Monday, August 19, 2024
my naked wrist
Goodbye, old friend.
I wore this Coros Pace almost constantly for five years. It told me a lot about myself.
But
three weeks back I tripped and fell, skinned my knee, elbow and
shoulder. I stopped the bleeding and tended my wounds, but I didn't even
notice that my companion had been mortally wounded.
It was only after I saw condensation under the glass of the watch that I noticed the gouged edge and tiny cracks.
For a while it kept working reliably, even as parts of the screen went white.
But now it's blank, dead. Adios.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Glass
It's crowded behind the starting line
but the people around her take some of the chill off the morning air
She stands in shorts and a jog bra,
gloves and arm warmers,
a band around her head keeping her ears warm
minutes before the start
She goes into her routine
Kneels and checks the snugness of her shoes
Makes sure the laces are securely tied
At this point she always notices how
from knee high
The runners at a marathon are like a forest of legs
So many sinewy legs
So many miles
So many stories
She checks the fit of her shorts, her top
Then pulls the insulin pump from her waistband
She sees her blood sugar number on its touch screen
And a graph indicating whether it is rising or falling
She smiles at the technology helping her today
It hasn't always been this way
Her first syringe was made of glass.
She didn't like shots, but adjusted fast
A pediatric nurse told her Mom to be proud
then, very serious, but not very loud
"She's a brave little girl, but she may not last"
Fifty-five years on
she’s about to run
she’s about to run
yet another marathon
comfortable in the crowd at the starting line
Thursday, October 24, 2019
99 Marthons and Ultras
Craig Stubing and I talked this past weekend about when my 100th lifetime
marathon/ultra would be, and I was vague as usual. After that I was
looking at my records in the Marathon Maniacs database and noticed I
hadn't entered the Skyline to the Sea Clambake 50K, so I put it in there
and added to my personal spreadsheet.
So both of these lists
have 99 entries on them now. If you go by that number, the Chino Hills
50K on November 9 will be number 100.
But 5 of those 99 maybe shouldn't count.
1.
Skyline to the Sea was a fun run, no entry fee, no official place or
time. They even made us chant "This is not a race" at the start of the
run.
2. I ran the Big Sur Marathon as part of a relay team.
Both my brother Chris and I started at the starting line and continued
through the whole course. It was a good run, but officially we ran the
relay, not the marathon.
3. I was a DNF at the Pikes Peak Marathon in 2018. I ran the full distance, but not fast enough to be an official finisher.
4
and 5. In 2014 I ran the Majestic Marathon and the Fathers Day Marathon
in Long Beach. There's no reason these two shouldn't count except for
arbitrary Marathon Maniacs rules requiring 15 entrants and 10 finishers.
So I have 94 official Marathon Maniacs finishes.
You could easily say it's really 96.
If you want to be really generous and loose it's 99.Maybe I'll have 100 be the Chino Hills 50K, or maybe I'll have it land on the Salmon Falls 50K.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Approaching 100
Please comment below and suggest events for my 100th race of marathon length or longer.
My official Marathon Maniacs count is currently 89, 76 marathons and 13 ultras.
Thank you.
I have a lot of events I should write something about, but I've been lacking inspiration.
These are the long races I've done since the last one I wrote about on this blog, Dances With Dirt, July 8, 2017:
2/3/2019 Surf City Marathon
1/12/2019 Avalon 50 Mile
12/1/2018 Death Valley Trail Marathon
10/27/2018 Lake Hodges 50K
10/7/2018 Long Beach Marathon
9/15/2018 Flagstaff Marathon
8/19/2018 Pikes Peak Marathon*
7/28/2018 Harding Hustle 50K
6/16/2018 Holcomb Valley Trail Run 33 mile
6/9/2018 Shadow of the Giants 50K
3/18/2018 LA Marathon
3/10/2018 Catalina Island Marathon
12/3/2017 California International Marathon
11/5/2017 Santa Clarita Marathon
10/7/2017 St. George Marathon
7/22/2017 Harding Hustle 50K
I had a DNF/unofficial finish at Pikes Peak, where I ran the distance but came in too late to count. That race is not counted in the 89 I mentioned above.
I have 5 more long races I am registered for this year. I expect to add more, and I expect to hit 100 sometime in 2020.
My official Marathon Maniacs count is currently 89, 76 marathons and 13 ultras.
Thank you.
I have a lot of events I should write something about, but I've been lacking inspiration.
These are the long races I've done since the last one I wrote about on this blog, Dances With Dirt, July 8, 2017:
2/3/2019 Surf City Marathon
1/12/2019 Avalon 50 Mile
12/1/2018 Death Valley Trail Marathon
10/27/2018 Lake Hodges 50K
10/7/2018 Long Beach Marathon
9/15/2018 Flagstaff Marathon
8/19/2018 Pikes Peak Marathon*
7/28/2018 Harding Hustle 50K
6/16/2018 Holcomb Valley Trail Run 33 mile
6/9/2018 Shadow of the Giants 50K
3/18/2018 LA Marathon
3/10/2018 Catalina Island Marathon
12/3/2017 California International Marathon
11/5/2017 Santa Clarita Marathon
10/7/2017 St. George Marathon
7/22/2017 Harding Hustle 50K
I had a DNF/unofficial finish at Pikes Peak, where I ran the distance but came in too late to count. That race is not counted in the 89 I mentioned above.
I have 5 more long races I am registered for this year. I expect to add more, and I expect to hit 100 sometime in 2020.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
A Haiku
New post dedicated to Type One Run. A Haiku.
on the longest run,
no end in sight, remember
leave no ones behind
OK, one more.
we're incurable
we run with diabetes
not away from it
Credit to Craig Stubing for the "Leave No Ones Behind" motto and James Mansfield for teaching me to count syllables.
on the longest run,
no end in sight, remember
leave no ones behind
OK, one more.
we're incurable
we run with diabetes
not away from it
Credit to Craig Stubing for the "Leave No Ones Behind" motto and James Mansfield for teaching me to count syllables.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Dancing with Dirt at Devil's Lake
Somehow I got registered for the Dances With Dirt Devil's Lake 50K. Well, I guess I know how it happened. My youngest brother Chris, who had done the marathon at Devil's Lake twice, and who lives in Wisconsin, asked me if I'd like to come out and run it with him. We've met up to do races before, some of them described elsewhere in this blog.
Chris has done at least a dozen marathons, but no ultra marathons. He was considering the 50K, I think, and I had always said that a 50K is really in the same category as a marathon, like a ten mile race is in the same category as a half marathon.
But then, as I said in an earlier post in this blog, I ran the Relay Del Sol with a team of diabetic runners, and got inspired.
