Diabetes Blog – Happy-Medium.net

If I may, let me take a moment of your time to remind you that we’re still awarding medals for athletic achievement.

I thought it was worth a mention again because, you know, it’s spring, and people are getting out of their houses and doing more to stay active. In fact, you might even be planning to complete a long bike ride, or a 5K run, or even a JDRF walk. Or maybe you just want to see how many numbers you can put up on that new Fitbit.

Hey, I know how tough it is to set a fitness goal and keep it, especially while managing a chronic condition. I live with diabetes myself, remember? I understand that with school, work, kids, set changes, CGM insertions, basals, boluses, stubborn highs, crazy lows, and everything else that diabetes slams us with on a constant basis, our window to get good exercise into our day is smaller than it is for most people. But I also know we’re the type (types?) that don’t let the thought of all of that deter us. People With Diabetes are the strongest people I know, in body, mind, and spirit.

Yet, often our perseverance, our resilience, goes unnoticed. Well, no more.

I’ve still got a fistful of medals to give away to People With Diabetes who are reaching their athletic goals. The criteria is simple and informal. You can write in for yourself, or for someone close to you who’s living with diabetes and bravely overcoming obstacles to reach their goals. So far, we’ve awarded medals to someone who goes to boxing class every week, bikers (Mike and Bob), runners (Kelley, Corey, and Scott), a volleyball player, a dancer, an amputee, and a 50 year Joslin medalist.

Please, please, please, help to add more names to the list.

Here are the rules:

1. The athlete receiving the award must be living with diabetes.

2. The athletic event must have taken place in the last six months. For now, we’re going with a pretty loose interpretation of the word “event”. If you feel you or your loved one accomplished something important to you, that’s an event. ‘Nuf said.

3. 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. Full disclosure: I reserve the right to use your testimonial here, on Twitter, and on Facebook. I will not use your name if you don’t want me to. As always, I will never share private information.

4. When you receive your medal, it would be great if you post a photo of it around the athlete’s neck. You can send a Tweet to @ChampsWithD (hashtag: #champdathletes) or post it on the Champion Athletes With Diabetes Facebook Page.

I’ve been saying this since the beginning, but it bears repeating here: D-Athletes are amazing. It takes a tremendous amount of planning, effort, and bravery to see a fitness goal and make it a reality. Heck, sometimes, it’s everything we can do just to walk around the block. Getting out of your comfort zone and taking that brave step is something that should be recognized and rewarded.

If it’s a big deal to you, it’s a big deal to me too. Help me get some more of these medals out the door and into the hands of athletes! I want to support you or the Athlete With Diabetes in your life. Send an e-mail for your award today.
 
 
 

Can you believe we’ve handed out nine medals to Champion Athletes With Diabetes?

Inspirational stories have come from everywhere. By telling them, I hope I’m letting you know that you are capable of achieving more than you ever imagined too. Today’s story is exactly that.

Kelley Kent lives in the Richmond area with her husband Chris. On her blog, Below-Seven, she describes herself as an accountant by day, blogger by night, an MBA soon to be CPA, and a Type 1 diabetic. For the record, she’s one heck of an athlete. I’ll let Kelley tell the story from here:
 
 
I got married in May 2011. By November 2012, I realized that I had gained thirty pounds and was my heaviest ever. It was a combo of enjoying the first year of marriage and also transitioning from an office job to a job where I work from home-the kitchen became way too close to where I was working! I decided that something needed to change and my sister, who is really into fitness (she’s done half marathons, Olympic triathlons, ragnar races, etc.), suggested I try a Couch to 5k program.

In November of 2012, I started the Couch to 5k program. I’ve always been pretty athletic (playing basketball, softball, flag football, etc. growing up) but I’ve never been in very great shape. The first day of the C25K was rough. I couldn’t even run for one minute! But that’s why the program works so well; it starts off slowly and you build up quickly but not too quickly. I remember texting my sister when I first started that I couldn’t imagine week five where I had to run for five full minutes!

By January (2013), I was running close to a 5k (30 minutes!) and feeling great about my progress. My sister was signing up for the Monument 10k, a race in Richmond in April, and suggested I sign up as well since I had been doing well with the C25k. My husband, who was also doing the C25k with me, and I decided to sign up for the 10k training group and registered for the race. I was scared at first because 6 miles seemed impossible! But April 13th rolled around and I did it! I ran the entire race.

I’m a person very motivated by goals. After the 10k, I didn’t have any races that I was signed up for so my running slacked a little. I was so happy with my new hobby that I didn’t want laziness to take over. So I decided to sign up for an 8k in June, then a 5k in July and then a triathlon in August. The triathlon came about randomly. My sister was competing in an Olympic triathlon in June and I went to cheer her on. I didn’t know much about triathlons at the time but it ended up being a lot of fun to watch. While I was spectating, I thought to myself, I can swim, I can bike, and I have just gotten the running under my belt, I bet I could do a triathlon too! After watching my sister’s race, I decided to sign up for a sprint triathlon. A triathlon is a completely different beast than just running a race. For a triathlon, you have to figure out what to do with your pump during the swim portion; you have to deal with three different activities that all affect your blood sugar different; you have to test your blood sugar during the transitions, causing your transition time to be higher than non-diabetics. I was able to figure out and overcome those obstacles and I had a lot of fun while doing it! I’m debating doing another one this year (maybe even an Olympic).

Feeling pretty confident after completing the triathlon, I decided to get a little crazier and I signed up for a half marathon in November. Then I went one step further and signed up for another half marathon in January. I started running in November 2012 and one year later, I completed a half marathon. It’s pretty remarkable what the human body and mind can accomplish. I NEVER thought I would run a half marathon in my life! Somehow I have transformed into thinking a 5k is a short run! I started running because I wanted to shed a few pounds and I lost about 25 pounds (close to my 30 pound gain!) In addition to the weight loss, running included an even better benefit, getting my A1C below seven, a goal I have been working towards for years! Running is now a part of my life and something I hope to do for the rest of my life.
 
 
I think the interesting thing about Kelley’s story is that here she was, living her life, diabetes in hand, and she just woke up one day and said “I want to do this”. And she made it happen.

Maybe you’re feeling like you’ll never be the kind of athlete that Kelley is. So what? I won’t either. What’s important is to get moving, and to persevere through whatever might try to stop you. Despite all the things that could have gone wrong, Kelley handled it all in a way that was surprising even to her. You know what? Even if surprising to you is walking around the block every day for a week, I’m know you’re capable of the same kind of determination.

That’s what makes these stories so inspirational, and so worthy of recognition by all of us. Not the actual accomplishments. It’s the strength that comes from knowing we turned fear and loathing into courage and fortitude. That’s where champions are made.

Are you achieving athletic goals while living with Type 1, Type 2, or another flavor of diabetes? Send me your story, and I’ll send you a medal just like Kelley’s. Click here to find out how to get yours.