I have an obsession with Team Novo Nordisk, if you are a regular visitor to this site you know that all to well.  I fell in love with cycling because of Lance Armstrong, I became obsessed and have a greater love for cycling, running, and triathlons because of Team Novo Nordsik.  I see team founder Phil Southerland and all the members of the team doing amazing things.  I know that they will ride in the Tour de France in 2021 but they have bigger goals they want to change the way people look at diabetes and diabetic athletes.

This past week a Team Novo Nordisk post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram caught my attention.  Above you see the hashtag #DiabetesEmpowered Team Novo Nordisk uses this hashtag whenever they are inspiring, educating or empowering people affected by diabetes.  All you have to do is use the hashtag #DiabetesEmpowered when you are working out or living to empower yourself or someone you know that is living with diabetes.  By using that hashtag you can win an all expense paid trip to Team Novo Nordisks 2015 training camp!! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!!!

That is definitely my dream and I believe I have used the hashtag #DiabetesEmpowered at least twenty times in the past five months when the campaign started.  My favorite picture is below, I love running but my diabetes always comes first, I can wait to wear the medal I need to check my blood sugar!!

For the past two Septembers I have been training for a local duathlon, a duathlon is usually a 5k, 20 mile bike ride and another 5k.  Two years ago the duathlon was cancelled because the local half marathon was the same day, and last year I decided to skip it because I was afraid of crashing on the bike and missing the NYC Marathon.  This year it seems that I will compete in my first duathlon on September 21st, this race is only seven days after a half marathon, I may not do great but I definitely want to compete.

Duathlons seem to be created for me, I'm an average runner but the shorter distance bike ride is my specialty.  I have yet to do any real duathlon training but will occasionally run after a bike ride. I will obviously train a little more in the coming weeks, but I'm not sure if I should ride the bike portion like a time trial.  If I do so I feel that I won't have enough in the tank to run the last 5k.  Luckily Leanne knows a local duathlete (not sure if that is what they're called) I'm hoping to pick his brain a bit before the race.

Last but not least is the diabetes and blood sugar concern.  I'm a little nervous that if I set a 9% temp basal an hour before the race I will be to high when the bike portion of the race starts.  If I bump up my temp basal to 25% I may be to low after the bike portion, I have a history of my blood sugar dropping very quickly when on the bike.  I will definitely play with my temp basal percentage to find the exact number to be able to race with a blood sugar between 130 and 200.  As always if anyone has any experience with duathlons or suggestions I welcome your advice. 

For the past few months I have had a tough diabetes challenge but one that seemed all to familiar.  As a cyclist and runner it is no secret that if I have a high or low blood sugar that I can't compete very well.  The same goes for caring for children, if the blood sugar is low or high things aren't great.

This evening I was with "Sharkie" and "Care Bear" for a couple hours while Leanne was at a work event.  Things went very smoothly, it still amazes me that two children are my responsibility and that they're ok in my care.  While I'm alone with the children I put tremendous pressure on myself to have flawless blood sugars.  I will put that same pressure on myself if I'm training or competing in a race.  This evening I had a blood sugar of 69 (tee hee) while with the children and I reacted to it like it read 40.  I don't want to be below 100 when racing or when taking care of the kids.  It is crazy but in my mind it has to be done and I will be very angry with myself when I have a blood sugar of 50 when I'm alone with them.  It will happen, I know this but I will work my butt off to try and avoid this.

The good news is that being a coach has prepared me for dealing with lows and high blood sugars while with kids.  Anytime you're in charge of another life being low or high isn't the best thing, I've had lows while coaching, being in a one point game with a low blood sugar and sitting on the benching yawning while eating a powerbar never looks good to the people in the crowd.  As someone said to Leanne "This is the biggest game of the year and Ryan is yawning, what is wrong with him?!?!?!"  The high blood sugar while coaching is never good, the short temper is never good.  Getting upset with a player because he made the wrong read on a play in practice is bad.  I then have to do the walk of shame and apologize and explain myself, the best part is that the kids can tell when my blood sugar is high or low.  That will come with time, but I'm still am terrified of a true low or high blood sugar  when alone with "Care Bear" and "Sharkie"

For the longest time I wasn't to concerned with tracking my heart rate, or seeing my mile time while running or biking.  I would use my Garmin and my hear rte monitor but never breakdown the activity that I had just done.  My only concerns were my blood sugar and having an average heart rate at or below 150.  

