Any Diabetic Triathletes out there??

Yo! One Type 1 checking in right here. You didn't mention if you were t1 or 2? What are you using for medicine right now? (Yeah that's personal, you don't have to answer!).

I've been rocking the insulin pump w/ humalog for the last few years, and it's been great for my racing. I take down the basal rate and cruise right along. I might eat slightly more during the race than your average triathlete, but crashing is absolutely zero fun, so I'd rather eat more! (Love Nuun tabs because they dont have extra sugar like Gatorade, just the electrolytes. And I'm a Hammergel fan because I've found they don't make me peak and drop as much as other stuff).

I don't have a particular diabetic endo, just an endocrinologist who is super supportive of me being active and doing marathons and tris. I found her after my last endocrinologist laughed at me and told me that I'd never be able to do it (she was also a wanker).

Welcome

Thanks for the info!! I'm type 2 and currently take Glimepiride, Metformin and Lantus at night. Lately I've NOT been taking the Glim or Met because it's resulting in hypoglycemia. (I do take it if I have a big meal, but I've changed my eating habits - lost 75 lbs! - and am now on 1/4 the original dosages.) The stopping of Glim and Met have been recent so I'm interested to see what my next A1c is (Sept) - if it's high I'll go back and plead for them to not change anything, just let me try again. Last A1c was 6.8. Today I had a crappy race. Took my BG when I got home and it was >300. I covered with Lantus but it's a 24 hr insulin. My endo MD doesn't have experience with athletes ... just a ton of senior citizens and gestational diabetics, some children. The demands for us are different - especially when exercising at high levels for 3, 4, 8 and 14 hrs!!! I'm hoping he'll give me a consult with an exercise physiologist MD/Endo doc at the Cleveland Clinic ... we'll see. I've got a book on nutrition for diabetic athletes ... I'm going to start dissecting that closely. The pump!! I've heard good things! Check out "I Run on Insulin" blog. But, I'm reluctant to take that step. Probably unwarranted, but I hear they are several thousand dollars and I don't start my new health care until December, so if it is an option, I'll look into it for 2010. You have no problem swimming with it? Lexi, the author of the blog, talks about the two most common types. She tried the most common (not sure of the name) and it just wasn't for her, she went with the other. Obviously if I go that route, I'd love to hear about yours and your experience. I appreciate you opening up for me - I'd love to pick your brain with questions as they come up. Today was my longest race 3:48 - and it's the first time I've had a problem, so far as I know.Take care!Tiffany

hello there...  I highly recommend you check out triabetes.org  and phrendo.com

Phrendo is a social network specifically for diabetic athletes - there are over 100 of us online and sharing tips regularly.

The Triabetes captains are currently training for Ironman Arizona. Myself, I'm doing Ironman Wisconsin next month.

I was just diagnosed Type 1 last year, but I was completely inspired by the group of Triabetes triathletes I met at Diabetes Training Camp (diabetestrainingcamp.com) this past March.

There are also many diabetic athletes that write blogs and regularly update details about their workouts, races and diabetes management. Check out mine as a starting point and follow some of the other blogs listed on my page.