Was I missing the point?

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Chris Hobson

Chris Hobson

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
In the past I used to enter quite a lot of triathlon and running events and then post write ups about them on this forum. These reports seemed to prove quite popular but I have only recently noticed that I seem to be the only person actually doing this apart from maybe Matt Cycle who posts pictures from his bike rides. Most of the posts seem to be asking for advice about nutrition and blood glucose levels and stuff which is obviously a major part of what the forum is here for. I would really enjoy reading write ups about events that other people have taken part in so that it isn't just me. At the moment I am doing a lot of swimming and there is only so much that can be said about that really. I'm not attending any events, just turning up at the pool regularly and swimming up and down in it. This isn't really going to make for a riveting read. Maybe some of you could post accounts of any of your training sessions or events and tell us how you got on? Or is this just me missing the whole point of this forum?
 
To me, the point of this forum is to chat with like minded people.
Some people look for advice, some people,want to get something off their chest, some people are looking for inspiration, some are just looking to chat. I am hoping to share my experience.

You triathlon and swimming is inspirational. It is a great “nah sucks” to those who think diabetes is the end of their life as they know it and to diabetes itself.

I consider myself active but not competitive. My main exercise is the triathlon of walking, cycling and climbing. My triathlons lost a week or two. I am not a slouch at any but the social aspect is as important as the active part.

However, I am currently attempting C25K. My motivation is different to most. I have the cardio strength and have run 5K in recent history … even round my hilly locale. During lockdown, when the gym was closed, I was running 4 or 5 times a week. I ran enough to wear my trainers out. When I replaced them , my new trainers were wonderfully bouncy. Unfortunately, after a week with my new trainers, I strained my Achilles’ tendon. A common injury which takes months to rebuild the strength. Hence, the current C25K. Instead of of full 5K of load on my Achilles, I am building up the load week by week. Currently up to week 5 and managed 12 minutes of running today.
 
The forum has multiple purposes I guess. For me it’s about having a bunch of people who have similar experiences to those I have.

I battle with exercise and gym and wouldn’t ever think of posting in the exercise part of the forum. I guess I don’t really see myself as any form of athlete or runner or sportsman even though I’m participating in a half marathon in two week’s time (for Diabetes UK).

Also it’s likely a self selecting thing going on.
I pay most often in the General part of the forum and read threads there most often too. So I get to know those people better. Also it’s where I feel I can share new positive experiences without making a big deal of them but also knowing I’ll get support and that’s important to me.

You’ve not missed the point of the forum at all though as we all get out of it what we need as long as we manage it that way.

I’ll try and start reading exercise/sport threads more often with a view to posting things here as well.
 
We definitely need a no holds barred, blood and guts account of your half marathon Colin.

Helli, it's also a "nah sucks" to my advancing years now as well. I feel pretty justified in being fairly proud of the body that I see in the full length mirrors nowadays, especially when compared to the rather pear shaped dad bod that I had prior to diagnosis. I sort of live in fear of the wheels falling off in some way, eventually it becomes inevitable I suppose. I'll keep going as long as I can though.
 
I’m not any good at exercise so I’m just not sure anyone wants to read that I managed to walk over 10k steps / 5 miles today for the first time in many months, half of them carrying my weekly shop. After having post viral fatigue for the last 3 months I was even earlier this week finding that even short 10-15 minute walks can be tiring and need a rest, and am trying to build that up. I chose a route with lots of benches today and stopped at a cafe for a pot of tea half way. Not remotely worthy of the exercise section when others are running, swimming, competing and whatever other real exercise they do.
 
Lucyr said:
I’m not any good at exercise so I’m just not sure anyone wants to read that I managed to walk over 10k steps / 5 miles today for the first time in many months, half of them carrying my weekly shop. After having post viral fatigue for the last 3 months I was even earlier this week finding that even short 10-15 minute walks can be tiring and need a rest, and am trying to build that up. I chose a route with lots of benches today and stopped at a cafe for a pot of tea half way. Not remotely worthy of the exercise section when others are running, swimming, competing and whatever other real exercise they do.
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If it’s progress for you then it’s very worthy of a mention !
 
Lucyr said:
I’m not any good at exercise so I’m just not sure anyone wants to read that I managed to walk over 10k steps / 5 miles today for the first time in many months, half of them carrying my weekly shop. After having post viral fatigue for the last 3 months I was even earlier this week finding that even short 10-15 minute walks can be tiring and need a rest, and am trying to build that up. I chose a route with lots of benches today and stopped at a cafe for a pot of tea half way. Not remotely worthy of the exercise section when others are running, swimming, competing and whatever other real exercise they do.
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And equally as important is a review of the tea!
 
ColinUK said:
And equally as important is a review of the tea!
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Oh it was my favourite, apple and mint loose leaf tea. Always get that when I go there.
 
