October 28, 2009
Jennifer S.

I DID IT!!! I can’t even explain how it felt to cross the finish line with 70.3 miles under my belt (feet, arms, etc.)!! But, I can personally explain what it took to get to this fantastic finish line. A combination of People, Places and Things!

People: Like most people, when I am invited to do something or encouraged to try something I usually grab the opportunity. Such is the case with my decision to join this fantastic group of women. I met Mari, our team founder at DTC last September ’08 and by the end of the week was convinced I could swim/bike and run 70.3 miles with the support of a team. Not only were my teammates priceless in my journey and on the course on Sunday, but also the expertise of our medical and coaching staff went above and beyond. I can’t imagine how many miles Yoli put on her feet on Sunday as she cheered for each of us on each lap of the run, or Matt who was out there making sure we had checked our BG and were OK. Behind the scenes are the often-unmentioned type 3’s - supportive family and friends who make our journey in life with Diabetes manageable. We had the best…THE BEST.. supporters on Sunday. No one else’s compared!

Places: Every journey starts somewhere….mine happened to start in Snowmass, CO at Diabetes Training Camp. Rather than continuing to “go it alone” in my diabetes management during exercise, I decided to take the recommendation of one of my clients and attend the camp. I learned so much about diabetes and exercise during this camp, and felt more confident in training for endurance events after returning home.
After meeting Mari at camp and making the decision to join Team WILD, I then attended camp in San Antonio, TX last April. Training was specific for our 70.3 Ironman and included swimming in Decker Lake, biking part of the course (I don’t remember the road having so many gaping cracks) and running part of the course. All essential elements as I look back on this journey.
I also think of my favorite running routes, and bike trails I took while logging the miles to get me to the start line. Thank goodness for the George Washington Parkway trail, the W &OD trail, Capital Crescent Trail and yes, those virtual trails when the weather outside didn’t permit activity and I had to resort to my local gym!
And finally the couch in my house, where I took all the Sunday night team organization calls, was another essential place. Here, via teleconference, we as a team planned not only training strategy and BG/insulin/food strategy, but also how to build our team into an organization that could empower more women in the coming years to join and make a healthful change in their diabetes management.

Things: Along with healthy management come a lot of “things”. BG monitors, test strips, syringes, insulin or pills for blood glucose control, measuring cups, carb counting resources, pumps and supplies, continuous glucose monitors, glucose tablets and on and on! Throw in the swim goggles, bike helmet and shoes, running shoes, heart rate monitors, cadence monitors, hydration and fuel needs of endurance athletes and we should need a small U-Haul truck to follow us on every outdoor adventure we take. But, we figured out how to include and use all of these things while training for and finally competing in this endurance event. Without these things and the technology behind them I wouldn’t have finished the race.

There is absolutely no I in TEAM and there is a reason this is true. All of these people, all the places and all the things used to get me here, were a compilation of a TEAM effort. I couldn’t have done this alone, and frankly, I don’t think I would have finished without the commitment of every team member. We learned so much together and hopefully we can continue to inspire women everywhere to live healthfully with Diabetes.

October 28, 2009
Susan Y.

All events leading up to race day at Longhorn 70.3 were an education for me. As a type 3 supporter, I was a fly on the wall, listening to all the gals talk about their strategies, plan A, then plan B, pre-race plans, checking in with Matt, Celeste, Nicle, Yoli, Marcey about their nutrition, bike/swim strategies, insulin levels, monitors, lancets, sensors, etc. I was feeling a little out of the loop there.

I knew what my race strategy would be - don't go out too fast, pace yourself on the run, drink water at every station, cheer everyone on, don't get cramps. I think out of all of those, I only did two of them - drink water at every station and cheer everyone on. I was so antsy waiting 7 hours (arriving at 5:45AM) before my run leg to start, that I went out too fast on the first loop, then every mile and loop thereafter was progressively slower. Well, duh, isn't that what always happens to me? Note to self - talk to Yoli about pacing strategy...again. Dang, after 15 years of triathlons, you'd think I would get it straight by now.

I was really happy when Sarah Worah needed someone to hold her sensor while she was doing the swim. She was worried about how she was going to get it after the swim. Me, me, me! Let me do something important...which it was for her and I was happy to do so. While waiting in the swim to bike relay exchange pen with Karyn Brown, Sarah's sensor was vibrating so that was making me nervous. Karyn explained what it was doing and that it was nothing to worry about, so I relaxed. Sarah soon came running up the ramp from the swim, I handed her the sensor and off she went on the bike. Yaay, I did my job.

It was fun seeing all the orange/blue Team Wild uniforms along the run course. We would see each other, give thumbs up, high fives, smiles and words of encouragement. This happens all the time at Team CWW events, but there is something more special with Team Wild - it's almost like they have a little secret - diabetes - that they share with each other and no one else. I felt honored to be part of that secret.

It was a great time for me and I'm not going to complain about how my quads were sore the day after and even a little today. It was a humbling experience this past weekend. Being humbled is good, puts you back in your place, but in a good way.

Team Wild, thanks for sharing your experience, pain, friendship and reality with me these past few days. Looking foward to the next event and congratulations to a great accomplishment!

October 27, 2009
Karen L.

Triathlon is an individual sport. I can swim, bike, and run with others, but on race day my performance is all me. There’s tremendous comfort in the fact that others are out there working their butts off, too, but theoretically we are each in our own little pain bubble dealing with our own personal demons.

