My first blog ever !

I have been told many times that I should put down in writing and share with others what I have learned almost completely on my own about distance running and diabetes. Well I guess I finally got the courage to do it so here I am. I guess I should give some background first. I have been a type 1 diabetic since I was 21 years old, I am now 44, for the majority of those years I was overweight and out of shape. I didn't take care of myself or really even try to manage my disease. I had bad lab results all the time and my doctor would always warn me that I was on track to develop severe complications! About 5 years ago I had some life changing events that kind of shook me up and made me decide to make a change in my lifestyle. I have always been athletic playing sports in high school , but I never liked to run. I knew though that it was the cheapest and most effective way to begin losing weight and getting in shape. So I put on my shoes, went outside and started to run. What follows is a journey that makes my former lifestyle seem almost like a dream to me, I love to run, everything I do is centered around running. It has made a profound change in my health, the#1 test that doctors want diabetics to keep under control is called an A1C test. It measures how good of control you have kept your blood sugars over a 3 month period of time. For most of my life mine were around 10.0 or higher, for diabetics they want them under 7.0, as a direct result of my running I have kept mine at 6.5 or lower for the last three years, My doctor is all for me to continue my running habit!!! I have lost about 50 lbs and kept my weight stable for almost 5 years. I guess you could say that running saved my life. My intention with this blog is to share my triumphs and my failures, what has worked for me and what has not. I believe that living an active lifestyle can change the lives of other people living with diabetes and I want to share the practical things that I have learned. Runners face all kinds of situations in training and in races, but as diabetics we face all those things plus a whole lot of other things that most people do not have to think about. I hope I can help someone else change their life for the better !