Category Archives: Athletes With Diabetes

Another June… Another 5k

June 11, 2019 – 10:11 am

I’m all about meeting goals, especially if they’re my own. And this past weekend, I was able to meet one of my yearly goals in a unique and fun way.

If you check out my blogroll on this page, you’ll see a link to Phyllisa’s blog, Diagnosed Not Defeated. On Saturday, Phyllisa celebrated her 40th birthday.

As part of her celebration, she arranged the Fit & Fabulous Virtual 5k… a chance for 40 people all over the world to complete their own 5k (5,000 kilometers) wherever they were.

For the last several years, I’ve usually participated in my local 5K, held about five minutes from where I live. This year, the local 5k is on Father’s Day, and I’ll be out of town. So when Phyllisa announced her virtual 5k to be held a week earlier, I jumped at the chance.

This gave me an opportunity to meet a goal I’ve had for a while now: to complete a 5k every year through age 60. I’m 57 now, and completing this event means I’m still on track to meet that goal, with only three more years to go.

Here’s a photo with me wearing the stylish race bib. And also a couple of short videos… one from just before the run, and one from about 15 minutes after.

As I mention in the last video, it was probably the slowest 5k I’ve run in my entire life. But it was still great fun.

Thanks to Phyllisa for organizing this event. You should definitely read her blog too. This was a terrific happening, and a nice way to get my weekend started. Fit & Fabulous 5k… Done!

By StephenS | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

World Diabetes Day 2018.

November 14, 2018 – 10:11 am

Welcome to another World Diabetes Day. 2018 marks the five year anniversary of the beginning of our Champion Athletes With Diabetes program. It’s been a remarkably rewarding experience sending medals to people from all walks of life, all over the world. It’s been the one, consistent thing I’ve done that makes me feel great every time I do it. It never gets old.

So, with this anniversary, I thought I would share a few photos of our athletes, and remind you that your medal is waiting. Find out how to get yours below.













To get your Champion Athlete With Diabetes medal, send me an e-mail at champswithdiabetes@gmail.com. Tell me your name, name of the athlete (it’s okay if it’s you), and your address (gotta know where to send the medal). Most important, tell me what athletic goal was accomplished, and when. Extra points if you tell me how you felt accomplishing the goal.

If it’s a big deal to you, it’s a big deal to me too. Send an e-mail for your award today.

By StephenS | Also posted in World Diabetes Day | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Another 5k.

June 21, 2018 – 10:11 am

This past Sunday, I ran in my local neighborhood 5k event. This was probably my 12th or 13th time running this one, and today, I can say, unequivocally:

My back is killing me!

I should mention from the outset that I felt great Sunday morning. I was ready to go. Also, this has never happened before when I’ve run. Maybe my back would feel uncomfortable, sometimes when I ran, but that uncomfortable feeling would go away pretty quick.

Instead, this time my back started hurting toward the end of the first mile. I just powered through, because, again, this has never happened before. A little after mile 2, my back was hurting so much that I walked.

And I alternated walking and running the last mile-plus of the run.

This event helps to raise money for cancer research and treatment for people living with and surviving a cancer diagnosis. Toward the finish, I ran up to a group of 10 to 15 who were either cancer survivors, loved ones of those survivors, or people who trained the survivors to run a 5k.

I didn’t want to finish ahead of them, so I walked a bit so they could get ahead of me. Then I started running again, and before I knew it, I caught up to them again. So I walked a bit longer, then started running again, before catching up to the group one last time. Each time I walked, my back hurt more and more.

By the end, I was running nearly completely bent over. A question mark? No, I looked more like a right angle. Even though I managed a sprint toward the finish, I couldn’t get myself fully upright.

I usually take ten or fifteen minutes to recover after a run like this. Then, I get a little breakfast (this event has the best post-race spread), and we go home.

This time, I took about 40 minutes to recover. It was difficult to sit for long, difficult and so painful to stand, difficult to walk. I could not get comfortable.

In fact, I can’t get comfortable, even now. Things are a little less painful, but days later I’m still feeling pain and still feeling uncomfortable. I’ve given up on the ibuprofen and naproxen sodium. I couldn’t take what it was doing to my stomach, so I’m just gutting it out until I can feel better.

I guess that’s progress in a way, because I can get by without pain relievers now, and I don’t think I could have hoped to do that a couple of days ago. But I’m still hurting.

Believe it or not, my time was pretty good for someone my age… 35:05.8. I don’t really know how I did it.

So I’ve finished this one. I’ve mentioned that I’d like to keep doing this until I turn 60. That’s four more years.

In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what my time is, or even that I finished. The most important thing is that I did my best, I hung in there, and the adversity I experienced didn’t deter me.

That is SO worth how my back feels right now.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (5)

Let’s award even more Champion Athletes With Diabetes.

May 10, 2018 – 12:18 pm

What does your medal look like?

Does it look like this?

Hey, we all need a goal. Why not a medal that recognizes your hard work and determination in the face of a never-ending chronic condition?

I have such a medal, and I would love to send it to you or a loved one living with diabetes. If it means that 5k run is completed, if tournaments or meets are finished, if someone checks in to their fitness class on a regular basis, it’s worthy of this medal and my congratulations.

Want to get a medal just like this one? The steps are simple:

Send an e-mail to champswithdiabetes@gmail.com. Let me know what you or your special athlete is taking part in, or took part in. Tell me about the resilience it takes to live with diabetes and pursue athletic goals. Give me your address. And I’ll send you a medal!

To date, over 80 Champion Athlete With Diabetes medals have been awarded to people on five continents. Trust me, it’s a cool medal. Our ranks have been growing every year, and I’d like to add you or your loved one to the roster.

Send me your e-mail today, and let me say congratulations for a medal well earned!

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Join the Champion Athletes With Diabetes this Year!

March 14, 2018 – 10:11 am

So here we are, already into the second week of March. Maybe the weather is warming up a bit where you are. Maybe the weather is starting to cool off a bit where you are.

Regardless, you may be training to compete in a local 5k… or thinking about doing a walk to help raise money for your favorite diabetes charity… or maybe you’re going all out and preparing for a marathon, or a 100 mile bike ride. Maybe you’re a swimmer competing in end-of-season meets, or you’re a basketball player looking forward to tournament time.

Or maybe you know someone who is doing one or more of the above.

If so, don’t forget that I have a fabulous medal waiting for anyone living with diabetes and achieving their athletic goals.

I’ve had my athletic pursuits through the years: baseball (and later, softball), basketball, water polo and swimming, and in more recent years, running, cycling, and triathlon. I know how hard it is to start and continue a training plan designed to squeeze out every last ounce of effort. I know what it’s like to try and manage your diabetes once it wakes up to that new level of effort.

I also know how good it feels to be rewarded for a goal well earned.

So come on! Let me know what you or your loved one has been doing to stay active while managing diabetes. Send an e-mail to champswithdiabetes@gmail.com. Let me know what you’re taking part in, or took part in. Give me your address. And I’ll send you a medal!

As of this writing, I’ve sent over 80 Champion Athlete With Diabetes medals to people ranging from age 9 to age I don’t know, but older than me. Recipients have come from dozens of states, around twenty countries, on five continents.

I’d like to send the next medal to you. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me too. Contact me today, and as they say in the USA:
Play Like a Champion.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (1)
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