Need advice for running a marathon with type 1 diabetes

[gilko86]

Hello there,

I am new to this forum, I have had type 1 diabetes for over 11 years now and have signed up to run in next years London Marathon for Diabetes UK.

I was just wondering whether anyone out there has any experience of running marathons with diabetes and can offer any advice for my first marathon, especially regarding dietary requirements.


Thanks
Alex

[trailrunner]

If you are new to running, go to an area with a known mileage, like a 1 miles loop. After each mile, test your BS. This will give you an idea of how your BS will react to running. Other than that, test frequently, keep gels with you. Always let someone know where you are running. I have found that on days of long runs I have to reduce my basal insulin often by half or more. Be safe Good luck!

[xMenace]

Neiler did this fall. I'll get him to respond when I see him after the new year.

[Neiler]

Hi gilko86 - A Marathon is a great goal to strive towards. There are a lot of things to challenge you along the way - especially since you have Diabetes - and that is a good thing. The training keeps you motivated to monitor your Diabetes.

trailrunner provided some great advice on running - I can agree that is all very solid advice. As for your specific question around Dietary Requirements I would say one of the Keys is to understand the difference between what I call Nutrition and Fuel. Nutrition being the food/drink that you consume at Meals and Snacks. Fuel being the food/drink that you consume just before, during, and just after your runs. Both are important to keep an eye on especially during the weeks ahead with the long training runs you'll be doing. For me - most of it was trial and error - and I did go Hypo on a couple of long runs - but I eventually got a handle on what worked for me - which was:

Nutrition - I don't count carbs - but I did increase my carb intake a bit (IE: Whole Grain Breads and Cereals, Fruit, etc.), I also slightly increased my good quality Protein (IE: Egg Whites, Fish, Poultry)
Fuel Before Runs - Only if it was a Long Run (over an hour) I found having a Gel or 1/2 of a Power Bar (you can get Whole Grain Bars) helped. On Short runs I usually didn't need the Fuel.
Fuel During Runs - Gels or Power Bars as needed. Your energy levels and BG results will tell you what you need.
Fuel After Runs - Only if it was a long run I found it good to have something with Protein and Carbs for recovery (some Bars are good).

I hope that gets you started. As xMenace mentioned (Thanks for the nudge xMenace), I ran my third Marathon this fall - but it was my first after having been diagnosed with Diabetes. I gathered a lot of information from other runners, other runners with Diabetes, and my Health Care Team. If you want info on any other topics - let me know and I'll see if I can help find some answers.

If I found the right Marathon Web Site - you're running on April 13th. That should give you about 15 weeks of training - that's lots of time to get a feel for what works in your case.

Let me know how the training progresses. I've started training again with the hope of running another Marathon in the Spring as well. Maybe we'll have some more info to share over the coming months.