Wednesday, May 12, 2010
My Biggest Supporter
The third in the series of Diabetes Blogger Week posts is about My Biggest Supporter.
It's hard to pick just one person, because so many people have been very supportive of me, but after giving it a lot of thought, I decided I have to say it's Mom.
She was there at the start of my diabetic life.
Sometimes people ask diabetics when they "got" the disease, but what diabetics answer with is when they were diagnosed. We all had symptoms coming on gradually before we knew what was going on, so the diagnosis is the only definitive starting point we have.
Mom was the person who saw that I was sick and took me to a doctor. She was there while I explained my symptoms, answered questions, had blood drawn, and found out I had diabetes.
She probably saved my life that day, and probably several times after that. (She is not alone in having saved my life.)
She had the patience to make sure I was taking care of myself as a typical teenager, balancing that with giving me enough space to feel like I was doing it myself.
Through all of the things I've done since, she has always had a positive, supportive attitude.
Thanks, Mom!
It's hard to pick just one person, because so many people have been very supportive of me, but after giving it a lot of thought, I decided I have to say it's Mom.
She was there at the start of my diabetic life.
Sometimes people ask diabetics when they "got" the disease, but what diabetics answer with is when they were diagnosed. We all had symptoms coming on gradually before we knew what was going on, so the diagnosis is the only definitive starting point we have.
Mom was the person who saw that I was sick and took me to a doctor. She was there while I explained my symptoms, answered questions, had blood drawn, and found out I had diabetes.
She probably saved my life that day, and probably several times after that. (She is not alone in having saved my life.)
She had the patience to make sure I was taking care of myself as a typical teenager, balancing that with giving me enough space to feel like I was doing it myself.
Through all of the things I've done since, she has always had a positive, supportive attitude.
Thanks, Mom!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Make The Low Go
It's day 2 of Diabetes Blog Week, and the topic is "Making the low go."
My favorite hypo treatment for years has been the juice box.
They go down easy. They last a long time. They're delicious. I feel like I'm getting some real, healthy food when I have a juice.
I keep them in my car, in my fridge, in my office, but they're just not convenient to carry everywhere.
So I always have a tube of glucose tablets in my pocket.
However, I don't like to eat the glucose tablets. I would just rather eat real food. If I'm going low, and there is any other source of food available, the glucose stays in my pocket. If I have the option to walk out during a movie and buy something for $2 from the snack bar, that's probably what I'm going to do instead of just pulling out the glucose tablets.
Sometimes the same ten glucose tablets will be in the tube for months as I walk, ride, and run around, the tablets jostling against each other the whole time. When I finally pop the tube open, a puff of pulverized glucose dust bursts into the air.
My favorite hypo treatment for years has been the juice box.
I keep them in my car, in my fridge, in my office, but they're just not convenient to carry everywhere.
So I always have a tube of glucose tablets in my pocket.
Sometimes the same ten glucose tablets will be in the tube for months as I walk, ride, and run around, the tablets jostling against each other the whole time. When I finally pop the tube open, a puff of pulverized glucose dust bursts into the air.
Monday, May 10, 2010
A Day in the Life
Hmm, if dozens of diabetic bloggers are blogging about a day in the life the day after Mother's Day, aren't they going to come up with a lot of stories about Mother's Day?
OK. I'll talk about the day before Mother's Day, because it shows what a genius I am.
I went out for a ride around South Mountain with Kim P., a type 1 diabetic woman training for Ironman Arizona in November. I had to get up at 4 AM, eat a light breakfast for which I under-bolused, anticipating that I would burn off carbs while riding.
We rode for over 3 and a half hours, with lots of stops for blood sugar tests and refueling. I started with my blood sugar a little high, and gradually worked it into a good range, and Kim started with her blood sugar at the low end, but was able to take in enough carbs to get it where she wanted. And we covered about 50 miles.
We had great weather. It was warming up by the time we finished, but it stayed nice and cool for most of the ride.
Later that day, I went to Saguaro Lake with my brother Jon, to do some open water swimming. Neither of us have been swimming much lately, so we were just going to see how it went.
