BG Report: Higher than expected on the Hokusei Line
The narrow-gauge train that refused to compromise • Hokusei Line
Watch on YouTube (37:26)
Bad start to today’s train ride on the Hokusei Line. The line is one of Japan’s four remaining narrow-gauge trains that carry passengers. It’s part of the Sangi Railway in northern Mie Prefecture.
And my blood glucose affected the entire day.
Not a great start to the day, but I’ve seen worse.
I had awoken early in my hotel in Yokkaichi City and had a nice breakfast at the buffet downstairs. BG was 189 at around 6:30 am. I often have a mid-morning BG spike, but I knew I’d be walking a lot today so I figured it would take care of itself.
I began at Nishi-Kuwana station, explaining on camera the differences in Japanese train gauges. (Gauge is the distance between the two rails of a train line.) Things seemed ok; I got on the train and rode to the next station, Umamichi.
Next to Umamichi, the line’s least-used station, is a large hill, atop which there used to be a castle. I walked up the steep streets to check it out. And I was oddly out of breath.
At the top I checked my BG with my Libre FreeStyle CGM and was shocked: 294! My morning spikes aren’t usually that bad.
No wonder I was foggy-minded. No wonder my speaking on camera was confused and imprecise and rambling. No wonder I was out of breath going up the hill.
I took three units of Humalog, made it through my explanation of the Hokusei Line’s wild history, and at a nearby shrine, prayed to the Shintō gods for better blood sugar.
About an hour and a half later, I was finally below 200. So, I felt better, but in some ways the damage had been done. Perhaps it was mostly psychological, but it took a while to truly feel awake and dynamic again. I’m not sure I ever really did.
There was lots of walking though, and exercise is always good to invigorate you. By lunchtime, under a rare “corkscrew”-shaped train bridge beside rural rice fields, I was 132. I had my convenience store lunch and took a smaller shot than normal. (Walking wasn’t over yet.)
BG 132 beside the Twisted Bridge.
I’m happy to report that my BG was pretty good the rest of the day. After dinner later, it rose to just over 200 briefly, but went back under quickly.
Looking back, I should have checked my BG soon after breakfast, maybe when traveling from the hotel on a train to the first station where I began filming. I might have caught it in time, and avoided such a high spike.
Hopefully, you can’t hear the cobwebs in my voice in the video!