One of the things I got inspired to do was to quick sign up for the 50K at Devil's Lake and call Chris. "Hey, Chris, I registered for the 50K. You better sign up before it fills up!"
So Chris and I did the 50K last weekend. No big deal.
We were only concerned about finishing. We were both under-trained. Chris continually said he was doing less than I was, but that's what he always does. Then usually he runs my butt off on race day.
Thankfully, that didn't happen this time. Chris really was as out of shape as I was.
We had to beat the cutoff by reaching the 25 mile point before 1 PM, 7:30 after the 5:30 AM start. We did it with minutes to spare, then walked it in.
Overall, a nice trek through beautiful country with good company. We ran a lot at first, but walked the steep hills from the beginning, then every hill, then after the cutoff, we just walked.
My blood sugar behaved. It was a little high through the early miles, but came down to normal and never got low.
I am now inspired to harden myself up at the Harding Hustle next week.
Chris has done at least a dozen marathons, but no ultra marathons. He was considering the 50K, I think, and I had always said that a 50K is really in the same category as a marathon, like a ten mile race is in the same category as a half marathon.
But then, as I said in an earlier post in this blog, I ran the Relay Del Sol with a team of diabetic runners, and got inspired.
One of the things I got inspired to do was to quick sign up for the 50K at Devil's Lake and call Chris. "Hey, Chris, I registered for the 50K. You better sign up before it fills up!"
So Chris and I did the 50K last weekend. No big deal.
 |
| Even death? |
Thankfully, that didn't happen this time. Chris really was as out of shape as I was.
We had to beat the cutoff by reaching the 25 mile point before 1 PM, 7:30 after the 5:30 AM start. We did it with minutes to spare, then walked it in.
 |
| We went all over the country you see in the background. |
 |
| Dirt dancing legs. |
I am now inspired to harden myself up at the Harding Hustle next week.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
That Thing on my Arm
A couple of weeks ago, I was just getting ready to leave the gym, stuffing my sweaty shirt into my bag in the locker room, when this guy, Burt, came over and said, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but what's that thing on your arm?"
I said, "I don't mind you asking, but it's a long story, and you wouldn't believe it anyway."
He seemed amused, even though I wasn't trying to be funny. He kind of laughed and said, "Well, that just makes me more curious!"
I said, "Look, if I tell you what I know, you won't believe me, and you still won't know what it is."
Now his brow furrowed. I couldn't tell if his face was red because of his workout, or because he was getting pissed off at me.
"I'll believe you! Just tell me!"
"Then you'll just drop the subject and leave me alone?"
"Sure."
So I told him the story.
"OK. I was walking the dog one night, and suddenly I was surrounded by a bright light shining down from the sky. I looked up toward the source of the light, but it was so blindingly bright, I couldn't see any details. I could see that it was coming closer and closer, and as it did, I started to hear a high-pitched noise getting louder and louder... then I blacked out.
When I came to, it was hours later, in the early morning, before dawn. I was a mile away, lying in an empty parking lot, and I had this thing on my arm.
I knew where I was, so I was able to walk home. My dog was on the porch, all right, but shivering with fright.
Anyway, I don't know what it is, but that's how it got there."
"Why don't you just pull it off then?" He asked, clearly thinking I was pulling his leg.
"Whenever I think about doing something like that, a voice in my head says, 'DO NOT REMOVE THE TRACKING DEVICE.' and I forget about it. It really doesn't bother me."
"How about if I pull it off for you?" Burt was obviously angry now.
"Whenever someone starts to do that, I black out again. Please don't do that."
"Oh, so you do this a lot?" He asked, moving closer.
"I'm starting to hear that high-pitched noise. Please don't..."
Then I blacked out.
I came back to consciousness miles away, in the woods, with a shovel in my hands, standing on a mound of freshly turned earth. I was able to follow my footprints back to my car. They were deep footprints, as if I had been carrying something heavy. My phone was there, so I figured out where I was and drove home.
But I would like to know what happened when I blacked out. I would ask Burt, but I haven't seen him around the gym for a couple of weeks.
 |
| Actual photo of that thing on my arm |
He seemed amused, even though I wasn't trying to be funny. He kind of laughed and said, "Well, that just makes me more curious!"
I said, "Look, if I tell you what I know, you won't believe me, and you still won't know what it is."
Now his brow furrowed. I couldn't tell if his face was red because of his workout, or because he was getting pissed off at me.
"I'll believe you! Just tell me!"
"Then you'll just drop the subject and leave me alone?"
"Sure."
So I told him the story.
"OK. I was walking the dog one night, and suddenly I was surrounded by a bright light shining down from the sky. I looked up toward the source of the light, but it was so blindingly bright, I couldn't see any details. I could see that it was coming closer and closer, and as it did, I started to hear a high-pitched noise getting louder and louder... then I blacked out.
When I came to, it was hours later, in the early morning, before dawn. I was a mile away, lying in an empty parking lot, and I had this thing on my arm.
I knew where I was, so I was able to walk home. My dog was on the porch, all right, but shivering with fright.
Anyway, I don't know what it is, but that's how it got there."
"Why don't you just pull it off then?" He asked, clearly thinking I was pulling his leg.
"Whenever I think about doing something like that, a voice in my head says, 'DO NOT REMOVE THE TRACKING DEVICE.' and I forget about it. It really doesn't bother me."
"How about if I pull it off for you?" Burt was obviously angry now.
"Whenever someone starts to do that, I black out again. Please don't do that."
"Oh, so you do this a lot?" He asked, moving closer.
"I'm starting to hear that high-pitched noise. Please don't..."
Then I blacked out.
I came back to consciousness miles away, in the woods, with a shovel in my hands, standing on a mound of freshly turned earth. I was able to follow my footprints back to my car. They were deep footprints, as if I had been carrying something heavy. My phone was there, so I figured out where I was and drove home.
But I would like to know what happened when I blacked out. I would ask Burt, but I haven't seen him around the gym for a couple of weeks.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Hello, Is this thing on?
First post on this blog in almost 5 years. I'm not sure who will notice this. The main reason I'm posting here is I'd like to write a little about an upcoming event, the St. George Marathon, and leave it here and link to it from Twitter and Facebook.
Type One Run has a few members going to the 2017 St. George Marathon, October 7, and is asking other interested runners with type 1 diabetes to register and run it with us.
If you buy a nice Type One Run running shirt, it will help us all make a good showing and represent people with diabetes. You can only get in on this order of shirts until 4/28/2017.
In the time since I last posted here, four and a half years, I ran 16 more marathons. Sadly, they were all terribly slow, mostly because I haven't trained properly.
Here are the details:
-->
That number between the date and the state in my spreadsheet is "days between", as in days between marathons. Since as you can see, the last marathon was February of 2016, and I'm not registered for another until July, the next "days between" number will be the highest ever. I've gone more than a year without running a marathon.