A blood sugar check before going into the water showed my blood sugar was 95, which would have been a little low to start swimming, but I knew that I had checked at home before heading to the lake, and my blood sugar there was 115. So I was on a downward trend.
So I ate a few glucose tablets before going into the water.
Jon is a much better swimmer than I am, which I expected, but still found a little depressing. Oh, well. I have more room for improvement.
After I had swum about 300 meters, I could feel the infusion site for my pump flapping on my side. I checked it and saw that the adhesive was just barely hanging on, and the cannula was all the way out of my skin.
Jon was a couple of hundred yards away from the beach, so I walked ashore and waited for him to come back in. Then I showed him my infusion set and told him we had to go.
We went to my house, I put in a new infusion site, and I tested at 169. Not too much of a problem. It was getting late, and neither Jon nor I, nor my wife Sue, had eaten anything for dinner, so we went out to dinner at Arriba's Mexican restaurant in Ahwatukee. I had a 20 oz cerveza, some chips and salsa while waiting for our orders, and some kind of chicken dinner with rice, beans and tortillas. It was all delicious.
This is where I demonstrate my genius.
I bolused on instinct, guesstimating carbs and how long they would take to digest. It was an artful dual-wave bolus.
After this, Sue and I went out to the movies and saw Ironman 2. I had a small bag of popcorn, and did another dual wave to cover that. The dual wave with the popcorn is as much because of how slowly it is eaten as it is because of how long it takes to digest.
After the movie and before bed, my blood sugar was 121. When I woke up the next morning, it was 122.
Genius.
Seriously though, I know I just got lucky. It's just that so often I look at the number I get on my blood glucose meter and think, "What the heck?" It is so often not what I want or expect, I like to give myself some credit, deserved or not, when it comes out right.
OK. I'll talk about the day before Mother's Day, because it shows what a genius I am.
I went out for a ride around South Mountain with Kim P., a type 1 diabetic woman training for Ironman Arizona in November. I had to get up at 4 AM, eat a light breakfast for which I under-bolused, anticipating that I would burn off carbs while riding.
We rode for over 3 and a half hours, with lots of stops for blood sugar tests and refueling. I started with my blood sugar a little high, and gradually worked it into a good range, and Kim started with her blood sugar at the low end, but was able to take in enough carbs to get it where she wanted. And we covered about 50 miles.
We had great weather. It was warming up by the time we finished, but it stayed nice and cool for most of the ride.
Later that day, I went to Saguaro Lake with my brother Jon, to do some open water swimming. Neither of us have been swimming much lately, so we were just going to see how it went.
A blood sugar check before going into the water showed my blood sugar was 95, which would have been a little low to start swimming, but I knew that I had checked at home before heading to the lake, and my blood sugar there was 115. So I was on a downward trend.
So I ate a few glucose tablets before going into the water.
Jon is a much better swimmer than I am, which I expected, but still found a little depressing. Oh, well. I have more room for improvement.
After I had swum about 300 meters, I could feel the infusion site for my pump flapping on my side. I checked it and saw that the adhesive was just barely hanging on, and the cannula was all the way out of my skin.
Jon was a couple of hundred yards away from the beach, so I walked ashore and waited for him to come back in. Then I showed him my infusion set and told him we had to go.
We went to my house, I put in a new infusion site, and I tested at 169. Not too much of a problem. It was getting late, and neither Jon nor I, nor my wife Sue, had eaten anything for dinner, so we went out to dinner at Arriba's Mexican restaurant in Ahwatukee. I had a 20 oz cerveza, some chips and salsa while waiting for our orders, and some kind of chicken dinner with rice, beans and tortillas. It was all delicious.
This is where I demonstrate my genius.
I bolused on instinct, guesstimating carbs and how long they would take to digest. It was an artful dual-wave bolus.
After this, Sue and I went out to the movies and saw Ironman 2. I had a small bag of popcorn, and did another dual wave to cover that. The dual wave with the popcorn is as much because of how slowly it is eaten as it is because of how long it takes to digest.
After the movie and before bed, my blood sugar was 121. When I woke up the next morning, it was 122.
Genius.
