# walking a marathon at night (moonwalk) - advice please



## yogababe (Jan 18, 2011)

I've signed up to do the Moonwalk which is a charity walking event - a marathon, at night through london.
I've never done anything like this before and guesstimate that I will be walking from midnight til between 8am and 9am.

Can anyone offer any advice how to cope with this and type 1 diabetes?
Cheers


----------



## Northerner (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi, how long do you have to train for it? The best approach is to build up your distance and monitor your levels, record your pre and post-exercise levels, what you ate before and during etc. I've personally found that I can manage around 5 miles without extra carbs after my breakfast, but then need a couple of jelly babies per mile (around 10g carbs) after that. People can vary enormously though so the only real way to know how you will react is by plenty of trial and error. Good luck, let us know how the training goes! 

p.s. are you on injections or a pump? Pumps are obviously much more flexible with temp basal rates etc.


----------



## yogababe (Jan 18, 2011)

it's in May so I guess I have plenty of time. Anything i've done before (like 5km runs) I've just winged it but as this will take so long I'm more concerned, even though it is walking not running we are going to be out there for hours! And will walking through the night make any difference?

Are you saying 1 jelly baby  = 10 carbs?

Oh and I inject, not pump. 5 injections a day (3 x fast acting at meals and 2x slow acting  every 24hrs


----------



## Northerner (Jan 18, 2011)

yogababe said:


> it's in May so I guess I have plenty of time. Anything i've done before (like 5km runs) I've just winged it but as this will take so long I'm more concerned, even though it is walking not running we are going to be out there for hours! And will walking through the night make any difference?
> 
> Are you saying 1 jelly baby  = 10 carbs?
> 
> Oh and I inject, not pump. 5 injections a day (3 x fast acting at meals and 2x slow acting  every 24hrs



1 JB is 5g carbs. 26 miles is a long way, so I would say you definitely need to build up some training for it. Even though it is walking and not running, the fact that you are going slower means that you will be on your feet much longer than in a run and that in itself takes some getting used to! I guess you might have to consider adjusting your meal times so you are fully fuelled up before you start, so you will need to plan ahead a little with it being a midnight start.


----------



## yogababe (Jan 18, 2011)

and is a jelly worm the same as a jelly baby? ;o) No-one tells you these things...

Obviously intend to train for the stamina and reckon meal before I start and snacks/sweets on me for breakfast on the hoof (so to speak) should do it. Oh dear, it all seemed like such a good idea at the start...


----------



## Northerner (Jan 18, 2011)

yogababe said:


> and is a jelly worm the same as a jelly baby? ;o) No-one tells you these things...
> 
> Obviously intend to train for the stamina and reckon meal before I start and snacks/sweets on me for breakfast on the hoof (so to speak) should do it. Oh dear, it all seemed like such a good idea at the start...



You'll do great! It's a fantastic cause and I've heard people really enjoy it, so that should be a great help to get you through it! You might find this site helpful: http://www.runsweet.com/


----------



## yogababe (Jan 18, 2011)

I've seen that mentioned a few times but I couldn't log into it because I couldn't read the weird coded letters to stop bloggers. Then it said I had tried to many times and wouldn't let me try any more. Sigh.. technology is supposed to help us


----------



## Copepod (Jan 19, 2011)

You don't need to log onto Runsweet to read content, just to use forum. 
For long walking running / cycling events, I use jelly babies and muesli bars, although after several hours, often crave something something savoury eg crisps, sandwich, pork pie. Remember to drink enough fluids - hopefully organisers will have water points, so you don't have to carry it all. 
Obviously take blood glucose meter and insulin, but don't be surprised if you don't need much or any bolus insulin, and remember to reduce basal insulin before and after walk.
As you'll be missing a night's sleep, I'd warn against driving afterwards - public transport or get a lift. 
Have a great walk - sunrise is always a bonus


