I wish that "what's my blood?" wasn't the first thing I thought every morning. I wish that sometimes, waking with the all too familiar feeling of a dry mouth didn't set the tone for my entire day. I wish that feeling light-headed at 6am didn't mean scrabbling around in the dark for jelly babies before I can have a shower.
I wish I could drive whenever I wanted.
I wish that sticking a needle in my fingers seven or eight times a day wasn't necessary. I wish I didn't have to stick a needle in my stomach twice a week.
I wish I could go away for the night, for the weekend, for a week, without it feeling like a military operation.
I wish that being ill was just that - and not an assault on my entire body.
I wish that I didn't have to carry so much stuff around with me all the time. I wish I didn't have to keep spare sets of everything all over the place.
I wish I could go for a run without ziplock bags of jelly babies.
I wish my blood sugar didn't have to dictate my mood. I wish my partner understood my mood-swings.
I wish I didn't look at a plate of food and see numbers. I wish guilty pleasures didn't try to punish me for hours afterwards. I wish that carbs didn't sometimes feel like my enemy.
I wish it wasn't a fight.
I wish my brain would switch if off sometimes. I wish I didn't think about test results. I wish I didn't have a familiar hospital routine.
I wish I could go to bed when I was tired without needing permission from a finger-prick.
I wish that this list didn't represent every day of my life. I wish that sometimes it was just a little bit easier. I wish I could have a day off.
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Friday, 11 March 2016
Friday, 11 October 2013
Diabetes Week
This blog was first posted on the Diabetes UK blog site as part of Diabetes Week
It's already well documented that living with diabetes can be a frustrating and challenging experience. I remember thinking when I was diagnosed with Type 1 in 2001 that it was so fundamentally life changing that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to cope with it.
One of my first thoughts was of a boy who went to my primary school who had diabetes as that was probably my only exposure to someone who lived with the condition. I remembered that had carried a vial of insulin and a large hypodermic needle around with him all the time. That memory convinced me I was doomed, that I'd never be able to manage.
Being here 12 years later to write this blog isn't a tribute to my own incredible ability to overcome the impossible, but a real testament to the power of research into treating diabetes and improving the lives of millions of people.
Recently I became involved in a clinical trial called REPOSE (or The Relative Effectiveness of Pumps over MDI and Structured Education for Type-1 diabetes). The aim of the study is to determine whether an insulin pump provides additional benefit to people with Type 1 diabetes versus Multiple Daily Injections. All participants, regardless of the treatment type they are assigned, also complete a DAFNE course to ensure that structured education is provided.
Whilst a recent report showed that the UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe and the US in terms of insulin pump usage in treating Type 1 diabetes, there have been no trials in adults that compare how well patient fare between MDI and pump therapy when combined with structured education. It's important that research like this is carried out to be able to
It's already well documented that living with diabetes can be a frustrating and challenging experience. I remember thinking when I was diagnosed with Type 1 in 2001 that it was so fundamentally life changing that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to cope with it.
One of my first thoughts was of a boy who went to my primary school who had diabetes as that was probably my only exposure to someone who lived with the condition. I remembered that had carried a vial of insulin and a large hypodermic needle around with him all the time. That memory convinced me I was doomed, that I'd never be able to manage.
Being here 12 years later to write this blog isn't a tribute to my own incredible ability to overcome the impossible, but a real testament to the power of research into treating diabetes and improving the lives of millions of people.
Recently I became involved in a clinical trial called REPOSE (or The Relative Effectiveness of Pumps over MDI and Structured Education for Type-1 diabetes). The aim of the study is to determine whether an insulin pump provides additional benefit to people with Type 1 diabetes versus Multiple Daily Injections. All participants, regardless of the treatment type they are assigned, also complete a DAFNE course to ensure that structured education is provided.
Whilst a recent report showed that the UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe and the US in terms of insulin pump usage in treating Type 1 diabetes, there have been no trials in adults that compare how well patient fare between MDI and pump therapy when combined with structured education. It's important that research like this is carried out to be able to
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Revisiting REPOSE
This blog first appeared on the Diabetes UK blog site on 30th April 2013
It's been nearly three months since I started using my insulin pump as part of the REPOSE trial I'm taking part in, and I thought it was about time I did a bit of an update on how things are going.
I think the first thing to say is that whilst it's only been three months, it feels like a lifetime - and in a good way too. You might recall that I was somewhat apprehensive about making the switch to a pump, a natural reaction to changing the way I've looked after myself for the last 10 years. I'm happy to say that, at the moment, those fears were misplaced.
That's not to say that the transition was an overnight success, or that I've not had a few wobbles, but overall I feel like I've had a real, noticeable improvement in how I've felt which can't be a bad thing.
It's hard to say what exactly the cause of that is. It would be easy to attribute it to the pump because that's the most obvious change, but there are a lot of other smaller changes I've made since I've been on the study which have probably had an effect.
Obviously I've attended a DAFNE course which, as I mentioned in a previous blog was an incredible experience and allowed me the time and opportunity to learn about some of the key things I'd either never been told, or had long since forgotten. It was also really good to meet other people with type 1 and share some experiences.
I've also been recording my blood glucose levels, carbohydrate portions and insulin doses in a daily diary - something I've not done since I was diagnosed nearly 12 years ago. I think that must be having some kind of effect as it lets me see the patterns over a few days rather than relying on memory which I've always done in the past. A knock-on effect of that is that I'm testing my blood glucose more frequently than I ever have - from the dark days of a couple times a week a few years ago to at least five times a day now. I take my testing kit with me everywhere now and that's certainly something I've never done before.
Having the pump gives me the ability to control my basal insulin more effectively and working through that process has been a real eye opener. I wasn't previously aware of the "dawn phenomenon" (where your blood sugar can rise as you wake up) and going through periods of carb-free eating to understand what my basal levels should be showed me just how differently my body reacts to insulin at different times of the day. Discovering I need to double my basal doses throughout most of the morning, just to stay level was a bit of a shock!
Whilst I do feel very comfortable with the pump (sometimes I genuinely forget I'm wearing it and panic that I've left the house without my insulin), I think it's worth looking at a couple of the 'negative' aspects of it as well.
Being wired up to something 24/7 is a constant reminder that you have type 1 diabetes (I joked recently that I'm effectively battery operated these days). Whilst it's not something that particularly bothers me most of the time, it does make it a little harder to forget on the occasions that you'd like to.
On a daily injection regimen, there was always a small chance that you might inject somewhere that might mean the insulin didn't work as effectively as it should, but it was unlikely that would happen for every injection in a given day. With the pump, as you place the cannula for three days a time, if you hit an ineffective injection site, all your insulin goes through there for a few days (unless of course, you notice, and change the cannula). You also run the risk of the cannula not being inserted properly but that's possibly a story for another time.
The overall aim of the REPOSE study is to determine whether insulin pump therapy is more effective at treating people with type 1 diabetes. Whilst I think it's a quite early to make any definitive statement, I know that so far I feel like it's had a positive effect on me so far and hopefully that will continue into the future.
It's been nearly three months since I started using my insulin pump as part of the REPOSE trial I'm taking part in, and I thought it was about time I did a bit of an update on how things are going.
I think the first thing to say is that whilst it's only been three months, it feels like a lifetime - and in a good way too. You might recall that I was somewhat apprehensive about making the switch to a pump, a natural reaction to changing the way I've looked after myself for the last 10 years. I'm happy to say that, at the moment, those fears were misplaced.
That's not to say that the transition was an overnight success, or that I've not had a few wobbles, but overall I feel like I've had a real, noticeable improvement in how I've felt which can't be a bad thing.
It's hard to say what exactly the cause of that is. It would be easy to attribute it to the pump because that's the most obvious change, but there are a lot of other smaller changes I've made since I've been on the study which have probably had an effect.
Obviously I've attended a DAFNE course which, as I mentioned in a previous blog was an incredible experience and allowed me the time and opportunity to learn about some of the key things I'd either never been told, or had long since forgotten. It was also really good to meet other people with type 1 and share some experiences.
I've also been recording my blood glucose levels, carbohydrate portions and insulin doses in a daily diary - something I've not done since I was diagnosed nearly 12 years ago. I think that must be having some kind of effect as it lets me see the patterns over a few days rather than relying on memory which I've always done in the past. A knock-on effect of that is that I'm testing my blood glucose more frequently than I ever have - from the dark days of a couple times a week a few years ago to at least five times a day now. I take my testing kit with me everywhere now and that's certainly something I've never done before.
Having the pump gives me the ability to control my basal insulin more effectively and working through that process has been a real eye opener. I wasn't previously aware of the "dawn phenomenon" (where your blood sugar can rise as you wake up) and going through periods of carb-free eating to understand what my basal levels should be showed me just how differently my body reacts to insulin at different times of the day. Discovering I need to double my basal doses throughout most of the morning, just to stay level was a bit of a shock!
Whilst I do feel very comfortable with the pump (sometimes I genuinely forget I'm wearing it and panic that I've left the house without my insulin), I think it's worth looking at a couple of the 'negative' aspects of it as well.
Being wired up to something 24/7 is a constant reminder that you have type 1 diabetes (I joked recently that I'm effectively battery operated these days). Whilst it's not something that particularly bothers me most of the time, it does make it a little harder to forget on the occasions that you'd like to.
On a daily injection regimen, there was always a small chance that you might inject somewhere that might mean the insulin didn't work as effectively as it should, but it was unlikely that would happen for every injection in a given day. With the pump, as you place the cannula for three days a time, if you hit an ineffective injection site, all your insulin goes through there for a few days (unless of course, you notice, and change the cannula). You also run the risk of the cannula not being inserted properly but that's possibly a story for another time.
The overall aim of the REPOSE study is to determine whether insulin pump therapy is more effective at treating people with type 1 diabetes. Whilst I think it's a quite early to make any definitive statement, I know that so far I feel like it's had a positive effect on me so far and hopefully that will continue into the future.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
DAFNE
This blog first appeared on the Diabetes UK blog site on 6th February 2013
As part of the REPOSE trial I talked about last month, I recently attended a DAFNE course. I'll be honest and say that a couple of weeks beforehand I was still pretty skeptical about attending. Not so much because I didn't think I'd get any benefit from it, but more that I'd never been given any information about what DAFNE was beyond "it'll help with your carb counting" and couldn't understand how it was a five day course.
That said, after I'd had the pump on for a few days, I was really eager to get started and by the time the course started I honestly couldn't wait. I didn't feel too apprehensive at the start, as I'd already met half the people on the course when we'd had our pump induction, and I knew that everyone there was in the same position as I was.
I thought the DAFNE course (Dose Adjusted For Normal Eating) itself was very well structured. We followed a daily timetable with 4-5 sessions per day, building on regular daily topics such as insulin dose adjustment and carb counting/nutrition as well as discussing other topics such as alcohol and exercise.
For the afternoon session on the second day, we were invited to bring along a family member to give them the opportunity to see what the course entails, and to speak openly about their experiences of living with someone with diabetes. I think that helped a lot as it allowed us to reflect on what those we love have to deal with, which I would guess is a point of view we don't often stop to consider. I think that afternoon worked really well and having everyone participate in the exercises was great.
