Monday night I was in Camberley at a B&B. It was a normal night, work late then head to the B&B. Quick snack and out for a run. I wasn't sure when I set out how far I wanted to run but with my legs a little heavy from the weekend I was thinking 7-8miles at an easy pace of around 8mins per mile. Also I wanted to head into Bracknell Forrest to get some trails under my feet, again with the aim of preserving my legs a bit.
As I headed out my legs felt great, after around 1.5 miles on the road I was in the forrest, following the trails.
Bracknell Forrest is an amazing place, trails run off in all directions and there looks to be some great mountain biking in there. First thing that struck me was the recovery of the place. At the beginning of the summer the forrest was more or less closed as there were bush fires running wild and destroying huge areas. I ran through there shortly after this and the air was heavy with the smell of burnt and burning bush. Now there is lavender everywhere. What was once black and dead is now alive with purple.
I did a couple of miles on the trails my legs recovered and finding the pace easily. As it got duskier there were deer that I could see, one of which jumped right out in front of me. He stopped on the path about 10ft from me. Looked at me and then skipped off back into the forrest. A stunning encounter and what struck me was how silent and graceful they are. This large animal jumped into the undergrowth, barely made a sound and was out of view in a matter of seconds. OK so it was getting darker, the trees were thick, he was camouflaged and I am (amongst others) red/green/brown colour blind!
Emerging from the forrest and, like i said with my legs feeling great, I decided to add a bit extra to the run. 7-8 miles became just short of 11 at the 8min mile pace I wanted.
Emerging from the forrest and, like i said with my legs feeling great, I decided to add a bit extra to the run. 7-8 miles became just short of 11 at the 8min mile pace I wanted.
I got back to the B&B had a drink and a shower then ate my food. I finished eating and then could not find my novorapid insulin pen. I checked, double and triple checked my bag - not there. Mentally retracing my steps I could picture it safely on my desk in work. I had my glargine (slow acting) but no fast acting. I calculated the carb content of my dinner and estimated about 40-50g of carbs. Thinking that I would have only given myself 1-2 units of novorapid as I had done a long run I decided not to panic and not use any. I gave myself the normal dose of glargine insulin and settled down to watch the match.
Next morning I woke up early and did a blood test. I was little nervous as whilst I wasn't expecting the reading to be that high I really wasnt sure what ot would be.
The reading was 7.2mmol.
Perfect!
I was really pleased with myself for that! Then thinking back realised that had I given myself insulin I may have actually caused myself some problems with a hypo. Once agan the impact of exercise on diabetes astounds me and proves its worth beyond doubt. My insulin control is largely very good and I put it down to this fact beyond anything else. That and a balanced diet with lots of whole foods.
For a flash it was like not having diabetes anymore!
