After a busy few weeks with all things Kms4Kids, marathon training and being a mum and partner, Brendon and I ventured North to take part in the Launceston 10……… and to say it was cold is an understatement !!!!!!! -1 degree on the start line and I was surrounded by people turning blue waiting for the starters gun to fire!!!!  Now what effect could a chilly Launceston morning have on my diabetes I hear you ask……. Well  the human body starts to use its energy stores to keep warm (including its glucose stores) put that together with running and pushing the body to its limits and the end result is a sugar low which for some reason takes longer to recover from.   Recently I was training on a 2 degree Hobart morning, set out to run  25kms,tested my sugars prior to taking off  and they where 7.5 so knew I was in a safe range to enjoy a brisk but sunny Hobart morning (unfortunately I wasn’t on CGM). By 10kms my sugars where 4.2 and actually getting blood out my finger for the blood test was a marathon effort in itself as my fingers where so cold!!!! By 20kms I had dropped to 2.3 even after two True Results gels I was battling to stay above 2.6 and I had to ring my partner Brendon to come collect me. Now till this point I was unaware that running in freezing conditions could effect my diabetes and on this day what my sugars where doing made no sence too me.  One of the most important things a diabetic can do is learn from mistakes and circumstances (and even after 30 years of being a type one I’m still learning!!!!!).   I now let my sugars ride that little bit higher when I know I will be running in colder weather and with CGM in yesterday I was able too keep my sugars controlled but still had to make some last minute changes to get everything to working as it should. Yet again I was lucky enough to see the benefits of the MiniMed 640G and SmartGuard. The MiniMed predicted a low and suspended prior to it happening at around 7kms into the event and we finished with sugars of 3.7 a bit lower then I would have liked but still at a safe level and easily corrected.  Not the 1.5 I would have finished with prior to being on my MiniMed and CGM!!!!  These days seeing what my sugars are doing is just as exciting as taking part in an event. For years I battle with high sugars due to the increase in adrenalin  but with the help of CGM I’m on top of this before it’s even begun as we have a set plan of action in place. Unfortunalty a foot injury didn’t let me fulfill my goals yesterday but I got to enjoy it with special friends and even though I didn’t get a PB I was still a winner as I was doing what I love with wonderful friends.