What I found surprising (and a tad embarrassing) was the amount of the history/biology about diabetes that I either didn't know or that I'd forgotten. While I suppose it's all a matter of personal preference, I enjoyed the sessions that touched on that information as I felt like it provided a great base for all the other topics we were discussing.
There were, of course, some more difficult sessions, and the one we spent discussing the long term complications of diabetes could have been uncomfortable to talk about. We spent the time in two teams, playing a game of which complications could be specifically diabetes related, how they were caused and what could be done to prevent them. It lightened the mood and allowed us to learn at the same time.
I think as a group we all agreed that being in a safe, open and honest environment with people all in the same situation was one of the best things about the week. As I may have mentioned previously, I've not actually met anyone with Type 1 diabetes before and so to be able to share experiences, tips and frustrations with a group was such a positive thing. I was also relieved to find out I'm not the only one who sometimes forgets to change needles and lancets as often as I should!
As part of the course (and over the next two years as part of the trial) we are all recording our BG readings, carbohydrate portions and insulin doses on a daily basis. We began and ended each day with a review of the numbers. I think that really helped to build a great spirit in the group and allowed us to share advice with each other. It was pretty nerve wracking presenting your numbers back to the group for the first time, but by Friday, it was an experience we'd all got into and were going to miss quite a lot.
Being in that environment gave everyone a lot of confidence to speak up and discuss their own situations without feeling judged or under pressure. That similar feeling when sharing BG levels (some not always the numbers you'd hope for) was valuable in discussing our progress.
It would be remiss of me to talk about the course, the environment and the structure that allowed us all to benefit so much from the week without a mention for our DAFNE Educators. We were lucky to have three Educators supporting our course all week, two diabetes specialist nurses and a dietician. Their enthusiasm and encouragement kept us going for the week and I personally think they did so much to help foster the environment that allowed the course to work so well. Thank you Carolin, Val and Val.
After a full week using the pump with insulin I'm starting to get accustomed to it and DAFNE has put me in an excellent position to feel confident using it and adjusting my doses where necessary. On a personal level, one of the hardest things I've had to do is learn to curb my desire to try and fix everything at once and adopt a more patient and measured approach to fine tuning my regime. I'm not quite there yet, but having the confidence and knowledge to be able to make changes should hopefully mean I'll have all my BG levels within target very soon.
As a final word, I'd encourage anyone to follow this link to the DAFNE User Action Group’s e-petition and sign it to lobby for a centrally funded diabetes education programme. Studies have shown that not only does education help diabetics manage their condition with better glycaemic control and fewer hypos, but that the education will effectively pay for itself within five years. Please take the time to follow the link and encourage as many others as you can to do the same.
As part of the REPOSE trial I talked about last month, I recently attended a DAFNE course. I'll be honest and say that a couple of weeks beforehand I was still pretty skeptical about attending. Not so much because I didn't think I'd get any benefit from it, but more that I'd never been given any information about what DAFNE was beyond "it'll help with your carb counting" and couldn't understand how it was a five day course.
That said, after I'd had the pump on for a few days, I was really eager to get started and by the time the course started I honestly couldn't wait. I didn't feel too apprehensive at the start, as I'd already met half the people on the course when we'd had our pump induction, and I knew that everyone there was in the same position as I was.
I thought the DAFNE course (Dose Adjusted For Normal Eating) itself was very well structured. We followed a daily timetable with 4-5 sessions per day, building on regular daily topics such as insulin dose adjustment and carb counting/nutrition as well as discussing other topics such as alcohol and exercise.
For the afternoon session on the second day, we were invited to bring along a family member to give them the opportunity to see what the course entails, and to speak openly about their experiences of living with someone with diabetes. I think that helped a lot as it allowed us to reflect on what those we love have to deal with, which I would guess is a point of view we don't often stop to consider. I think that afternoon worked really well and having everyone participate in the exercises was great.
What I found surprising (and a tad embarrassing) was the amount of the history/biology about diabetes that I either didn't know or that I'd forgotten. While I suppose it's all a matter of personal preference, I enjoyed the sessions that touched on that information as I felt like it provided a great base for all the other topics we were discussing.
There were, of course, some more difficult sessions, and the one we spent discussing the long term complications of diabetes could have been uncomfortable to talk about. We spent the time in two teams, playing a game of which complications could be specifically diabetes related, how they were caused and what could be done to prevent them. It lightened the mood and allowed us to learn at the same time.
I think as a group we all agreed that being in a safe, open and honest environment with people all in the same situation was one of the best things about the week. As I may have mentioned previously, I've not actually met anyone with Type 1 diabetes before and so to be able to share experiences, tips and frustrations with a group was such a positive thing. I was also relieved to find out I'm not the only one who sometimes forgets to change needles and lancets as often as I should!
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Being in that environment gave everyone a lot of confidence to speak up and discuss their own situations without feeling judged or under pressure. That similar feeling when sharing BG levels (some not always the numbers you'd hope for) was valuable in discussing our progress.
It would be remiss of me to talk about the course, the environment and the structure that allowed us all to benefit so much from the week without a mention for our DAFNE Educators. We were lucky to have three Educators supporting our course all week, two diabetes specialist nurses and a dietician. Their enthusiasm and encouragement kept us going for the week and I personally think they did so much to help foster the environment that allowed the course to work so well. Thank you Carolin, Val and Val.
After a full week using the pump with insulin I'm starting to get accustomed to it and DAFNE has put me in an excellent position to feel confident using it and adjusting my doses where necessary. On a personal level, one of the hardest things I've had to do is learn to curb my desire to try and fix everything at once and adopt a more patient and measured approach to fine tuning my regime. I'm not quite there yet, but having the confidence and knowledge to be able to make changes should hopefully mean I'll have all my BG levels within target very soon.
As a final word, I'd encourage anyone to follow this link to the DAFNE User Action Group’s e-petition and sign it to lobby for a centrally funded diabetes education programme. Studies have shown that not only does education help diabetics manage their condition with better glycaemic control and fewer hypos, but that the education will effectively pay for itself within five years. Please take the time to follow the link and encourage as many others as you can to do the same.
Whilst I may have been skeptical before I started, I'd nopw say I'm a huge DAFNE advocate! I'd be keen to hear on your own experiences of diabetes education courses, DAFNE or others.
Friday, 18 January 2013
The insulin pump
This blog first appeared on the Diabetes UK website on 18th January 2013
As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I'm taking part in a clinical trial. It's called the REPOSE (Relative Effectiveness of Pumps over MDI and Structured Education) trial and is basically design to determine whether or not insulin pump therapy is more effective at treating adults with T1 diabetes. The trial splits particpants into two groups, half are randomised to receive an insulin pump and half continue with their daily injection regime. Everyone then attends a DAFNE course. You can read more about the trial on the National Institute for Health Research website.
I've been randomised to the pump half of the group and yesterday I spent the afternoon learning how to load operate, fill and attach the pump. It's currently filled with saline so it gives us chance to get used to wearing the device and having the cannula attached without actually using it to medicate. It's a Medtronic Paradigm Veo pump which you can find out more about on the Medtronic website
My DAFNE course starts at the end of January and I'll switch over to insulin the night before it starts. We'll then go through the DAFNE course getting support for the first week before we're left to fly solo.
I wrote in my own blog before I'd had my hospital visit about how I felt about making the change. I'm going to discuss my first impressions of having the pump and the "induction" process here.
Firstly there's a LOT to take in. To get the pump operational, you need to fill a new reservoir, tell the pump to rewind itself (similar to retracting the plunger on a pen), attach the infusion set (i.e. tubing) to the pump and insert the cannula into your stomach. Of course it's one of those things that will become second nature pretty quickly, but I imagine the first time I try it by myself will take a while.
Secondly, as I alluded to above, there's a lot of stuff needed to make all this work. The picture below shows you the contents of the goody bag I brough home from the hospital
As you can see, there's a lot more consumables required for a pump than for a pen!
Inserting the cannula was a bit daunting. As I think I mentioned before, I'm not actually very good with needles and I had a slight flash of wooziness as I was doing it but thankfully that passed. It's never good to be the one who passes out during the induction!! I remember having the same feeling the first time I used an insulin pen and now I don't think twice about that. I think removing the cannula for the first time is probably my last real challenge but as they stay in for 2-3 days at a time, I've not got that far yet!
I don't really notice the pump during the day which surprised me. I thought I'd be a lot more conscious of the device (currently clipped onto my belt) and the cannula than I actually am. There's a bout 2 feet of tubing which can be a bit tricky to conceal but it's nothing major. It was a bit of a broken night's sleep last night but that was to be expected. I'm going to try running with it tonight and I'm ordering a pouch I can wear to keep it a bit more concealed so I'm less likely to knock it.
Whilst the overall induction process took a lot out of me, I woke up feeling positive about the change. I've definitely got a steep learning curve ahead of me, but I see it as something to embrace rather than be afraid of. I'll write a follow up after DAFNE when I've been using the pump to actually control my diabetes and I'll be able to give an appraisal on how well the first week or so has gone.
As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I'm taking part in a clinical trial. It's called the REPOSE (Relative Effectiveness of Pumps over MDI and Structured Education) trial and is basically design to determine whether or not insulin pump therapy is more effective at treating adults with T1 diabetes. The trial splits particpants into two groups, half are randomised to receive an insulin pump and half continue with their daily injection regime. Everyone then attends a DAFNE course. You can read more about the trial on the National Institute for Health Research website.
I've been randomised to the pump half of the group and yesterday I spent the afternoon learning how to load operate, fill and attach the pump. It's currently filled with saline so it gives us chance to get used to wearing the device and having the cannula attached without actually using it to medicate. It's a Medtronic Paradigm Veo pump which you can find out more about on the Medtronic website
My DAFNE course starts at the end of January and I'll switch over to insulin the night before it starts. We'll then go through the DAFNE course getting support for the first week before we're left to fly solo.
I wrote in my own blog before I'd had my hospital visit about how I felt about making the change. I'm going to discuss my first impressions of having the pump and the "induction" process here.
Firstly there's a LOT to take in. To get the pump operational, you need to fill a new reservoir, tell the pump to rewind itself (similar to retracting the plunger on a pen), attach the infusion set (i.e. tubing) to the pump and insert the cannula into your stomach. Of course it's one of those things that will become second nature pretty quickly, but I imagine the first time I try it by myself will take a while.
Secondly, as I alluded to above, there's a lot of stuff needed to make all this work. The picture below shows you the contents of the goody bag I brough home from the hospital
As you can see, there's a lot more consumables required for a pump than for a pen!
Inserting the cannula was a bit daunting. As I think I mentioned before, I'm not actually very good with needles and I had a slight flash of wooziness as I was doing it but thankfully that passed. It's never good to be the one who passes out during the induction!! I remember having the same feeling the first time I used an insulin pen and now I don't think twice about that. I think removing the cannula for the first time is probably my last real challenge but as they stay in for 2-3 days at a time, I've not got that far yet!
