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George (my sister in law for 28 years!) has been the driving force for us partaking in 2 marathons in 2016, YES .... 2 marathons we must be bonkers!! We are both late comers to this ole running malarkey!! Both starting in our 40's so you may be thinking why? After being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes I started running (it helps with my blood sugars) I entered my 1st race in June 2014, this is where I think George got the running bug (as my supporter) we have both completed a half marathon each so doing a marathon will be a huge accomplishment for us both.

Most of you know my story by now but for those of you who don't below is an educational bit of blurb.

I have been a type 1 diabetic for nearly 3 years, it's a life threatening condition where the body's own immune system attacks and kills of its own insulin producing cells. What triggers the immune system to behave this way is not yet understood. Theories include the possibility that a virus may stimulate the auto immune system response.

I have to self manage my condition 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year without a break just to stay alive. I have to check my blood sugar levels about 8 times a day and adjust my insulin accordingly. I have to take 2 different types of insulin, one slow release that I take at night that lasts for 24 hours and a fast acting insulin every time I eat. The one I take before I eat is more complicated to work out, I firstly need to know what my blood sugars are, what my ratio of carbohydrates to insulin is (this could be different for every meal), mine is on average 1:15, so for every 15g of carbs on my plate I need to do 1 shot of insulin, I also need to know when the carb that I'm eating spikes and possibly do a split dose say another insulin shot in an hour or so, depending on what carb it is!!! If my blood sugars were high before my meal I need to add in a correctional dose, which for me is 1 unit of insulin brings my blood sugars down by 4mmol, if I exercise I have to recalculate!!!!! I have to do this every time I eat every day.

On top of this there's fluctuating blood sugars, hypo's/hyper's, illness/infection, stress, dawn phenomenon, caffeine, weather, dehydration, they all play a part in my everyday readings.

It's hard to get it right all the time, failure to look after myself and my Type 1 can result in complications such as kidney failure, heart disease, amputation or blindness.

At the end of November I will be going on an insulin pump that I have to wear 24 hours a day, this will help me control my blood sugar levels, it's not a cure and requires me to be the brains, I still have to do the above and tell the machine what to do, it eliminates me having to inject manually.

After reading this you may be thinking that it takes a lot of effort to live let alone run a marathon, well it does and I'm excited for the challenges ahead.

Living with diabetes is challenging so please please help me and George raise money for JDRF to help find a cure Xx dig deep and dig double......it is 2 marathons!

Keep smiling, stay positive, life is precious Xx

Thank you George for doing this with me for a charity that's close to my heart.....Lets do this Xx Love you Xx