Hello, and welcome to the Diabetic Runner website. I am Jamie, the Diabetic Runner. I’m a 34 year old Minnesota native, living in Northern California with my beautiful family of 4. I’m a research scientist/systems engineer for a major telecom, and an adventure seeker who sometimes borders on thrill seeker. I have a wonderfully supportive wife, a 3 year old daughter, and now a son, born this May. They all support me by adapting to my lifestyle, both as a diabetic and as a runner.
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Oct. 1, 1991; my senior year in high school. My younger sister had been diagnosed 5 years earlier at that point, so I knew what diabetes was, but I would still say it was a considerable change for me. In fact if anything, already knowing what the disease was, and having adapted our eating habits to accomodate her, the fact that I was diagnosed seemed to be downplayed. Looking back, I felt like it was no big deal for everyone around me, but it WAS a big deal to me. But in the end, it is fantastic to have a sister going through the same thing, someone I can share my experiences with, and learn from through her experiences. She is a runner - and has been since the late ’80s. I always admired her tackling marathons, and running regularly, but never aspired to do the same until recently. Now I can say I’m in 3 of her clubs: 1) diabetes, 2) running, and 3) birthday club - WHAT? you ask… well, we also share a birthdate, just one year apart.
Funny how I started running, since my feeling on the sport was something like this: “Running, yeah I’ll run if it’s from the police, but even then, after 5 minutes I’ll just stop and pay the fine!” You can listen to my first podcast to hear about how I got started, but know this: Now that I’ve seen the light, I aim to make running a part of my life for as long as possible. Like many of you with families, the prospect of living a long time to see them grow is important for me. Additionally, I find running provides balance in life for me… a time to de-stress, and meditate. And believe me, with 2 young ones at home this time spent running in solitude is very valueable! Finally, I see how running and staying fit improve my diabetic control - which goes back to point #1, living a long healty life.
If I can do it, anyone can… and I encourage you to find life’s cure for whatever ails you… and then share it with us. It’s not so much that misery loves company, but rather that we can all feel a little inspired by others doing great things, and this helps motivate us all to keep going the distance.
Hope to hear from you,
Jamie, The Diabetic Runner
Disclaimer
While I wear the title of D.R., you should know that it stands for Diabetic Runner, not Doctor! While I know plenty of doctors, and visit them regularly, I am NOT a doctor, don’t pretent to be one, and don’t even play one on TV. The information in this blog and podcast is from my life experiences - it should not be taken as medical advice. You need to see your doctor for real (read insured) advice. In other words, read and listen to this for your entertainment, not for your livlihood!
10 people have commented on this post
Hey Jamie,
Just got your website link from Jay Hewitt’s site and thought I’d shoot you a quick hello. I’m a 25 year old with type I diabetes (diagnosed at
and I’ve been discovering active type I diabetics via the internet which is so exciting. As for me, I am running my first marathon in Miami in three weeks(my husband did his first–the Napa Valley Marathon and it was amazing fun, you gotta do it another year). Good luck with your training for your tri, they are so intense and more like an adventure race. I did an olympic distance last year and the next day I did the bike portion of a Type I diabetic team of a half-iron here in Austin. We ended up coming in third place out of the relay teams which was totally unexpected. Anyway, my husband and I are going to do our local (Austin, TX) tri series this year (its a whole set of tris, all different distances) and also travel to New Hampshire for the 70.3 Timberman! I’m super excited and have a goal of a full Ironman in 2009.
Like I said before, I’m so excited to discover all the diabetic athletes over the past year. We should all pick a race or tri one year and bombard the entries! Anyway good luck to you and your sister in the future.
Hah, it changed my 8 into a smile. Diagnosed at 8.
Hey Jamie,
I’ve been a type 1 diabetic since I was 21, and I’m 46 now. I’ve always been active in all sports. I’ve managed to keep my weight down all these years and experienced very few problems realted to this disease. I’m thinking about running again and wanted to know what you thought was the best running shoe for me. Recently I’ve experienced some pain in my right foot and have started putting inserts in my shoes for padding. What brand/type of shoe would you recommend for padding for the ball of my feet. I just bought some Misuno Wave Inspire II but haven’t had the chance to try them out on the road. Just wondered what you wear and or recommend.