But just in time I've gotten inspired by this great group, Type One Run. I was incredibly fortunate to meet Craig Stubing, founder of Type One Run, at a JDRF Summit in Pasadena. We spoke briefly about running and the fact that Type One Run had a team in the Ragnar SoCal Relay.
Then a week later, I got an email saying that one of their runners had dropped out, and asking if I would like to join. Of course I would!
I've had this experience of being on an overnight relay with a team of diabetics four times now, and I would recommend it to anyone dealing with this disease.
My experience with Type One Run was relentlessly positive and inspiring. And it reminded me of a lot of things I've been missing in my life recently.
OK. A couple of things to explain in that list of marathons:
The Catalina Eco Marathon is just really, really tough, especially for a fat old, out of shape diabetic.
I did the Bataan Death March Marathon for my second time in 2014, but this time my youngest brother Chris did it with me, and we did it in the "Heavy" category, meaning we wore 35 pound backpacks. That is also a tough marathon, even without a pack, but not quite like Catalina Eco.
Type One Run has a few members going to the 2017 St. George Marathon, October 7, and is asking other interested runners with type 1 diabetes to register and run it with us.
If you buy a nice Type One Run running shirt, it will help us all make a good showing and represent people with diabetes. You can only get in on this order of shirts until 4/28/2017.
In the time since I last posted here, four and a half years, I ran 16 more marathons. Sadly, they were all terribly slow, mostly because I haven't trained properly.
Here are the details:
-->
| 6:37:19 | 15:10 | 2/7/2016 | 126 | CA | Surf City Marathon |
| 5:22:53 | 12:20 | 10/4/2015 | 154 | MN | Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon |
| 5:21:36 | 12:17 | 5/3/2015 | 64 | CA | OC Marathon |
| 6:29:49 | 12:35 | 2/28/2015 | 27 | CA | Orange Curtain 50K |
| 5:06:01 | 11:41 | 2/1/2015 | 85 | CA | Surf City Marathon |
| 7:46:08 | 17:47 | 11/8/2014 | 27 | CA | Catalina Island Eco Marathon |
| 5:26:18 | 12:27 | 10/12/2014 | 35 | CA | Long Beach Marathon |
| 5:49:38 | 13:21 | 9/7/2014 | 84 | CA | Ventura Marathon |
| 5:51:10 | 13:25 | 6/15/2014 | 42 | CA | Fathers Day Marathon* |
| 5:30:51 | 12:38 | 5/4/2014 | 44 | CA | OC Marathon |
| 9:01:21 | 20:39 | 3/23/2014 | 35 | NM | Bataan Death March Marathon |
| 5:27:15 | 12:30 | 2/16/2014 | 28 | CA | Majestic Marathon* |
| 5:37:11 | 12:52 | 1/19/2014 | 133 | CA | Carlsbad Marathon |
| 5:35:07 | 12:47 | 9/8/2013 | 224 | CA | Ventura Marathon |
| 5:55:57 | 13:35 | 1/27/2013 | 77 | CA | Carlsbad Marathon |
| 6:06:03 | 13:59 | 11/11/2012 | 294 | CA | Malibu Marathon |
That number between the date and the state in my spreadsheet is "days between", as in days between marathons. Since as you can see, the last marathon was February of 2016, and I'm not registered for another until July, the next "days between" number will be the highest ever. I've gone more than a year without running a marathon.
But just in time I've gotten inspired by this great group, Type One Run. I was incredibly fortunate to meet Craig Stubing, founder of Type One Run, at a JDRF Summit in Pasadena. We spoke briefly about running and the fact that Type One Run had a team in the Ragnar SoCal Relay.
Then a week later, I got an email saying that one of their runners had dropped out, and asking if I would like to join. Of course I would!
I've had this experience of being on an overnight relay with a team of diabetics four times now, and I would recommend it to anyone dealing with this disease.
My experience with Type One Run was relentlessly positive and inspiring. And it reminded me of a lot of things I've been missing in my life recently.
OK. A couple of things to explain in that list of marathons:
The Catalina Eco Marathon is just really, really tough, especially for a fat old, out of shape diabetic.
Friday, October 19, 2012
No, Dude Working at Vitamin Store...
Earlier this week I was shopping in a local franchise of a nationwide vitamin store chain, and the saleswoman there asked me about my tee shirt. I was wearing a "Team Diabetes" shirt from a marathon several years ago.
The vitamin store woman told me that her mother was a type 1 diabetic "Red Strider" and that they were going to do the Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes together in Griffith Park on October 27th.
We had a nice talk about diabetes-related events. I told her I couldn't do the event in Griffith Park in LA because I was planning to go to the TCOYD Conference and Health Expo in San Diego. I told her about Insulindependence and some of the events I've been involved in with that organization.
So then the guy at the cash register said, "You know another web site you should check out is ..."
And he helpfully told me about a raw food diet web site, and assured me that it was helpful to many diabetics.
I started to explain that I was type 1, and he said he knew about type 1 and type 2 and the difference. He didn't seem totally ignorant. But as I tried to tell him that diet can only do so much, he would agree, then start telling me how good this raw food diet is.
So I started to tell him about this guy from Phoenix, a type 1 diabetic who earlier this year was convinced that a spiritual healer could cure him with a drastically modified diet, herbal detox, reducing his insulin...
While I told this story, the vitamin store dude kept saying, "Yeah!" "Uh huh." like it all made sense and sounded right to him.
I knew he wasn't getting the point of the story, but the look of shock on his face was so profound it shocked me when I finally said, "... then he died."
"He died?!"
"Yeah, he died."
Yes, vitamin store dude, he died. Yes, this is serious.
No, I can't cure myself by eating raw food.
I think the saleswoman smiled. She may have tried to have a talk about diabetes with this guy before.
.
The vitamin store woman told me that her mother was a type 1 diabetic "Red Strider" and that they were going to do the Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes together in Griffith Park on October 27th.
We had a nice talk about diabetes-related events. I told her I couldn't do the event in Griffith Park in LA because I was planning to go to the TCOYD Conference and Health Expo in San Diego. I told her about Insulindependence and some of the events I've been involved in with that organization.
So then the guy at the cash register said, "You know another web site you should check out is ..."
And he helpfully told me about a raw food diet web site, and assured me that it was helpful to many diabetics.
I started to explain that I was type 1, and he said he knew about type 1 and type 2 and the difference. He didn't seem totally ignorant. But as I tried to tell him that diet can only do so much, he would agree, then start telling me how good this raw food diet is.
So I started to tell him about this guy from Phoenix, a type 1 diabetic who earlier this year was convinced that a spiritual healer could cure him with a drastically modified diet, herbal detox, reducing his insulin...