Seriously though, I know I just got lucky. It's just that so often I look at the number I get on my blood glucose meter and think, "What the heck?" It is so often not what I want or expect, I like to give myself some credit, deserved or not, when it comes out right.
Friday, May 7, 2010
365 Days
Today is May 7, 2010. The next Ironman St. George is May 7, 2011.
My Triabetes Teammate, and a Triabetes Team Captain for the next season, Tiffany Heindel, reminded me of that today. It's just 365 days until I become an Ironman. Sure, I set out to do this before, but I had doubts then. I've seen what it takes, and now I'm going to do it. It's taking me a little longer than it takes some, but I'm OK with that.
Barring any unavoidable catastrophes (Anything is possible.) it's only 365 more days.
Let's have a little fun with this. Here is a brief history of Ironman.
1963 Marvel comic book Iron Man.
1968 A U.K. children's book, The Iron Man. (Renamed The Iron Giant when published in the U.S.)
1970 Black Sabbath song Iron Man.
1978 First Ironman competition, February 18. Combined three existing long-distance competitions, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Race, and the Honolulu Marathon. "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Navy Commander John Collins.
1979 Sports Illustrated 10 page Ironman story by Barry McDermott, who was on Oahu to cover a golf tournament.
1980 ABC Wide World of Sports first Ironman coverage. Collins is transferred to Washington, DC, and turns the event over to Valerie Silk, owner of a local health club.
1981 Race moved from Oahu to the Kona District on Hawaii, the Big Island.
1982 Bud Light sponsors. Julie Moss crawls in to finish second.
Cal Ripken, Jr. begins the longest streak of consecutive games played in MLB, eventually becoming known as "The Iron Man." (Lou Gehrig, who previously held the record, had been known as "The Iron Horse.")
1982 Race moves from February to October. Second Ironman in one year.
1983 17 hour time limit established. Kona becomes a championship race as LA has an Ironman competition. Sylviane Puntous of Canada becomes first international champion. Bill Carlson is the first insulin-dependent diabetic Ironman.
1985 Scott Tinley wins with the first use of aerobars in an Ironman, setting a Kona course record. Ironman races are held internationally.
1986 Patricia Puntous finishes first woman at Kona, but is later disqualified for having drafted while on the bike.
1989 Dave Scott and Mark Allen duel it out for 8 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds. Allen prevails.
1989 Pete Townsend produces rock opera, The Iron Man: A Musical, an adaptation of the children's book.
1990 Ironman Triathlon sold to Dr. Jim Gills, who starts World Triathlon Corporation. Kona race course is altered to avoid airport traffic.
1991 Gatorade sponsors. NBC Sports televises.
1996 Rapper Ghostface Killah, a type 1 diabetic, produces an album, Ironman.
1998 Cal Ripken, Jr. voluntarily removes his name from the lineup for the Orioles final game of the season, ending his streak after 17 full seasons, 2,632 games.
2008 12 type 1 diabetics forming the Triabetes team participate in Ironman Wisconsin.
2009 Another group of Triabetes Captains and more Triabetes team members participate in Ironman Arizona.
2011 10 Triabetes Captains and more team members continue the tradition at Ironman St. George.
My Triabetes Teammate, and a Triabetes Team Captain for the next season, Tiffany Heindel, reminded me of that today. It's just 365 days until I become an Ironman. Sure, I set out to do this before, but I had doubts then. I've seen what it takes, and now I'm going to do it. It's taking me a little longer than it takes some, but I'm OK with that.
Barring any unavoidable catastrophes (Anything is possible.) it's only 365 more days.
Let's have a little fun with this. Here is a brief history of Ironman.
1963 Marvel comic book Iron Man.
1968 A U.K. children's book, The Iron Man. (Renamed The Iron Giant when published in the U.S.)
1970 Black Sabbath song Iron Man.
1978 First Ironman competition, February 18. Combined three existing long-distance competitions, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Race, and the Honolulu Marathon. "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Navy Commander John Collins.
1979 Sports Illustrated 10 page Ironman story by Barry McDermott, who was on Oahu to cover a golf tournament.
1980 ABC Wide World of Sports first Ironman coverage. Collins is transferred to Washington, DC, and turns the event over to Valerie Silk, owner of a local health club.
