Chris Hobson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
In an earlier post 'In praise of triathlon' I enthused about multisport partly in the hope that I might inspire others to give it a try. Reading it back now, it seems as if I leapt from my hospital bed and, in no time at all, I was doing a Half Ironman. Rather than inspire anyone, the post seems more likely to put off anyone who is not naturally an exercise junkie instead. I don't think that my very very slow and gradual ascent from newly diagnosed diabetic and long lapsed fit person, to half way serious endurance athlete was really emphasised enough. I remember the incredible rush of energy that I experienced once I started taking insulin. At the age of 54 I found that I was hyperactive during the day and slept like a log at night. I was also pretty highly motivated. I felt that the fitter I could get, the less serious my newly diagnosed condition would be. This seemed to work out as I had to stop taking the insulin in February 2014, then after taking Lynagliptin for a while, was eventually able to dispense with medication altogether.
Shortly after being diagnosed in May 2013, I dug out my old mountain bike, sorted out the odd mechanical fault, pumped up the tyres and started cycling just three miles a day. Then when three miles started to feel too easy I then upped it to five. In stages over the next two months, this increased gradually to ten. At this stage I was still taking insulin and I recall discussing the possibility of cycling to work with the specialist doctor, concerned that, as the ride home would be taking place just before my evening meal, there would be the risk of a hypo. We agreed that having a banana about half a hour before setting off would be a good idea, I always carry glucose tablets in case of emergencies. It was mid July when I first cycled the 12 miles to work and back but mid August before I started doing so regularly. I recall that in the early days, I would tire on the way home so that the last four miles were quite hard. I also had to use the tiny front sprocket on the bike to get up even the little hills that we have in my area.
It was quite a while before I went swimming again. I recall that there was an old lady doing head up breast stroke overtaking me at one point. At that moment in time, I wasn't finding the swimming difficult in any way as I was just doing a few lengths of breast stroke, maybe the odd length of windmill style front crawl, but not pushing myself in any way. Later, when I had progressed past sprint level triathlons I started to take swimming much more seriously and getting proper coaching, then it became much harder.
My sister in law had encouraged my wife Liz to start running. So, to lend support to her efforts I started running too. We both did our first 5k Parkrun in February 2014. My time was 30:02. I did find these quite hard to do to begin with, I used to try to get myself into what I called a 'comfortable groove' a pace and rhythm that I could sustain without too much discomfort for the distance. From that first Parkrun I did manage to make fairly consistent progress, scoring new personal bests every month up until August when I peaked with a PB of 23:05. My times worsened again during the winter and I couldn't better that time until the following summer with a PB of 22:06 which still stands*. Liz and I did our first 10k in June 2014, it took me over an hour and the second half was pretty hard work as my only training had been cycling and Parkruns. We did quite a few 10k runs together in 2014 and 2015 but eventually they started to become too easy and not enough of a challenge. As a consequence, we gradually stepped up to ten miles, then to half marathons, eventually both doing the Hull Marathon in September 2016.
Now that all the pieces of the triathlon puzzle were in place, I did my first sprint triathlon in April 2015, almost two years after tentatively returning to cycling. Sixteen pool lengths, 20k bike ride and a 5k run later I was hooked. These events are highly competitive at the pointy end, but back with the also rans where I tend to lurk, there is a really friendly comradeship that makes them a pleasure to do. Another two years on, July 2017 I will be attempting my first 140.6 distance triathlon**. I have now been off all medication for over a year and my motivation to keep pushing myself is to keep off the pills for as long as I can.
*That was my PB at the time of writing. I posted a new PB of 21:42 on April 1st 2017.
**Update. I completed the Outlaw 140.6 triathlon on July 23rd finishing in about 14:50.
Shortly after being diagnosed in May 2013, I dug out my old mountain bike, sorted out the odd mechanical fault, pumped up the tyres and started cycling just three miles a day. Then when three miles started to feel too easy I then upped it to five. In stages over the next two months, this increased gradually to ten. At this stage I was still taking insulin and I recall discussing the possibility of cycling to work with the specialist doctor, concerned that, as the ride home would be taking place just before my evening meal, there would be the risk of a hypo. We agreed that having a banana about half a hour before setting off would be a good idea, I always carry glucose tablets in case of emergencies. It was mid July when I first cycled the 12 miles to work and back but mid August before I started doing so regularly. I recall that in the early days, I would tire on the way home so that the last four miles were quite hard. I also had to use the tiny front sprocket on the bike to get up even the little hills that we have in my area.
It was quite a while before I went swimming again. I recall that there was an old lady doing head up breast stroke overtaking me at one point. At that moment in time, I wasn't finding the swimming difficult in any way as I was just doing a few lengths of breast stroke, maybe the odd length of windmill style front crawl, but not pushing myself in any way. Later, when I had progressed past sprint level triathlons I started to take swimming much more seriously and getting proper coaching, then it became much harder.
My sister in law had encouraged my wife Liz to start running. So, to lend support to her efforts I started running too. We both did our first 5k Parkrun in February 2014. My time was 30:02. I did find these quite hard to do to begin with, I used to try to get myself into what I called a 'comfortable groove' a pace and rhythm that I could sustain without too much discomfort for the distance. From that first Parkrun I did manage to make fairly consistent progress, scoring new personal bests every month up until August when I peaked with a PB of 23:05. My times worsened again during the winter and I couldn't better that time until the following summer with a PB of 22:06 which still stands*. Liz and I did our first 10k in June 2014, it took me over an hour and the second half was pretty hard work as my only training had been cycling and Parkruns. We did quite a few 10k runs together in 2014 and 2015 but eventually they started to become too easy and not enough of a challenge. As a consequence, we gradually stepped up to ten miles, then to half marathons, eventually both doing the Hull Marathon in September 2016.
Now that all the pieces of the triathlon puzzle were in place, I did my first sprint triathlon in April 2015, almost two years after tentatively returning to cycling. Sixteen pool lengths, 20k bike ride and a 5k run later I was hooked. These events are highly competitive at the pointy end, but back with the also rans where I tend to lurk, there is a really friendly comradeship that makes them a pleasure to do. Another two years on, July 2017 I will be attempting my first 140.6 distance triathlon**. I have now been off all medication for over a year and my motivation to keep pushing myself is to keep off the pills for as long as I can.
*That was my PB at the time of writing. I posted a new PB of 21:42 on April 1st 2017.
**Update. I completed the Outlaw 140.6 triathlon on July 23rd finishing in about 14:50.
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The reason I like cycling though is because it's like going back to getting my first bike as a child - freedom and adventure! I can travel relatively long distances in the fresh air, see the countryside and wildlife you just wouldn't see sat in a car, explore villages I didn't even know existed, go fast downhill (on occasions) and it's all done just by turning my legs. The increase in fitness and the benefits that may bring to me are a great bonus. Strava does tend to make me compete with myself a bit more in terms of pb's, distances etc but I can live with that. As for endorphins well they must be being released when I'm setting off in anticipation of what the ride might bring because most of the time I have a smile on my face with the first turn of the pedals.