While I told this story, the vitamin store dude kept saying, "Yeah!" "Uh huh." like it all made sense and sounded right to him.
I knew he wasn't getting the point of the story, but the look of shock on his face was so profound it shocked me when I finally said, "... then he died."
"He died?!"
"Yeah, he died."
Yes, vitamin store dude, he died. Yes, this is serious.
No, I can't cure myself by eating raw food.
I think the saleswoman smiled. She may have tried to have a talk about diabetes with this guy before.
.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Diabetic Running Gear
Hey, reader,
I've been doing a bit of running lately, but not enough. When I get out there, I'm having fun, so I'm confident that I'll be able to build up some more mileage before meeting up with the Insulindependence crowd at the Carlsbad Marathon, which is the next event in which I'm sure I'll participate.
But today I'm just going to share a report on the diabetes gear I take with me on runs.
Glucose tablets, or some source of quick carbohydrates:
Some ID, indicating that you are diabetic:
A meter:
A meter is so much smaller than so many less important things people run with, there's really no excuse for not carrying one except if you're not going far. The little piece of cloth is for those few times when it might be necessary to dry your fingers to get a test.
An infusion site:
An insulin pump:
My DexCom sensor and transmitter:
My DexCom receiver:
Then of course there are all of the ordinary runner things, a watch, maybe some Gu, some water...
It does take some organization sometimes to get out the door.
.
I've been doing a bit of running lately, but not enough. When I get out there, I'm having fun, so I'm confident that I'll be able to build up some more mileage before meeting up with the Insulindependence crowd at the Carlsbad Marathon, which is the next event in which I'm sure I'll participate.
But today I'm just going to share a report on the diabetes gear I take with me on runs.
Glucose tablets, or some source of quick carbohydrates:
 |
| These are the store brand glucose tablets. Glucolift makes a tastier, all-natural alternative, but this is what I have right now. |
 |
| This is my MedicAlert ID. I started with the MedicAlert Foundation in 1974, so I'm not going to change now. |
 | |
| OneTouch Ultra Mini meter, lancet device, a few strips in an old Listerine Strips container, a piece of tech fiber cloth (like ShamWow) and plastic bag to hold it all. |
An infusion site:
 |
| What a fat model I had pose for these pictures, huh? |
 |
| My Animas Ping. |
 |
| That's the back of my arm near my shoulder. |
 |
| It's in an iPhone arm band wrapped around my forearm. I can see my blood sugar trend as easily as the time on my watch. |
It does take some organization sometimes to get out the door.
.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Chumash Trail
OK. Forget that last post. Let's talk about running.
Saturday I ran up the Chumash Trail to Rocky Peak Road and back from my house. It was pretty awesome. Here's the view back toward Simi Valley from the trail:
So I looked at this run on Google maps before. I tried to get up to Rocky Peak Road a couple of weeks ago, but I had wasted too much energy and time running around on trails which turned out not to be going in the right direction, and it was hot, and I ran out of water. So I turned around without reaching my objective. Twice. On two different days.
But on Saturday I went back up there with a Camelbak and a water bottle, and of course my meter, glucose tablets, insulin pump, Gu, all the trappings of a diabetic runner.
But I kept going, up and up and up, until I finally had to ask myself, "Is Rocky Peak a dirt road?" Of course it is. As I determined later, Rocky Peak Road is a dirt road only a little bit more substantial than the Chumash Trail, and I ran about a mile on it before I headed back for home.
The postscript today is that everyone should really check out 1run.org. Type 1 diabetic runner Dave Masiuk is running across the USA.
It's pretty clear to me that he and I have different perspectives, but he's doing something fantastic, and I'm very impressed.
.
Saturday I ran up the Chumash Trail to Rocky Peak Road and back from my house. It was pretty awesome. Here's the view back toward Simi Valley from the trail:
So I looked at this run on Google maps before. I tried to get up to Rocky Peak Road a couple of weeks ago, but I had wasted too much energy and time running around on trails which turned out not to be going in the right direction, and it was hot, and I ran out of water. So I turned around without reaching my objective. Twice. On two different days.
But on Saturday I went back up there with a Camelbak and a water bottle, and of course my meter, glucose tablets, insulin pump, Gu, all the trappings of a diabetic runner.
But I kept going, up and up and up, until I finally had to ask myself, "Is Rocky Peak a dirt road?" Of course it is. As I determined later, Rocky Peak Road is a dirt road only a little bit more substantial than the Chumash Trail, and I ran about a mile on it before I headed back for home.
The postscript today is that everyone should really check out 1run.org. Type 1 diabetic runner Dave Masiuk is running across the USA.
It's pretty clear to me that he and I have different perspectives, but he's doing something fantastic, and I'm very impressed.
.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Logical Post
"Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied
And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby, be a simple kind of man"
Lynyrd Skynyrd
"They say now watch what you say. They'll be calling you a radical
Liberal, fanatical, criminal...
Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable"
SuperTramp
So here is some of who I am.
Some of my opinions will align with your opinions. I may just say them a different way. Some of my opinions may strike you as radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal...
So be it. I want to be a simple kind of man.
I am opposed to killing human fetuses. Maybe it's not a human being. It's something, and it is a living thing that gets killed.
I am opposed to the goverment forcing women to carry unwanted fetuses in their wombs. I don't want the government to force women to bear children that they do not want to bear.
I am against forcing little girls to have the babies of rapist pedophiles. This is not a hypothetical. This is a position taken by the Irish government in its opposition to abortion.
No matter how I might feel about it, I don't think I have the right to decide, either personally, or as part of society. The decision belongs to one person, the woman whose body is involved.
I am pro-life, anti-abortion, pro-choice. I don't think that's a rare position to take.
I believe that in rare cases there are crimes which merit a penalty of death. That is not an issue in our society, though.
What we debate is executions by the state. When we give government the right to kill people, we get injustice, not justice.
Innocent people are executed. The question is not whether you are all right with some murderer being executed, the question is whether you are all right with the state killing you or your loved ones after an unfair mockery of a trial. Wealth and skin color still have an inordinate influence on our judicial system.
I am opposed to state executions. They are not justifiable. And such things should not be called "death penalty" or "capital punishment" since we are not certain of the guilt of those being executed.
Outlawing marijuana is basically outlawing an avenue in the pursuit of happiness.
We should not put people into prison for things that aren't crimes. We can agree that some things should be considered crimes under the law, assault, robbery, murder, fraud, trading in mortgage-backed securities until you crash the world economy...
But having marijuana illegal at this point in time is like making the eating of meat illegal. Most people think it's OK. There are undoubtedly some negative effects from it. A minority are strongly opposed to it.
It's not something we should be putting people into prison over.
