Meet Diane

I met Diane at Strollin' Moms and am so grateful that she is willing to share her running story. I love how quickly one can become addicted to running. Keep it up Diane!! "About a year before I discovered I was pregnant, my husband, the Marine who had lots of running experience, challenged me to run with him one morning. I refused right away so of course he kept bugging me about it. I like a good challenge so I gave it a try but was not happy about it! I was 28 at that time and was always active doing aerobics, walking, and weight lifting. My idea of running was not fun. I thought you just ran as hard and fast as you could until you were out of breath! My husband was a great teacher and encourager, and showed me how to pace myself to run longer distances. I remember when I was able to run 1 whole mile without stopping and then 2 and 3 and so on! We would run by ourselves 3-5 miles 3-4 times during the week and then on Sat AM we would run 6-8 miles together. This became a great time to catch up on our week, talk about what was on our minds, and dream about the future.


Before I knew it, I was hooked. Within a month of starting, I was noticing changes about my body that I had never seen before. I was very active and in pretty good shape (so I thought) but this running thing was toning and firming parts of my body I never thought was possible!
I have had type 1 diabetes for 23 years now, diagnosed at age 8. I manage diabetes with an insulin pump. It delivers insulin continuously all day & night, and I tell it to give me insulin every time I eat. Exercise is great for diabetes but it also takes some experimenting to figure out how to keep blood sugars stable during exercise. During the first few weeks of running, I tried different adjustments with insulin as well as food but I quickly figured out what worked for my body. I usually do not wear my insulin pump when I run. Also to maintain a good stable blood sugar which keeps my energy up, I eat 1 glucose tablet for each mile. This may not work for everyone but this is what I have found to work for me. However now that I am running longer than an hour, I am seeing that I am having to make further adjustments.


Now I am 31 and my daughter is 1 ½ years old. I didn’t run much when I was pregnant because I was so out of breath but I continued exercise by walking. It was only a couple months after having my daughter that I got back into running. I had to return to work and I wanted to fit back into my regular clothes! I was determined that I didn’t want to keep the baby weight on! So running with a jogging stroller was the new challenge which took a lot more of my energy pushing extra weight! So once again I had to figure out what worked to keep my blood sugars stable, but it was all worth it because I felt great and lost the weight quickly!

Running for me has become addictive not only because it has helped tone my body, but helped my blood sugars, bond with my husband, listen to sermons, and gives me time to think, pray, and be by myself (this is great once kids are in the picture). I’ve been able to encourage others to run especially my friends with diabetes that never thought they could.

I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
Live life without regrets and if you don’t succeed the first time, try again."


Diane