Running last weekend with a fellow diabetic I noticed that she used an app that gave her a lot of information, such as mile time, pace, and calories burned.  That night I decided to check out the app store to see if I could find a decent free app that would give me the basics of my run or bike ride.  I decided on three apps, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks and Strava.  I love all three apps but use RunKeeper and Strava the most right now.  I know that the app store has a lot of apps and would love to hear what apps other people are using.

I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing but I'm starting to track my runs and bike rides like I track my blood sugar.  This could be dangerous, I have a feeling that I will become obsessed with the information and be to hard on myself.  If that is the case I may have to stop using the apps, I enjoy running and cycling, I'd love to compete professionally but right now I do not and until I do obsessing over a mile that is ten seconds slower than the others would be crazy.  I need to balance the information and my exercise, a way to enjoy it and use the amazing information provided by any app that I use.

Yesterday while at work a group of coworkers were sitting and talking about their diets and how they aren't the healthiest diets possible.  Half way through the conversation I chimed in with my usual "It's not the food it is the amount" comment.  This is my nice way of telling them that their diets aren't horrible.  I got a chuckle from the group and was told "You're not allowed to talk, you're not normal, go eat some fruit."  Obviously the guys were joking but at that moment it hit me, I'm that health freak that people avoid.

The past two runs I have had my dexcom has been a little bit of a hassle.  On Saturday my dexcom fell of mid run, today as I was in the middle of a seven mile run my dexcom beeped alerting me that it had been out of range for almost forty minutes.  I have clearly had more good runs and bike rides with my dexcom than bad, I'm just having a stretch of tough luck.  I have a great idea of where my blood sugar is while I workout but being able to see a number while working out is great.

Training is going very well, my body is feeling great and my blood sugars have been better.  I have had less ups and downs, my blood sugar is consistent which is always good.  I definitely need to get a better handle of my temp basal rates however, the past two runs have ended with low blood sugars.  I also have started using a protein shake after any workout, for a diabetic post exercise is a challenge.  The timing of insulin and post workout snack are very challenging.  The body responds differently to each workout so the same amount of insulin each time will not work.  i have been using protein shakes for almost two weeks and have not had consistent results blood sugar wise.  The label says that each shake only contains 5 carbs so it shouldn't affect my blood sugar.  My question is, does anyone truly know or have some knowledge of protein shakes and diabetes.  I'd love to know a little bit more.

Usually the Tour De France is the highlight of the cycling season for me, three weeks of professional cycling at the highest level, it couldn't get any better.  Today it did get better, Team Novo Nordisk is racing in the USA Pro Challenge this week.  All weekend I couldn't wait for the seven stage race held in Colorado to start, all weekend I was seeing photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram of the team training in Colorado.  This afternoon I made sure to be home by 5pm so that I could watch the first stage with "Sharkie" and "Care Bear"  They don't understand my love for the team in white and orange but seeing them on TV gave me chills as I tried my best to explain to "Care Bear" what was going on.  Care Bear just likes the bikes, for the almost three hours it was on tv all I heard was "BIKES WOW"

After a nice dinner with the family I turned my attention back to the race, with just five miles left I was sitting waiting and hoping someone from Team Novo Nordisk would try to attack and get the stage win.  At the 3k mark Javier Megias attacked and opened a slight gap on the field, that close to the finish a small gap is all it takes to get the win, as Leanne was getting Care Bear ready for bed I was holding Sharkie and yelling "COME ON!! HOLD ON!! COME ON!!!"  Leanne ran in and said "Oh it's the bike race, I thought "Sharkie" did something"  As Javier was making the last few turns he was caught by two riders, he was about 400 meters from the win.  Javier finished 6th overall, a very impressive finish!!

