Nothing Like Normal

Someone once told me that you have seven years from your first marathon to improve your running time. After that, you’re stuck. I ran my first, when Adam was 2 weeks old, 1 year and eight months ago, and I am now one month before my fourth. I am feeling confident that this time I will run my first sub 4 marathon.

I ran the Beit Shean half marathon on Friday morning. The weather was perfect — cool and sunny (around 65F°), and I felt great. I had taken 10 units of Lantus the night before (4 less than usual) and woke up at 5:15am with a BS of 156 where I stayed until the race started at 9:15am.

I left home at 6:30am and drove 2 hours to the race. I got there in time to register, drink some water and warm-up, running a mile and a little. The race went as planned. The warm-up allowed me to start at a decent pace which increased as the race went on. I’d come to the race hoping to improve my personal record for a half marathon (1:52) which I’d set at the Tel Aviv half marathon last April, a few weeks after the Rotterdam marathon.

I’d planned to run the first part of the race at a 8:50 minutes a mile. When the race stated the crowd forced me to start a little slower than planned, but by the 3 mile mark my average pace was 8:54. From there I increased my pace to 8:34 then 8:06, the last 3 mile section I ran at a 7:44 pace and the last 1.1 miles at 7:21 minutes per mile. By the end of the race my heart rate was around 168-170, but this time it wasn’t because something was wrong, but because I had given it my all. I also set a new personal record for a half marathon – 1:48:41.

But more importantly I finally ran a race (not counting 10k races) feeling normal, without thinking about diabetes or having any diabetes related problems – lows, highs or heart rate issues. I tested myself before and after, but other than that, I was just like any other runner trying to do his best.

So I’m on a high, not a blood sugar high, but a post-race high and it feels great.