Respectfully,
Jeff Howett
Hey Jeff, posted a response here:
http://diabeticrunner.com/2008/02/22/readers-write-shoes-and-my-2/
Cheers,
Jamie
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3 years ago, which prompted me to get back into running/jogging. I am not insulin dependent though. Have been reading the benefits of taking ice baths or soaking your legs in ice after a long run. I was wondering if this could be harmful for us diabetics since we should take extra care of our feet.
Hi TO everyone,
I’m 42 and getting back into running, I was a preety good athele in High School, but the last 20 years have gone past fast. I was diagonosed at 31 with Type 1. I ran a Half Marathon a few weeks ago, a little slower than I wanted, but finished! Anyway, I’m going to the next level - shooting for a Full in January, but one area I need to figure out is some sort of glucose boost I can use through out the run. I usually carry a few bottles with gatorade, and have some of the goo-shots handy, but man those things are nasty. Anyone got any suggustions for an easy, portible, effective glucose boost that one can use as needed over a four & half hour run?
Hi Jamie,
My son is 10 years old and a type 1 diabetic. He likes to run cross country and he is pretty good at it. The races are not too long- about 1 mile. When he practices he runs about 3 miles at a time. I have a question with respect to your strategy with food. What do you eat before you run and how long before you run do you eat? Do you have a different strategy for races and practice? I am worried that if I feed him to close to a run he could get stomach cramps. Also, what do you do if your blood sugar starts dropping right before a race? Do you use a temp basal, or glucose tabs, or something else?
We have been feeding him an english muffin with peanut butter about 1 1/4 hr before practices. Does this seem like a good idea? We haven’t found a good strategy for races.
Hey Jean,
Thanks for taking the time to read and write, and great that your 10 year old has found such a healty hobby, and is doing well with it too!
Here’s what’s been working for me. 1st of all I DO set a temp basal: 1 hour before run (because that’s about the peak time for novolog) I set it to about 33 - 50% and set the duration to the expected duration of my run. The full basal kicks in an hour before I finish, but I ususally need this because I tend to have a slight rise in BG afterwards… probably from the gels that are still in my digestive system. About food…. I usually eat one gel about 15-30 minutes before I run - if I was running a BG of 100 or less, then I eat 2 - eating gels (or an occasional banana instead) doesn’t seem to upset my stomach, but others may be more sensitive… I also make a point never to run within 3 hours of a meal (and meal bolus) - more because the insulin still around tends to drop my BG too much, but also to avoid potential stomach problems with all that food in my stomach.
As for lows right before a race - it’s pretty rare that this happens for me - with the drop in basal, I am usually starting to creep up at race time. On top of that, the anxiety of racing usually raised my BG anyway.
Once running (on long, 1+ hour runs) I usually consume one gel (about 30G CHO) every 30 to 45 minutes, and try to take it with water to rid the nasty taste. As much as I hate gels, they are great for getting carbs and electrolytes, and don’t fill my stomach like food does. PLUS they are compact and easy to carry. This is a big help - for example on the marathon I ran, I left with 12 gels in a race belt just in case… imagine trying to take 12 bagels with PB instead…
Hope this helps, and if you have other questions, please hit me up - I’m happy to share my experiences. They may not work perfectly for your son, but it always helps to know what others are having success with to get a good starting point.
Jamie
Hi Everyone!
I was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last week, I’m 22, and have been a runner since high school. I was planning on training for a marathon thats set in January, but really felt discouraged once diagnosed. I really just wanna be able to run without having to worry about my sugar dropping too low and from what I’ve read it sounds like the continuous glucose monitor is the thing to get? This isn’t covered by insurance though huh? Now, I am worried about my feet too! I will need to get some good socks, are there any other precautions I should take? I am new to all of this and I really want to be a healthy diabetic-whatever it takes and I know exercise can have a really positive impact on diabetes, I just need to get set up right! help me!
Hey Jamie,
I’ll start by saying I do not have diabetes. I was reading the latest update from Marathon Chris and noticed your blog amongst her subscriptions. I know just a little about type 2 diabetes and GENERALLY as far as I can make out it is avoidable through diet and exercise. But, in my ignorance, I thought a person was either born with type 1 or not - period. I have read through your blog and some of the comments on this page and it has opened my eyes and encouraged me to find out more about both types. Thank you all for some interesting reading and I look forward to reading more.