Twenty Six Point…Who Is This?

Have I told you guys I’m training for a marathon? That is, of course, a rhetorical question. Clearly I haven’t, since it’s been a bazillion days since I’ve updated this blog. There were many times I’ve thought of telling you. Like when I was first considering the marathon. Or around the time I actually started training. Or after my 18 mile run several weeks ago, when it went amazingly well and I was super happy. But facts are facts, and I’ve done a terrible job blogging, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So yesterday I ran 20 (.27) miles. It was, without question, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Sure, the distance was hard. But I’ve been working up to that – 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18…I was ready for the mileage. And I’ve gotten pretty good at adjusting basal insulin rates and carb intake for my long runs. Yesterday was different though. It all started Saturday night. I had a nice shrimp pasta dinner, and a few hours later, my blood sugar was a little lowish, so I had some ice cream. Before bed, I tested and was trending toward being high, so I took a little insulin to stabilize myself overnight. I set my alarm for 6:30 Sunday morning so I could get up, lower my basal rate, and get some breakfast.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!

You can read that as either the alarm clock going off, or the Dexcom “HIGH” alert…unfortunately either one works. I was at 275 mg/dl, and had been there most of the night. Not exactly where you want to be before you run 20 miles. I took a partial correction bolus and had some breakfast. Again, not really where you want to be bg-wise before eating, but I wasn’t about to go for that long of a run on an empty stomach. So a little while later, I was actually in a decent place blood sugar-wise, and I headed out for my run.

The run started off okay…my legs were a little stiff, but that’s normal. Usually though, I loosen up and start to feel better. That just didn’t happen yesterday. For some reason, no matter how long I ran, my blood sugar never really went below the low 200’s. In fact, when I stopped to refill water and GU packets at the halfway point, my body decided that would be a great time to spike even higher. I took some micro-doses to try to bring things back down, but that always scares me because it’s amazing how powerful a unit of insulin is when you’re running. Stopping eating isn’t really an option, as it’s certain to lead to “bonking”. I had to stop and rest/walk WAY more often than I had planned, because my entire body felt as dry as the Sahara, no matter how much I drank. I felt like my body would be like the Body Worlds exhibit if you were to cut me open…everything would be there, but not a drop of moisture to be found. I felt REALLY HIGH, but not in the way that any college stoner could ever hope for.

I finished, but it was miserable. Normally during the course of a bad run, there’s at least one good mile. I didn’t have a single one yesterday. Some were less unpleasant than others, but they all sucked. I could deal with this at any other time, but this was it. This was the peak of my training. The longest run in my life (so far), and the longest before the actual 26.2 in the race.

Part of me knows that diabetes is the reason that this run went so badly. Unfortunately, the part of me that thinks “Harry, you suck and your body isn’t ready” is screaming much louder right now. I’d be much more confident going into the race if the 20 miler had gone better, but I guess on the positive side, I got the 20 miles in despite feeling like crap, so it should be a piece of cake on race day when I don’t have bg issues to deal with. And that’s my mission for the next 3 weeks…find a way to ensure that I don’t repeat this scenario on March 16th.

I’m pretty sure that plan shouldn’t involve treating bedtime lows with ice cream, so I’m going to start there.