I just ran my second marathon! My second marathon!! That’s huge! I was never an athlete. I never ran when I was younger. I never thought I’d run a marathon even once let alone twice! But I run now and I am indeed a marathoner! And I intend to keep running!
I ran the Chicago Marathon – one of the six World Majors! I’ve got my eye on running all of them, but that’s a story for another time! My post title, as always, is music-themed and a line from Rush’s “Marathon,” a song that will always play a huge part in my running, for many reasons. “More than a finish line, must feed this burning need.” Nailed it! My husband is in a Rush tribute band too, so I organized my playlist and heard him singing that song as I crossed the finish line! Neil Peart, who wrote the lyrics, has been quoted as saying, “Playing a three-hour Rush show is like running a marathon while solving equations.” I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating – that’s exactly what Type 1 diabetic marathoners do! We run an actual marathon while calculating carbs and insulin and blood sugar readings and energy expended!
But back to Chicago! This was a big deal race! My first marathon last year in New Hampshire was a very small-town, neighborhood-vibe race. I loved it! It was great for my first time out, but I went from 250 fellow runners to a field over 45,000! Talk about culture shock! I now know I didn’t have to worry about carrying a ton of water with me – the big races have water and sports drink stops roughly every mile! I was never alone either – there were tons of runners always right around me! The crowd support was amazing! It really does power your feet forward! The city was so much fun to run through and I think we got the very best sightseeing tour around! Running through 29 neighborhoods really gives you the feel and charm of Chicago!
The real surprise – I felt terrific right after the race! My legs felt fine. I wasn’t wiped out exhausted. Yeah, I was tired, but I felt great! I loved walking around the city later that day/evening and saying congratulations to other people wearing medals and getting that same congratulations right back to me! The support and camaraderie of all the other runners is something I treasure. Runners are an amazing community!
As I said, I ran my first last year. I wanted to run another marathon and give back this time, so I decided to run for a charity. In fact, I’ve decided that I will run at least one marathon for charity a year. I’ve been trying to get myself more involved and this is a great way to put my money where my feet are, so to speak. I ran with Joslin Diabetes Center this time out and raised $4,000 for them. They do important work in research, patient care, advocacy, and awareness. Since I have had Type 1 diabetes for going on 42 years, diabetes-related charities will almost always be my focus. I was never one to get out and fundraise for diabetes, or anything really, until my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 5. I want to model that diabetes doesn’t define her and she can be or do whatever she sets her mind to. Moreover, I want a world without this disease for her.
Speaking of diabetes, how did my management fair before, during, and after the race? Well, as expected, the dreaded adrenaline blood sugar spike hit me before the race. I woke up with a great number – 110 or somewhere near that. But it slowly started to climb. I was up at 5 a.m. and my corral did not start until 8:35 a.m. I had trained using my new favorite fuel, UCan, but that is best if I drink it 30 – 45 minutes before I run. My whole plan got thrown out the window and I drank it around 6 a.m. I started a temporary basal of 150% in an attempt to combat that spike, but it wasn’t budging. In fact, it kept going higher, which of course stressed me out, which in turn made my blood sugar rise even more! My husband Chris, by the way, is so calm and good to me when I’m freaking out over my blood sugars or my gear or whatever. He even brought me roses when he greeted me after the race! He got me Starbucks too – another of my favorite things!
So, after walking a mile to Grant Park and finding the right gate to enter, I kissed my husband and headed in. I dropped off my bag at the gear check station, then made my way to my starting corral. I waited in my corral for a good 45 minutes and then we were off! And my blood sugar was in the high 200s. I didn’t like that and I was annoyed. Around mile 6 when I hit 300 with an up arrow, I caved and against my better judgment, gave myself 1 unit of insulin as I needed fuel at this point and ate a Humagel. Well, that was my downfall. By the half marathon mark, I was heading down and fast. I spent the last third of the race downing all my gels, eating glucose powder (which I will not be bringing on a race anymore – the powder is too hard to eat when running), drinking more UCan hoping to stave off the crash, and taking anything with sugar offered along the course from Gatorade to bananas to Skittles! My Dexcom G6 CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and TSlim insulin pump were the real heroes of the day. My Dexcom talked to my pump and the Basal IQ feature on my TSlim pump shut off my insulin and I didn’t have to worry about that or fiddle with my pump – it did it for me!
Funny thing is, I felt really good through the whole thing! I even got myself a PR and crossed the finish line at 4:52:26! I now have some more things to put on my lessons-learned list. It’s always trial and error. Just as the lyrics say though, “One moment’s high and glory rolls on by…” It’s true. I’m just now starting to come down from that “moment’s high.” And to quote more lyrics, “something always fires the light that gets in your eyes…” I can’t wait to run the next one!