If only some other nation would legalize marijuana first, so we could see what happens when it's legal, without risking our own fragile populace. Well, there are such nations, and they have fewer problems with it than we do.
And it hasn't always been illegal here.
We know what prohibition does. It creates profitable criminal industries. It does not stop people from exercising their inalienable right to pursue happiness by chemical means.
People will say that we shouldn't begrudge the 1% their millions and billions of dollars. They don't realize that the concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% devalues the fraction of wealth remaining for the rest of us.
Ordinary people have always wanted to get the best home they could afford, the best car they could afford, etc. Ideally, money-lenders enable people to buy things that they can't pay for all at once, but can eventually pay off. The money-lenders who have money now, were supposed to make more money by loaning what they have now to people that will pay them back, plus interest, later.
However, at some point, money-lenders started treating IOUs as if they were money.
It no longer mattered whether a debt was going to be repaid, because the debt itself was what the lender was after. Accounting firms, insurance firms, banks, real estate investors, the entire financial sector participated, continues to participate in this game, because they take in debt and pay themselves in dollars, in real money.
We have been treating debt like money for several decades, and it's gotten progressively worse. The culmination of this pattern is triple-A rated mortgage-backed securities.
And this money made from nothing devalues the money made from real productivity.
While most of us need our income to keep pace with inflation or our buying power goes down, others are making millions, hundreds of millions, billions, from nothing. This flood of fake cash, based on IOUs, drives inflation.
It inflated the cost of our homes until the bubble burst and left us with the debt, but none of the phony profit made from the debt.
This inflation hits the 99% harder than the 1%. Their getting more cash causes our cash to be devalued.
How much more is the time of a bundler of mortgage-backed securities worth than the time of a fire-fighter? What exactly does one do to make more in an hour than most people make in their lives? Don't imagine that it's just too complicated for all of us to understand. Some of us who aren't in the 1% are pretty smart.
Some people do earn more than others, by the difficulty of their work or a unique set of skills or talent, or just by working harder.
But there are those who don't produce anything anyone really wants, yet seem as if they are winning the lottery every day of the year.
No CEO should make 100 times what his lowest paid employee makes. Any executive making that kind of money is underpaying employees, overpaying himself, or both.
.
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied
And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby, be a simple kind of man"
Lynyrd Skynyrd
"They say now watch what you say. They'll be calling you a radical
Liberal, fanatical, criminal...
Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable"
SuperTramp
So here is some of who I am.
Some of my opinions will align with your opinions. I may just say them a different way. Some of my opinions may strike you as radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal...
So be it. I want to be a simple kind of man.
I am opposed to killing human fetuses. Maybe it's not a human being. It's something, and it is a living thing that gets killed.
I am opposed to the goverment forcing women to carry unwanted fetuses in their wombs. I don't want the government to force women to bear children that they do not want to bear.
I am against forcing little girls to have the babies of rapist pedophiles. This is not a hypothetical. This is a position taken by the Irish government in its opposition to abortion.
No matter how I might feel about it, I don't think I have the right to decide, either personally, or as part of society. The decision belongs to one person, the woman whose body is involved.
I am pro-life, anti-abortion, pro-choice. I don't think that's a rare position to take.
I believe that in rare cases there are crimes which merit a penalty of death. That is not an issue in our society, though.
What we debate is executions by the state. When we give government the right to kill people, we get injustice, not justice.
Innocent people are executed. The question is not whether you are all right with some murderer being executed, the question is whether you are all right with the state killing you or your loved ones after an unfair mockery of a trial. Wealth and skin color still have an inordinate influence on our judicial system.
I am opposed to state executions. They are not justifiable. And such things should not be called "death penalty" or "capital punishment" since we are not certain of the guilt of those being executed.
Outlawing marijuana is basically outlawing an avenue in the pursuit of happiness.
We should not put people into prison for things that aren't crimes. We can agree that some things should be considered crimes under the law, assault, robbery, murder, fraud, trading in mortgage-backed securities until you crash the world economy...
But having marijuana illegal at this point in time is like making the eating of meat illegal. Most people think it's OK. There are undoubtedly some negative effects from it. A minority are strongly opposed to it.
It's not something we should be putting people into prison over.
If only some other nation would legalize marijuana first, so we could see what happens when it's legal, without risking our own fragile populace. Well, there are such nations, and they have fewer problems with it than we do.
And it hasn't always been illegal here.
We know what prohibition does. It creates profitable criminal industries. It does not stop people from exercising their inalienable right to pursue happiness by chemical means.
People will say that we shouldn't begrudge the 1% their millions and billions of dollars. They don't realize that the concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1% devalues the fraction of wealth remaining for the rest of us.
Ordinary people have always wanted to get the best home they could afford, the best car they could afford, etc. Ideally, money-lenders enable people to buy things that they can't pay for all at once, but can eventually pay off. The money-lenders who have money now, were supposed to make more money by loaning what they have now to people that will pay them back, plus interest, later.
However, at some point, money-lenders started treating IOUs as if they were money.
It no longer mattered whether a debt was going to be repaid, because the debt itself was what the lender was after. Accounting firms, insurance firms, banks, real estate investors, the entire financial sector participated, continues to participate in this game, because they take in debt and pay themselves in dollars, in real money.
We have been treating debt like money for several decades, and it's gotten progressively worse. The culmination of this pattern is triple-A rated mortgage-backed securities.
And this money made from nothing devalues the money made from real productivity.
While most of us need our income to keep pace with inflation or our buying power goes down, others are making millions, hundreds of millions, billions, from nothing. This flood of fake cash, based on IOUs, drives inflation.
It inflated the cost of our homes until the bubble burst and left us with the debt, but none of the phony profit made from the debt.
This inflation hits the 99% harder than the 1%. Their getting more cash causes our cash to be devalued.
How much more is the time of a bundler of mortgage-backed securities worth than the time of a fire-fighter? What exactly does one do to make more in an hour than most people make in their lives? Don't imagine that it's just too complicated for all of us to understand. Some of us who aren't in the 1% are pretty smart.
Some people do earn more than others, by the difficulty of their work or a unique set of skills or talent, or just by working harder.
But there are those who don't produce anything anyone really wants, yet seem as if they are winning the lottery every day of the year.
No CEO should make 100 times what his lowest paid employee makes. Any executive making that kind of money is underpaying employees, overpaying himself, or both.
.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Testing Limits in Montana
I had the good fortune to spend a week hiking in the mountains of Montana with a group of diabetics, and one non-diabetic.
I say that it was good fortune because:
a) It was an unforgettable experience.
b) There's no way I would have done this on my own.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100190050835559964278/Montana2012
In case you were wondering, I used about a third less insulin than usual every day of this five day hike.