I don't really notice the pump during the day which surprised me. I thought I'd be a lot more conscious of the device (currently clipped onto my belt) and the cannula than I actually am. There's a bout 2 feet of tubing which can be a bit tricky to conceal but it's nothing major. It was a bit of a broken night's sleep last night but that was to be expected. I'm going to try running with it tonight and I'm ordering a pouch I can wear to keep it a bit more concealed so I'm less likely to knock it.
Whilst the overall induction process took a lot out of me, I woke up feeling positive about the change. I've definitely got a steep learning curve ahead of me, but I see it as something to embrace rather than be afraid of. I'll write a follow up after DAFNE when I've been using the pump to actually control my diabetes and I'll be able to give an appraisal on how well the first week or so has gone.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Standing on the edge
"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew." - Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)
Today is a strange day for me. It's the last full 24 hours that I'll be medicating my diabetes with multiple daily injections (MDI) for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be switching to an insulin pump as part of a two year clinical study aimed at determining what is more effective at treating people with Type 1 diabetes.
I won't go into too much of the detail about the study here. I'll be writing a blog for Diabetes UK about that later this week (and I'll post it here as well) so if you're curious, you can read that (or drop me a line on Twitter @Broomowl).
This blog is more focused on that greatest of intangible things - feelings.
I genuinely don't know how I feel about it to be honest. Overall I'm pretty positive about it I think. As I understand it, the pump will allow me greater control over my condition and allow me to alter my medication much more proactively around things like diet and exercise. There's also some altruistic benefit I guess as it will help determine whether or not an insulin pump is truly beneficial for people with diabetes. This should mean that, in the future, people being newly diagnosed with the condition will receive the best treatment possible.
If you've read a few of my blogs before, you're probably familiar with the concern I have that at some point, my daughter will also develop diabetes. I think the odds are roughly around 1 in 7 so I suppose I'm partly doing this for her as well as me.
The other side of the coin is the fear and the doubt that accompany any lifestyle change. For the most part, I control my condition pretty well. I don't struggle to understand what to do or how to comprehend the science behind it all. I struggle with self discipline. I'll have some chocolate because I'm feeling a bit down, or I'll forget/not bother to test my blood as often as I should. It's lazy and there's no excuse for it - I'm my own worst enemy.
But when all that's said and done, with the correct discipline, I can manage my condition pretty perfectly, which is something to be proud of. But it's taken me a number of years to get to that level and from tomorrow I'll have to start from scratch.
Thinking about it rationally, the principles aren't going to change overnight and the science will remain the same. I'll just have to learn a new way to practice it. I don't think it can be quite as terrifying as it was nearly 12 years ago. I'm also going to be part of a group of people all in the same boat, so I know I'm not alone.
My only other concern is how it will affect the day to day stuff I take for granted at the moment. I haven't figured out how I'm going to sleep with the pump attached to me yet (though I suspect "not very well" would be a good answer for the first few nights). I also don't want it to stop me playing games with my daughter because that's obviously a hugely important part of my life.
I think that overall this will be a good change for me once the learning period is over. There's a chance I might take to this blog a little more frequently to 'think out loud' about it but as a mechanism for ordering my thoughts a little, the blog really helps. I'm also lucky that I've got a group of close friends that I know I can rely on to help me when I need it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Andy
Today is a strange day for me. It's the last full 24 hours that I'll be medicating my diabetes with multiple daily injections (MDI) for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be switching to an insulin pump as part of a two year clinical study aimed at determining what is more effective at treating people with Type 1 diabetes.
I won't go into too much of the detail about the study here. I'll be writing a blog for Diabetes UK about that later this week (and I'll post it here as well) so if you're curious, you can read that (or drop me a line on Twitter @Broomowl).
This blog is more focused on that greatest of intangible things - feelings.
I genuinely don't know how I feel about it to be honest. Overall I'm pretty positive about it I think. As I understand it, the pump will allow me greater control over my condition and allow me to alter my medication much more proactively around things like diet and exercise. There's also some altruistic benefit I guess as it will help determine whether or not an insulin pump is truly beneficial for people with diabetes. This should mean that, in the future, people being newly diagnosed with the condition will receive the best treatment possible.
If you've read a few of my blogs before, you're probably familiar with the concern I have that at some point, my daughter will also develop diabetes. I think the odds are roughly around 1 in 7 so I suppose I'm partly doing this for her as well as me.
The other side of the coin is the fear and the doubt that accompany any lifestyle change. For the most part, I control my condition pretty well. I don't struggle to understand what to do or how to comprehend the science behind it all. I struggle with self discipline. I'll have some chocolate because I'm feeling a bit down, or I'll forget/not bother to test my blood as often as I should. It's lazy and there's no excuse for it - I'm my own worst enemy.
But when all that's said and done, with the correct discipline, I can manage my condition pretty perfectly, which is something to be proud of. But it's taken me a number of years to get to that level and from tomorrow I'll have to start from scratch.
Thinking about it rationally, the principles aren't going to change overnight and the science will remain the same. I'll just have to learn a new way to practice it. I don't think it can be quite as terrifying as it was nearly 12 years ago. I'm also going to be part of a group of people all in the same boat, so I know I'm not alone.
My only other concern is how it will affect the day to day stuff I take for granted at the moment. I haven't figured out how I'm going to sleep with the pump attached to me yet (though I suspect "not very well" would be a good answer for the first few nights). I also don't want it to stop me playing games with my daughter because that's obviously a hugely important part of my life.
I think that overall this will be a good change for me once the learning period is over. There's a chance I might take to this blog a little more frequently to 'think out loud' about it but as a mechanism for ordering my thoughts a little, the blog really helps. I'm also lucky that I've got a group of close friends that I know I can rely on to help me when I need it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Andy
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Diabetes by numbers
This blog first appeared on the Diabetes UK website on 29th November 2012
When I got diagnosed, I remember the Specialist Nurse telling me that really, my lifestyle shouldn't be different to that of any other normal, healthy individual. Walking out of the clinic, laden with insulin pens, needles, test strips and other paraphernalia I was sceptical to say the least but of course she was right.
A low fat, low salt, low sugar, high fibre diet with plenty of fruit and veg is probably what most of us should be eating most of the time. I suppose the difference is that the consequences of not eating sensibly are a bit more severe for diabetics.
What I didn't grasp at the time (and perhaps only subconsciously realise now) is all the diabetes maths involved in managing my condition - it really can be an overload of numbers at times.. I've recently been dieting having put on a lot of weight and lot of my waking hours are spent devoted to all the figures I need to keep on top of things.
On a daily basis I'm remembering and adjusting numbers for:
It seems quite daunting at first - and it can be even now. One unexpected hypo or BG level in the 20s has me going back over what I've been doing to try and understand where I've gone wrong. I've noticed this a lot more recently as my exercise regime has made my blood glucose levels a lot more sensitive to insulin.
In the 11 years I've had diabetes a number of things have made life a lot easier, and not just advancements in medication and testing. I use a phone app to track my daily diet which helps me monitor both my calorie and carb intake (and therefore my insulin doses). Eating out is no longer something that worries me as I can usually find nutritional information for most restaurants online.
It's easy to forget that whilst there are so many fellow diabetics, the way in which everyone manages their condition is completely different. It took me a long time to organise myself into a daily routine that allows me to stay on top of my condition without it becoming a full time job. There's a lot of support out there fromplaces like the Diabetes UK Careline, GP, Specialist Nurses and from other people with diabetes themselves. Finding the right routine for you is the key to making all the numbers a lot less stressful and just another part of your day.
Finally, I was recently offered a place on a two year clinical study comparing the effect of the DAFNE course on people with multiple daily injections (MDI) and insulin pumps. I'll find out which group I'll be in (staying with MDI or getting a pump) nearer to Christmas. Hopefully I'll have more to share on that next time.
When I got diagnosed, I remember the Specialist Nurse telling me that really, my lifestyle shouldn't be different to that of any other normal, healthy individual. Walking out of the clinic, laden with insulin pens, needles, test strips and other paraphernalia I was sceptical to say the least but of course she was right.
A low fat, low salt, low sugar, high fibre diet with plenty of fruit and veg is probably what most of us should be eating most of the time. I suppose the difference is that the consequences of not eating sensibly are a bit more severe for diabetics.
What I didn't grasp at the time (and perhaps only subconsciously realise now) is all the diabetes maths involved in managing my condition - it really can be an overload of numbers at times.. I've recently been dieting having put on a lot of weight and lot of my waking hours are spent devoted to all the figures I need to keep on top of things.
 |
| What do you see? 2 slices of toast? 190 calories? 31g of carbs? 3 units of insulin? |
On a daily basis I'm remembering and adjusting numbers for:
- Long acting insulin
- Quick acting insulin
- Carbohydrate content of food
- Blood glucose levels
- Calorie content of food
- Exercise time
It seems quite daunting at first - and it can be even now. One unexpected hypo or BG level in the 20s has me going back over what I've been doing to try and understand where I've gone wrong. I've noticed this a lot more recently as my exercise regime has made my blood glucose levels a lot more sensitive to insulin.
In the 11 years I've had diabetes a number of things have made life a lot easier, and not just advancements in medication and testing. I use a phone app to track my daily diet which helps me monitor both my calorie and carb intake (and therefore my insulin doses). Eating out is no longer something that worries me as I can usually find nutritional information for most restaurants online.
It's easy to forget that whilst there are so many fellow diabetics, the way in which everyone manages their condition is completely different. It took me a long time to organise myself into a daily routine that allows me to stay on top of my condition without it becoming a full time job. There's a lot of support out there fromplaces like the Diabetes UK Careline, GP, Specialist Nurses and from other people with diabetes themselves. Finding the right routine for you is the key to making all the numbers a lot less stressful and just another part of your day.
Finally, I was recently offered a place on a two year clinical study comparing the effect of the DAFNE course on people with multiple daily injections (MDI) and insulin pumps. I'll find out which group I'll be in (staying with MDI or getting a pump) nearer to Christmas. Hopefully I'll have more to share on that next time.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Pain management
Training miles completed this week: 16
Total training miles completed: 188
Training miles left: 25 + taper off period
Training runs left: 8
Hello again.
There's only 31 days left until I'll be lining up to start the marathon. It feels like yesterday I remember the countdown being 180 days and thinking I had all the time in the world to train and prepare.
Training is definitely beginning to take it's toll now, with pretty much every day spent ignoring some form of pain. I think that it (being in pain) has been so much of the norm for me over the past 4 years that I'm surprised that I can still really feel it at all.
But I can feel it and the major battle I've had this week has been in my mind. For those of you who know me, you'll know that I'm a bit stubborn from time to time, and training is one of those areas where I'm the most bloody-minded of all. I'll try and explain...