In the same way, diabetes is an individual disease. Most of the time I’m the only one in a particular group dealing with diabetes, and even if I weren’t, it’s up to me to take care of all of it solo. While people are sympathetic, most don’t get it (and to be fair, I don’t ‘get’ many of their challenges, either), and it makes for an isolating experience.

Sunday’s Longhorn 70.3 race was an amazing day for me in so many ways. The race was a huge personal challenge that I’ve been working on for months. But it was NOT a solo journey. First and foremost there was the big concept of team, and it was powerful and moving. Yes, we had to accomplish each physical feat in the race on our own, but in the same way that a wetsuit helps in the swim, we were buoyed by our amazing coaches and medical staff out there on the course. I kept seeing energizer bunny head coach Yoli on the run course, and surely she must’ve run a comparable distance to us so that she could spot each of us many times. Nicole was yelling from an SUV as she drove our videographer out to get good shots of us grinning through the pain. Celeste set an amazing and focused example as I spotted her coming in to complete her third loop of the run as I was heading out on my first. Marcey seemed to be head cheerleader from the tailgating tent in her pink “I (heart) carbs” t-shirt, yelling out nutrition and hydration tips as we turned to complete each loop. And Matt risked extreme sun exposure to see us twice on each loop, checking to see how our blood sugars were doing and how we were feeling.

Also, our support people. We had partners, parents, siblings, and friends of teammates out there rooting for all of us. Some of our loved ones sacrificed meals to get out on the course and take as many picture of the team as they could. We had Texas connections who helped out our team with race logistics and no doubt suffered cheering-related injuries such as bruised clapping hands and lost voices. Thank you, supporters.

Then there were the other racers. We’d been written up in the Athlete’s Guide that we picked up in our race packets a couple days before the race, so many people had read about us. Because we also had a booth at the race expo, people had seen the news about our team, or perhaps they’d been there when we had our team launch on Saturday. In any case, many, many times out on the course I was cheered on by other racers. “Go WILD!”, or “keep it up, Team WILD!”, I’d hear as I was pedaling hard into a brisk headwind or considering slowing to a walk on my trudging run. Yes, this was an individual event, but so many people were interested in seeing my individual effort become a success, and I loved loved loved that they were willing to take a small bit of the energy that they desperately needed for themselves in this race and spend it on my team. Thank you, racers.

And my teammates. Except for our swim coach Celeste, this was a first 70.3 for each of us, and we entered the race with a certain amount of trepidation. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging to each other, and helped out when there were malfunctioning meters and forgotten snacks to hide in the wetsuit just before the race started. We commiserated on each other’s highs and lows (blood sugars, that is), and when three of us ended up in the medical tent (temporarily!) after the race we had teammates there for support. Because of the way the run course was laid out, I saw most of my teammates at least a couple of times on the run, and it was wonderful to share high fives and status updates. Who couldn’t be spurred on by the infectious smile of JennyS, Ramona’s absolute bald glee, or Lyndsay’s focused determination? Diabetes may be a very individual disease, and triathlon may be an individual sport, but we, as a group, did this. We did it!

So how did the race go? Wonderfully. I was manhandled more than usual in the swim, didn’t like the condition of the roads at some points in the bike, and could’ve done without the 4 visits to the porta-potties (kept well hydrated!). On the other hand, I was grateful we could wear wetsuits, there were a ton of volunteers that made sure every turn was a success on the twisty bike route, and the cold wet towels to wrap around our necks on the run were a lifesaver. There were icky weeds in the lake, icky headwind on the ride, spectacularly slow transition times, and by the end of the race my whole body smelled like feet. And a great swim time for me, really nice weather that could’ve been much much worse, and of course a PR (personal record), as this was my first race at this distance. Not to mention all the fantastic support and encouragement detailed above. I had fun! 7:24:38 worth of fun!

Was it a success? Abso-freaking-lutely. Thank you, Mari, and rock on, Team WILD.

October 23, 2009
Sarah W.

I have just arrived in Austin and the big day is only 3 days away!!! At this point I don’t even know how to describe how I am feeling because there are so many emotions going on at once. I am excited, anxious, nervous, giddy, inpatient, sad, happy, and any other adjective you can think of!

But no matter what happens on Sunday the important thing is what we are doing to reach out to other women with diabetes, the impact we are making, and how far we have come as a team in just a little over a year!

I was talking to my mom on the phone right before I got on the plane this afternoon, and was a little upset. I was bummed that after a year of so much hard work, training, and build-up to all my family and friends that I wasn’t going to complete the entire race (I hurt my hip about a month ago and cannot run). I felt like I wasn’t going to accomplish the goal I had been working towards and that is always disappointing. But then my mom reminded me of the bigger picture. It really isn’t about the actual race, but more about everything we did to get here and the impact we will have on the diabetic community. We are setting an example for women of all ages with diabetes that they can do anything and diabetes does not have to stop them in any way! The year of training has also had more benefit than completing the run in the actual race will ever have. I have learned more about my body, my diabetes, my health and my mental well being than I ever have before. I have overcome so many health obstacles and am the healthiest I have been in years. And that means so much more than the race itself.

So no matter what happens on Sunday, for all of us, it’s the fact that we are all here in Austin to do what has never been done before- 20 women with diabetes coming together and racing in an event together! All while managing diabetes and all the other crap that life throws at you!

I know I will look back on this weekend and be amazed at what we have accomplished as a team, not dwell on the fact that I couldn’t do the run!