1981 Race moved from Oahu to the Kona District on Hawaii, the Big Island.
1982 Bud Light sponsors. Julie Moss crawls in to finish second.
Cal Ripken, Jr. begins the longest streak of consecutive games played in MLB, eventually becoming known as "The Iron Man." (Lou Gehrig, who previously held the record, had been known as "The Iron Horse.")
1982 Race moves from February to October. Second Ironman in one year.
1983 17 hour time limit established. Kona becomes a championship race as LA has an Ironman competition. Sylviane Puntous of Canada becomes first international champion. Bill Carlson is the first insulin-dependent diabetic Ironman.
1985 Scott Tinley wins with the first use of aerobars in an Ironman, setting a Kona course record. Ironman races are held internationally.
1986 Patricia Puntous finishes first woman at Kona, but is later disqualified for having drafted while on the bike.
1989 Dave Scott and Mark Allen duel it out for 8 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds. Allen prevails.
1989 Pete Townsend produces rock opera, The Iron Man: A Musical, an adaptation of the children's book.
1990 Ironman Triathlon sold to Dr. Jim Gills, who starts World Triathlon Corporation. Kona race course is altered to avoid airport traffic.
1991 Gatorade sponsors. NBC Sports televises.
1996 Rapper Ghostface Killah, a type 1 diabetic, produces an album, Ironman.
1998 Cal Ripken, Jr. voluntarily removes his name from the lineup for the Orioles final game of the season, ending his streak after 17 full seasons, 2,632 games.
2008 12 type 1 diabetics forming the Triabetes team participate in Ironman Wisconsin.
2009 Another group of Triabetes Captains and more Triabetes team members participate in Ironman Arizona.
2011 10 Triabetes Captains and more team members continue the tradition at Ironman St. George.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
My Motto
I've been giving my motto some thought, specifically, my family motto. Please bear with me. I'll try to tie this into the basic topic of this blog, being a type 1 diabetic endurance athlete.
I don't know what my family motto is, historically. There have been several different Nairn mottos used by various Nairns and Nairnes over the years. I have no idea which one would be appropriate for my branch of the family.
Nairn is a sept, a sub-clan, of the clan Mackintosh. Clan Mackintosh became part of Clan Chattan in 1291, when the chieftain of the Mackintosh clan assumed leadership of Clan Chattan through marriage.
The most common motto used for both Clan Chattan and Clan Mackintosh is the old English, "Touch not the cat bot a glove," or in Gaelic, ""Na bean don chat gun lamhainn."
There are two similar interpretations of this motto. It is either taken to mean "Don't touch the cat without (unless you are wearing) gloves," or "Don't touch the cat unless his claws are sheathed (gloved)."
At any rate, the cat is the symbol of the clan, and it means "Don't mess with us."
One family member suggested that this motto was a historical variation of the modern warning to practice safe sex, "No glove, no love."
I'm not sure about that interpretation.
I could see this as a pretty cool motto. Someone might say, "Oh, it's just a kitty cat. You gonna scratch me?"
But this is actually the Scottish wildcat, about 50% larger than the average domestic cat and supposedly impossible to tame, even when raised in captivity.
Of course, if a motto needs to be explained, that's a strike against it.
It is also a threatening, war-like motto which may have been appropriate for the feudal clans of the Scottish Highlands, but doesn't really match up with the life I lead.
Moving on, there are mottos more specific to the Nairn Clan.
Maybe part of the reason it's hard to find a definitive Nairn motto is the fact that Nairn is an armigerous clan, meaning it does not have a recognized chief and has no legal standing under Scots law.
One motto used by Nairns has been "Sero, sed serio," Latin for "Late, but in earnest," or "Late, but serious."
My first reaction to this was, "Huh?" But it refers to the Battle of Ancrum Moor.
The battle was a 1545 victory of Scottish forces over a larger English army. The victory was achieved by attacking with a small group which retreated and led the English into a difficult position, at which point the main Scottish force attacked, "late, but in earnest." The English, and their German and Spanish mercenaries, found themselves on uneven ground, fighting uphill into the setting sun.