I've come to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever really lose the aches and pains in my foot if I want to continue any form of running based exercise. It's the new, less familiar pain that I'm struggling to get used to. When I did my 4 mile run last week, I had a bit of pain in my ankle joints and in my legs, but I passed it off as lack of proper stretching and warm-up. I did 16 miles on Saturday morning and the pain was there again but I ran through it and it disappeared after about 4 miles. (I managed the distance in 3:04 and I felt like I could have kept jogging/walking as well which was pleasing)
I Googled shin splints when I got in as it seemed to be the only condition I could think of that would make sense. And reading through the causes and symptoms, it does make a lot of sense. I'm not going to visit my GP for it as I know the answer is rest. I also don't want someone to tell me I can't run because I've worked too hard to get to where I am.
On the other hand, I constantly remind myself that I've already done less training than someone preparing for their first marathon should do and so missing any distance at all never really seems acceptable to me. I'm into the mindset that I'm 'only' doing 6 miles so it shouldn't be a problem, not really letting myself understand that 6 miles is a distance that means I need to take care.
Ultimately, my goal is to do the marathon and if that means cutting back on my training and resting sensibly then that's what I should do, no matter how hard it might be.
I've decided to skip my 6 mile run for tonight in favour of resting and keeping my 20 mile run on track for the weekend. Whether that turns out to be a sensible decision or not, only time will tell but it feels like a good compromise. I think I wrote some weeks back about saying that I'd cut down to one run a week if that's what I needed to do. There's only 4 weeks left and I think getting this close to race day and feeling ready to compete is an achievement in itself. If I only do 4 more runs instead of 8 then it doesn't really matter - I just need to convince myself of that.
I've conquered my battered ankle, (possible) shin splints, at least one stress fractured toe (possibly two) and now I just need to get the better of my own psyche.
I managed my blood sugar really well again on the last 16 mile jaunt (reaffirming my belief that the 18 mile run was so painful because I got things wrong). I'm convinced now that 8 miles and then 4 jelly babies every 4 miles will get me round comfortably. I'm glad to have one less thing to worry about.
There's been some more fundraising money in this week which is good news! Current total is £575 and I'm hoping I can break the £700 barrier before April 22nd. I'm becoming a bit more direct in terms of sponsorship requests now (as the people in my office will be finding out this week) so I'm still hopeful of making at least £700 before I top up the rest to £1000. The generosity everyone has shown has been incredible!
As always, all money that I raise is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes. The Children's Hospital money will be going to help fund a summer camp for children with diabetes which is very worthwhile.
I had an interesting conversation with my daughter this week. She came up to tell me that she had a poorly tummy and she needed an injection to feel better. She sees me injecting before meals and asks what I'm doing. I tell her it's because I'm not very well and I have to take medicine. It's hard to see her mimicking what I do because one of my big fears is that she'll end up the same way. But I don't see the point in hiding it from her either. Fortunately, this only lasted a couple of days this time.
Finally, a word on another blog you might enjoy. A friend of mine has entered the Tough Mudder event in November and has started a training regime that will ultimately put me to shame. You can follow Sam's progress here - it's a great read. We seemed to have a bit of a virtual running club on Twitter at the moment and it's great to get support and chat things through with people doing the same thing. A really valuable way to stay sane. Thanks - you know who you are.
Have a good week - hopefully next time I'll be able to report on a decent 20 mile slog.
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 188
Training miles left: 25 + taper off period
Training runs left: 8
Hello again.
There's only 31 days left until I'll be lining up to start the marathon. It feels like yesterday I remember the countdown being 180 days and thinking I had all the time in the world to train and prepare.
Training is definitely beginning to take it's toll now, with pretty much every day spent ignoring some form of pain. I think that it (being in pain) has been so much of the norm for me over the past 4 years that I'm surprised that I can still really feel it at all.
But I can feel it and the major battle I've had this week has been in my mind. For those of you who know me, you'll know that I'm a bit stubborn from time to time, and training is one of those areas where I'm the most bloody-minded of all. I'll try and explain...
I've come to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever really lose the aches and pains in my foot if I want to continue any form of running based exercise. It's the new, less familiar pain that I'm struggling to get used to. When I did my 4 mile run last week, I had a bit of pain in my ankle joints and in my legs, but I passed it off as lack of proper stretching and warm-up. I did 16 miles on Saturday morning and the pain was there again but I ran through it and it disappeared after about 4 miles. (I managed the distance in 3:04 and I felt like I could have kept jogging/walking as well which was pleasing)
I Googled shin splints when I got in as it seemed to be the only condition I could think of that would make sense. And reading through the causes and symptoms, it does make a lot of sense. I'm not going to visit my GP for it as I know the answer is rest. I also don't want someone to tell me I can't run because I've worked too hard to get to where I am.
On the other hand, I constantly remind myself that I've already done less training than someone preparing for their first marathon should do and so missing any distance at all never really seems acceptable to me. I'm into the mindset that I'm 'only' doing 6 miles so it shouldn't be a problem, not really letting myself understand that 6 miles is a distance that means I need to take care.
Ultimately, my goal is to do the marathon and if that means cutting back on my training and resting sensibly then that's what I should do, no matter how hard it might be.
I've decided to skip my 6 mile run for tonight in favour of resting and keeping my 20 mile run on track for the weekend. Whether that turns out to be a sensible decision or not, only time will tell but it feels like a good compromise. I think I wrote some weeks back about saying that I'd cut down to one run a week if that's what I needed to do. There's only 4 weeks left and I think getting this close to race day and feeling ready to compete is an achievement in itself. If I only do 4 more runs instead of 8 then it doesn't really matter - I just need to convince myself of that.
I've conquered my battered ankle, (possible) shin splints, at least one stress fractured toe (possibly two) and now I just need to get the better of my own psyche.
I managed my blood sugar really well again on the last 16 mile jaunt (reaffirming my belief that the 18 mile run was so painful because I got things wrong). I'm convinced now that 8 miles and then 4 jelly babies every 4 miles will get me round comfortably. I'm glad to have one less thing to worry about.
There's been some more fundraising money in this week which is good news! Current total is £575 and I'm hoping I can break the £700 barrier before April 22nd. I'm becoming a bit more direct in terms of sponsorship requests now (as the people in my office will be finding out this week) so I'm still hopeful of making at least £700 before I top up the rest to £1000. The generosity everyone has shown has been incredible!
As always, all money that I raise is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes. The Children's Hospital money will be going to help fund a summer camp for children with diabetes which is very worthwhile.
I had an interesting conversation with my daughter this week. She came up to tell me that she had a poorly tummy and she needed an injection to feel better. She sees me injecting before meals and asks what I'm doing. I tell her it's because I'm not very well and I have to take medicine. It's hard to see her mimicking what I do because one of my big fears is that she'll end up the same way. But I don't see the point in hiding it from her either. Fortunately, this only lasted a couple of days this time.
Finally, a word on another blog you might enjoy. A friend of mine has entered the Tough Mudder event in November and has started a training regime that will ultimately put me to shame. You can follow Sam's progress here - it's a great read. We seemed to have a bit of a virtual running club on Twitter at the moment and it's great to get support and chat things through with people doing the same thing. A really valuable way to stay sane. Thanks - you know who you are.
Have a good week - hopefully next time I'll be able to report on a decent 20 mile slog.
Take care
Andy
You can donate at any time by clicking on this fundraising link
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Don't stop me now
Training miles completed this week: 17
Total training miles completed: 129
Training miles left: 89 + taper off period
Training runs left: 16 (inc taper period)
Hello again - with 53 days to go until the big race - things are really starting to get serious.
Last Friday saw me complete my last evening distance run (12 miles) in a pretty respectable 2 hours 11 minutes - an 11 minute mile pace. It felt really good to do and it was my first run in what I'll actually wear for the marathon in April (unexpected heatwaves aside). It was also very tough towards the end but I made it home relatively unscathed which is always the target. I got my first blister but I'm not going to complain as it took more than 100 miles to appear.
I have to confess that when I got home, the thought of going back out and doing it all again (plus another 2 miles) was far from appealing, but I'm hoping that was more psychological as I'd paced myself for 12 miles and not 26. We'll have to see how that goes over the next few weeks.
I did 5 miles tonight in 53 minutes - a best for me over that distance. I was really surprised when I got in and saw that as I felt like I'd not paced myself properly and had very little energy while I was going round - particularly around 3.5 miles. I guess the training is paying off and I'm able to work a bit harder than I expect. Shorter distances afford me some leeway as well but the longer routes need to be a lot more disciplined.
The remaining weeks are very much a pattern of long run/short run, building up the distances as I go. This coming weekend marks an important milestone for me. It'll be the first run I've done under proper "marathon conditions" (i.e. up early ish and running from about 9:30am). It'll also be the longest distance I've ever run and should give me an opportunity to banish the demons from 2008. It feels as though the training has been building up to this run and I think it'll give me a massive boost physically and mentally if I can make it through intact.
I've got a bit more of an interesting diabetes update this week. I realise my definition of "interesting" may be different from yours but...
I had an appointment with a diabetes specialist dietician last Thursday and it gave me a good chance to discuss what I eat now (and when) and what I should be eating to give me the best chance of getting round whilst managing my conditions.
What we found was that when I eat before running, my blood levels don't raise as much as she was expecting. This could point to too much insulin (although I've tested previously and ruled that out to a degree). She also said that what I'm currently eating for lunch (some salad leaves and grapes effectively) isn't really enough and I need to be eating more carbs and protein to build up muscle and improve glycogen stores for when I run. She also mentioned that if I eat a few jelly babies every mile then it could reduce my chances of 'hitting the wall' at around mile 18 so that's good news.
We came to the conclusion that I really need to focus more on a running diet rather than trying to lose weight. I've been trying to balance the two to a degree and I think it's more successful to shift my focus to running for the next two months and hope that the exercise will lead to some weight loss, albeit at a slower rate.
I've now started to incorporate rice cakes and fish/cheese into my lunch and I'm looking to switch to more chicken and pasta combos in the evening - particularly before a big run.
The other change I need to make is to reduce my insulin doses before and after a big run. I have two types of insulin that I take (Background insulin twice a day, and quick acting insuling before each meal). The exact amounts I need to reduce these doses by aren't clear yet and I'll need to experiment to understand what is best for me. As a result, for the next few weeks, I'm going to have to take my blood sugar meter with me whilst I'm running to monitor my levels. This should give me a guide ot managing my condition whilst I'm running. Hopefully I won't crash too spectacularly this weekend!
It's all down to a combination of numbers now - mile times, sugar levels, insulin reduction percentages, carbs per mile to keep my sugar levels correct - it feels a bit overwhelming sometimes but it does come down to training and numbers - something I can conquer if I put my mind to it.
I'm going to stop blogging on my weight loss for the time being as it's not really my primary focus. I'll still have a weekly weigh in, and I'll mention it occasionally, but it's not something I'll live or die by until May now.
No further fundraising at the moment - I've hit a bit of a plateau at the moment which is frustrating, but a number of people have pledged to donate before the race so I'm hoping I can still get close to £650 before I run. I know £1000 was always ambitious but trying to get as close as possible remains my goal. As always, all money raised is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes.
