Hi all,

Got a question re: Low Carb and Exercise.

I was diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic in July 2004, I dumped some weight and now I'm managing it on diet and exercise alone. I currently run about 5km a day in the morning and walk 5km at night. I'm thinking of doing the London Nike 10K run next year and possibly do the NY marathon with a friend. The problem is that being a Type 2 Diabetic and low carber I can't carb up in preparation for a long run. Does anyone have any tips or experience on how to successfully run these races without ending up in an ambulance?

Cheers

-Action Jack

Jack, you might want to check in the excercise forums for some tips. I know that there are at least a few who run marathons on low carb without a carb up and they may be able to give you some advice from their experiences.

Cheers for the pointer Lisa, I found a few tips from past posts.

-Action Jack

I have a similar situation - I'm trying to run about 3 miles/day and working up to doing some runs this summer. I avoid heavy fat foods before runs, like cheese and meat, and opt for low carb soups or veggies. I eat about an hour before I start my workout to avoid muscle cramps and to hit my workout about the same time my bs peaks (typically 1:20 min after eating). I have worked out heavy on an empty stomach before though, and suprisingly never had any problems. What does happen though, is about 4 hours after beginning my workout, bs DOES drop, so I make sure to eat a few more good carbs than usually about three hours after I start my workout. I've heard that during very long runs, people avoid this by using carb gels to get them through. Hope this helps!

Interesting I don't eat before running (I tend to run first thing in the mornings on an empty stomach) and have upped my daily run to 6 km's a day and I haven't had a muscle cramp in months (funily enough when I used to do judo years ago I was plagued with Muscle cramps). If my BS is a bit low (i.e. < 4.0) I grab about 50g of juice or a chunk of chocolate.