark the night before a race and around the 200 mark when I start the race. Not to mention having to setup my insulin pump for the race that is ahead of me, will I need to take a little insulin because my blood sugar is higher than it should be or do I need to set a lower temp basal because I'm lower than I should be. All of that is in my head before each and every race, but I'm also worried about my blood sugars the day before the race. If my blood sugar was low or high all day the day before the race it will take a toll on my body. That means I need more sleep and need to drink more water than usual, maybe even some Pedialyte to get some essential nutrients back.
I treated today like the day before a race, I did my best to keep my blood sugars around 140 (113 average for 8 blood sugar tests today) and ate all of the same meals that I will be eating on Saturday. Tomorrow I will wake up at 4:45 just like I will have to on Sunday, I will test my blood sugar and then go for a 3 to 5 mile run. Obviously that is not a half marathon but it will give me a very good idea of how this weekend will go. If all goes according to plan tonight and tomorrow morning I will have a tremendous amount of confidence at the NJ half marathon. That confidence will not take five minutes off of my personal best in a half but it will help me relax which is very important.
I may be a little OCD but having a diabetes test run a few days before a race has been the best thing for me. It has helped me figure out what foods I need to eat before a race and how my body will respond. What works best for me may not work for you and vice versa but I believe that it is important that we share with each other what works for us. The number of people competing in athletic events is growing each day, it is our responsibility to share what we have learned to help the next generation of diabetes athletes. We are a family and when one of us succeeds we all succeed, we are all strong and we are showing the world what is possible with diabetes!!
I'm sure that I'm not alone but I like to go through diabetes training a few days before the event that I will be participating in. What does that mean exactly? It means that I try my best to recreate the night before and morning of a race as a diabetic. I need my blood sugars to be hovering around the 150 mark the night before a race and around the 200 mark when I start the race. Not to mention having to setup my insulin pump for the race that is ahead of me, will I need to take a little insulin because my blood sugar is higher than it should be or do I need to set a lower temp basal because I'm lower than I should be. All of that is in my head before each and every race, but I'm also worried about my blood sugars the day before the race. If my blood sugar was low or high all day the day before the race it will take a toll on my body. That means I need more sleep and need to drink more water than usual, maybe even some Pedialyte to get some essential nutrients back.
I treated today like the day before a race, I did my best to keep my blood sugars around 140 (113 average for 8 blood sugar tests today) and ate all of the same meals that I will be eating on Saturday. Tomorrow I will wake up at 4:45 just like I will have to on Sunday, I will test my blood sugar and then go for a 3 to 5 mile run. Obviously that is not a half marathon but it will give me a very good idea of how this weekend will go. If all goes according to plan tonight and tomorrow morning I will have a tremendous amount of confidence at the NJ half marathon. That confidence will not take five minutes off of my personal best in a half but it will help me relax which is very important.
I may be a little OCD but having a diabetes test run a few days before a race has been the best thing for me. It has helped me figure out what foods I need to eat before a race and how my body will respond. What works best for me may not work for you and vice versa but I believe that it is important that we share with each other what works for us. The number of people competing in athletic events is growing each day, it is our responsibility to share what we have learned to help the next generation of diabetes athletes. We are a family and when one of us succeeds we all succeed, we are all strong and we are showing the world what is possible with diabetes!!
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