If you've been following my progress for a while and would like to donate, please do consider giving just a couple of quid. I know charitiable donations are often very personal things and so people rightly prioritise things that mean the most to them. Every pound I raise will help and so please consider having one pint less this Friday night and clicking on the fundraising link above instead - it would mean a lot to me.
Thanks for sticking with this until the end, I appreciate it's been a bit long winded this week and I can be a bit boring at times, but hopefully it's given a bit of an insight into how things are going and what changes I'll need to make to get round the distance in April.
Your support has been fantastic and I'll do my best not to let you down.
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 129
Training miles left: 89 + taper off period
Training runs left: 16 (inc taper period)
Hello again - with 53 days to go until the big race - things are really starting to get serious.
Last Friday saw me complete my last evening distance run (12 miles) in a pretty respectable 2 hours 11 minutes - an 11 minute mile pace. It felt really good to do and it was my first run in what I'll actually wear for the marathon in April (unexpected heatwaves aside). It was also very tough towards the end but I made it home relatively unscathed which is always the target. I got my first blister but I'm not going to complain as it took more than 100 miles to appear.
I have to confess that when I got home, the thought of going back out and doing it all again (plus another 2 miles) was far from appealing, but I'm hoping that was more psychological as I'd paced myself for 12 miles and not 26. We'll have to see how that goes over the next few weeks.
I did 5 miles tonight in 53 minutes - a best for me over that distance. I was really surprised when I got in and saw that as I felt like I'd not paced myself properly and had very little energy while I was going round - particularly around 3.5 miles. I guess the training is paying off and I'm able to work a bit harder than I expect. Shorter distances afford me some leeway as well but the longer routes need to be a lot more disciplined.
The remaining weeks are very much a pattern of long run/short run, building up the distances as I go. This coming weekend marks an important milestone for me. It'll be the first run I've done under proper "marathon conditions" (i.e. up early ish and running from about 9:30am). It'll also be the longest distance I've ever run and should give me an opportunity to banish the demons from 2008. It feels as though the training has been building up to this run and I think it'll give me a massive boost physically and mentally if I can make it through intact.
I've got a bit more of an interesting diabetes update this week. I realise my definition of "interesting" may be different from yours but...
I had an appointment with a diabetes specialist dietician last Thursday and it gave me a good chance to discuss what I eat now (and when) and what I should be eating to give me the best chance of getting round whilst managing my conditions.
What we found was that when I eat before running, my blood levels don't raise as much as she was expecting. This could point to too much insulin (although I've tested previously and ruled that out to a degree). She also said that what I'm currently eating for lunch (some salad leaves and grapes effectively) isn't really enough and I need to be eating more carbs and protein to build up muscle and improve glycogen stores for when I run. She also mentioned that if I eat a few jelly babies every mile then it could reduce my chances of 'hitting the wall' at around mile 18 so that's good news.
We came to the conclusion that I really need to focus more on a running diet rather than trying to lose weight. I've been trying to balance the two to a degree and I think it's more successful to shift my focus to running for the next two months and hope that the exercise will lead to some weight loss, albeit at a slower rate.
I've now started to incorporate rice cakes and fish/cheese into my lunch and I'm looking to switch to more chicken and pasta combos in the evening - particularly before a big run.
The other change I need to make is to reduce my insulin doses before and after a big run. I have two types of insulin that I take (Background insulin twice a day, and quick acting insuling before each meal). The exact amounts I need to reduce these doses by aren't clear yet and I'll need to experiment to understand what is best for me. As a result, for the next few weeks, I'm going to have to take my blood sugar meter with me whilst I'm running to monitor my levels. This should give me a guide ot managing my condition whilst I'm running. Hopefully I won't crash too spectacularly this weekend!
It's all down to a combination of numbers now - mile times, sugar levels, insulin reduction percentages, carbs per mile to keep my sugar levels correct - it feels a bit overwhelming sometimes but it does come down to training and numbers - something I can conquer if I put my mind to it.
I'm going to stop blogging on my weight loss for the time being as it's not really my primary focus. I'll still have a weekly weigh in, and I'll mention it occasionally, but it's not something I'll live or die by until May now.
No further fundraising at the moment - I've hit a bit of a plateau at the moment which is frustrating, but a number of people have pledged to donate before the race so I'm hoping I can still get close to £650 before I run. I know £1000 was always ambitious but trying to get as close as possible remains my goal. As always, all money raised is being split between Diabetes UK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity - two very worthy causes.
If you've been following my progress for a while and would like to donate, please do consider giving just a couple of quid. I know charitiable donations are often very personal things and so people rightly prioritise things that mean the most to them. Every pound I raise will help and so please consider having one pint less this Friday night and clicking on the fundraising link above instead - it would mean a lot to me.
Thanks for sticking with this until the end, I appreciate it's been a bit long winded this week and I can be a bit boring at times, but hopefully it's given a bit of an insight into how things are going and what changes I'll need to make to get round the distance in April.
Your support has been fantastic and I'll do my best not to let you down.
Take care
Andy
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Easy does it
Training miles completed this week: 10
Total training miles completed: 78.5
Training miles left: 167.5
Training runs left: 26 + taper off period
Hello - Happy Wednesday - thanks for dropping in.
Another 10 miles down this week and I've gone through the first psychological milestone on my plan. I'm very much focussed on taking this one run at a time now and being able to tick the miles off every week is becoming very satisfying.
My weekend run was brought forward slightly to Friday night due to commitments I had at the weekend. I managed the whole distance in 69 minutes and also managed the first 3.3 miles non-stop. Whilst that felt like a good time (for me at least) and it felt really good to do a significant part of the distance in one burst, I realised that I'm starting to let my focus shift from my real goal - to do the marathon.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of knowing how fast I can cover a set distance and knowing my mile split times etc but I feel like I'm starting to convince myself that every run must be better than the last but really that simply isn't true. I do feel very satisfied when I post a good time, but I also know that pushing myself harder each time I step out of the door isn't really going to help in the long term.
My guide time (and I think it'll help if I refer to it as such) is a 12 minute mile average. I've consistently run inside this for a few weeks now which is good over a relatively short distance, but in a month's time I'll be talking about a 14 mile run not 6 miles. Pushing myself over a shorter distance is one thing, but my approach and mindset will need to be completely different for the proper distance runs and I need to concentrate on adjusting my attitude for what's coming up if I want to avoid another injury.
With that in mind my 3.5 mile run tonight was an easy one - I took it at a gentle place, stopped a couple of times (partially due to an annoying stitch - symptoms of wrong food at the wrong time and not enough water I think) and still managed the distance in a respectable 39 minutes. What was most interesting was how the extra rest day affected me. I thought I'd be a lot fresher and find it easy going. In fact this morning I was actively looking forward to getting out there. The reality was slightly different. My ankle started to feel a lot stiffer and harder to run on after a while which was unexpected. I think regular exercise is benefiting it more than I thought and perhaps I need to focus on the steady pace and minimising the impact. Hopefully Saturday morning will be easier going.
As an aside, to give you an idea of what's coming up, in the next 4 weeks, I'll run 61.5 miles with a maximum distance of 14 miles!
My diabetes has been slightly better behaved this week but I remain convinced that my immediate approach to my insulin has to change, as well as how I medicate myself in the run up to the marathon. Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks where I made it from breakfast to lunch without the need for a snack or something to boost my blood sugar mid-morning.
As I think I mentioned last week, I've got a consultant appointment next Wednesday (Feb 1st) which will give me a good chance to sit and talk through all my concerns about training in detail. Hopefully next week I'll be able to elaborate a bit more on what it's going to mean.
It's been a good week on the sponsorship front as well - I've raised another £100 since the last blog taking the current total to £257 - just over a quarter of the way there. I'm very fortunate to have the support of so many generous people. There's 13 more weeks until race day to raise the remaining £743 and I think the fundraising page stays open until the end of July so hopefully I can get close to the target by then. All money raised will be split between Diabetes UK and Sheffield Children's Hospital so if you have £1 to spare, then please consider clicking on the fundraising page link above and donating it.
I talked last week about keeping a better eye on my weight and trying to lose 20lbs over the next few weeks in time for the marathon. As well as feeling and looking fitter, it's a lot of weight I won't have to carry round the course with me so it can only be a good thing. My starting weight a fortnight ago was 199.4lbs. By last Wednesday I was down to 197lbs and tonight I'm at 192.2lbs which is surprising (I've had Chinese and cake this week) but pleasing. It adds a bit of support to my theory of lagged weight loss - expect minimal change next week. I'm doing this weight loss with a couple of friends and having their support has been really great and inspiring so long may this continue :-)
I think I'll come to a close there. It feels like it's been a really good week which is nice to be able to say after so long. I was thinking back to the posts in early September about how positive it felt to finally be able to go out and run a mile (with walk breaks) and now I'll be doing a minimum of 13 miles a week. Progress indeed.
Take care and thanks again for your support
Andy
Total training miles completed: 78.5
Training miles left: 167.5
Training runs left: 26 + taper off period
Hello - Happy Wednesday - thanks for dropping in.
Another 10 miles down this week and I've gone through the first psychological milestone on my plan. I'm very much focussed on taking this one run at a time now and being able to tick the miles off every week is becoming very satisfying.
My weekend run was brought forward slightly to Friday night due to commitments I had at the weekend. I managed the whole distance in 69 minutes and also managed the first 3.3 miles non-stop. Whilst that felt like a good time (for me at least) and it felt really good to do a significant part of the distance in one burst, I realised that I'm starting to let my focus shift from my real goal - to do the marathon.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of knowing how fast I can cover a set distance and knowing my mile split times etc but I feel like I'm starting to convince myself that every run must be better than the last but really that simply isn't true. I do feel very satisfied when I post a good time, but I also know that pushing myself harder each time I step out of the door isn't really going to help in the long term.
My guide time (and I think it'll help if I refer to it as such) is a 12 minute mile average. I've consistently run inside this for a few weeks now which is good over a relatively short distance, but in a month's time I'll be talking about a 14 mile run not 6 miles. Pushing myself over a shorter distance is one thing, but my approach and mindset will need to be completely different for the proper distance runs and I need to concentrate on adjusting my attitude for what's coming up if I want to avoid another injury.
With that in mind my 3.5 mile run tonight was an easy one - I took it at a gentle place, stopped a couple of times (partially due to an annoying stitch - symptoms of wrong food at the wrong time and not enough water I think) and still managed the distance in a respectable 39 minutes. What was most interesting was how the extra rest day affected me. I thought I'd be a lot fresher and find it easy going. In fact this morning I was actively looking forward to getting out there. The reality was slightly different. My ankle started to feel a lot stiffer and harder to run on after a while which was unexpected. I think regular exercise is benefiting it more than I thought and perhaps I need to focus on the steady pace and minimising the impact. Hopefully Saturday morning will be easier going.
As an aside, to give you an idea of what's coming up, in the next 4 weeks, I'll run 61.5 miles with a maximum distance of 14 miles!
