Most runners have heard of base training but I\u2019m not sure if most really know what it means.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t until now. For the last two years, since I started running marathons, I\u2019ve spent a good part of the year \u2013 September through April \u2013 training for one marathon or another. During the four months I wasn\u2019t training I, rested running casually three to four times a week with no plan or a schedule. I knew that after a short resting period it was time to build a base, but I didn\u2019t really know what that meant.<\/p>\n
Since joining my running group this has changed. Our coach has us all building a good base for the upcoming season. What this means is that we are all running hills and tempo runs and are also running a longer weekend run of 12 \u2013 15 miles. The idea behind this is to enter the training period much stronger and faster. So although haven\u2019t started training for a marathon yet, I\u2019m running 40+ miles a week (which is close to what I was running at the peak of my training a year ago).<\/p>\n
This base building period is especially important to me because \u00a0I will be going on the pump in a very short while which means that I will need time to re-learn how to balance my food\/insulin\/running again.<\/p>\n
I was aware of the fact that this move could interfere with my running so I waited until after I completed my last race of the season before starting the process of getting an insulin pump. But the truth is that before I decided to go on the pump I was concerned more about the aesthetic and psychological sides of it all than the practical sides. I was much more concerned with how I would feel being attached to a constant physical reminder that I was not as healthy as I wish I was, attached to something that reminded me of my diabetes even when I wasn\u2019t injecting or eating, than how it would affect my daily schedule.\u00a0 I still worry about psychological effect but the truth is I think about diabetes anyway all the time, and if it really improves my blood sugar control I will get used to the whole thing.<\/p>\n
Now I have two main worries, how it will affect my sleeping (something I will just have to wait and see) and how it will affect my running.<\/p>\n
It took me a long time to get to a place where I know exactly what to eat the day before a long run, how much basal insulin to take at night according to the length of my run and how often to take gels to keep my blood sugar at a good level.\u00a0 The process involved months of monitoring my blood sugar levels while I ran, experimenting with fueling during runs and insulin doses. \u00a0I’ve finally gotten to the point where I take my glucometer with me on runs just for good luck (and so I don\u2019t feel like an idiot if something happens).<\/p>\n
When I made the decision to try pumping I knew there would be an adjustment period which would include my running, but it didn\u2019t seem like such a big deal at the time. Now that I\u2019m actually going through with it, and I\u2019ve started to think about life with the pump (all theoretical) it seems like a much bigger deal.<\/p>\n
So this base training period will be not just a time to get faster and stronger, but also to get used to my new way of taking insulin. When I do start training for the next marathon I hope I\u2019ll be surprised by my strength and speed and not by my blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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