A couple weeks ago, on Saturday April 9th 2011, I took my first run. It wasn’t very fast (7:30 pace) and it wasn’t very long (only 2 miles) and it wasn’t even on a fun trail (concrete track in a park so Erica could watch me). But in some ways it was the best run. It was the best because I did it. I got myself out there for the first time.
I know what you are thinking... 'he runs all the time, what is he talking about'. This wasn’t truly my first run, I run all the time. In fact just a few days prior to this I ran 6 miles like I do almost every night. So what am I talking about? Well this was my first run after having been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. On Thursday, April 7th, I finally relented to the symptoms I had been feeling for the last 2 weeks and went to see a doctor. My blood sugar was off the charts and all my symptoms matched perfectly so they put me on insulin. Sure enough, now I feel fine. So there it is. Now and for the rest of my life I am dependent on injecting myself with insulin to stay alive. Diabetes usually shows up at a younger age but apparently it sometimes happens later in life, even if you think you are perfectly healthy. It was nothing that I could have prevented or should have been worried about, it is just a random event. More about that later.
So now I take insulin shots 4 times a day and I’m told that it is healthy to keep running and keep doing everything else I used to do and just adjust the insulin intake to lead a normal life.
I am still dealing with all sorts of different thoughts that can run through someone's head when they are suddenly faced with their own mortality but for the most part I am doing fine.
The biggest challenge currently is the struggle I am having with my identity. I always identified myself as a runner or an athlete or at least just a guy who could pretty much do anything he wanted to. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe all this time I should have focused on identifying myself as something more important like a good father or husband. In reality, I am still all of these things. Nothing really changed, I just have to be a little more careful with my blood sugar now.
I suppose in the long run I will rise to this new challenge and maybe it will be good for me in some way but for now I am just happy to know that we have the technology to keep me alive and keep me running.
I plan on using this blog as a place to share how I am doing with managing my diabetes in an attempt to improve my quality of life and maybe even help someone else do the same.
Over the last few weeks I have found a lot of good information but not exactly everything I was looking for. Because of this, I have taken it upon myself to provide the world with my data. Once I figure out what I am doing, I will post my blood sugars and my workouts and all sorts of other details. This way, if someone is in my same situation, they will know what worked and what didn't work for me.
I also plan on getting back into racing. Racing will give me the motivation I need to train every day which will in turn give me motivation to control my blood sugar.
Obviously this blog won't appeal to a wide audience but keep me in mind if you know someone looking for this type of info.
If I can offer any advice, it would be to enjoy your health and freedom while you have it.
Thanks for reading.
-Rhet
