Low Blood Sugar

I experienced low blood sugar this morning while trying to finish my 9-10 miles for the week. In the past, I have passed out in the middle of a run (and in the middle of the road) due to low blood sugar, so I know what it feels like to crater. I'm only blogging about this in case it helps someone else to read about what it feels like to have low blood sugar on a run to the point that you must have food. I don't need any warnings from anyone, nor do I need anyone to be concerned about me. I messed up and I have now taken the steps to replenish my body.

After yesterday's 23 miler I did not fuel up enough. I see now that I needed to eat more during the day (and different kinds of foods) but I just couldn't stomach eating certain things yesterday and tried to do my best.

Here's what I ate -
Before run - coffee w/sugar, Clif Bar (approx. 300 cal)
During 23 mile run - 1 GU, 16 oz Cytomax
Breakfast after run - (approx 660 cal) Odwalla Super Protein Smoothie, small container pineapple chunks, 1 small banana, 16 oz non-fat latte - Food did not seem appetizing at all.
Food at party - (approx 750 cal) veggie burger with mustard, relish, and tomato, cupcake, separate small slice of birthday cake, lemonade, water
Dinner - (approx 450 cal) large bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk - Still didn't want to eat the 'good for me' food in the house.

I definitely did not replenish my fuel stores throughout the day since I only consumed around 2200 calories (and those are generous estimates). I likely burned all 2200 of that and more during the run yesterday morning, not to mention during the following 22 hours awake and asleep before my attempt at running this morning.

This morning I had my normal apple cinnamon oatmeal (300 cal) and a cup of coffee with sugar before heading out to go run again. I went downtown around 9am and ran 5 miles on the trail, stopping for water and such. After five miles, I didn't feeling like running any more down there on the trail. Sure, I definitely felt tired and a little drained, but I thought it was just general fatigue. I chugged 16 oz of Cytomax in the car.

When I got home, I mapped out a 2 mile route from the house and planned to do a couple of laps to get myself to 9 miles for the day. It was already a warm 80 degrees and I had been sweating like crazy, so I figured that breaking up my route into 2 mile chunks would allow me to drink more water and stretch if I needed to before heading out again. After my first mile on the road, I started to feel lightheaded and felt instantly like my blood sugar was low. I then started to get little spots in my eyes and felt dizzy a few blocks away from the house. If you have ever experienced low blood sugar, you know how this feels...exhausted, but 'shaky' and jittery, and with a bit of a drunk 'buzz'. You get a little 'confused' if it becomes severe enough.

I realized it was very late in the morning, that I had probably not fueled enough from yesterday, and that the seven miles now under my belt were way beyond what the oatmeal and coffee would have provided energy for at my level of glucose depletion.

Immediately upon arriving home, I rushed into the kitchen and quickly made myself a PB&J. My hands were shaking. I needed the quick sugar of the jelly, the complex carbs of the bread, and the fat/protein from the peanut butter to help my system balance as fast as possible. I also made some more Cytomax to get some instant relief. Thankfully, I felt better almost immediately and was able to digest the sandwich and finish another 2 miles without any problems, though I did wait about 15 minutes before heading out again. My last 2 miles felt pretty darn good in fact. I ate a good lunch and feel much better now.

Don't bother leaving me comments saying 'be careful' or 'watch out'. I've been through it before and know how to handle my body. Please be careful yourself about eating enough after a big run before you go out and try to run the next day.