Super (hero) Laura
I’ve said it often, I have a bad attitude about my diabetes. If you didn’t know that, now you do 
I’d say that I’m working on it, but realistically, I’m not really, well, maybe just a little bit (it’s hard to work on adjusting my vehement hatred towards something, I mean, I hate it vehemently, what’d you expect?). Except for there’s something that is rubbing off on me with practically every conversation I have with a fellow DiabetesSisters Triathlon Team teammate.
Laura has got this weapon that she doesn’t keep hidden. She shoots first and then doesn’t proceed to ask questions. There’s no ifs ands or buts about it. The thing about it is, her weapon isn’t a bad weapon, I probably shouldn’t be calling it a weapon, because it’s good, weapon sort of has bad connotations. Laura has got PMA. Positive. Mental. Attitude.
Laura’s PMA is a drastic change from my generally not pleasurable attitude surrounding diabetes in my life. We’ve got some cross attitude annoyance issues from time to time but she always wins in the end. It’s hard for my bad attitude to beat out her good attitude. Not that that’s a bad thing in any way.
That PMA has been rubbing off on me and she’s taken “can’t” out of my vocabulary (I get beeeeeeeped if I say the word “can’t”, it drives me nuts, but I’ve stopped fighting it, my brain keeps trying to find ways around the word “can’t”. It hasn’t found many). But, I can’t complain, taking the negative attitude and replacing it with a positive attitude in my mental diet made a massive difference this past weekend in my triathlon and I just have to hang on to that.
Laura’s PMA and the way it radiates from her (like it’s a super power) makes her the latest hero in my books 
J is for Joe Eldridge
Up until this point, I’ve pretty much been talking about words that describe me, but it’s getting difficult to find words for every letter of the alphabet so I’m going to introduce something a little different in addition to what I’ve been doing. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Mari Ruddy, who in my book is a hero. Today’s entry continues my hero series. Today’s hero (man of inspiration) is Joe Eldridge.
I first learned of Joe when I started cycling. I googled the interwebs to find out what out diabetic cyclists were doing. I found Joe when I found the Team Type 1 website. Joe, a Type 1 diabetic is one of the founders of Team Type 1. He got into cycling when he was in college which is where he met Phil Southerland (they competed against each other).
Joe could tell you his whole story, but I’m going to tell you what made an impact on me. I had an opportunity to meet Joe at the 2007 Colorado Tour de Cure, but I didn’t meet him (I think I saw him but I was too chicken to go introduce myself). I had another opportunity (little did I know) in March when he and I were at the Denver Diabetes Expo. There I met him, and he’s a very cool guy.
What sticks out in my head from the story he called is what I’m calling the “burrito agreement”.
When he and Phil started training together there was always a contest of who had the best blood sugar before they started riding. At one point, there was an arrangement made, the burrito agreement. Whoever had the higher blood sugar had to buy burritos for them after the ride. Joe says there was only once where he didn’t have to buy a burrito. He got tired of buying burritos and decided he was going to take control of his diabetes. He worked hard to get his numbers in check and it didn’t take long before Phil decided that the deal was off, burritos didn’t need to be bought by the person with the higher number.
If my memory serves me correctly, it was Phil that said to Joe “hey, I want to ride in this Race Across AMerica” (RAAM) and together they formed Team Type 1. In their first RAAM they came in 2nd overall and 1st in their division. They were all of 3 minutes behind the 1st place team, that was in 2006. In 2007 they came in 1st place overall, ahead of the 2nd place team by 2.5 hrs (if my memory serves me correctly).
Joe (and Phil and all the other Type 1 riders of Team Type 1) are heroes to me, because they’re out there doing what I’ve only just begun. As they say:
“[they ride] To prove to people everywhere with diabetes that with exercise and good control they can survive diabetes and live a healthy and fulfilled life.”
I’m also riding to prove that diabetes doesn’t have to stop us as it did me for so long. Which they probably ride for too, it’s just in that above statement.
I know that I can do what I’m doing (ride in every state in a Tour de Cure) because there are people like Joe out there riding across America in less than 6 days (all 3000 miles) and doing it with diabetes. That’s encouragement and that’s why Joe is one of my heroes. Joe has had diabetes 15 years, and he’s not letting it control him, why should I let it control me?
