{"id":51577,"date":"2020-02-04T08:07:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T13:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577"},"modified":"2020-02-21T09:40:09","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T14:40:09","slug":"running-across-the-usa-with-type-1-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577","title":{"rendered":"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don Muchow<\/a>, Ironman and ultra-marathoner, deserves a special place in the annals of athletes with Type 1 diabetes. But what\u2019s truly remarkable about Don\u2019s story is that he spent the first several decades of his life on the couch, fearful of exercise-induced hypoglycemia, without the faintest idea that a world class endurance athlete lurked within. He started running in his 40s and he hasn\u2019t looked back, tackling longer and harder challenges as he has aged.<\/p>\n

Don has just embarked on a journey of almost unthinkable endurance \u2013 running all the way across the USA, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic. He runs to push himself, and to push others too.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019s story starts in 1972, when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as an adolescent. Like everyone in that era, Don grew up in what now seems like the stone age of diabetes management. It would be over a decade before he got his first glucose meter, and even longer before the mainstream medical establishment properly understood the consequences of chronic hyperglycemia<\/a>. Debilitating complications and early death were considered all but inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still have a vivid memory of getting my first glucometer, which was the shape and size of a brick, and required a hanging drop of blood. I was really excited about that. It took a minute to wait for the results! Prior to that, it was a matter of testing your urine to see if you had spilled sugar out of your bloodstream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don explained that it took so long to get feedback that it wasn\u2019t really possible to analyze one\u2019s diet or behaviors to understand what was really affecting his glucose level.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, if you wanted to get your blood sugar tested you went to the hospital where they had the equipment to do that. It was something you did once a month. It was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Managing the condition virtually in the dark, people with diabetes at the time were advised to live as cautiously and predictably as they could.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctor at the time said, \u2018it would be much easier for you to manage your diabetes if you didn\u2019t do things that caused sudden changes in your blood sugar.\u2019 You know, one of those things obviously is don\u2019t eat that piece of pie just because you feel like you want pie. The flipside of that is: don\u2019t go play outside, don\u2019t ride your bike, don\u2019t exercise, don\u2019t swim. I took that advice seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

He probably took it too seriously. Flash forward to 2004: Don was 42 years old, overweight, out of shape, and just beginning to feel the damages wrought by chronic high blood sugars. A visit to the doctor would give him the kick in the butt that he needed to change his life:<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a diagnosis of proliferative retinopathy in my left eye, and had to have a treatment that left me with blind spot. I realized that I had to try something now, because the alternative was not gonna look good. I threw out my big plates, tried to eat things that were lower in carbohydrates, and tried to get some activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the same time, a diabetes educator introduced him to the concept of exercise equivalence: that certain bouts of exercise could have the same glucose-lowering effect as certain amounts of insulin.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, you could learn to think of a 20-minute walk as equivalent to a certain amount of insulin. And rather than giving the insulin that you didn\u2019t necessarily need to correct a high blood sugar, and end up storing all that sugar as fat, you could actually use exercise in its place, increase your basal metabolic rate over time, and experience a leveling effect on your blood sugar that you probably wouldn\u2019t have gotten if you\u2019d been sitting around on the couch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don had been profoundly sedentary, living his life by the advice that he\u2019d received decades previous, advice that had only become more and more out of date as the tools of diabetes management got better. He was not exercising at all. But the diagnosis with retinopathy pushed Don into action. The future ultra-marathoner began his journey with just a few steps:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit of a challenge for me even to get started. At first we\u2019re talking about maybe 20 minutes of walking on a treadmill. At that point in my life I was already feeling like I might have a heart attack just from walking up the stairs. And that didn\u2019t feel right, to feel way in my early 40s.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pushed himself from walking to running, and eventually to biking and swimming too. It wasn\u2019t easy. At the time one couldn\u2019t simply log onto Facebook\u2019s Type 1 Diabetic Athletes Group<\/a> and ask for advice. Don needed to discover for himself, through trial and error, the myriad ways that exercise can impact blood sugar:<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely went through a phase where everything new that I did seemed like it was wrong. But at least it was new data. I would misestimate how much exercise was sufficient to drop my blood sugar, or I would discover after it had come down to a normal level that it would continue to drop. All of the things that people living with the disease in this day and age already know about: insulin sensitivity, post-workout spikes, post-workout lows, all of that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually Don did meet some more experienced runners with Type 1 that graciously offered to help him out with his own management. It\u2019s a role that Don now relishes to play himself.<\/p>\n

\"Don<\/p>\n

In the next decade, Don worked his way up from those first tentative treadmill sessions in incredible fashion. Walks led to 5ks, 5ks to 10ks, 10ks to marathons. He was nearing 60 years old and had just placed on the podium at a quadruple\u00a0<\/em>marathon when realized that he would probably never get any faster. But he wasn\u2019t done setting new goals for himself: \u201cOne thing I can do is keep running longer distances.\u201d That set him on the path that resulted in runs across Iowa and Texas, and will soon see him run from one coast to the other.<\/p>\n

