Single Speed Anthem

Most of my posts as of late have been about running. Problem is that I have been neglecting my love for the bike! I love to ride and I have fallen off the wagon in hopes of pushing my running skills to another level...sad but true. Thus, despite the frigid temps outside, it's time to think about getting back on the bike(s) and getting back on the topics of bikes!

In fact, I recently purchased a variety of mods for my bikes- here are a few:

sunlite bike trailer

2 cree 250 lumen lights

contour cam

new Triabetes tri and ride kits by Zoca

misc pieces of gear for cold weather riding

...and last but not least, 2 new bikes!

felt z85 road bike

SE 29er single speed

I will do a full report on the new rides asap. In the meantime, in honor of single speeders everywhere, check out these sweet new videos I found:

You're crazy...

Knock on wood, I have stayed relatively injury free for some time. Still, this video is funny in more ways than one. I am not an overly obsessive "team awesome" guy like this fella and many others I know (see my st jude finish time for proof of that!), but there remains some common "perspective" on the need to train and stay ahead of the game. I especially like the wife's take on it- that aspect of the video may be the most accurate of all for me :-) Enjoy.

Maybe I'm not the "NORM"...

You gotta love ole Matt Foley motivational speaker...I use to love that SNL bit. Who didn't!? He may have been a moron, but at least he wasn't boring right? Ugh that's the worst. Please let me know if I ever encroach upon the world of boring, ok? I mean c'mon- my pictures alone gotta be somewhat entertaining, no?! ;-)

Anyway, I often begin a post by saying "as many of you know" because I know I can be painfully repetitive! However, that probably doesn't apply for this post. What many of you outside of the Memphis area may not know is that I have been trying to improve my speaking resume. I of course speak on the topic that I have 30+ years of experience on- Diabetes! 

I guess I started speaking more at the beginning of the year for various organizations and for my local Endocrinologist. I have enjoyed it each and every time and I continue to be amazed at how powerful a room of Diabetics can be. Inspirational stuff to say the least! 

So far, I am happy to say that I have been rather well received. I don't know if I am good or bad at it- that is for others to decide- but I do think my message is solid. I am admittedly opinionated and outspoken on the Diabetic experience and I seek to (as my blog demonstrates) convince others that Diabetes will NOT stop you from living a full life in any way. My message comes in the form of an opinion for humility purposes, but truth be told, I consider my aforementioned statement a fact!

A quick aside before I forget... I plan on updating my blog with my speaking efforts, so please stay tuned for that news as it comes. In the meantime  check out my "speaker profile" at speakerlink.org for more info. As my profile indicates, I am open to most any who/what/when/where as long as it is Diabetes related. I'll keep you posted.

So along those lines, last Saturday I spoke at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) "Diabetes Now" at Baptist Memorial Hospital Education Center. The event was put on by the local Memphis ADA and it served to educate those within the community that suffer from Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. There were vendors, speakers, demonstrations- you name it!

I was to speak in a classroom with a fellow Type 1 and old friend Kimberly. I knew Kimberly from Camp Hopewell years ago (see pic below!) and we have managed to stay in touch since. She happens to also be a great a Certified Diabetic Educator (CDE) and the former pump coordinator at my Endo's office. She too is a healthy 30+ year Diabetic, so together we made a good team.

We received a warm welcome from the eclectic crowd. We had a 30 minute slot and nearly a full room. Kim did a great job of handling the clinical questions, while I really focused on lifestyle, motivation, perspective and fundamentals. Our info was well received despite the majority of the attendees being Type 2. Still, we focused on many crossover topics.

I was glad to offer insight and tips to many Diabetics who simply don't know much about their disease and/or many who get too caught up on the details. You would be surprised how often I see both! I kept coming back to fundamentals of health, reminding folks to get back to the basic rules of health that everyone- not just Diabetics- must practice. I of course said more than that, but that was my main idea :)

Anyway, It was interesting to interpret the collective perspective of the audience and it was really nice to meet some new Diabetic faces. I was happy to be a part of it and look forward to more of the same!

Dawn Phenom Event for Insulindependence

As many of you know, I am a regional Captain for Insulindependence.org (IN). I have numerous duties as a Captain, but planning Dawn Phenom (DP) events may be the most fun. The term Dawn Phenom also has a quasi medical meaning...you should Google it :-)

A DP is basically an outreach event within your community, put on in the name of Insulindependence (IN). It can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it encourages Diabetics to get out there and be active!

Point of the story ;-) I held a DP yesterday in Memphis' Shelby Farms Park. Greg helped me put it on- he too is an IN member. The plan was to meet up at the Memphis Greenline trailhead at 2:00pm and (weather permitting) hold a simple run/walk. We brought some drinks, a custom made IN banner (sweet!), some IN docs and setup in the code enforcement parking lot.

We had a few folks stop by our "tent" and we answered a bunch of questions. It was nice to see people so interested. We hung out a little longer for some stragglers and kicked off the run at 2:30. I was itching to get back on the trail after the STJ marathon and the weather was great...so the setting was perfect!

We went from the code enforcement lot to the Greenline entrance, dropped in on the blue trail, took the blue to Walnut Grove and ran the gravel service roads back. We ended just in time, as it was getting increasingly cold with the setting sun. It came to an easy goin' 5 miles for those who went all the way...not bad!

