Penny 2015 Riding for a Cure
Donation protected
I am at it again, only this time in a bigger way. Celebrating a milestone birthday this year, and no I won't tell you which one, I am training to ride the Century Ride for Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, a 100+ mile ride through Tucson in the El Tour de Tucson on 11/21/2015. A ride I wasn't sure I would ever be able to do. Every year I seem to face some sort of complication due to my Type 1 Diabetes and I keep fighting to maintain my health and level of fitness. This year, I am of the mindset that if I just show up every week and put the miles in, I can do this.
My first big success this summer, was getting up at 4 am to join a training group up Mt Lemmon in Tucson, AZ. for 6 weeks to conquer the 7500 ft elevation steady climb for 25 miles. Last week, I did it! I climbed with my best friend and husband, 7500 ft in elevation to celebrate at the Cookie Cabin at the top. I had a lot of support out there and I conquered some personal demons every week. I am feeling as strong as I once did before I hit some serious complications from this disease that took me off my bike for almost 3 years.
My return to the bike has been slow and arduous. Every day since 2011 I fight constant nausea from a complication that almost took my life. Then in 2013, yet another complication that has me dodging temperatures past 85 degrees. So, while many who know me tell me, I look too healthy to have such serious conditions or that I make it look easy, I can tell you, I work at it every minute of every day. Our bloodsugars are the first thing we think of when we wake up and the last worry we have when we go to sleep. It's simple things that many take for granted that we must plan for, things like: driving, swimming, dancing, going for a walk, going to work, riding a bike, traveling, temperature inside and out, the food we eat, the coffee we drink, the family celebrations we participate in, basically the time we spend doing any activity puts us at risk if we do not plan appropriately. IT is a constant stressor. Can you imagine being 8 years old and having to deal with this at school, as if the peer pressure wasn't enough.
Children and adults with Type 1 Diabetes can't exercise or change their diet to cure this condition. We have tools that make it easier, but there is no cure yet, but man, we have atleast 5 potential possibilities in clinical trials, as we speak, that will get us closer: Islet Cell Incapsulation, Smart Insulin, Artificial Pancreas, Inhalable Insulin and even a study for Beta Cell Regeneration. All of these get us closer and closer to a cure. Something we welcome with open arms.
Which is why I upped not only the miles I will ride but my fundraising target to $5k. I really want to raise $100k, but hey, I don't think I am that well connected... :)
I am hoping any of you who are impacted by any type of Diabetes, will help us fund research for a cure. Any advancement will help all individuals with Diabtetes. It is not an Us vs Them issue, WE all want the freedom to live one day, worry free.
My first big success this summer, was getting up at 4 am to join a training group up Mt Lemmon in Tucson, AZ. for 6 weeks to conquer the 7500 ft elevation steady climb for 25 miles. Last week, I did it! I climbed with my best friend and husband, 7500 ft in elevation to celebrate at the Cookie Cabin at the top. I had a lot of support out there and I conquered some personal demons every week. I am feeling as strong as I once did before I hit some serious complications from this disease that took me off my bike for almost 3 years.
My return to the bike has been slow and arduous. Every day since 2011 I fight constant nausea from a complication that almost took my life. Then in 2013, yet another complication that has me dodging temperatures past 85 degrees. So, while many who know me tell me, I look too healthy to have such serious conditions or that I make it look easy, I can tell you, I work at it every minute of every day. Our bloodsugars are the first thing we think of when we wake up and the last worry we have when we go to sleep. It's simple things that many take for granted that we must plan for, things like: driving, swimming, dancing, going for a walk, going to work, riding a bike, traveling, temperature inside and out, the food we eat, the coffee we drink, the family celebrations we participate in, basically the time we spend doing any activity puts us at risk if we do not plan appropriately. IT is a constant stressor. Can you imagine being 8 years old and having to deal with this at school, as if the peer pressure wasn't enough.
Children and adults with Type 1 Diabetes can't exercise or change their diet to cure this condition. We have tools that make it easier, but there is no cure yet, but man, we have atleast 5 potential possibilities in clinical trials, as we speak, that will get us closer: Islet Cell Incapsulation, Smart Insulin, Artificial Pancreas, Inhalable Insulin and even a study for Beta Cell Regeneration. All of these get us closer and closer to a cure. Something we welcome with open arms.
Which is why I upped not only the miles I will ride but my fundraising target to $5k. I really want to raise $100k, but hey, I don't think I am that well connected... :)
I am hoping any of you who are impacted by any type of Diabetes, will help us fund research for a cure. Any advancement will help all individuals with Diabtetes. It is not an Us vs Them issue, WE all want the freedom to live one day, worry free.
Organizer
Penny True Tietjen
Organizer
Tucson, AZ