I posted a picture of a 100 I got on the last morning in the mountains at One Hundred BG.
.
I say that it was good fortune because:
a) It was an unforgettable experience.
b) There's no way I would have done this on my own.
This was another adventure organized by the Testing Limits club of Insulindependence.
I don't think I could possibly describe this trip, so I will just ask you to follow the link to my pictures if you're interested.https://picasaweb.google.com/100190050835559964278/Montana2012
In case you were wondering, I used about a third less insulin than usual every day of this five day hike.
I posted a picture of a 100 I got on the last morning in the mountains at One Hundred BG.
.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Once a Runner
If you read this blog at all you know I haven't been running much lately. You may wonder what gives me the right to call myself "The Incurable Runner."
Well, I'll admit I'm not "The Incurable Runner." I'm just "An Incurable Runner," one of many.
Obviously there are a lot of runners out there who are more "hooked" on it than I am, more consistently putting in more miles.
But here I am, sometimes going a week without running, yet I know I'm a runner.
Every time I see a hill or a mountain, I wonder how it would be to run up. I mean every time.
I'm not saying that I would be able to run up every mountain I see, I'm just saying that's what comes to my mind.
When I see someone else out jogging or running, I think, that's what I should be doing, every time.
So I'm not worried that I might not be an incurable runner. I may get tired or lack motivation once in a while, but I know I'll put my shoes on and go for another run eventually. So I'm still incurable.
I have a theory about this. It's actually not my theory. Others with deeper knowledge of the subject will agree with me.
We don't really get hooked on running or hooked on physical activities, it just seems that way when we start getting close to the amount of exercise our bodies require.
It's sitting on our butts working at a desk or watching TV that we get hooked on.
Running dozens of miles at a time is what we evolved to do. It's not an addiction, it is our natural state.
So of course I'm an incurable runner. We all are.
.
Well, I'll admit I'm not "The Incurable Runner." I'm just "An Incurable Runner," one of many.
Obviously there are a lot of runners out there who are more "hooked" on it than I am, more consistently putting in more miles.
But here I am, sometimes going a week without running, yet I know I'm a runner.
Every time I see a hill or a mountain, I wonder how it would be to run up. I mean every time.
I'm not saying that I would be able to run up every mountain I see, I'm just saying that's what comes to my mind.
When I see someone else out jogging or running, I think, that's what I should be doing, every time.
So I'm not worried that I might not be an incurable runner. I may get tired or lack motivation once in a while, but I know I'll put my shoes on and go for another run eventually. So I'm still incurable.
I have a theory about this. It's actually not my theory. Others with deeper knowledge of the subject will agree with me.
We don't really get hooked on running or hooked on physical activities, it just seems that way when we start getting close to the amount of exercise our bodies require.
It's sitting on our butts working at a desk or watching TV that we get hooked on.
Running dozens of miles at a time is what we evolved to do. It's not an addiction, it is our natural state.
So of course I'm an incurable runner. We all are.
.
Friday, May 18, 2012
haiku
A couple of random Haiku.
mankind stands apart
from the lesser animals
in thinking he's more
thousands of years on
a photon from my flashlight
will reach a dead star
.
mankind stands apart
from the lesser animals
in thinking he's more
thousands of years on
a photon from my flashlight
will reach a dead star
.
Friday, May 11, 2012
A Shrine to Me
OK, bear with me. I'm a little embarrased about this, but not so embarrassed that I'm not publishing it to the World Wide Web.
I'm moving, so that means packing stuff up, taking stock of what I need and what I don't need, what's clutter, and what's important.
One of the things that hit me during this process is that I have a buttload of medals, trophies, t-shirts, and other assorted race junk. I know there are charities that will take your old medals and give them to someone else who deserves and will appreciate them. Well, that's fine if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't feel right for me.
Maybe I'm too much of a packrat. Anyway, the medals and trophies mean something to me. If someone else has earned a medal, I'd rather buy them one than give them one of mine.
I've given away only one medal, and that was one that had a special meaning to me. I gave it to someone for whom I think it will have a special meaning.
But that's just what makes sense to me, not something I'm trying to convince anyone else of.
What this means is that I have a bunch of race junk. Which gets us to the embarrassing part. In one of our spare bedrooms, I had built up what kind of seemed like a shrine to me when I started packing it up.
Here are 5 medals from the Silicon Valley Marathon.
Next to that I had decorated a steer skull with 5 medals from the Tucson Marathon and a bunch of leather-strapped ceramic medals from the Big Sur Marathon and Marathon Relay.
When you walk around race expos, you see companies selling various methods for displaying your medals. These are often something a little like a small set of coathooks, six to twelve hooks or pegs to hang your medals on. That works fine if you only run a few races.
I would need about a dozen of those.
I got this great idea to use a four-by-six-foot sheet of pegboard and a box of pegs like you might use in a workshop.
I'm not going to get into the other stuff here, trophies, cups, plaques, etc. The medals filled a small box, a about the size of a four-slice toaster, that I put into a large plastic tote, which I then filled with the other stuff, using race shirts to protect the fragile stuff.
Yeah, I'm going to have to think about what it says about me before I open that tote and rebuild the shrine.
.
I'm moving, so that means packing stuff up, taking stock of what I need and what I don't need, what's clutter, and what's important.
One of the things that hit me during this process is that I have a buttload of medals, trophies, t-shirts, and other assorted race junk. I know there are charities that will take your old medals and give them to someone else who deserves and will appreciate them. Well, that's fine if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't feel right for me.
Maybe I'm too much of a packrat. Anyway, the medals and trophies mean something to me. If someone else has earned a medal, I'd rather buy them one than give them one of mine.
I've given away only one medal, and that was one that had a special meaning to me. I gave it to someone for whom I think it will have a special meaning.
But that's just what makes sense to me, not something I'm trying to convince anyone else of.
What this means is that I have a bunch of race junk. Which gets us to the embarrassing part. In one of our spare bedrooms, I had built up what kind of seemed like a shrine to me when I started packing it up.
Here are 5 medals from the Silicon Valley Marathon.
I would need about a dozen of those.
I got this great idea to use a four-by-six-foot sheet of pegboard and a box of pegs like you might use in a workshop.
Yeah, I'm going to have to think about what it says about me before I open that tote and rebuild the shrine.
.
Monday, May 7, 2012
I'm back
Hello. I'm back, at least for one blog post.
I have moved from Chandler, AZ to Simi Valley, CA. Simi Valley is hills and trails, awesome running territory.
I'm totally out of shape, but I did this run last Saturday.
What else is new? There's a new No Sugar Added Poetry Book coming out from the Diabetes Hands Foundation, and it looks like I'll have a couple of poems in it, both about death and diabetes. Inspiring, I know.
