Diabe in hibernation

Diabites cannot be distinguished from normal people during the first trail run with their own classification for type 1s. For me, however, it was mainly a day of reshuffling.

For months I had been looking forward to the Diatrail in Oud-Heverlee. At first I doubted if that wouldn't be too soon after the Airborne Freedom trail, but I didn't want to be denied the chance of a trail with a lot of type-1 diabetics. However, participation was under pressure due to a much sadder event: my father-in-law turned out to have terminal cancer and eventually died a week before the trail.

Me and my wife were lucky to be able to experience his last days on the spot, but that made a big change in body and mind. In other words: I was overtired and I didn't know if I could leave my wife alone to walk a trail in Belgium one day after the cremation. Although it would relieve me to walk out of tension for a while, I wanted to be there for her as well.

At the same time I had agreed with Simone – not diabetic but RMD – to travel to the trail. And also Joris – a type 1 diabetic – would travel with me. I hadn't met the latter before in real life, but I had arranged the lift, so I felt responsible for that as well. Luckily my wife and mother-in-law let me go. They understood that I need just that kind of physical challenges to be able to cope mentally.

Hyper

During the long drive we saw the landscape slowly change from raked Dutch highways, to Flemish cities and finally to the typical fermettes and ribbon buildings for which the Flemish countryside is known. Until we passed a small castle and arrived at our destination: a large sports hall that was almost empty due to our ample time, but filled with an impressive number of tables, some stalls and a tombola (nothing won unfortunately).

With the blood sugars, it actually went pretty worthless. Maybe I ate a little too early and mental restlessness always causes bad grades. When I was stabbed in the sports hall, more than half an hour before the race, the score was 23 mmol/l. Far too high, with a risk of acidification. So I decided not to eat the first period (instead of Ucan beforehand) and to take three units of Novorapid (decrease of 6 mmol/l in principle, so no complete correction).

All equal

Unfortunately it turns out to be a bit more difficult to spot medediabites. I finally met Peter van Rompaey in person beforehand, who was going to encourage me in Hippo-pak a little later. An enthusiastic runner who also knows the struggles of grief and racing, although the Bello Gallico where he left just after losing his father was of course a different caliber race. For those who are fascinated by what you can still do with diabetes and lung problems: also take a look at his upcoming race. Cape Wrath Ultra (400 km), raising money for Hippo and Friends, which enables research and a better life for diabetics.

At the start of the 21 km I tried to find a few diabetics by looking at the Freestyle Libres (in Belgium reimbursed) and T-shirts of diabetes organisations, but that turned out to be more difficult than I thought. I've seen and spoken a few, but I hope for a clearer recognition sign at the next race. Maybe your own shirt or sash? We're just too many ordinary people to stand out in a group… although that's just what we wanted to prove.

At the start Simone was still surprised by the speed of the participants. It was her first trail abroad, and indeed the track runners in the flat Netherlands are a lot slower than seasoned track runners from Belgium for example. Add to this the fact that she had a cold and I was dead tired. Anyway, we swung Joris out of – the fastest of the three of us – and decided to walk together.

Heart rate zone

Along the way we were surprised by the beautiful old forest in which we walked. In the Netherlands I don't know one forest with such large deciduous trees. Beautiful soft and sloping paths. All very soothing and just what I could use to let go the last few days. So it was also possible to laugh at the photographer during this trail.

My watch didn't think so. It was the first match with the Phoenix 5x; without headphones it audibly called my heart rate zone every 3 minutes. Despite the slow pace it was often 4,6-4,7, far too high considering our speed (compared to other trails of about 20 km and 400 hm). Luckily I could still chat most of the time. And when I came to a standstill for a while, Simone asked worried if I was still okay. According to her the silence was characteristic for moments when I was too heavy. I was obviously tired and it is super sweet that she still walked all the way. Occasionally – especially at the end – I was even so tired that it is called a miracle that I did not walk straight into a tree on autopilot.

Halfway there was a nursing post. The ideal place to take the blood sugar meter out of the vest and evaluate my strategy. Now the blood sugar was around 6 mmol/l so that gave me hope. I was able to continue eating and drinking on a normal schedule. That temporarily gave me some extra energy.

Wallen

Just after the treatment post came the most beautiful part of the trail according to Simone: two large earthen walls we walked in between. I had my reservations because of the large branches and fallen trees that I stumbled upon out of fatigue, but it was beautiful for sure.

Eventually we arrived in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 11 seconds. That made us really stern. At least I was the slowest of the 10 diabetics at this distance. Joris did it a bit faster in 2.03.23 and got the third prize among the men from the category Diabeest. Next time, if we're fitter, maybe the three of us can finish. I certainly hope that we will be able to compete again for the general classification. Although the location in the Hoge Kempen might be a bigger challenge than the distance.

As for the other participants, we weren't the very last. The first Diabeest (1.37.58) also finished 10 minutes later than the overall winner, but still set a respectable time. As there were only 10 Diabests against 78 regular runners, that is not a remarkable result. Had Peter and Olivier participated, the chances might have turned.

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Next races

In the meantime, I hope that the fatigue will diminish soon after all. It's still fresh. In two weeks at least I'll be at the start of the marathon of Ghent with Ramona. We were supposed to run it as a training, but in a fit of bewilderment and sadness I have done something that makes this really necessary. In the weekend of 15 December I will run the Wintertrekking. A trip of 105 km in two stages, with camping in the forest & #8230;