About a third of them were slaughtered and the survivors scattered into the surrounding countryside. Several clans in the battle adopted this motto.
So this could be kind of a war-like, kick-a$$ motto.
It applies to my life a little bit in that I am slow but steady. I may finish back in the pack, but I am serious about finishing.
But that explanation is way too long.
Another motto was "Spes ultra," Latin for "Hope beyond," which is combined with the French, "L'esperance me confort," "Hope comforts me."
The hope I have for a cure for type 1 diabetes could be symbolized in this motto, but that hope is guarded. I don't see it as a key part of my philosophy.
I like to remain optimistic, hopeful, but I don't find this an inspiring motto.
So what's left? The Latin, "Plus ultra." "More beyond," or "Farther beyond."
That already sounds more like me.
(You thought I wouldn't get back into the topic of this blog?)
The tie-in with ultra-endurance events, ultramarathons, etc. is pretty obvious.
This phrase, "Plus ultra," has been used fairly often as a motto, because it refers back to an inscription which was supposed to be on the Pillars of Hercules. According to Roman mythology the pillars were built by Hercules near the Straits of Gibraltar and marked the edge of the world. On these pillars was the warning "Nec plus ultra" or "Non plus ultra," "nothing further beyond," a warning to go no further.
I might have glimpsed the Pillars of Hercules as I was diagnosed with an incurable disease back in 1974. I might have seen it as the end of a lot of things in my life.
I was fortunate that no one around me tried to tell me that diabetes was going to stop me. Unlike some other people I know with diabetes, I had no one saying, "Non plus ultra." "No more after this."
I thank my family for that.
Instead I was left to make my own choices on what was possible, and while it's often been a struggle, it's clear I chose "Plus ultra." "More beyond."
OK, that is an explanation, but it really isn't required.
"Plus Ultra" is my motto.
I don't know what my family motto is, historically. There have been several different Nairn mottos used by various Nairns and Nairnes over the years. I have no idea which one would be appropriate for my branch of the family.
Nairn is a sept, a sub-clan, of the clan Mackintosh. Clan Mackintosh became part of Clan Chattan in 1291, when the chieftain of the Mackintosh clan assumed leadership of Clan Chattan through marriage.
There are two similar interpretations of this motto. It is either taken to mean "Don't touch the cat without (unless you are wearing) gloves," or "Don't touch the cat unless his claws are sheathed (gloved)."
At any rate, the cat is the symbol of the clan, and it means "Don't mess with us."
One family member suggested that this motto was a historical variation of the modern warning to practice safe sex, "No glove, no love."
I'm not sure about that interpretation.
I could see this as a pretty cool motto. Someone might say, "Oh, it's just a kitty cat. You gonna scratch me?"
But this is actually the Scottish wildcat, about 50% larger than the average domestic cat and supposedly impossible to tame, even when raised in captivity.
It is also a threatening, war-like motto which may have been appropriate for the feudal clans of the Scottish Highlands, but doesn't really match up with the life I lead.
Moving on, there are mottos more specific to the Nairn Clan.
Maybe part of the reason it's hard to find a definitive Nairn motto is the fact that Nairn is an armigerous clan, meaning it does not have a recognized chief and has no legal standing under Scots law.
My first reaction to this was, "Huh?" But it refers to the Battle of Ancrum Moor.
The battle was a 1545 victory of Scottish forces over a larger English army. The victory was achieved by attacking with a small group which retreated and led the English into a difficult position, at which point the main Scottish force attacked, "late, but in earnest." The English, and their German and Spanish mercenaries, found themselves on uneven ground, fighting uphill into the setting sun.
About a third of them were slaughtered and the survivors scattered into the surrounding countryside. Several clans in the battle adopted this motto.
So this could be kind of a war-like, kick-a$$ motto.
It applies to my life a little bit in that I am slow but steady. I may finish back in the pack, but I am serious about finishing.
But that explanation is way too long.
The hope I have for a cure for type 1 diabetes could be symbolized in this motto, but that hope is guarded. I don't see it as a key part of my philosophy.
I like to remain optimistic, hopeful, but I don't find this an inspiring motto.
That already sounds more like me.
