Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on April 24, 2011 at 3:14pm

I do not bolus during a run, even for the gels. You need to keep your energy up. The exercise will use up the carbs you ingest. Our need to eat while we run for distance is not different than non-diabetics. Our greater risk is going too low, not ingesting too much carbs. Everyone needs to find their own balance and fine tune along the way.

If one skittle/mile keeps your bg in range then good on you!

There are lots of threads here on the subject so look around. The most cited resource is Sheri Colberg's book "the diabetic athlete.". Also see "Pumping Insulin" by John Walsh.

Terry

Permalink Reply by Jerry Nairn on April 25, 2011 at 10:12am

As you can see from the responses so far, there are a lot of different ways to handle this. It takes experimentation, and you have to keep in mind that what you did the day before may be significant, your requirements may change as you get into better shape, etc.
The answer to the question about whether or not to bolus is that you either need to bolus or have your basal high enough to compensate for not bolusing. The amount you would bolus would be reduced, so your basal probably still wouldn't be at 100% if you went with adjusting your basal. I find that if I reduce my basal by about 25%, I can eat a gel w/27 g of carb every 45 minutes or so.
Good luck!

Permalink Reply by jljr on April 25, 2011 at 6:50am

I take 1 unit of Novalog along with my regular dose of Levemir before doing my regular Sunday run (12-14 miles). I take 1 GU gel before running and use concentrated Gatorade at about 1 hour (equals about 15 gms of carbs). My bs is usually around 130 when I'm done.I think you need some insulin to convert the carbs to usuable fuel. If I don't taken any Novalog my bs is usually around 200 when I finish.

Permalink Reply by Kurt Bauman on April 25, 2011 at 7:49am

Hello,

I would be happy to help you in any way I can. First of all I would try not to have very little insulin in my body when starting to excercise. If I have just bolused I wait at least 3 hours before I try to run. Also, always carry your glucose monitor with you and food reserves in case your blood sugar drops. I carry PowerBar; Powergels with me. They have 27 carbs in each pack and will bring your BS up quickly. I turn my basal down to about 5% on my pump and usually start out with my BS around 200+, depending on how far I will run. I check my BS about every 5 miles or so depending on how I am feeling. I also have information on my website to share. Good Luck and let me know how I can help in any way!

All the best,
Kurt
www.kurtbauman.com

Permalink Reply by kestrel on April 25, 2011 at 4:24pm

Thanks -- this is really helpful, the links too. I *have* learned to watch out for IOB. And my basal is really low right now, so I may have less trouble with lows than others do. As my distances get longer, I'll start to experiment with bolusing-and-not for gels. Maybe I'll try not bolusing on a run where I'll have 1 gel. 1 gel couldn't kick me THAT high anyway.

I checked out your blog, Jerry -- I'm an ex-Arizonan.... the folks still live in Glendale.

Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on April 28, 2011 at 3:08pm

I'd add that a lot of the gels are 25G of carbs (at least the ones I have left from my last race...I didn't need them but was unable to pass up free carbs so I lugged them in my sleeves...) and I've noticed that I can feel better with 2x smaller doses split up than one huge dose that can jack me up? The jelly beans are handy for this, I can get a bag of Starburst Jelly beans (also super yummy...) for like $3.99 and portion it into the little ziploc bags (.99/ 100@ Hobby Lobby...) in like 20G packets and eat about 1/2 of one every 3 miles or so and have a really nice result. I am not sure how practical half consumed gels are to lug around but I suspect they could get messy?

Permalink Reply by kestrel on May 2, 2011 at 2:55pm

Yeah, this was pretty much the conclusion I was coming to. Smaller more frequent doses of carbs without bolusing is probably the way to go, for me, for now. (I did 7 hilly miles yesterday, finishing BS 110!) I like the portable, nonmessy things that have electrolytes as well as sugar: jelly belly's sports beans and sharkies are the ones I know about so far. (Cliff's shot bloks are too sticky to leave open -- not as bad as gels, but still.)

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