My diabetes has been slightly better behaved this week but I remain convinced that my immediate approach to my insulin has to change, as well as how I medicate myself in the run up to the marathon. Yesterday was the first day in a few weeks where I made it from breakfast to lunch without the need for a snack or something to boost my blood sugar mid-morning.
As I think I mentioned last week, I've got a consultant appointment next Wednesday (Feb 1st) which will give me a good chance to sit and talk through all my concerns about training in detail. Hopefully next week I'll be able to elaborate a bit more on what it's going to mean.
It's been a good week on the sponsorship front as well - I've raised another £100 since the last blog taking the current total to £257 - just over a quarter of the way there. I'm very fortunate to have the support of so many generous people. There's 13 more weeks until race day to raise the remaining £743 and I think the fundraising page stays open until the end of July so hopefully I can get close to the target by then. All money raised will be split between Diabetes UK and Sheffield Children's Hospital so if you have £1 to spare, then please consider clicking on the fundraising page link above and donating it.
I talked last week about keeping a better eye on my weight and trying to lose 20lbs over the next few weeks in time for the marathon. As well as feeling and looking fitter, it's a lot of weight I won't have to carry round the course with me so it can only be a good thing. My starting weight a fortnight ago was 199.4lbs. By last Wednesday I was down to 197lbs and tonight I'm at 192.2lbs which is surprising (I've had Chinese and cake this week) but pleasing. It adds a bit of support to my theory of lagged weight loss - expect minimal change next week. I'm doing this weight loss with a couple of friends and having their support has been really great and inspiring so long may this continue :-)
I think I'll come to a close there. It feels like it's been a really good week which is nice to be able to say after so long. I was thinking back to the posts in early September about how positive it felt to finally be able to go out and run a mile (with walk breaks) and now I'll be doing a minimum of 13 miles a week. Progress indeed.
Take care and thanks again for your support
Andy
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Patched Up
Training miles completed this week: 10
Total training miles completed: 68.5
Training miles left: 177.5
Training runs left: 28 + taper off period
Hello - thank's for dropping by.
There are 95 days to go until the marathon - it's starting to feel very close now, and I've still not done over 6 miles yet. But that's about to change quite quickly over the next few weeks.
I'm now heading into the stage of long run/short run, with the next two being a slight exception. When I originally finalised my plan, I realised I'd ended up with all my distance runs mid week and my shorter runs at the weekend - and running 14 miles on a Tuesday or Wednesday night didn't seem appealing so I swapped at one week. This coming week is the changeover week.
I've done 10 miles this week (4 and 6) and 10 miles are planned in next week (6.5 and 3.5) and then it's 2 miles a week extra on the distance run until the end of March.
The title of this week's post is a reference to how I'm feeling at the moment. My foot aches quite a lot of the time now, particularly after the long runs and on Sunday, I felt some pain in one of my toes so I've strapped it up as a precaution. I think at worst, it's a tiny stress fracture but there's no evidence of that really - I'm just being cautious. I also felt a bit of a cold coming on this week but I think I've held it at bay for now.
I think that feeling like you're facing a constant battle is probably natural during any kind of training like this. There's probably a lot to be said for mental fitness as well as physical fitness and I've overlooked that up until now. I'll be trying to focus a lot more on the positives over the next few weeks.
Saturday's run went pretty well - 4 miles in a few seconds over 44 minutes was pleasing. The 11 minute mile is nice, but realistically I know that as I start going further and further, that will probably push back out closer to the 12 mile mark overall. It's not something I'm overly worried about, but it's good to be able to track what you're doing. Another bonus was that it didn't feel too horrific getting up at 4am to fuel up before running. As I get in to longer distances, I'll probably be leaving the house at a more sensible time so I can adjust my eating time accordingly.
I did 6 miles tonight in 65 minutes - consistent with my last run at this distance. It might be a sign of how far I've come that I'm disappointed that I didn't do it faster. I managed to run the first 3 miles without stopping which felt great - an actual sense of achievement. I'm not sure if it's the cooler air, my determination to run whilst feeling patched up or the fact that I remembered I'd forgotten my inhaler and so paced myself a lot more but it felt a lot easier tonight than probably any other run I've done. My foot started feeling heavy towards the end of it and I've not doubt it'll hurt tomorrow, but I'm celebrating while I can! I may have mentioned that I was using Endomondo to track my runs. Here's an example of tonight's 6 mile run (though you can see that the GPS is a bit off on the map) - I thought I'd share it with you.
It's been a very strange week from a diabetes perspective. Since my run last Tuesday, I've really struggled to keep my blood sugar in check, but not in the way I've been used to. I've found that it's been really difficult to maintain a decent level and that I've crashed a few times a day. Whilst it's obviously good to be having lower blood sugar, too low is as bad as too high and as I've mentioned before, it's walking that tightrope in between the two.
I've been experimenting by lowering my insulin doses with meals but it's a lot of trial and error at the moment. I've got a consultant appointment at the hospital on Feb 1st so I'll be able to talk through it all in a lot more detail then - I'll just need to muddle through on my own until then. Runsweet have a lot of good information and advice for people with diabetes but I'm wary of making any drastic adjustments without speaking to a doctor first - I think that's just sensible.
I was talking to someone last night about how frustrating it feels in many respects. I've made a conscious effort to adjust my diet and get back into a proper diabetic regimen for a good few months now and it almost feels like I've got to start and learn how to do it all over again. I think I probably just need to understand the science behind it and it'll hopefully be fairly straightforward.
A quick mention on diet and such as that feels like quite a good segue there. I've started tracking my food through the MyFitnessPal which is giving me a good idea of how many calories I need to lose about 20lbs over 20 weeks. It also helps track what I'm eating around training days and my carb levels (to aid insulin doses). It's quite a useful tool. I'm think I'll print off the reports to take along to the hospital in a couple of weeks.
Final quick update on sponsorship. A few very wonderful people have chipped in this last week and the total (exclusing gift aid) currently stands at £157 which is quite good I think. You can keep an eye on progress, stay up to date with the latest blog and track the countdown to the main event by visting the fundraising page. All the money is being split between DiabetesUK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity and you can read about all their work by clicking on one of the links.
A hectic weekend meant I wasn't able to go out and get any pics for my Sheffield photobook, but I'm hoping to rectify that this weekend so I can get a good start on that.
I'll leave it there for this week - appreciate I've gone on a fair bit there so thanks for sticking with it to the end. I mentioned a few weeks back that the end of this week was critical and it's really positive that I'm just about through it relatively unscathed.
Thanks for your support - the messages I get really mean a lot
Take care
Andy
Total training miles completed: 68.5
Training miles left: 177.5
Training runs left: 28 + taper off period
Hello - thank's for dropping by.
There are 95 days to go until the marathon - it's starting to feel very close now, and I've still not done over 6 miles yet. But that's about to change quite quickly over the next few weeks.
I'm now heading into the stage of long run/short run, with the next two being a slight exception. When I originally finalised my plan, I realised I'd ended up with all my distance runs mid week and my shorter runs at the weekend - and running 14 miles on a Tuesday or Wednesday night didn't seem appealing so I swapped at one week. This coming week is the changeover week.
I've done 10 miles this week (4 and 6) and 10 miles are planned in next week (6.5 and 3.5) and then it's 2 miles a week extra on the distance run until the end of March.
The title of this week's post is a reference to how I'm feeling at the moment. My foot aches quite a lot of the time now, particularly after the long runs and on Sunday, I felt some pain in one of my toes so I've strapped it up as a precaution. I think at worst, it's a tiny stress fracture but there's no evidence of that really - I'm just being cautious. I also felt a bit of a cold coming on this week but I think I've held it at bay for now.
I think that feeling like you're facing a constant battle is probably natural during any kind of training like this. There's probably a lot to be said for mental fitness as well as physical fitness and I've overlooked that up until now. I'll be trying to focus a lot more on the positives over the next few weeks.
Saturday's run went pretty well - 4 miles in a few seconds over 44 minutes was pleasing. The 11 minute mile is nice, but realistically I know that as I start going further and further, that will probably push back out closer to the 12 mile mark overall. It's not something I'm overly worried about, but it's good to be able to track what you're doing. Another bonus was that it didn't feel too horrific getting up at 4am to fuel up before running. As I get in to longer distances, I'll probably be leaving the house at a more sensible time so I can adjust my eating time accordingly.
I did 6 miles tonight in 65 minutes - consistent with my last run at this distance. It might be a sign of how far I've come that I'm disappointed that I didn't do it faster. I managed to run the first 3 miles without stopping which felt great - an actual sense of achievement. I'm not sure if it's the cooler air, my determination to run whilst feeling patched up or the fact that I remembered I'd forgotten my inhaler and so paced myself a lot more but it felt a lot easier tonight than probably any other run I've done. My foot started feeling heavy towards the end of it and I've not doubt it'll hurt tomorrow, but I'm celebrating while I can! I may have mentioned that I was using Endomondo to track my runs. Here's an example of tonight's 6 mile run (though you can see that the GPS is a bit off on the map) - I thought I'd share it with you.
It's been a very strange week from a diabetes perspective. Since my run last Tuesday, I've really struggled to keep my blood sugar in check, but not in the way I've been used to. I've found that it's been really difficult to maintain a decent level and that I've crashed a few times a day. Whilst it's obviously good to be having lower blood sugar, too low is as bad as too high and as I've mentioned before, it's walking that tightrope in between the two.
I've been experimenting by lowering my insulin doses with meals but it's a lot of trial and error at the moment. I've got a consultant appointment at the hospital on Feb 1st so I'll be able to talk through it all in a lot more detail then - I'll just need to muddle through on my own until then. Runsweet have a lot of good information and advice for people with diabetes but I'm wary of making any drastic adjustments without speaking to a doctor first - I think that's just sensible.
I was talking to someone last night about how frustrating it feels in many respects. I've made a conscious effort to adjust my diet and get back into a proper diabetic regimen for a good few months now and it almost feels like I've got to start and learn how to do it all over again. I think I probably just need to understand the science behind it and it'll hopefully be fairly straightforward.
A quick mention on diet and such as that feels like quite a good segue there. I've started tracking my food through the MyFitnessPal which is giving me a good idea of how many calories I need to lose about 20lbs over 20 weeks. It also helps track what I'm eating around training days and my carb levels (to aid insulin doses). It's quite a useful tool. I'm think I'll print off the reports to take along to the hospital in a couple of weeks.
Final quick update on sponsorship. A few very wonderful people have chipped in this last week and the total (exclusing gift aid) currently stands at £157 which is quite good I think. You can keep an eye on progress, stay up to date with the latest blog and track the countdown to the main event by visting the fundraising page. All the money is being split between DiabetesUK and The Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity and you can read about all their work by clicking on one of the links.
A hectic weekend meant I wasn't able to go out and get any pics for my Sheffield photobook, but I'm hoping to rectify that this weekend so I can get a good start on that.
I'll leave it there for this week - appreciate I've gone on a fair bit there so thanks for sticking with it to the end. I mentioned a few weeks back that the end of this week was critical and it's really positive that I'm just about through it relatively unscathed.