----------



## helli (Feb 28, 2011)

*Go and have fun*

I completed the Moonwalk four months after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Like you, I had never done anything like it before but I had already registered and I was determined to prove diabetes wasn't going to hold me back.
Due to the recent diagnosis, I was still learning how to manage my diabetes. So I took the practice walks as practice for the control as well as building up my fitness.
On the night, there were plenty of drinks on offer and plenty of bars and bananas being handed out along the route. I decided against taking these and, instead, carried my own which I had used prior to the event so knew their affect. This included water with a weak squash (cheaper than these sports drinks and easy to control the strength) and plenty of dextrose just in case.
Whilst I was able to practice the distance (I built up to 21 miles), I was not able to practice everything: the anticipation at the start, the speed of the crowd, the queues for the toilets (not to be underestimated) and a night without sleeping. So as my friends were queuing or stretching (about 4 times during the night), I would take the opportunity to take a reading and adjust my dextrose input/insulin accordingly.
Go and have fun - it's worth it.
And you can read about other moonwalkers with diabetes at the diabetes UK blog site http://blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=336


----------



## Copepod (Feb 28, 2011)

Welcome Helli and thanks for relating your experiences. Hope you'll join in other sections, too.


----------



## yogababe (Apr 28, 2011)

thanks for your advice everyone, especially Helli. Training hasn't been going that smoothly and with only a few weeks to go I'm having severe wobbles about the whole thing. I;m finding it very hard to take in enough carbs while I walk - I'm soooo sick of jelly sweet! - and although my friends are all well meaning they really don't understand the problems I face (telling me to pump my arms harder isn't really that helpful when I'm feeling a hypo come on!).
Would be good to chat you you in more detail Helli - is there any way I can contact you?


----------



## Copepod (Apr 29, 2011)

A suggestion for something I discovered recently for carbo food when active (I used a couple last night for a total of about 25 miles cycling and 6km running / walking) - "squeezy pouches" from Asda (haven't seen them in other supermarkets, but haven't looked too hard. They're intended for children's lunch boxes, I think, range of various flavours in dairy, fruit and jelly series, each pouch of about 70 to 90g contains about 15g CHO, plus some fluid, not too sweet to taste, easy to handle on the move, resealable cap, so don't have to eat whole pouch at once, and no sticky oozing when finished. Had a pint of beer & sausage cassserole with new potatoes after 15 mies cycling & 6km on foot. 
Plus, it's not just about food, but also insulin dose, I started some 4 hours after last short acting insulin, which was about 25% lower than I would usually take for that amount of CHO. Reduced long acting by 25% last night and this morning - so far, levels within range.


----------



## yogababe (May 26, 2011)

Just thought I'd post up that I did my night marathon (yay!) without any major wobbles (double yay!).
Survived on a juice/water mix, mini flapjack bites (found I choked on muesli bars) and jelly worms. And a few slices of fresh oranges that were handed out at water points. Tested every hour or so and stayed more or less on my desired range. Think I went higher hours after the finish but I was so tired i went straight to bed in the morning so didn't really care! ;o)

Just attended a sports weekend  for type 1 diabetics at Loughborough uni which was fantastic and picked up lots of useful tips about pro plus, star jumps and low GI energy drinks


----------



## Copepod (May 27, 2011)

Great to hear how you got on with night marathon - and found foods / drinks that suited you, as it's a personal matter.

Any chance of writing a bit more about Loughborough Sport Day on this thread: http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=17375
Thanks. In particular, what was aid about pro plus? I'd have liked to attend, but was support driver for a fell race in Lake District and spent the time not driving walking / running / finding geocaches / taking photos on fells myself.


----------



## Northerner (May 27, 2011)

yogababe said:


> Just thought I'd post up that I did my night marathon (yay!) without any major wobbles (double yay!).
> Survived on a juice/water mix, mini flapjack bites (found I choked on muesli bars) and jelly worms. And a few slices of fresh oranges that were handed out at water points. Tested every hour or so and stayed more or less on my desired range. Think I went higher hours after the finish but I was so tired i went straight to bed in the morning so didn't really care! ;o)
> 
> Just attended a sports weekend  for type 1 diabetics at Loughborough uni which was fantastic and picked up lots of useful tips about pro plus, star jumps and low GI energy drinks



Terrific! Well done, that's a brilliant achievement!


----------