Here are a couple of other things I wrote recently, after poetry was collected for the book.
Blue Candles
I thought about buying blue candles
In symbolic support for the dead
But I would hope never to light one
That they'd melt in a drawer instead.
my eyes
I hate what you see in my eyes
I know you only know because you love me
Please, when I come around
I mean me
not the me with barren, hungry blood
not the angry, resentful me
I hate that you see it in my eyes
before I know myself
I hate that you learned to notice
please when I come around
forgive me.
If someone can get grouchy
missing a meal
what happens when the brain is starving?
I know, because I've felt it
You know, because you've seen it
Please forgive me
I hate what you see in my eyes
That's all for today. I have at least a couple other blog posts half-written, but you know how it goes with this.
.
I have moved from Chandler, AZ to Simi Valley, CA. Simi Valley is hills and trails, awesome running territory.
I'm totally out of shape, but I did this run last Saturday.
What else is new? There's a new No Sugar Added Poetry Book coming out from the Diabetes Hands Foundation, and it looks like I'll have a couple of poems in it, both about death and diabetes. Inspiring, I know.
Here are a couple of other things I wrote recently, after poetry was collected for the book.
Blue Candles
I thought about buying blue candles
In symbolic support for the dead
But I would hope never to light one
That they'd melt in a drawer instead.
my eyes
I hate what you see in my eyes
I know you only know because you love me
Please, when I come around
I mean me
not the me with barren, hungry blood
not the angry, resentful me
I hate that you see it in my eyes
before I know myself
I hate that you learned to notice
please when I come around
forgive me.
If someone can get grouchy
missing a meal
what happens when the brain is starving?
I know, because I've felt it
You know, because you've seen it
Please forgive me
I hate what you see in my eyes
That's all for today. I have at least a couple other blog posts half-written, but you know how it goes with this.
.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Bad-Assedness
I wrote this a few days ago in the "Diabetics Who Run Marathons" group on TuDiabetes. It occurs to me that it might be OK for a blog post, and I'm not writing much else. So here it is.
So... I've been thinking about the headline "Stunts to Impress" in Higdon's advice on multiple marathons, and the much appreciated comments on me being "BADASS" and "amazing."
Of course I'm often looking for opportunities in the conversation here to brag about things I've done. I like to be called bad-ass. And I don't see anything wrong with that. Some of the greatest achievements of mankind have been done so someone could say the equivalent of "Look, Ma! No hands!"
A good part of people doing this is that it expands the realm of possibilities for others.
In that spirit I feel like I should point out that I know a type 1 diabetic who's run about twice as many marathons as I have, and run them faster.
I've met two diabetics who have gotten the silver buckle at the Western States 100 mile endurance run, and I'm aware of at least one other whom I haven't met. You get the silver buckle for finishing in less than 24 hours. There are probably others I'm not aware of.
There is a type 1 diabetic world class marathon and ultra marathon runner.
I could go on. I guess the point is that while I like being called "BADASS" and that's at least part of why I do some of the things I do, I'm aware that there are others more bad-ass than I am.
And 14 years ago I was a diabetic runner afraid to try a marathon. I was inspired and comforted by reading about or meeting other diabetic athletes, and not just the fantastic athletic ones, but the ordinary folks like me.
Wherever you're at with diabetes and exercise, there are people ahead of you and behind you on the bad-ass scale. Well, since everyone is different, and every life situation is different, there really isn't a scale we can all be measured against.
We are all inspiring each other.
Reading back over this, I kind of rambled. I hope I had something to say.
"Stunts to Impress" aren't necessarily a bad thing.
In other news, along with a contingent of runners from Glucomotive, I ran the Denver Rock 'N' Roll Marathon last Sunday.
So... I've been thinking about the headline "Stunts to Impress" in Higdon's advice on multiple marathons, and the much appreciated comments on me being "BADASS" and "amazing."
Of course I'm often looking for opportunities in the conversation here to brag about things I've done. I like to be called bad-ass. And I don't see anything wrong with that. Some of the greatest achievements of mankind have been done so someone could say the equivalent of "Look, Ma! No hands!"
A good part of people doing this is that it expands the realm of possibilities for others.
In that spirit I feel like I should point out that I know a type 1 diabetic who's run about twice as many marathons as I have, and run them faster.
I've met two diabetics who have gotten the silver buckle at the Western States 100 mile endurance run, and I'm aware of at least one other whom I haven't met. You get the silver buckle for finishing in less than 24 hours. There are probably others I'm not aware of.
There is a type 1 diabetic world class marathon and ultra marathon runner.
I could go on. I guess the point is that while I like being called "BADASS" and that's at least part of why I do some of the things I do, I'm aware that there are others more bad-ass than I am.
And 14 years ago I was a diabetic runner afraid to try a marathon. I was inspired and comforted by reading about or meeting other diabetic athletes, and not just the fantastic athletic ones, but the ordinary folks like me.
Wherever you're at with diabetes and exercise, there are people ahead of you and behind you on the bad-ass scale. Well, since everyone is different, and every life situation is different, there really isn't a scale we can all be measured against.
We are all inspiring each other.
Reading back over this, I kind of rambled. I hope I had something to say.
"Stunts to Impress" aren't necessarily a bad thing.
In other news, along with a contingent of runners from Glucomotive, I ran the Denver Rock 'N' Roll Marathon last Sunday.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Team Type 1 Has No Stout Members
It's true. James Stout, who was a member of the Team Type 1 Pro Cycling squad was terminated last November.
Team Type 1 says he was terminated for two infractions:
1) Wearing this shirt to a party at a friend's house:
2) Sending this tweet from his twitter account:
I don't have a big problem with Team Type 1 deciding when to terminate the contract of a professional rider. They have to be able to make those decisions, even if I feel they're being puritanical, prudish prigs about it, they have to draw the line somewhere, and it's a very subjective thing.
I don't hold it against them that they were never able to help James Stout with his visa, since I don't personally know how difficult it is to arrange a work visa for a professional cyclist. It may simply take a long time, or there may have been some bureaucratic snafu. It could be due to incompetence, whether at Team Type 1 or a government office.
I don't even hold it against Team Type 1 that they stopped providing insulin to James Stout as they had agreed. There may have been very good reasons why they couldn't afford to be responsible for riders' medications. It may even have been the Willem Van den Eynde case that made them make that decision.
Oh, maybe I should explain that Willem Van den Eynde is another of the type 1 diabetic bike racers who rode for Team Type 1 and felt abused. I only mention it here because Willem said that Team Type 1 failed to provide the health care he was promised. It's possible that his case caused enough problems that Team Type 1 decided not to be involved to the same extent in the medical requirements of riders.