Thanks for your support - the messages I get really mean a lot
Take care
Andy
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
2011 - A Review
Hello.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. And allow me to wish you an early 'Happy New Year' as well.
This is almost certainly going to be a longer post than normal so bear with it a bit. I'm going to do my usual stuff about running and all that but finish off with a bit of a review of 2011 and a look forward to next year.
I mentioned in my last blog that I had three runs left before New Year. Sadly that didn't quite turn out to be true. I was all geared up to go running on Christmas Eve morning but I'd been feeling a bit more of an ache in my foot than was 'normal' so I decided to give it a miss. I beat myself up about it for the rest of the day, but I think it was the right thing to do. It seems like there's no point doing all the hard work just to be belligerent and run when I don't think my body can take it.
I did, however, get up at 6:45 this morning and managed 4 miles in a respectable 46 minutes. The route is below, although I can't stress enough how steep two hills are over this distance. Fortunately, these coincided with a couple of walk breaks so that was quite good...
It was nice to see the sun rising as I made it to the top of the first hill. It was also nice to think I only had a mile left by that point as well. Running on the flat feels really good and I managed a bit of downhill running as well today which felt OK. I suppose training on the slopes of Sheffield can only be beneficial for the relatively flat course in London.
I'm starting to feel the after effects a bit more now and I'll have an ache and a bit of pain for a few days after each run now where before that wasn't the case. With that in mind, I've decided to cut back down to 2 runs a week for a little while and see if that helps. It'll make training a bit more difficult but as I've said a few times already, it was never going to be easy.
I've negotiated Christmas Day and Boxing Day meals relatively unscathed diabetes wise which is really promising as well. It's fair to say that December hasn't been as controlled as other months, but I feel like my understanding has been refreshed and that in itself means I can get through more difficult periods like Christmas without feeling like I'm spiralling out of control.
I've done pretty well to resist the various cakes, chocolates and biscuits that are laying around the house (to a certain degree at least). I think my experiences with my diet and migraines over the last week or two is a bit of a factor in that as much as the diabetes, and, when all's said and done, I don't have the same appetite I used to have when I could eat plates of food without thinking. I guess the diet and exercise has paid off quite a bit.
I had a bit of a difficult moment on Boxing Day when all the family went to my sister's house for lunch. I'd just done my insulin injection (into my stomach as usual) when my daughter asked me what I was doing. I told her that daddy had to do some medicine (which I've told her before). But then she lifted her top up and started copying me saying "I do medicine".
I think I mentioned a while back when I was talking about my sponsorship and things about how I constantly have a worry that I've passed on my diabetes to her. When she started mimicking my actions, it was quite difficult to take. I'm now torn between doing my shot away from her so she can't see, or carry on as everything is "normal" - which of course it is for me. I guess that's something I'll deal with over the next few weeks.
So - what has 2011 mean for me? I've been thinking about some of the major things that have happened this year and while it's impossible to remember or mention everything, here are a few that have stood out for me:
- We finally moved house to be back closer to our family. We sold pretty much a year ago and finally moved at the beginning of March
- Celebrated my daughter's first birthday (and now her second is on the horizon already), the old saying about how time flies never seems more true than when you're watching your kids grow up
- I had my first casino experience when I went to Las Vegas in September. I've wanted to go for so long and it exceeded my expectations more than I thought possible
- I've made a lot of trips to see my beloved Sheffield Wednesday this season - one of the perks of being back home
- I've made a lot of new friends and contacts on Twitter which is really good
- I've got my physical condition back under control after a good three years of disregarding what I should be doing
- I've started running again after almost 4 years back when I thought it would never actually be possible again. I know that sounds melodramatic but it's the honest truth
And now there's 2012 to look forward to:
- My daughter's second birthday
- Running/walking/crawling round the London marathon course and hopefully making my magic £1,000 fundraising target
- A trip to the Olympics in London over the summer
- Hopefully a couple of long weekends away somewhere
- A friend's wedding in Poland on my birthday
- Get good enough at photography to get one picture published somewhere
- Keep running and training for the Sheffield Half Marathon in 2013 (my nemesis)
- Do my best to focus on expanding my company
- Stay involved with the community through sponsorship and donations
- Try and turn some online friendships into real life ones (if anyone online wants to of course)
- See at least 12 gigs (one a month seems a reasonable goal)
- Carry on my blog in some form or another after the marathon
You can follow me on Twitter (@BroomOwl) or drop me an email (broomowl@gmail.com) if you fancy a chat.
Again, I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve, whatever you've got planned and I hope 2012 brings you joy and happiness.
Thanks for reading, take care
Andy
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
So this is Christmas...
The eagle-eyed amongst you have probably spotted that I've been naming most of my recent blog posts after 'appropriate' song lyrics so this title should come as little surprise.
This is the penultimate post of 2011 so I'll be firmly on topic for today. Next week's will be a bit of a mix of training progress and a 2011 review/2012 preview.
I'm a bit sketchy on my dates this week (blame the impending chaos of Christmas) but I think I've run twice since I last updated this - 6 miles in total. I had a mostly very pleasant 2.5 mile jog round Centre Parcs (Sherwood Forest) on Saturday morning. It would have been completely pleasant had I not accidentally run through a bush at the side of the road and cut my face. Whilst this is apparently amusing, I didn't see the funny side at the time.
Tonight I've done 3.5 miles (a new best distance) in 39 minutes which is just inside a 12 minute mile time. Here's the route:
I managed my most sustained period of running to date as well which was pleasing. I managed all the way from the start marker (above) to practically the Crown & Cushion pub. It's not that far (just over a mile) but it represents a lot to me which is good. Being able to take that impact without needing a break is good and hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to improve on that.
I've got 3 runs left before January and I'm hoping I can get a decent 4 mile run in before New Year. My fundraising page tells me I've got 123 days to go before the marathon. I truly believe that if I keep chipping away at it, I'll get there no problem!
Being diabetic this week has been....challenging. As you probably know we had a long weekend at Centre Parcs this weekend. That basically involved eating out for 3 meals a day for the better part of 4 days. It also meant more indulgences that a) I'm used to and b) should have. I roughly managed my blood sugar OK. By that I mean I probably did as best I could given how difficult it was to find time to test my blood and make an educated guess about what I was eating. I managed a horrifying 20mmol on the Saturday morning, and swung the other way to 2.7mmol on Sunday night.
As I've probably mentioned a few times, it can be quite frustrating when you're not exercising the amount of control you should be and that was certainly true this weekend. I also 'confirmed' something that I've suspected for a little while, which is that a bad diet, even for a short time, leads to migraines. I was in tears with pain on Sunday night which is probably the worst I've been for a long time. I also know that once it's started, it's a good 3 or 4 days before it subsides properly. It's just even more of an incentive to eat properly I guess. Apologies for that segue...
I shall sign off there for this week. To summarise, running - good, diabetes - OK, diet - causes migraines.
Thanks ever so much for all your support and kind words since I started this blog, you're all incredible and I truly thank you for all your encouragement. Hopefully I'll do you all proud next year. Remember you can donate (or invite others to) at the fundraising link above. I know the charities don't affect a lot of you personally and I wouldn't dream of asking you to support something you didn't want to. But if you know anyone who might like to then please feel free to share the link to the blog.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a good break from work if you're taking one.
Merry Christmas
Andy
This is the penultimate post of 2011 so I'll be firmly on topic for today. Next week's will be a bit of a mix of training progress and a 2011 review/2012 preview.
I'm a bit sketchy on my dates this week (blame the impending chaos of Christmas) but I think I've run twice since I last updated this - 6 miles in total. I had a mostly very pleasant 2.5 mile jog round Centre Parcs (Sherwood Forest) on Saturday morning. It would have been completely pleasant had I not accidentally run through a bush at the side of the road and cut my face. Whilst this is apparently amusing, I didn't see the funny side at the time.
Tonight I've done 3.5 miles (a new best distance) in 39 minutes which is just inside a 12 minute mile time. Here's the route:
I managed my most sustained period of running to date as well which was pleasing. I managed all the way from the start marker (above) to practically the Crown & Cushion pub. It's not that far (just over a mile) but it represents a lot to me which is good. Being able to take that impact without needing a break is good and hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to improve on that.
I've got 3 runs left before January and I'm hoping I can get a decent 4 mile run in before New Year. My fundraising page tells me I've got 123 days to go before the marathon. I truly believe that if I keep chipping away at it, I'll get there no problem!
Being diabetic this week has been....challenging. As you probably know we had a long weekend at Centre Parcs this weekend. That basically involved eating out for 3 meals a day for the better part of 4 days. It also meant more indulgences that a) I'm used to and b) should have. I roughly managed my blood sugar OK. By that I mean I probably did as best I could given how difficult it was to find time to test my blood and make an educated guess about what I was eating. I managed a horrifying 20mmol on the Saturday morning, and swung the other way to 2.7mmol on Sunday night.
As I've probably mentioned a few times, it can be quite frustrating when you're not exercising the amount of control you should be and that was certainly true this weekend. I also 'confirmed' something that I've suspected for a little while, which is that a bad diet, even for a short time, leads to migraines. I was in tears with pain on Sunday night which is probably the worst I've been for a long time. I also know that once it's started, it's a good 3 or 4 days before it subsides properly. It's just even more of an incentive to eat properly I guess. Apologies for that segue...
I shall sign off there for this week. To summarise, running - good, diabetes - OK, diet - causes migraines.
Thanks ever so much for all your support and kind words since I started this blog, you're all incredible and I truly thank you for all your encouragement. Hopefully I'll do you all proud next year. Remember you can donate (or invite others to) at the fundraising link above. I know the charities don't affect a lot of you personally and I wouldn't dream of asking you to support something you didn't want to. But if you know anyone who might like to then please feel free to share the link to the blog.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a good break from work if you're taking one.
Merry Christmas
Andy
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Inhaler
Hi - thanks for stopping by to read.
I'll start off with an apology - I feel like the last couple of (on topic) posts have had little variation of substance and it's unfair of me to expect you to keep reading if I'm not going to try to keep to a standard. I'll be making a more concerted effort going forward.
This week has been a 3-run week and I've managed 7.5 miles since last Wednesday. I was feeling somewhat under the weather last week so I did a smaller, 1.5 mile route just to keep some momentum. Fortunately my man-flu had mostly subsided by Saturday morning and so I went for my longest distance to date and did 3 miles - something I repeated this evening.
Saturday morning was OK as things go. I'd forgotten my inhaler before I left (I have mild asthma on top of everything else) and it was incredibly icy. I managed the route in 40 minutes which felt OK considering the circumstances. I wanted another crack at it without the ice slowing me down and did the same route in 37 minutes tonight - roughly on track for 12 minute miles.
The problem is that I feel like I'm my own worst enemy sometimes. I got about a mile into my run tonight before I started with stitch again. I'd been round Leeds Christmas market after work tonight and naively thought that a German sausage then wouldn't hurt before I came home to go running. What I neglected to tell myself is that it was still only a couple of hours before and that being in a different city doesn't actually make a difference. I need to be a lot stricter and more disciplined with myself because silly things like that don't help.
