About the Blog
The Type 4 Fun blog chronicles my never ending need for adventure while also juggling the demands of caring for a chronic illness. Be prepared for droning race reports, possibly gear reviews, wild and dumb plans, and videos maybe.
Metabolic disorders add interesting fueling challenges to endurance activities so follow a long as I continue to try and figure it out, and maybe help you figure something out as well! A major focus of this blog will be to provide insight into the nutritional challenges of training and racing.
Hopefully, the amateur science is just as entertaining as the amateur running.
About the Me
I wasn’t always a runner, and I wasn’t always diabetic. The two things happened about 8 years apart.
First came the diagnosis.
Like many, I misspent my youth by treating my body like an indestructible garbage disposal. My diet consisted of junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes. My athleticism was limited to beer pong, and oddly enough croquet. I was playing a lot of croquet in the mid-aughts.
By the time I had turned 21, I was skinny and pale, broke and depressed and the future was unclear. Rock bottom was avoiding eviction by having my parents pay my last months rent and moving back in with them. One of the first things that happened after I moving back home was a long over due physical examination. My urine came back with an excessive amount of sugar in it, prompting a follow-up visit. The night before, I had drank an entire 2-liter of pop.
My blood glucose the next morning at the follow-up was over 600 mg/dL. If that seems high, that’s because it’s crazy high. A normal fasting blood glucose range of a heathy individual is 72 to 108 mg/dL. Prediabetes can be indicated by fasting levels of 100 to 125 mg/dL. So, 600 is bad. Explaining diabetes to me brought a lot clarity to other things. Chronic thirst/dry mouth, frequent urination, excessive fatigue were not only the consequences of my bad habits but an indication of a disease.
I was, at that time diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, a form of the disease characterized largely by genetics and environmental factors. It was a little strange that I was still so young and skinny when it developed but the indications were clear, I was living with diabetes. A more definitive diagnosis, using genetic and other testing wouldn’t come until almost 2 decades later.
Fast forward about 8 years, and I find myself once again living my parents. This time, I was more unlucky than I was irresponsible. But also like the last time, the desperation of the decision came with a sort of epiphany.
I really needed to take better care of myself.
That’s when I took up running. Inspired by a friend’s antics from afar, I decided I could probably do that too. And, I have ever since. It’s been 12 years now and I’m deep in the Kool-Aid (Crystal Light is probably more apt).
I predominantly run on trails and my favorite kinds of races are technical and steep. I’m not winning any age groups, even as I approach 40, and I would ultimately consider myself a middling or just below middling ultramarathoner. I habitually bite off more than I can chew so my DNF list at least as long as my Finisher list but I’m always trying to push myself to get better and go further.
These days, my passion extends beyond staying healthy and challenging myself mentally and physically but also to helping others do the same. Perhaps my favorite thing about running is how accessible and inclusive it is. The barrier for entry is small compared to other athletic pursuits – although clothing and shoes have exploded – it still requires very little to get started. My experience with diabetes has also instilled a strong sense urgency for helping others as the community continues to grow.
Type 4 Fun! 