The most popular question posed to someone who has done multiple races is "Why". Why does someone willfully get out of bed early on weekends and suffer for long periods of exercise? I have given many reasons, but the real reason - race hair. If I have a superpower, it would be the ability to have ridiculous, physics defying hair after a race. It seems to grow substantially during the course of the event, it moves in crazy ways, and may have possibly gained sentience at a time. Its incredible. (Facebook can substantiate this)
Another answer I have for why is community. This weekend really seemed to focus on that aspect. Starting with a bike ride Saturday afternoon (due to the lingering cold, the first outdoor ride for me this year), my T1 ride buddy (Scott) and I hit up the Burke Gilman, since we finally had amazing weather on a weekend. We rode from Shoreline to Husky Stadium to pick up our Beat the Bridge race packets for the next day. We both suited up in our ConnecT1D bike jerseys, because they are pretty slick (shameless plug). Nearly to the stadium, we passed by one of the ConnecT1D board members walking on the trail, having already picked up her packet. The second and a half before we passed only offered time for a "Hey!" from each side, but still brought a smile to our faces.
Once we got to the stadium, we shortly heard a voice asking sarcastically "Hey, are you guys Diabetic?" The Diabetes Sports Project crew was set up at packet pickup, and a 5 minute process turned into a 30 minute story sharing session before we got back to the trail. We had to race back home to get ready for the meet up event hosted by the Diabetes Sports Project and ConnecT1D that night, another chance to gather with our people, drink some Diet Coke, and make $1 bets on BG.
This morning (Sunday) was the local event, the JDRF Beat the Bridge 8K. It is always rainy and cold... except today - good start. My day started off waking up with a BG of 458 due to a carb heavy dinner combined with pump tubing punctured by a puppy - not a good start. But it would come down, it was a day of running, and running into friends. Everyone comes out for Beat the Bridge, and while its always impossible to gather for a picture beforehand, you will likely find everyone somewhere on the course. Those that I did not see at the pre-picture, or the start, I seemed to find as I found myself in a low at mile 3. With my Dexcom not cooperating today, I had a nice, nearly unnoticed, drop from 458 to a cool 58 that made running a lower priority at Mile 3. The plus side - many people came up and ask what was going on, make sure I had glucose (I did), say hi, and organize our meetup location for afterward in the Stadium. The walking was also made easier by the sunny 70 degree day.
Each of these events from the busy and T1 heavy weekend was marked by long goodbyes, because each time, even though many of us are seeing each other soon at other events, we did not want the fun to stop. The conversations just kept going (much like this blog post - sorry about the long post). This community has so much energy, the connections are so deep, that we struggle to separate at the end of the events. If you are reading this, I am sure you have had numerous similar experiences.
Type 1s are awesome.
Adventures in T1 with Alex - 05/21/17