The good news is that I'm starting to believe that I can actually make it round 26 miles if I continue to be sensible. I'm not usually low on self belief, but I'm wary of jinxing myself a bit with this. When I'm out running, I feel like I can actually do it and that sort of belief is pushing me on.
I'm taking a lot of care when I run and I'm getting better at measuring my stride so I'm not coming down off a curb onto my bad foot and I'm not pushing off with it going back up a curb either. I'm also starting to feel like I can open up my stride a bit and push myself a bit more.
I've had a bit of a roller-coaster week diabetes wise. I had a work Christmas do on Friday and I had a decent reading before bed (6 ish if I remember correctly) but it was 20.5 when I woke up Saturday morning! In trying to correct that I ended up going low three times that day and I've felt like I've hit peaks and troughs since then rather than any real stability. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was sort of anticipating this with Christmas coming up. I just need to work extra hard to keep it in check over the next few weeks now. If I was consistently getting high readings I'd be concerned but it's just a product of the time of year I think. Hopefully I can keep it relatively under control.
I've also finalised my fund raising page on Virgin Money Giving today - you can see it here: AndyRunsTheMarathon2012 I also gave myself the first donation to kick start it. I've talked about the charities a fair bit over the last week or two so please feel free to skip back a few posts and read up about the work they do. I wanted to just briefly talk about my fundraising goal before I sign off.
My aim is to raise what I'd like to think is a relatively modest amount of money for each charity - namely £500 each. It's not a lot in the scheme of things as far as the charities themselves are concerned (for examples, it's only about 12% of the funds The Children's Hospital need just to run their diabetes camp for kids for one summer - let alone the rest of their projects) but it's a target I think I can achieve.
I worked out that if every one of my Twitter followers gave £2 (less than the price of a pint as I understand it) then I'd reach my goal with money to spare. I'm not for a single second suggesting that I'd expect or even ask that they would, but it's just an illustration of why I think it's achievable. I've put £50 in myself to start and hopefully that'll grow and grow over the coming months. I'm committing that my company will make up any shortfall to the £1000 total but I'll also put in £500 extra if I can raise more than £1000 in total. I know Christmas isn't the best time to discuss these things, especially given the current financial climate, but I wanted to just talk about my goals for fundraising and given you my honest viewpoint on what I'm trying to do.
This has been a bit of a longer post than I'd anticipated so I'll leave it there. I need to rest my foot a bit as the aches, whilst not crippling, are worse after a run and I could do with my feet up for half an hour before bed.
Thanks again for reading (if you made it this far) and don't forget you can always find me for a chat on Twitter (@BroomOwl) or drop me an e-mail (broomowl@gmail.com).
Take care and I'll update you in my last blog before Christmas next week
Andy
I'll start off with an apology - I feel like the last couple of (on topic) posts have had little variation of substance and it's unfair of me to expect you to keep reading if I'm not going to try to keep to a standard. I'll be making a more concerted effort going forward.
This week has been a 3-run week and I've managed 7.5 miles since last Wednesday. I was feeling somewhat under the weather last week so I did a smaller, 1.5 mile route just to keep some momentum. Fortunately my man-flu had mostly subsided by Saturday morning and so I went for my longest distance to date and did 3 miles - something I repeated this evening.
Saturday morning was OK as things go. I'd forgotten my inhaler before I left (I have mild asthma on top of everything else) and it was incredibly icy. I managed the route in 40 minutes which felt OK considering the circumstances. I wanted another crack at it without the ice slowing me down and did the same route in 37 minutes tonight - roughly on track for 12 minute miles.
The problem is that I feel like I'm my own worst enemy sometimes. I got about a mile into my run tonight before I started with stitch again. I'd been round Leeds Christmas market after work tonight and naively thought that a German sausage then wouldn't hurt before I came home to go running. What I neglected to tell myself is that it was still only a couple of hours before and that being in a different city doesn't actually make a difference. I need to be a lot stricter and more disciplined with myself because silly things like that don't help.
The good news is that I'm starting to believe that I can actually make it round 26 miles if I continue to be sensible. I'm not usually low on self belief, but I'm wary of jinxing myself a bit with this. When I'm out running, I feel like I can actually do it and that sort of belief is pushing me on.
I'm taking a lot of care when I run and I'm getting better at measuring my stride so I'm not coming down off a curb onto my bad foot and I'm not pushing off with it going back up a curb either. I'm also starting to feel like I can open up my stride a bit and push myself a bit more.
I've had a bit of a roller-coaster week diabetes wise. I had a work Christmas do on Friday and I had a decent reading before bed (6 ish if I remember correctly) but it was 20.5 when I woke up Saturday morning! In trying to correct that I ended up going low three times that day and I've felt like I've hit peaks and troughs since then rather than any real stability. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was sort of anticipating this with Christmas coming up. I just need to work extra hard to keep it in check over the next few weeks now. If I was consistently getting high readings I'd be concerned but it's just a product of the time of year I think. Hopefully I can keep it relatively under control.
I've also finalised my fund raising page on Virgin Money Giving today - you can see it here: AndyRunsTheMarathon2012 I also gave myself the first donation to kick start it. I've talked about the charities a fair bit over the last week or two so please feel free to skip back a few posts and read up about the work they do. I wanted to just briefly talk about my fundraising goal before I sign off.
My aim is to raise what I'd like to think is a relatively modest amount of money for each charity - namely £500 each. It's not a lot in the scheme of things as far as the charities themselves are concerned (for examples, it's only about 12% of the funds The Children's Hospital need just to run their diabetes camp for kids for one summer - let alone the rest of their projects) but it's a target I think I can achieve.
I worked out that if every one of my Twitter followers gave £2 (less than the price of a pint as I understand it) then I'd reach my goal with money to spare. I'm not for a single second suggesting that I'd expect or even ask that they would, but it's just an illustration of why I think it's achievable. I've put £50 in myself to start and hopefully that'll grow and grow over the coming months. I'm committing that my company will make up any shortfall to the £1000 total but I'll also put in £500 extra if I can raise more than £1000 in total. I know Christmas isn't the best time to discuss these things, especially given the current financial climate, but I wanted to just talk about my goals for fundraising and given you my honest viewpoint on what I'm trying to do.
This has been a bit of a longer post than I'd anticipated so I'll leave it there. I need to rest my foot a bit as the aches, whilst not crippling, are worse after a run and I could do with my feet up for half an hour before bed.
Thanks again for reading (if you made it this far) and don't forget you can always find me for a chat on Twitter (@BroomOwl) or drop me an e-mail (broomowl@gmail.com).
Take care and I'll update you in my last blog before Christmas next week
Andy
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
An off week
Hello!
I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who read and also messaged me with comments on the couple of music-based posts I did this last week. You're all very kind and I've now got some new suggestions to be getting on with.
I'm firmly back on topic today though although it may be a bit briefer than usual.
I went for a 2 mile run on Saturday morning as my usual Friday night slot was occupied by babysitting. I'm actually considering switching to Saturday mornings altogether. Firstly, it means I can enjoy my Friday night at the end of the week without feeling like I have to get a run 'out of the way' and secondly, it'll be good to get used to running in the mornings in preparation for April next year.
It was a really good run as it happens, managed 11 minute miles which, if I was looking to pace myself, that's what I'm aiming for. I also managed longer periods of sustained running without cramping up or feeling like I had to stop because of the old injury. Most of all, I felt no after effects which is really promising stuff - hopefully that will all continue.
Diabetes wise, it's been a bit of a struggle for the latter part of this week as I've ben struck down with the dreaded man-flu. What I'd forgotten is how much being even a tiny bit off colour can affect your blood sugar. As a rule, I'll just aim to keep my readings under 10mmol while I'm ill and even that's been a struggle this week.
I couldn't explain to you why it happens, but I know that it does and so the last 3 days I've been dialling my insulin dose up a bit to try and stay in control. It'll pass soon enough and then I imagine a short period of adjustment will follow before I'm back to normal again. That might coincide with Christmas a bit, but that's just one of those things - no-one can help being ill.
I'm still undecided if I'll go running tonight. I want to (which is good). I feel better than I have done for 3 days (also good) but I can't tell if I'm really physically up to it. It's difficult because I don't want to feel like I'm losing ground, especially as I feel like I'm already behind where I'd like to be. On the other hand, running for the sake of it, when I don't fee right is quite plainly silly.
If I feel right later on I might do a shorter run (1.5 miles) just to get the blood flowing a bit. I'm looking at a longer run on Saturday morning (3 miles) which will be good to get the momentum going.
I'm going to leave it there for now. Thanks for reading - appreciate it's a bit thin on content this week but I didn't want to ramble on for the sake of it.
Feel free to give me a tweet (@BroomOwl) or an e-mail (broomowl@gmail.com) if you fancy a chat.
Take care
Andy
I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who read and also messaged me with comments on the couple of music-based posts I did this last week. You're all very kind and I've now got some new suggestions to be getting on with.
I'm firmly back on topic today though although it may be a bit briefer than usual.
I went for a 2 mile run on Saturday morning as my usual Friday night slot was occupied by babysitting. I'm actually considering switching to Saturday mornings altogether. Firstly, it means I can enjoy my Friday night at the end of the week without feeling like I have to get a run 'out of the way' and secondly, it'll be good to get used to running in the mornings in preparation for April next year.
It was a really good run as it happens, managed 11 minute miles which, if I was looking to pace myself, that's what I'm aiming for. I also managed longer periods of sustained running without cramping up or feeling like I had to stop because of the old injury. Most of all, I felt no after effects which is really promising stuff - hopefully that will all continue.
Diabetes wise, it's been a bit of a struggle for the latter part of this week as I've ben struck down with the dreaded man-flu. What I'd forgotten is how much being even a tiny bit off colour can affect your blood sugar. As a rule, I'll just aim to keep my readings under 10mmol while I'm ill and even that's been a struggle this week.
I couldn't explain to you why it happens, but I know that it does and so the last 3 days I've been dialling my insulin dose up a bit to try and stay in control. It'll pass soon enough and then I imagine a short period of adjustment will follow before I'm back to normal again. That might coincide with Christmas a bit, but that's just one of those things - no-one can help being ill.
I'm still undecided if I'll go running tonight. I want to (which is good). I feel better than I have done for 3 days (also good) but I can't tell if I'm really physically up to it. It's difficult because I don't want to feel like I'm losing ground, especially as I feel like I'm already behind where I'd like to be. On the other hand, running for the sake of it, when I don't fee right is quite plainly silly.
If I feel right later on I might do a shorter run (1.5 miles) just to get the blood flowing a bit. I'm looking at a longer run on Saturday morning (3 miles) which will be good to get the momentum going.
I'm going to leave it there for now. Thanks for reading - appreciate it's a bit thin on content this week but I didn't want to ramble on for the sake of it.
Feel free to give me a tweet (@BroomOwl) or an e-mail (broomowl@gmail.com) if you fancy a chat.
Take care
Andy
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