This morning I saw this post on Facebook

That post tells you everything you need to know about Team Novo Nordisk and anyone that lives with diabetes.  Diabetics are fighters and are faced with so many challenges day in and day out.  Team Novo Nordisk could finish last in every single race but that wouldn't matter to me and the people that love the team.  When you know what it takes to ride a bike with diabetes you can't help but love this team!!  They are super heroes!!!  I say it a lot but what they are doing is simply amazing!!  I can't wait for a member of Team Novo Nordisk to be on the podium at the USA Pro Challenge, I can't wait to see it happen!!  The best part is Team Novo Nordisk is getting noticed, the picture below was from the blog on the Tour Tracker app for the USA Pro Challenge

Co-Founder of Team Novo Nordisk, Mr. Phil Southerland, has done so much for diabetes and now is our chance to give back and help him.  Mr. Southerland will be riding in the Haute Route Pyrenees starting September 1st.  Haute Route Pyrenees is seven days riding some of the toughest roads and mountains in the Pyrenees.  The Team Type 1 Charity is the official charity of the ride.  Mr. Southerland has set a personal goal of $50,000 to raise for the ride.  

Mr. Southerland has done so much for people living with diabetes.  Yes he was co-founder of a pro cycling team that has brought diabetes to the forefront of the world cycling craze.  That would be enough, that is a very impressive feat.  The team does so much for those living with diabetes, members of the team volunteer hours upon hours each year to speak to children with diabetes.  The goal of the team is to be successful on and off the bike.  They know how tough it is to live with diabetes and how much of inspiration they are to anyone that has diabetes.

Personally the team has helped me so much.  I fell in love with cycling because of Phil Southerland and Team Type 1, Team Type 1 then became Team Novo Nordisk.  When I began blogging I would write about cycling and my dreams of brining diabetes to a major sport.  After years of dreaming Mr. Southerland brought diabetes in to cycling and hasn't looked back.  I'm one of those crazed Team Novo Nordisk fans, I follow them on all of the major social networking sites and love when a member is on the podium.  I have been lucky that a number of the members of Team Novo Nordisk have found my blog thanks to Mr. Southerland who has shared a couple with them.  I love seeing on Facebook members of the team posting everyday photos and diabetes photos.  That lets me know that they are normal people, and struggle with diabetes like anyone else living with the disease.  Mr. Southerland and Team Novo Nordisk are great, I ask that you say thank you by donating to help Mr. Southerland reach his goal, it is the least we could do for him after all that he has done for us.

To donate CLICK HERE

The mind is a very interesting and powerful part of the body.  I can go to bed with all of the best intentions, I will fall asleep and plan to run at 430am, it isn't easy, waking up at 430 sucks.  That is the toughest part of my day though, once I'm up it is game time.  I will go workout or run and for the rest of the day I will be motivated to do the best that I can in whatever I'm doing.

I will admit I will wake up some mornings and hit the snooze button, those are horrible days because I will be mad at myself all day.  Hitting the snooze is not me, I'm human however and give in.  I believe that is important that you challenge yourself everyday, sometimes I will have bad days.  On those bad days how to do I get in the right mindset to do what I need to do.  I will cheat and I will often listen to motivational speeches like the one below.  These will get me in the right frame of mind to go workout and to challenge myself.  

Whenever you feel down or don't want to do something I encourage you to search YouTube for Eric Thomas speeches.  After you watch one of the videos if you are not motivated to succeed in whatever you do than you may be in trouble.

I have never been so happy to get an A1C result as I was today.  I enjoyed every second of being at the doctor, when the doctor walks in and gives you a big hug you know it is going to be a great appointment.  As I sat waiting to hear my A1C I had a good feeling.  When you put in the work the results will come and when I heard 6.5 I knew that I had earned that.

