Stepping up

Hello.

So it's November already - this means I have 171 days to go until Marathon Day - it still feels ages away but I know it's going to come round quickly.

As the title of this post suggests, I'm making an effort to step up my training slightly this week.  I'm targeting 2 runs this week, both with longer distances, though nothing too outrageous just yet.

I did just over 1.5 miles on Monday night - a cunning ploy to try avoid answering the door to Trick or Treaters.  I felt really good after it - no real pain at all which makes me cautiously optimisitc (although I'm been here before so I'm still erring on the side of caution).  And I only managed to get heckled by two lots of kids dressed up as who knows what.

My plan for this week is to go out again tomorrow night (Thursday) which will mean 2 runs in 4 days.  Under normal circumstances I'd have left it an extra day or so but family commitments mean I can't.  That will put the total number of training miles at a huge 5.  It feels somewhat pathetic saying that but there's still a long way to go yet, and the groundwork I put in now will pay off later.

I also created my fundraising page for next year.  Normally I wouldn't like to put a jinx on it, but there was a prize draw to win accomodation in London for the marathon and some running gear if you set on up before November.  If you want to take a look it's here - somewhat imaginatively titled Andy Runs The Marathon 2012 Perhaps I should leave the PR to some of you eh?

I'm running for two charities - Diabetes UK and The Children's Hosptial Charity in Sheffield.  Choosing a charity is difficult but it's a lot easier to pick something close to your heart (as diabetes obviously is).  The Children's Hospital Charity allow you to specify where your money will go to and I'll be donating it towards diabetes work for children.  I can't really begin to imagine how a child copes with this and so I feel like I'm doing a little bit to help with this.  You can read more about each of them by following these links: Diabetes UK and The Children's Hospital Charity

Please don't take that as a subtle hint for donations. I think it's far too early for that and I'd hate to disappoint all of you as well as myself if the worst should happen.  Besides, I'll be far more explicit when I want your money...

Diabetes-wise, things have been going well.  As half of my weekend was spent out in various shops (Meadowhall and IKEA) I ended up eating out twice which was nice but obviously at odds with my diet and a bit of a struggle when it came to insulin.  I overcalculated a touch on Saturday so had a low blood sugar episode but did better on Sunday which was good.  I think I've only had one high reading since my last post (12.4mmol) but I can pinpoint that being due to indulging in a test slice of freshly made parkin.

I thought I'd just talk briefly about what low blood sugar means for me.  When I get low blood sugar (or hypoglycemia) I always get warning signs which is good news.  Without those I could have dangerously low sugar levels and possibly collapse - not an ideal solution for anyone.  My hands start to shake a bit and it gets difficult to concentrate on what I'm thinking or saying - it's a bit like your brain turning to cotton wool.  I occasionally get a feeling a bit similar to an adrenaline rush and I'm very conscious of my heart beating which is quite odd.  More recently I've noticed that my nose gets cold.  All in all, it's not very attractive to witness.  Plus I get quite short tempered which doesn't help.  During the day this I can cope OK but when your body wakes you up at 2am and your shaking, correcting that hypo is a lot more challenging.  I'm not sure if this is the same for everyone - I assume it differs a little bit from person to person.

I've probably taken up quite a lot of your time so I'll end it there.  As always, I'm on Twitter (@BroomOwl) for a general natter or you can contact me on broomowl@gmail.com.  If you're interested in learning more about my charities, they're also on Twitter (@DiabetesUK and @tchcharity).

Thanks for reading - I appreciate you giving up your time

Take care

Andy