Chris Hobson said:
We definitely need a no holds barred, blood and guts account of your half marathon Colin.
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I think this may be the aspect that perhaps puts @ColinUK off from posting here. His half marathon will be a social event with some funny accounts of things that don't go quite to plan and interesting people he meets on the route and it will hopefully be reported in full detail in the "Group 7-day waking average" thread where the community have been following his journey and willing him on.
To me this section of the forum is for the "blood, sweat and guts" competitive people which is why I don't come here very often. It's a bit too intense for me, much as I admire the effort you are putting into your extraordinary 500mile swim challenge.
@helli is right though, the forum is here for whatever purpose or benefit we each as individuals, need from it. Some sections and threads are much more popular than others because they meet a more general need or interest.
 
@rebrascora is spot on with her assessment. For me this specific place in the forum is more serious than the general message board, and especially the 7 day waking average thread.

I may try writing two versions, one detailing each inevitable cramp and blister for here and one about the bonkers things which happen on the day for the general thread.

I do from time to time write exercise stuff on my own weight loss thread but it’s still in a conversational and somewhat jokey style which, perhaps incorrectly, I didn’t think would fit those corner of the forum.

What’s important overall though is that we all feel comfortable to use the forum in the best way possible for oneself and that takes exploration and learning. I’m certainly open to posting about Park Runs, my training both out of the gym and in it, and my first ever half marathon in this section in the future. I’ll start by reading other threads here and joining in the conversation perhaps.
Small steps.
Kinda like popping my head into the free weights room and seeing it full of clearly very fit much younger folks and backing out with a sense that I’m not sure I’m quite ready to jump in.
 
Conversational and jokey is pretty much the style that I am aiming for when I do my write ups. Here is my account of one of my grimmer acts of masochism, doing the Rudolf Romp when I wasn't properly fit.

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Rudolph Romp 1st December 2018

Most years I have started to wind down on the fitness training by this time of the year. I like to tick over gently during the dark months, just doing enough so as not to get totally out of shape so I can be ready to hit the ground running when Spring starts to dawn. This year some health...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
ColinUK said:
Kinda like popping my head into the free weights room and seeing it full of clearly very fit much younger folks and backing out with a sense that I’m not sure I’m quite ready to jump in.
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Yes, that sums it up well for me, also. I have been pretty fit in my 30s and 40s, holding my own amongst my peers within an organisation that expected high levels of fitness. But now, I don't do 'sport' and my exercise is more 'activity', rather than structured exercise. So I rarely dip into this section, having little to contribute.

But I am interested in a general sense, as indeed I'm interested in almost anything. I have always had a 'thirst for knowledge'; it's just that as I get older that knowledge slips out of my brain almost as fast as it goes in! If indeed it ever really went in!

So do keep posting @Chris Hobson .
 
helli said:
However, I am currently attempting C25K. My motivation is different to most. I have the cardio strength and have run 5K in recent history … even round my hilly locale. During lockdown, when the gym was closed, I was running 4 or 5 times a week. I ran enough to wear my trainers out. When I replaced them , my new trainers were wonderfully bouncy. Unfortunately, after a week with my new trainers, I strained my Achilles’ tendon. A common injury which takes months to rebuild the strength. Hence, the current C25K. Instead of of full 5K of load on my Achilles, I am building up the load week by week. Currently up to week 5 and managed 12 minutes of running today.
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hi @helli
glad to see you are doing C25K, as I am also now repeating it and am up to W5, so now I will watch out for your posts on the subject!

I agree that people all join in on here for their own various reasons, and I am one of the worst at supporting the rest of the participants when anyone has problems, though I do admit to being a daily reader of posts.

For me I am now battling cancer (again!) and am a lousily behaved diabetic, but have rarely felt the wish to post about myself because I almost know what responses I would get from all the kind hearted people on here

each to their own!
 
One thing that I have always tried to emphasise is that I'm not really that special. I was the kid who was always last pick at school games lessons. I was 54 when I was diagnosed and was pretty out of shape and was rubbish at swimming, cycling and running. The most important thing for me is that, whatever I set out to do, it gradually got easier and I gradually improved. This is one of those things that seems fairly obvious, you tell yourself this as you are starting out and struggling and you don't really believe it. But then you find out that it's true and it brings a real sense of achievement with it. This, I think is what drives me.

OK, when I decided to see if I could swim 500 miles in a year I was already a reasonable swimmer. Last August, knowing that I would have to swim at least ten miles per week, I set about swimming four 2.5 mile swims over five days. The first three swims took me around two hours each, the last one took me two and a half hours as I was so knackered. I had demonstrated to myself that this was doable and I was sure that I would improve. A few weeks ago I had a really good session and got my 4k time down to about 1hr. 36 minutes. Knowing that I could easily swim another kilometer in 25 minutes, I cracked out another one and so managed to do 5k in under two hours. I'm now at the point where a regular 5k swim is coming in at just over two hours so, with a bit more improvement, two hours will become normal for the 5k distance.

I realise that it sounds to non fit types that I'm super-human but I'm really not, it has just been lots of tiny steps and very slow and gradual progress over the last nine years.
 
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