Diabetic Running (Read 506 times)

T2 Marathon Hi I was diagnosed T2 while I was in the hospital with a stroke.(Oct/05)(52 yrs old) My weight had ballooned to 240 lbs (5’7”) and my blood pressure had skyrocketed. They said my A1C was 8.5 and my cholesterol & bloodpressure was very high. Through a nutritionist and my research on the net I came up with a plan to turn things around. I learned how to eat a portioned controlled balance healthy diet. Low glycemic Carbs, Lean Protein, good fats and lots of fiber. I eliminated refined carbs, saturated and trans fats and started a power walking program. I have now lost 110lbs, my latest A1C was 4.9 and my total cholesterol is 3.01. Best of all I am off all my medication (8) except a low dose aspirin. I have recently started running and I am thinking of training for a marathon (was a former marathoner –ran Boston 2000) and I was wondering if there are any T2’s out there that can offer training and nutrition advise as I cannot find much info on this on the internet. What I am really concerned about is my day to day diet once I increase my mileage. Currently I eat 50% low glycemic carbs, 4 0% lean protein and 10% good fat, tons of fiber and no refined carbs or saturated (or trans) fat. With portion control, I lost all the weight and my BG is under control. When I used to marathon my diet was 65% carbs, 30% protein and 5% fat. I am concerned that this might be too high in carbs once my mileage increases. To lose the weight I started a walking program similar to marathon training. I would walk 10km (6.25 mi) 5 days a week and 15km long walk on the weekend. I increased my long walk by 10% each week ending with my longest walk recently being 35km (20 mi). I have recently added a 1km run per day and a little longer on weekends. (again 10% a week) So it’s going to be quite a while b4 I finally convert all my walking to straight running. I have some concern about having a low during a long run or a race. Have sny onr experienced this? I used to freeze a power bar and break it up into bite size pieces – that would probably work. Are there any symptoms experiencing a low during a run? Is it similar to hitting the wall? (I was lucky in never experiencing this) The night b4 a race I would eat a large carb meal (potatoes & pasta) and race morning a power bar and a banana. It worked fine for me but I think it may be too high glycemic for me now! I used to fill my camelbak backpack with half water and half gaiterade. Will that be safe for me now that I am diagnose T2. I am sorry about the length of this post but I thought my whole story would be important to get good responses. I am sure there are other runners out there that have similar concerns. Please feel free to join the User Group "Diabetic Runners" if you can contribute or are seeking advise.