Reversing Prediabetes

Background

I was thin all my childhood.

When I was in medical college (2011-2017) my hostel was near Kukkarhalli Kere in Mysuru and I used to run around the lake in the mornings. That loop was 3.8 km in my memory and I used to be able to finish it without stopping. I also used to cycle from hostel to college and back throughout the college days.

In internship and later in Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, I was always running around in patient care. Moreover, in VMH, there was a ground where I would occasionally go running too, especially preparing for a running race that was held to raise awareness on road accidents.

When I moved to Bengaluru in 2018, for the first couple of years, I was moving around a lot juggling my career in clinical medicine and software development, often visiting two offices on the same day, and usually taking public transport everywhere.

When COVID lockdown started in 2020, the sedentary part of my life started. By the end of 2022 with all the COVID lockdowns, I had developed myopia and started wearing glasses, and also developed a potbelly and a rounder face

I was clearly consuming more energy than I was spending. On March 12, 2024 my HbA1c was 5.9%. This put me in prediabetes. Something had to change.

Changing things

By April, I got a gear cycle from my brother. At that time I was often going to SOCHARA giving them a strategy and vision for digital humanities. It was 8km from my home.

On April 10, 2024 I started riding cycle on that commute.

By October that year, I had done this route about 22 times in each direction. This streak broke when I fell from scooter (should have stuck to cycle) once and started getting backache.

In 2025 I didn’t have this commute anymore and it was very difficult to convince myself to go to the park near my home for walk/jog. That’s when I developed the second part of my fitness regime and started doing jogs in the evenings (or whenever my mind allowed). I also did some rock climbing sessions. Lots of walking. Basically, I was active wherever possible.

I also started eating 1 chappatti less (from 3 to 2), only taking 1 serving of rice, and in general being only 70-80% full.

I got some gear too. A smart watch with GPS, running shoes, phone armband, running clothes.

Initially (let’s say August 2025) I could barely run 1km. I was running in wooden park in Indiranagar where a loop is just under 400m. So, I was running 2 rounds.

By a month, I was able to consistently run 2-3 rounds (in about 10 minutes).

By the end of 2025, I would try to run 4 continuous rounds (about a mile?) and it would take me around 20 minutes.

By Februrary 2026 I was able to increase to 6 rounds (2.5km) in about 30 minutes.

On 21 February, 2026 my HbA1c was 5.6% (not prediabetic anymore). But the journey is no longer about that.

By April 2026, I was able to run the same in about 20 minutes.

The first time I ran 7 continuous rounds in wood park was in May 2026 (24 minutes).

Then in July 2026, I did a 5k around Kukkarahalli Kere with daktre.

This gave me the confidence to run longer in wood park too, and I ran 10 rounds in 35 minutes. I repeated this yesterday (September 2026).

I feel a bit lighter around my belly, and also have no difficulty in climbing stairs, or having a long day of walking around nowadays.

Goals

Strava automatically tags other people running with us. In wood park sometimes I get strangers tagged with me. When I began running, I had once noticed someone like this, who had run 10 rounds (while I was running 4). At that time, it seemed like I would never be able to run 10 rounds. But here I am.

My pace now is about 41 minutes for 5K (if I extrapolate my 10 rounds), which is 8:20 per km.

Daktre routinely runs about 35 minutes for 5K. (7:00 km).

Yesterday I saw Thejesh’s goal of running 5K under 30 minutes, which is 6:00 per km.

The present world record for 5K is 12:35.36 which is 2:31 per km.

When Sabastian Sawe broke marathon (42.195 km) world record in 2026 London Marathon, he ran 5K in 14:14 (which is 2:51 per km).

I’m definitely not breaking any world records soon. But I will keep progressing till I plateau.

I’m also starting to progress in pull-ups and weights. Let’s see where we go from here.