(You thought I wouldn't get back into the topic of this blog?)
The tie-in with ultra-endurance events, ultramarathons, etc. is pretty obvious.
This phrase, "Plus ultra," has been used fairly often as a motto, because it refers back to an inscription which was supposed to be on the Pillars of Hercules. According to Roman mythology the pillars were built by Hercules near the Straits of Gibraltar and marked the edge of the world. On these pillars was the warning "Nec plus ultra" or "Non plus ultra," "nothing further beyond," a warning to go no further.
I might have glimpsed the Pillars of Hercules as I was diagnosed with an incurable disease back in 1974. I might have seen it as the end of a lot of things in my life.
I was fortunate that no one around me tried to tell me that diabetes was going to stop me. Unlike some other people I know with diabetes, I had no one saying, "Non plus ultra." "No more after this."
I thank my family for that.
Instead I was left to make my own choices on what was possible, and while it's often been a struggle, it's clear I chose "Plus ultra." "More beyond."
OK, that is an explanation, but it really isn't required.
"Plus Ultra" is my motto.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Desert RATS Trail Running Festival
About a week and a half ago, April 17th, I was in Fruita, CO to run the 25 mile trail race of the Desert RATS (Race Across The Sands) Trail Running Festival with Peter Nerothin of InsulInDependence.
If you pay any attention to the chart of my running log on the left hand side of this blog, then you know I didn't prepare for this at all. A while back Peter had been talking about this race, specifically the 50 mile race at this event, and I said, "I'll do it if you will."
Famous last words.
Anyway, with next to zero miles in the bank, after driving most of the previous day and arriving after midnight, I managed to convince Peter we should switch to the 25 mile race, which is an option allowed by the race director.
The 25 miler was so tough, and I am so out of shape, that I wasn't able to finish 25 miles before the cut-off time for continuing on the 50 mile course anyway.
I'm not sure what to say about the run. I definitely felt the altitude. My blood sugar was a little high in the first few miles, then when I got it down, it was bouncing, over 200 to under 70. It was 70 at the finish. I was cramping on and off for much of the run. I walked all of the uphills. The sad story you would expect to hear about someone doing something like this with no training.
Other than that, it was great weather and beautiful geography. Without further ado, here are some pictures:
Note the guy in the background rethinking his breakfast.
Peter hung with me all day in spite of the fact that I was going tediously slow. I much appreciate it.
I'm sure it sounds terrible from my description, but I hope the pictures tell a better story. As I said to another runner on the trail, "The worst day running is better than the best day at work."
I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A pro cycling team named Team Type 1
The news this week from the Team Type 1 Weekly Update is that "Team Type 1" was successful in the Tour Maroc and "Team Type 1" is going to race in the Tour of California.
Why do I not care?
I have been a Team Type 1 fan for years. I am eager to hear good news about what Team Type 1 is doing.
However, the professional cycling team that is called "Team Type 1" is mostly non-diabetics. Whenever I see an article about "Team Type 1" I do a quick scan to see if it involves the mens professional cycling team. If it does, then I will probably skip it.
The exception is if it deals with one of the type 1 diabetic riders, Joe Eldridge, Javier Megias Leal, Martijn Verschoor, or Fabio Calabria. If there are no diabetic riders mentioned, I have no interest in it.
Maybe you have trouble determining whether you're reading about a diabetic when you see a story from Team Type 1. Here's what I find usually works:
If it doesn't say the rider has diabetes in the story, he doesn't.
A lot of diabetics are, as you would expect, unaware that "Team Type 1" does not mean a team of type 1 diabetics. After all, for years, Team Type 1 was all type 1 diabetic riders. There are still teams bearing the name Team Type 1 which are all diabetic. You have to read the small print to know what is going on with the professional cycling team.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
If the people that have worked very hard to create the Team Type 1 brand want to use it for a professional cycling team, that's their choice.
I don't think they are intentionally trying to deceive. The professional cycling team does serve the diabetic community in a way. They have diabetic riders on the team, and more diabetic riders in development.
I don't know what it means to be on a development team, but that's because I don't know much about professional cycling.
I've tried to figure out what the professional team is about.
