D-Blog Week: 1 Great Thing

Today's topic was rather challenging for me:

Living with diabetes (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”.  But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit.  Tell us about just one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly!  Fasting blood sugar checks, oral meds sorted and ready, something always on hand to treat a low, or anything that you do for diabetes.  Nothing is too big or too small to celebrate doing well! 


When I first read the post, nothing came to mind.  I haven't perfected any bolusing, don't rage bolus well, struggle with lows and highs.  After some serious thought, I discovered something.

As those who read my blog know, I run.  I run more than your average person, and like running and exercising more than the average person as well.  I also belong to a running club.  In the club, there are all sorts of athletes - old, young, those who run 5 minute pace for 20-mile runs and those who run 15 minute/mile pace for long runs.  There is quite a bit of diversity in the club, which is something I truly enjoy.

On Tuesdays, the club has practice on a local track.  There are two groups, which more or less break down into a fast group and a slow group.  I'm part of the fast group.  When I first started running track with the club last year, I got some suspicious looks.  I wear my insulin pump so it is visible to the world.  Sometimes the tubing sticks out and it will occasionally make noise.  I originally got a lot of "why do you wear a pager?" questions about my insulin pump.

After explaining that it is an insulin pump, that I have diabetes, the type 1 kind and have had it since I was 4, people often give me the same response.  It goes something like "I'm impressed you run so well with diabetes."  Or, "I could never run if I had diabetes."

I have about a 1-minute response that I say to almost everyone regarding running and diabetes:

"I love to run, and I have diabetes.  Having diabetes does not mean that I cannot run.  It means that sometimes I have to eat while running and other times I will feel like crap, but that depends on my blood sugar.  Diabetes has actually helped me become a more disciplined and better runner...."  plus a few more sentences.

I guess 1 great thing I do is tell people that people with diabetes can run, and can run.  Diabetes does not limit what I (or you) can do.