diabetic runner training for 1st marathon (Read 537 times)

By definition, carbs are not "sugar free" since carbs are made of sugars. Your goal should be to eat complex carbs only. Examples include whole grain breads, pastas and brown or wild rices. Stay away from white flour, sugar and all junk foods. While marathon training, you should not need to carb load, you should only need carbs for your hard workouts. And so you can match carb intake to big efforts. Your base miles (i.e., anything other than your long runs or strength workouts) can be run with few carbs if you take them at a low effort.

"live like a diabetic for the next 4 weeks" hehe... as a diabetic, that line kind of cracks me up. Trent's advice is spot on, though. I AM a diabetic, but I eat plenty of carbs. I try to make certain they're the right kinds of carbs and - more important since you're training for a marathon - the big carb days are on big run days. That being said, there are a couple things you would do if you were diabetic, that you might not do now: 1) If you drink regular soda, switch to diet. 2) If you put sugar in your tea or coffee, switch to a substitute. 3) Avoid fruit juice - there are many less-carby ways to get these vitamins. Aside from these "rules," I tend to eat according to my workouts.