I love the "runner's high." "Diabetic highs" - not so much.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: distance running and diabetes mix about as well as oil and water. Sometimes, despite all the benefits of running, I feel that I would have better control of my diabetes and thus be healthier if I was sedentary.

Lately my blood sugars have been a bit wacky and have been spiking higher after meals than they used to. My bg climbs about 150 points for an hour after eating, and then starts dipping after two hours or so. Giving more insulin for meals does not prevent the spike, it just makes my sugar crash more two hours later, starting the cycle all over again. Anyway, I have XC practice every day right after school, and my lunchtime is pretty early - at 10am. After lunch today my bg climbed to 260 and did not start dropping until 1 pm. But it reaallly dropped, all the way down to 65 by 2pm, just in time for practice. How inconvenient.

I normally have a small snack before running, but the standard granola bar just wasn't going to cut it today - I needed twice as many carbs to correct the hypoglycemia and keep my bg up for practice. So I stuffed myself with extra food that I was not hungry for and started practice feeling not so great.

Despite this minor glitch, I ended up having a great run. Today's workout was particularly strenous: a fast (race pace) 5 mile run sandwiched between a mile warmup and mile cooldown. Needless to say, I was quite satisfied with myself when I got home this evening. I recorded my 7 miles in my training log and, due to the exercise, expected low blood sugars around bedtime, which I envisioned would probably force me to eat ice cream. Aah, the joys of running, I thought. At the time I was experiencing what is commonly known as the "runner's high," a feeling of refreshment and happiness caused by endorphins released after aerobic activity.

Unfortunately, the "runner's high" was soon overshadowed by a "diabetic high" - high blood sugars, that is. After a seemingly innocent dinner (chicken, brown rice, salad) and a full bolus, my Dexcom CGM displayed a graph of my blood sugars trending up...and up....and up. When it reached 275, I thought, okay, it will turn around any minute. I've still got insulin on board from the bolus, so soon my bg will start dropping.

But the graph kept going up...and up....and now it is above 400. Now, there is not much insulin on board, so the chances of a turnaround look pretty slim. It may be time for a correction bolus, but I know that those 7 miles are going to kick in eventually. What if I give a huge correction and then my blood sugar drops after I go to sleep and I have to wake up at 2 am to drink orange juice? Plus, I really don't want to give myself anymore insulin today, because lately I have been taking so much more insulin and I want to lower my daily totals...uh oh, I sound like a diabulimic here! It's just frustrating that I used to be in better control with less insulin and less exercise, and now that my exercise is more frequent and more intense, that should lead to even less insulin required overall and lower blood sugars, too. Things simply aren't adding up.