In 2009, 18 year old Willem was never sure of medical supplies, mainly insulin and test strips, from the time Team Type 1 brought him over from Belgium until he got money from his parents to go back home. His A1c went from being consistently in the 7s to being 9.9 after several months with Team Type 1.
But I was about to say what really disturbs me about the actions of Team Type 1 in James Stout's case.
They did not communicate to him that they were about to terminate his employment, that they were in the process of terminating, or that he was terminated, until he left the USA. Then they told him his employment had been terminated months earlier.
They stopped paying him and helping him with diabetic supplies, stopped dealing with him at all. It's almost as if they were waiting for him to quit instead of telling him he was fired. Knowing that they've treated others similarly makes this seem like a plausible explanation.
They let him think he still worked for them. He continued to represent Team Type 1 at events. He continued to communicate with them about what he was doing. He would ask about his pay and his work visa, and there was always some delay.
You might wonder how he could go on that way, working at a job he wasn't getting paid for. I can't explain his actions. I can only guess. My guess is that like many of us he was inspired by what Team Type 1 has accomplished and what it represents. I guess he was glad that he was a part of it, and he didn't want to give it up.
Although I have many friends on Team Type 1 teams, cyclists, runners, triathletes... and I love to read about and hear about the inspiring things they're doing, I worry about what is happening to kids like James and Willem, and the others who are afraid to speak out.
I worry about the riders breaking their backs to support the team's mission.
I worry that the mission and the message will be corrupted if the organization doesn't wise up and treat these athletes fairly.
Meanwhile, I've come up with a couple of ideas for shirts:
Please enter any shirt ideas you have in the comments below.
Stout podcast about Team Type 1 on Crank Cycling, when Stout believed he worked for Team Type 1.
http://www.crankcycling.com/podcast-interview-with-team-type-1s-james-stout/
A two part Bikezilla interview with James Stout and the author's analysis:
http://cyclismas.com/2011/07/bikezilla-interview-with-james-stout-part-1/
http://cyclismas.com/2011/07/bikezilla-interview-with-james-stout-part-2/
http://cyclismas.com/2011/08/team-type-1-and-electric-kool-aid-litmus-test/
A letter from a lawyer friend sent in a futile attempt at reasoning with Team Type 1 management for decent treatment:
http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/news/blog/the-global-mission-of-team-type-1-and-the-ethics-of-managing-a-team
A post by James Stout about his feelings toward Team Type 1, which are not all bad:
http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/news/blog/team-type-1-and-ethics-a-post-from-james-stout
Willem Van den Eynde's Team Type 1 story, never disputed by the team.
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=645
Team Type 1 response, or lack thereof re: the treatment Willem Van den Eynde got from Team Type 1:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/5/7/867897/team-type-1-a-sad-truth
.
Team Type 1 says he was terminated for two infractions:
1) Wearing this shirt to a party at a friend's house:
2) Sending this tweet from his twitter account:
RT @AJELive: Afghan president Hamid Karzai says that the killed of Osama bin Laden is very important news. #AlJazeera #noshitsherlock
I don't have a big problem with Team Type 1 deciding when to terminate the contract of a professional rider. They have to be able to make those decisions, even if I feel they're being puritanical, prudish prigs about it, they have to draw the line somewhere, and it's a very subjective thing.
I don't hold it against them that they were never able to help James Stout with his visa, since I don't personally know how difficult it is to arrange a work visa for a professional cyclist. It may simply take a long time, or there may have been some bureaucratic snafu. It could be due to incompetence, whether at Team Type 1 or a government office.
I don't even hold it against Team Type 1 that they stopped providing insulin to James Stout as they had agreed. There may have been very good reasons why they couldn't afford to be responsible for riders' medications. It may even have been the Willem Van den Eynde case that made them make that decision.
Oh, maybe I should explain that Willem Van den Eynde is another of the type 1 diabetic bike racers who rode for Team Type 1 and felt abused. I only mention it here because Willem said that Team Type 1 failed to provide the health care he was promised. It's possible that his case caused enough problems that Team Type 1 decided not to be involved to the same extent in the medical requirements of riders.
In 2009, 18 year old Willem was never sure of medical supplies, mainly insulin and test strips, from the time Team Type 1 brought him over from Belgium until he got money from his parents to go back home. His A1c went from being consistently in the 7s to being 9.9 after several months with Team Type 1.
But I was about to say what really disturbs me about the actions of Team Type 1 in James Stout's case.
They did not communicate to him that they were about to terminate his employment, that they were in the process of terminating, or that he was terminated, until he left the USA. Then they told him his employment had been terminated months earlier.
They stopped paying him and helping him with diabetic supplies, stopped dealing with him at all. It's almost as if they were waiting for him to quit instead of telling him he was fired. Knowing that they've treated others similarly makes this seem like a plausible explanation.
They let him think he still worked for them. He continued to represent Team Type 1 at events. He continued to communicate with them about what he was doing. He would ask about his pay and his work visa, and there was always some delay.
You might wonder how he could go on that way, working at a job he wasn't getting paid for. I can't explain his actions. I can only guess. My guess is that like many of us he was inspired by what Team Type 1 has accomplished and what it represents. I guess he was glad that he was a part of it, and he didn't want to give it up.
Although I have many friends on Team Type 1 teams, cyclists, runners, triathletes... and I love to read about and hear about the inspiring things they're doing, I worry about what is happening to kids like James and Willem, and the others who are afraid to speak out.
I worry about the riders breaking their backs to support the team's mission.
I worry that the mission and the message will be corrupted if the organization doesn't wise up and treat these athletes fairly.
Meanwhile, I've come up with a couple of ideas for shirts:
Please enter any shirt ideas you have in the comments below.
Stout podcast about Team Type 1 on Crank Cycling, when Stout believed he worked for Team Type 1.
http://www.crankcycling.com/podcast-interview-with-team-type-1s-james-stout/
A two part Bikezilla interview with James Stout and the author's analysis:
http://cyclismas.com/2011/07/bikezilla-interview-with-james-stout-part-1/
http://cyclismas.com/2011/07/bikezilla-interview-with-james-stout-part-2/
http://cyclismas.com/2011/08/team-type-1-and-electric-kool-aid-litmus-test/
A letter from a lawyer friend sent in a futile attempt at reasoning with Team Type 1 management for decent treatment:
http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/news/blog/the-global-mission-of-team-type-1-and-the-ethics-of-managing-a-team
A post by James Stout about his feelings toward Team Type 1, which are not all bad:
http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/news/blog/team-type-1-and-ethics-a-post-from-james-stout
Willem Van den Eynde's Team Type 1 story, never disputed by the team.
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=645
Team Type 1 response, or lack thereof re: the treatment Willem Van den Eynde got from Team Type 1:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/5/7/867897/team-type-1-a-sad-truth
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