Lately a few of my cycling friends have been asking what my plans are for racing this fall. I have two half marathons that I'm signed up for, one in September and one in the middle of October. After that I don't know what my plan is, when I tell this to people they ask of I would be interested in cyclocross. Cyclocross is a combination of cycling and running that is held on a grass track, it usually turns in to a very muddy race. I have become interested as of late, I mean why wouldn't I? Cycling and running in one event, it doesn't get much better.

My only concern is getting a bike and finding the time to train and race. Luckily I have a great local bike shop and the owner which is very knowledgeable and always willing to help or teach. The next step is to have a conversation with him and see what I have to do to try out cyclocross.

As always my main concern is my diabetes. How will it affect my blood sugars and what will I need to do before the race as far as a temp basal. I need a little bit of help from diabetics that have or currently compete in cyclocross, where do I start and how difficult is cyclocross for a diabetic?

I know that my blog is not up in the top ten diabetes blogs but that is not why I got in to blogging a couple years ago.  I started blogging because I knew how difficult it was for me as a diabetic to get to Category 4 as a cyclist.  I had a feeling that other diabetic athletes needed a blog so that they knew that they were not the only ones facing so many challenges in whatever sport they were competing in.  Today I have a decent following and for whatever reason the people in England love me, you guys are great and make it fun to write each night.

For years I was scared to tell others that I had diabetes.  I did my best to hide it and never wanted anyone, including family, to ask me what my blood sugar was.  Today I'm blogging about my diabetes and tonight I believe I'm taking it to a new level.  

I have an appointment with my endocrinologist on Wednesday afternoon and I'm very excited to see what my A1C is.  I invite anyone that reads this blog to try and guess what my A1C will be on Wednesday, I will be sure to get a photo of the results so it is official.  As I said earlier I have a decent following in England, so the person that is closest without going over or gets my A1C correct gets the pleasure of riding with me in their hometown.  (If it is England I may have to move in with you, I know that my wife won't be to happy with this crazy idea)  I'm not sure what year the ride will be but I have nothing else to give away so it sounds good.

In all seriousness I encourage people to guess my A1C.  I don't know why we as diabetics hide so much, my hope is to have other diabetics share their A1C, the only way I know how to do that is to show people that we shouldn't be ashamed of our A1C no matter the number.  The diabetes community is very helpful and whatever your number they will give advice.  Heres to the start of making our A1C public!!!

Team Novo Nordisk is in Denmark racing in the 24th edition of the Tour of Denmark.  Denmark holds a special place in the teams heart, Novo Nordisk corporate headquarters are located in Denmark.  After three stages of the tour, Team Novonordisk is holding their own with some very high quality bike racers.  To see where members of Team Novo Nordisk are on the leaderboard you can check the official Tour of Denmark website. (The site is in Danish, I use Google Chrome to translate the page.)

As I was looking at the results of todays stage I started to think about how difficult it is to be a professional cyclist with diabetes.  It would be a great life but I believe the challenge of living with diabetes is that much tougher.  Sure they have doctors and nutritionists with them 24/7 but so much more goes in to being an athlete.  What really had me thinking was the traveling that they do, I mean my blood sugars are off for a few days if I go to a different time zone.  I can't imagine traveling thousands of miles on a plane and trying to mange my diabetes while racing a bike.  I have trouble sleeping changing time zones, these guys are out racing at least a hundred miles a day at well over 20mph and managing their diabetes.  It is amazing and so motivating, I find it very difficult to complain about a high blood sugar over a thirty mile flat bike ride when these guys are racing at the highest level possible.  It is amazing!!!

