Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 62, September 2014 | Page 31

Doing it Despite Diabetes
my story Ma

Hello, I am the 49-year-old who was attempting the
Comrades this year for the first time, as published
in the Letters section of the June edition of Modern
Athlete, and this is my follow-up Comrades story. –
BY VAL OPPERMAN

I

have had Type 1 Diabetes for 30 years, and I know that
my nearest known relative with T1D died in 1921, before injectable
Insulin was freely available. I therefore have to be careful with
training and racing, monitoring my blood sugar levels regularly.

Images: Courtesy Val Opperman

So it was now ‘Tapering Time’ ahead of the Comrades, time to
dramatically reduce training and to check blood sugar three times
a day versus just diet monitoring. During this period I dramatically
reduced my mileage and began to eat correctly to begin to store
essential fat as well as glycogen in my muscles and liver. The
glycogen is essential for ultra-distance running, and even more
essential for a Type 1 Diabetic, and the fat would also be important
on race day – and would be depleted in 12 hours along with all my
liver’s glycogen. My Doctor estimated that I would lose about 5kg of
body weight during the race.

Going strong at
Drummond at
Comrades 2014

So, at 2:30am on the 1st of June, I awoke my dearest little
‘Comrades Bug,’ the one that bit me three years ago, had breakfast,
got my running gear on, had photos taken with my husband,
daughter and best friend, let them write goodwill messages on my
hands and arms, and then I started the short walk to the start.
Those 45 minutes of being in my seeding pen from 4:45am were
surreal with excitement. I checked my blood sugar again and
awaited the famous cockcrow before the boom of the gun signalling
the start, and joined 18,000 fellow Comrades joyfully singing along
to Shosholoza, the South African National Anthem and the tearjerking Chariots of Fire traditional Comrades song.
The gun sounded and a human surge of anxious bodies slowly
moved forward underneath a huge arc of fireworks and deafening
shouts of ‘Good luck’ & ‘See you in Durban.’ Back home in Durban,
the TV was not switched on at my house this year on Comrades
Day, and my dog missed all of us, because all my family were with
me along the route, cheering Comrades Bug and I both on – and
Comrades Bug sat there right next to my heart every step of the
89.28km to Durban.
I checked my blood sugar six times along the route, ate
and carefully hydrated, and finished in 11 hours 56
minutes and 17 seconds to the deaf