I didn't find a mission statement on the Team Type 1 web site, but this statement is prominently displayed:
I think the diabetics who are most inspired by the professional cycling team are the ones who don't know that most of the riders aren't diabetic.
From my current perspective, the pro team seems to be more about selling to diabetics than inspiring diabetics.
The pro team is not inspiring to me as a diabetic.
I have some understanding of what this team does for diabetic riders. I like to associate with other diabetics involved in the kinds of athletic activities I like. We share experiences and feelings, we inspire and help each other.
I've never been close, in any sport, to the level at which the diabetic riders on the "Team Type 1" professional or development cycling teams compete. If I was a competitive cyclist, I'd want to be on the "Team Type 1" professional team.
However, I think that success in cycling, like success in other sports, depends on individual abilities. No one can be put at the pinnacle by someone else.
There are diabetic athletes at or near the highest levels of almost every sport. Almost all of them have gotten where they are without being given special consideration for being diabetic.
Having this mostly non-diabetic professional cycling team gathered specifically to elevate diabetic cyclists seems to imply that diabetics can't make it in the sport without special consideration.
I don't buy that. I see it as a marketing gimmick for the team sponsors.
I wish all of the athletes on all of the Team Type 1 teams continued success, whether or not they are diabetic. I am naturally more excited about the successes of the diabetics.
Why do I not care?
I have been a Team Type 1 fan for years. I am eager to hear good news about what Team Type 1 is doing.
However, the professional cycling team that is called "Team Type 1" is mostly non-diabetics. Whenever I see an article about "Team Type 1" I do a quick scan to see if it involves the mens professional cycling team. If it does, then I will probably skip it.
The exception is if it deals with one of the type 1 diabetic riders, Joe Eldridge, Javier Megias Leal, Martijn Verschoor, or Fabio Calabria. If there are no diabetic riders mentioned, I have no interest in it.
Maybe you have trouble determining whether you're reading about a diabetic when you see a story from Team Type 1. Here's what I find usually works:
If it doesn't say the rider has diabetes in the story, he doesn't.
A lot of diabetics are, as you would expect, unaware that "Team Type 1" does not mean a team of type 1 diabetics. After all, for years, Team Type 1 was all type 1 diabetic riders. There are still teams bearing the name Team Type 1 which are all diabetic. You have to read the small print to know what is going on with the professional cycling team.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
If the people that have worked very hard to create the Team Type 1 brand want to use it for a professional cycling team, that's their choice.
I don't think they are intentionally trying to deceive. The professional cycling team does serve the diabetic community in a way. They have diabetic riders on the team, and more diabetic riders in development.
I don't know what it means to be on a development team, but that's because I don't know much about professional cycling.
I've tried to figure out what the professional team is about.
I didn't find a mission statement on the Team Type 1 web site, but this statement is prominently displayed:
We strive to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes.That is clearly what the all-diabetic teams, like those competing in RAAM, are about.
I think the diabetics who are most inspired by the professional cycling team are the ones who don't know that most of the riders aren't diabetic.
From my current perspective, the pro team seems to be more about selling to diabetics than inspiring diabetics.
The pro team is not inspiring to me as a diabetic.
I have some understanding of what this team does for diabetic riders. I like to associate with other diabetics involved in the kinds of athletic activities I like. We share experiences and feelings, we inspire and help each other.
I've never been close, in any sport, to the level at which the diabetic riders on the "Team Type 1" professional or development cycling teams compete. If I was a competitive cyclist, I'd want to be on the "Team Type 1" professional team.
However, I think that success in cycling, like success in other sports, depends on individual abilities. No one can be put at the pinnacle by someone else.
There are diabetic athletes at or near the highest levels of almost every sport. Almost all of them have gotten where they are without being given special consideration for being diabetic.
Having this mostly non-diabetic professional cycling team gathered specifically to elevate diabetic cyclists seems to imply that diabetics can't make it in the sport without special consideration.
I don't buy that. I see it as a marketing gimmick for the team sponsors.
I wish all of the athletes on all of the Team Type 1 teams continued success, whether or not they are diabetic. I am naturally more excited about the successes of the diabetics.
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