I'm a bit of a Team Novo Nordisk junkie, I follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  It is motivating to see what they are doing every single day.  Today on Instagram Team Novo Nordisk did a day in the life of rider Martijn Verschoor, from being on the team bus, to testing before the race, it was all photographed and posted to Instagram.  Team Novo Nordisk is amazing and an inspiration to so many each and every day.  Keep up the great work and know that the future is very bright for the team.  (Little motivation for the team just in case they happen to read the post, I can dream right?)

I figured tonight was a good night to talk about the birds and the bees.  It was a slow day so why not talk about a very odd subject.  Don't worry this blog will get serious very quickly and I will not be talking about the birds or the bees.  

Tonight I had a great night and dinner with the family, as we were finishing up dinner "Care Bear" took a napkin and started to clean the table.  She then saw my hands and cleaned them, as I turned my hand over she saw my diabetes tattoo and tried to wipe it off.  At that moment it hit me, how the heck do I tell kids about diabetes.  I have spoken in front of large crowds numerous times about diabetes, how is that I'm so scared to talk to a child about diabetes.  I have plenty of time to figure it out but I don't know where to start.  I mean I can talk to my own children but what about their friends.  I have a feeling that after a baseball game the kids will be lined up to get candy and I will be throwing them out of the way because my blood sugar is low.  I can hear it now "Your dad is weird, why is he sweating and craving skittles?"  "Why does your dad run or ride his bike to all of your games?"

At what age do you tell a child about diabetes?  I don't know, how do you put it in a way that they can understand the basics.  What about when they ask about an insulin pump, I can't get all scientific and get in to the science of it.  Right now my plan of attack is to use the bike to try and help explain it, I don't want to use the word broken at any moment but I think I have to.  Broken seems to be a bad word when talking about diabetes but is a word that children can understand.  After that I'm totally lost, I mean do I come out and say I ride my bike and run so much because that helps me live?  The last thing I want is for a child to think that I'm dying.

I'm sure a lot of people have had the diabetes talk with their children.  As you can tell I'm lost when it comes to the subject, I know that I'm not the only one with a fear of telling kids about diabetes.  Anyone that has some experience or ideas I'd love to hear them!!!  

To often I hear "I wish I could live without diabetes for just one day!!" As a diabetic athlete that comment hurts me, most not all, people want one day off from diabetes so that they can eat whatever they want. With the development of the bionic pancreas all I hear is how you can eat whatever you want and your blood sugar will not spike. That's all well and good but I'd love to hear about how the bionic pancreas works while running a marathon or cycling one hundred miles. Others want a break from the shots and blood sugar testing, this I understand but again this is not something I would wish for.

I believe that all diabetic athletes have dreams. I have many dreams as a diabetic athlete, I want to run the Boston Marathon in a team Novo Nordisk singlet. I'd also love to see Team Novo Nordisk race in person, my last dream is to go on a training ride with the Novo Nordisk cycling team. These are dreams and I believe that any dream can be realized.

If I had one wish, it would be to ride alpe d'huez the day before team Novo Nordisk does so in the Tour De France, I would also love to be in the team car for the stage to see the team race in the greatest bike race in the world. I don't know if this could ever happen but I wish it could, I know the team will be in France in 2021, I don't know how but I wish I could be there. I know that all diabetic athletes have wishes, feel free to share them below!!!

I often like to keep my blood sugars lower than I should. For the past six years blood sugars of 60 are not a rareity. With my job I have learned how to fully function with a blood sugar between 55-70. I also have an amazing support team around me, all of the guys I work with know how I act when low or high and what to do in each situation.

The other night I got home from a very long day at work. I was very tired and dehydrated, I felt great other than that. I was functioning normally, I was able to change and iron my clothes for the next day. I was in my nightly routine, I decided to test before bed as I do each night. When I saw 39, I laughed. I wanted to test again but I thought about what 39 ment and decided to grab juice and food to fix it.

A 39 blood sugar is not like a 60. My face was numb and that low feeling didn't go away for an hour. I don't mind being at 70 but anything below 50 is not good. Seeing 39 was a reminder that what diabetes can do and how close to death I was.