A Super Hero: Mari Ruddy
When I initially started Ride to Remedy, I had a section entitled “the wall of inspiration” but I never followed through and put it together. The original idea behind it was that I’d write up a section about people with diabetes that inspired me. At that point there was really only one person, but in this last year, I’ve met many people that have diabetes and that number of people that inspire me is starting to grow. I want to start writing about the diabetics I meet and how they impact my life and how they’re an inspiration in my life.
There is someone that made an impact in my life last year during the Colorado Tour de Cure. And this year at the Denver Diabetes Expo I again met her and since then I’ve been talking to her and she is just…well, she’s amazing. To use one of her sayings, she’s a super hero in my life.
Who is this amazing woman? Well, it’s Mari Ruddy (I’ve mentioned her before). If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know that she’s one of the brains behind the RED Riders.
Me and Mari
I won’t ever forget when I first met her, it was the night before the 2007 Colorado Tour de Cure at the pre-packet pick up party. When I walked into the building the RED Rider table was right there, and when I was asked if I was a RED Rider and told them my name she said “yes, you most definately are a RED Rider”. She was so nice and so excited, it was incredibly encouraging. And that’s the way she is everytime I’ve talked to her.
Just to share a little background about Mari with you, she’s had diabetes for probably as long as I’ve been alive, since she was 16. She says “That’s over 25 years of blood testing, shots, insulin pumping, carb counting, and meal planning.” And even with all that, she’s still a glass half full kind of person.
I have problems daily being a glass half full kind of person. More often than not, I’m a glass half empty kind of person, because even on a good day with my diabetes, something will happen that will remind me that the diabetes is still there and just because it’s a good day doesn’t mean that I can go off and do x,y,z. One good day means nothing, it’s the combination of good days that makes the difference, and sometimes, even when you’re doing all you can, things don’t turn out the way you want them to and that can really just spoil things. And I know Mari has days like those, we all do, who doesn’t? But her general outlook is just so positive that it’s contagious. You can’t help but feel happy when you’re around her or talking to her or emailing her. Just knowing that there’s someone on the other end of the email or the phone that completely understands will bring a smile to your face even if it’s an off day.
The last time I talked to her on the phone was shortly after I completed my first metric century in the Phoenix Tour de Cure. I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open, I wanted nothing more than to slip into an ice bath and then go take a nap. But when I was talking to her, even through all my exhaustion, I was so excited to tell her that I had completed the 62.5 miles, that I had done it in 4 hours 30 minutes 27 seconds and then tell her all that I had done, waking up 2 hrs before the ride to drop my basal rate, all that I ate at each of the rest stops, things like that, and she listens and I can talk to her about my diabetes and cycling and she completely understands both and her input is valuable.
I talked to her the day before that ride because in a rash moment I decided that I was going to double my longest distance. I had no clue what to do diabetes wise, she responded to my message and told me what helps her and if it hadn’t been for that conversation, I wouldn’t have made it through the 62.5 miles. (I know that in riding I’m my own guinea pig, trial and erroring everything, but to hear an observation come from another diabetic and to know that it’s helped them makes it easier than trying to do things on my own, and when the person you’re talking to has participated in century rides and triathlons, something that you yourself wants to do, it makes a world of difference. I’ve got encouragement and support that I never had before.)
In that same conversation we talked in depth about the RED Riders. I’ve done 5 rides now, and the rides that had the RED Riders have been my best rides. The RED Riders is really the only thing that binds me to other riders simply because I’m coming in not knowing the area and not knowing any other people that are riding.
I don’t know what the Colorado Tour de Cure would’ve been like if it hadn’t had the RED Riders, but I do know this, the RED Riders really changed the way I look at rides, it excited me, people were talking to me, it was huge, I was bound to other people beyond just being a cyclist out there riding. And I owe that to Mari and her friends that came up with the RED Riders.
Mari is just awesome, she’s helped give me that support and encouragement that I never had before, she’s my hero.
She’s got me in the stages of something new that I’ve been wanting to do and started thinking about years ago and really just never went forward with it, it was brought to the forefront of my mind at the Denver Diabetes Expo and still I didn’t act on it, and out of the blue she’s got this crazy idea in mind, and you know what, the thing about it is, it’s not all that crazy, it’s completely awesome and I’m excited about it in a way I’ve not really ever been before.
If I had to say why I’m so excited I would boil it down to support and encouragement. That’s a super hero for you. Thanks Mari