Diabetes Training Camp

OK - Last week was DIABETES TRAINING CAMP in Santa Barbara, CA. I know! just saying it makes it seem so freaking cool! If there are diabetics out there who are not going to read anything else - simply take this advice: Go to DTC. http://www.diabetestrainingcamp.com/ Its a camp that believes that exercise is a crucial part to diabetes management. And its not just for athletes - its for people looking to begin exercising to crazies training for an Ironman and everyone in between. It is expensive but it is absolutely worth it - in fact it is a great deal. I learned more about being a diabetic and living with the disease in that week than in the previous 25 years I've had the disease. Dr. Matt Corcoran is not just a great endocrinologist - he's a true doctor - he is following his passion to improve the lives of diabetics. Add to all this the fact that the coaching was beyond top notch. 2 of the coaches changed my life: Josh Gold (www.pushhard.com) was one of the swim coaches and once my southern upbringing got past his harsh Brooklyn ways - I saw a truly great person. He totally ruined my swim right now - but that's ok - it was terrible anyway - I have the feeling that soon it will be much, much better. Beyond that he really is concerned about helping me out long beyond the camp and he is quite the little babysitter (held Adia for hours during some of the camp). The other person was Rick Crawford - I'm pretty sure he saved ironman for me. I was in a funk and heading downhill - in one lecture he swung it around 180 degrees - I'm looking forward to training, enjoying it, and have a path to September. Oh, and he has coached a few notables: Armstrong, Leipheimer, Team Type 1... sheesh.... but he was such a cool, down to earth dude and was totally interested in coaching us. I brought my whole family and alternated between camp and family so I missed some good stuff at camp but got it back a million-fold by exploring tide pools with my kids. Traveling was a bit challenging - but I swear that Zoe and Adia did much better with the sleep deprivation than Ash or I (Ash had a 3 day migraine and my blood sugar was nuts for a few days). It was really great to be out there with them. Zoe had a blast playing with Ray and Nella's daughter - Elisa. They pretty much did everything together and swimming was a huge part of that. Pictures from the trip, by the way are scrolling through on the right of the screen - you can click on them to see the album. Lets see - better wrap this up because kids are waking up... turns out Dave is somewhat of a monster - his VO2 max was second behind Bill Carlson (see photo of Bill, Anne, and Peter - all triabetics) who was the first diabetic to do ironman back in 83...and he basically typifies what I imagine an ironman to be. Dave also did a monster climb on the bike.... on his first ride ever. But you'll have to see his blog to find out the truly funny story about the bike - it goes something like: what happens when the bike meets the overpass? It was great to meet Anne - I felt I knew her from her blog - but to finally meet someone is cool. She is super fit and strong. Steve Chop (not pictured - he left a day early) was there and great to hang around again - he was there with Dave, John, and I in Madison when we registered. He also fits the super strong ironman persona... in fact, its pretty much me and Dave who don't - and Dave is well on his way.... crud. And Peter - what a cool guy. The visionary who founded insulindependence and made so much of this possible. I really can't thank him enough. However, I have found that his greatest accomplishment is getting Nate on board. Thank you for everything, Nate. Oh, and it looks like we might have our title sponsor, too, but I'll wait to talk about that one. Well done guys. Oh, one last thing - I wore a constant glucose monitor for the week and it pretty much changed my life - its time to get the insurance companies to cover it. The future is here.

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