Much thanks to Greg for helping out and thanks to the Shelby Farms Greenline for making it a painless setup. Good times for all...and for those who missed out, there will be more to come- stay tuned!

RTB St. Jude Memphis Marathon Race Report!

Let me start by saying that I am very happy to report that I successfully completed my training for the St. Jude Memphis Marathonn and more importantly, I successfully finished the race on December 3rd! Congrats to Greg and thank you to all my friends/family members who came out to support us. What a day!

All things considered, the race went really well. Luckily, the weather was great and despite my Dexcom bailing on me 3 minutes before race start (grrrrrr!), we fueled properly, ran the race we planned on and most importantly- enjoyed ourselves. 

I used a gel flask filled with EFS Liquid Shot as my primary fueling method along with some S Caps for sodium and it worked well. I also rocked our new Triabetes.org team race kit from Zoca in San Diego...very cool! Thanks IN!

Backing up some, if you recall, Greg and I did the Stumpjump 50k in Oct, so we knew we could handle the mileage...but could pickup the training plan right after the 50k and could we find a way to run 26.2 with a consistent pace? Before the race, I felt as though marathons and (trail) Ultras are very very different animals and I was right- more on that later though. 

This was our first marathon, so our game plan was to be conservative throughout in order to make sure we finish. "Competing" for a finish time of X:XX can be saved for marathon 2 and beyond, thus our standard first time race approach of "completing rather than competing" remained paramount. 

Our goal was to run the first 10 to 20 miles at a sub 11 pace...ie 10:50ish for conservation purposes and see what we had left in the hopes that we could perhaps crank it up to a 10:30 to 10:45 pace and bring our overall time down closer to a 4:30 finish...a respectable finish time for newbie mid to back of the packers like me and Gregory :-) Remember, I'll smoke you over 100 meters...but anything beyond that is questionable!

Anyway, we did a pretty decent job at managing our pace to the 13.1 point, however the "hope" of having more in the tank to push towards the finish simply didn't happen after mile 20. My wife helped morale a bunch by meeting me with our daughter at miles 7.5ish and 18ish. So after seeing them at 18, downing some s-caps and black gold (Coke!), I was ready to finish.We actually got a bit slower as the mileage progressed and finished the race just under 5. 

We were still pleased to finish knowing we ran the whole way, overcoming some late cramps and fatigue too.Though some would be horrified to finish a full marathon just under 5, we were ok with it because we felt as though we didn't let the race get too far out of reach. Thus, we have something to work with for next time. Overall, it was a great day and a great learning. 

50 miler next??? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Stay tuned!

Congrats TT1!

I have been giving you the updates and I am now happy to announce that Team Type 1's running team successfully completed the Run Across America. 3000+ freakin miles. Are you kidding me? These guys are on a whole other level. What a talented crew and what an inspirational story. Thanks again guys.

Here is a great news story on their journey (takes a few secs to load):

National Diabetes Month...RTB Style!

November is National Diabetes Month- very cool. I wasn't even aware of that until i joined the "online" Diabetic Community just last year. Who knew?! Some care, some don't and thats fine. To each their own. 

Regardless, the Diabetes community is striving for more of a national presence and an efforts (like this) fall in line with the successes of the big boys (cancer, heart health, etc). I get it and I like it b/c bottom line- we deserve it!

Even better, today (nov 14) is the official "World Diabetes Day". So I wanted to post the National Diabetes Month image on the blog..which I did (see above)... but I also wanted to do a RTB verison of the increasingly popular FB status post regarding what being a Type 1 Diabetic means. 

Why worry about the FB post? Well, in all honesty, it bothers me a lot b/c it is so doom & gloom. As I have said many times before, I know everyone has a different experience as a Type 1 and I respect that...but for whatever its worth, I refuse to let Negative Nancy's "version" of the status symbolize my experience.  It may be fine for others- but not for me.

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to create a more positive version. Here's the current version (from FB):

It's Diabetes Awareness month. It isn't pink or sexy, it doesn't involve boobs, football players, or cute shirts. It's about being grateful when your loved one wakes up in the morning. Its about 3am bloodchecks, needles, low blood sugars, and the smell of insulin on your hands after changing a pumpsite or filling a syringe. Its about going through keytones, "why me?"s, and explaining that you didn't get it because you ate too much candy 23456789876543456 times. Its about being grateful you went to the hospital when you did. Or feeling so lucky when you wake up from a coma, or a seizure because you got to see another day. That's a person with diabetes's life. Repost if you have or love someone with diabetes.

...and here is my modified version of the post- RTB style:

November is Diabetes Awareness month. In fact, today is World Diabetes Day. I am a Type 1 Diabetic. I am my own pancreas b/c mine does not work. Technology helps a great deal, but it is a bandaid- not a cure. A cure may or may not come- idk. Until then, I have to address the now: blood test by blood test, shot by shot, day by day in order to live my life to the fullest. Thus, it is a lifestyle...a never ending responsibility...a reality that I must never ignore. It is about honesty with yourself and dedication to persevere at all costs. There are good days and bad but I will not be defined by either. The disease is capable of a lot, but we as Diabetics are capable of much more. 

Repost it if you like my version better- no worries either way... and remember: 

Just say NO to doom & gloom!!!