With his commitment to exercise, a better diet and the latest technology, Don\u2019s glycemic control is better than ever. He\u2019s found the balance of insulin, carbohydrates and energy that he needs to keep himself fueled and healthy on his long runs. When he gets well above marathon distances, 40+ miles, the intense physical stress of the run can cause his blood sugar to behave unpredictably. And so Don will average 30-35 miles per day on his run across the country, a distance that sounds outrageous to me but is modest and manageable for him. His wife follows with a camper van and a rooftop tent, and he\u2019s planned the route to avoid the interstates, hitting as many little road and small towns as possible.<\/p>\n

You have to think a lot about food when you\u2019re planning to run hundreds of miles for weeks on end. Don mostly sticks to keto snacks like cheese and nuts during a run, saving sugar for the times that he really needs it:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, going at a slow and comfortable pace that I can sustain for more than a hundred miles, I want to have keto food. That\u2019s my diesel fuel. I think that people who eat nothing but sugar, honey, or glucose gels because they\u2019re trying to break a marathon record \u2013 that\u2019s great for them if that\u2019s what they\u2019re trying to do. But if you\u2019re not going at rocket speed, don\u2019t take on rocket fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

This appears to be good advice even for those without diabetes: a 2016 study showed that committed endurance athletes can have surprisingly high insulin resistance<\/a>, potentially attributable to the steady stream of high-sugar drinks and snacks that they typically depend on.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t yet asked the biggest question: why run across the USA?<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s the personal challenge of doing something difficult, with one hand tied behind my back testing my sugar. I want to see what I can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also want to see what any of us can do. I wasn\u2019t born with a special set of genes or anything like that. I started when I was fairly old. I feel like I\u2019m an example of what an ordinary Joe could do if he tried.<\/p>\n

\"Don<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest and most important goal is to encourage people who are as afraid as I was back in 1972 of doing anything that might drop my blood sugar. I want to say to people, \u2018Look, there are examples that you can follow. There are over 300 folks with Type 1 that have done full Ironmans<\/a>. There are people that have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. If you want to know how to do this, there\u2019s a community of people, they\u2019re reachable and they\u2019ll talk to you!\u2019 I didn\u2019t have that back then, and I want to be sure that everyone that wants to go out and play knows somebody else that can help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019s run started in California on February 1, and should last about four months. If you want to support Don\u2019s cause, follow his progress, or even run with him on the road, check out his website: T1Determined<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information on diabetes and exercise visit Diabetes Daily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":51580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1434,1457,1431],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRunning Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes | ASweetLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Type 1 diabetes doesn't stop him. Don Muchow is running all the way across the USA, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ross Wollen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577\",\"name\":\"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes | ASweetLife\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-04T13:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-21T14:40:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/dad5417f3e14b1fd142730c7fa616283\"},\"description\":\"Type 1 diabetes doesn't stop him. Don Muchow is running all the way across the USA, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Don Muchow - Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/dad5417f3e14b1fd142730c7fa616283\",\"name\":\"Ross Wollen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3baf28ef14013e66fec763fe108e4bff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3baf28ef14013e66fec763fe108e4bff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ross Wollen\"},\"description\":\"Ross Wollen is a chef and writer based in Maine's Midcoast region. Before moving East, Ross was a veteran of the Bay Area restaurant and artisanal food scenes; he has also worked as a food safety consultant. As executive chef of Belcampo Meat Co., Ross helped launch the bone broth craze. Since his diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2017, he has focused on exploring the potential of naturally low-carb cooking. Follow Ross on Twitter: @RossWollen\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/RossWollen\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=437\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes | ASweetLife","description":"Type 1 diabetes doesn't stop him. Don Muchow is running all the way across the USA, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ross Wollen","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577","name":"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes | ASweetLife","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-04T13:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-21T14:40:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/dad5417f3e14b1fd142730c7fa616283"},"description":"Type 1 diabetes doesn't stop him. Don Muchow is running all the way across the USA, from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/muchow2.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"caption":"Don Muchow - Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=51577#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Running Across the USA with Type 1 Diabetes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/dad5417f3e14b1fd142730c7fa616283","name":"Ross Wollen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3baf28ef14013e66fec763fe108e4bff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3baf28ef14013e66fec763fe108e4bff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ross Wollen"},"description":"Ross Wollen is a chef and writer based in Maine's Midcoast region. Before moving East, Ross was a veteran of the Bay Area restaurant and artisanal food scenes; he has also worked as a food safety consultant. As executive chef of Belcampo Meat Co., Ross helped launch the bone broth craze. Since his diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2017, he has focused on exploring the potential of naturally low-carb cooking. Follow Ross on Twitter: @RossWollen","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/RossWollen"],"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=437"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51577"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51723,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51577\/revisions\/51723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}