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The US healthcare system makes it difficult, expensive, and often impossible for people with T1D to access the care, education, and support they need to live. Around the Circle: Living Well with T1D brings together voices from across the type 1 diabetes community to share real stories, expert insight, and practical support for living well with T1D.
Hosted by the team at Blue Circle Health, a U.S.-based program transforming type 1 care, this podcast helps people go from just surviving to truly living well with type 1 diabetes.
Learn more at BlueCircleHealth.org
Life with type 1 diabetes is already
hard, so sometimes the harder things
in life can feel almost impossible.
We might even convince ourselves that
certain goals just aren't for us anymore.
But today's episode is about pushing
back against that idea and recognizing
that there's actually something really
powerful about discovering you can
still do them, and that power carries
through well beyond the goal itself.
My name is Scott Johnson, and today
I'm joined by Erika Szumel Erika
is part of the team here at Blue
Circle Health, and she's training for
another marathon with type 1 diabetes.
Together, we're talking about what
it really takes to build confidence,
to adapt and keep trying hard things,
and what we learn about ourselves when
we stop waiting to feel fully ready.
But before we continue, I do need to
remind you that we're not providing
any medical advice or endorsing
any specific product brands.
We'll always encourage you to consult your
healthcare team for personalized guidance.
Erika, thanks so much
for joining me today.
Will you please get us started
by telling our listeners a
little bit more about yourself?
how long have you lived
with type 1 diabetes?
A little more about your role
here at Blue Circle Health.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for
having me today, Scott.
for those of you that don't
know, my name is Erika.
I am 29 years old, and I've been
living with type 1 diabetes since I
was four, so I actually celebrated
my 25th anniversary of living with
diabetes this past year, which was-
Amazing
…
super exciting, and it was a
happy, joyous celebration for me.
but at Blue Circle Health, I am
marketing coordinator, so I handle
all things marketing, and I work
closely with everybody on the CE
team, in terms of, working with
the community and things like that.
Now, we're talking today because you
ran your first marathon with Beyond
Type Run back in 2022, which is amazing.
But you recently embarked on
another pretty big challenge, right?
Tell us more about that.
Yes.
So I recently signed up for
the Philly Marathon that will
happen in 2026 in November.
So I have about five or so
months to go until that race.
But yeah, I signed up, about a month
or so ago, and I, I am turning 30
this year, and it felt like a really
good year to do something big, and
that's kinda where the idea came from.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Now, it's funny to me because I've
heard you talk about your last
marathon with Beyond Type Run as,
a bucket list item, and here you
are signing up for another one.
Before we dig deeper into that, I do
wanna get something out of the way, right?
I have absolutely no
interest in distance running.
I've been there, I've done
that, and I didn't like it.
I'm not… I have no
plans on doing it again.
And I actually would like to think
that I'm not alone in that, and I
don't want people like me who might
be listening to tune out of this
episode to think that we're, talking
all about the nitty-gritty details of
marathon training and, things like that.
But, for those who might be
listening today who, don't have
interest in running a marathon, what
do you hope that they might take
away from our conversation today?
So what I will tell you, which will
probably surprise some people who
are listening or watching, is that
when I signed up for that race in
2022, like I said, it was a bucket
list item, and I really mean that.
I had not run a single
race before that day.
I had never run a 5K.
I had never done a half
marathon, anything.
I just went, 0 to 100, and
that's what, happened for me.
But, so if someone's gonna take anything
away from this conversation today, I
hope it's that you can feel and truly
believe in yourself that no matter what
you wanna do in your life, no matter what
kind of challenge, no matter what kind
of obstacle or goal that you have, that
you can do it with diabetes, and that
doesn't matter who you are or how you do
it or whatever you choose to do, but that
you can definitely do it because I was in
your shoes thinking, "There's absolutely
no way I want to run a marathon, and
there's no way that I will ever be
able to run a marathon," and I did it
You did it, and you're gonna do it again.
It's, it's-
I'm gonna do it
again … pretty inspiring.
Thank you.
Yeah.
we're gonna get into, we're gonna
get into some of that, but I, agree.
I think that one of the things we're
gonna talk about today is, really
just doing hard things with Type 1
diabetes, and, lessons that you learned
through doing these hard things that
have carried through and are helping
you in more ways with your diabetes.
But let's, back up a little bit
with, before your first marathon and
training, did you think of yourself as
a runner or even particularly athletic?
So I have always been, I'd
say, an athlete, or maybe we
could say, a light athlete.
I grew up dancing, and I was, like,
in ballet class five nights a week.
And then as I got a little
older, in high school, I played
volleyball, I did lacrosse.
I did some different things, but I've
always been active because, of course,
I knew since I was four that being
active was important for life with
diabetes, but I also really enjoyed
being active in different ways.
And, yeah, so I would consider
myself pretty fit at the
time, but I was not a runner.
I hated running from mo-
for most of my young life.
I really did.
I, hated it.
And, I would pick it up sometimes as I
got a little bit older, just experimenting
with different ways of exercise,
but I never took it seriously to the
point where I was like, increasing my
mileage and really on a training plan.
it was a very- Yeah … here
and there type of thing.
But yeah, I, would not have
considered myself a runner before
I started training for that race.
When you did start training, or even
just thinking about training for this and
running a marathon, with Type 1 diabetes,
what felt the most intimidating about it?
So 100% for me, the most intimidating
thing was, how am I going to run
these long distances without going low
the whole time- Yeah … or without
having to drive myself high for hours?
Because, as exercise can sometimes
make you go high, sometimes make you
go low, and I had no idea of how my
body specifically was going to react
to running for three, four hours, for
those very long runs that I would- Yeah
eventually get to.
Yeah.
and we're gonna, we're gonna
kinda dig into some of what you
learned through that process.
But I think that's a, very
relatable concern, right?
I would worry about the same thing.
when I think about taking on doing
difficult things like this, one of the
mistakes that I often make is kinda
waiting to feel, really fully prepared
or fully confident before even trying.
Did you experience that at all?
Or what was that like?
I don't… This might just be
a me thing, but I've always
just been very, "You know what?
I'm not gonna know unless I try."
And everybody has to start somewhere,
and I really… That's maybe just,
as I've gotten older and, matured and
learned from life, but I've always
just tried to really be like, "Okay.
If I wanna do this, I need to put
my back behind it, and I need to
just- go for it and try not to judge
myself, especially early on." Yeah.
And I also just, wanted to lean into
the idea that I was, like, taking on
this challenge, and it was exciting
and fun and, something that I can
look back on and be so proud of,
As- Did you feel like the, one aspect
of your first marathon was running with
the Beyond Type Run team, and, there
was some fundraising happening and,
it was like, it seems to me that you
might think there's a lot more skin
in the game, with a team like that.
Did that play into your thinking at all?
Yeah, definitely.
And, it was, it was really,
there was a lot of camaraderie.
There were so many people that I became
friends with on the team that, helped me
and answered my questions, and runners
who, had run four marathons already.
And, you know- Yeah … that really
helped give me more courage and I
think confidence in what I was doing
because I was like, "Okay, I have all
these examples of all these people
who live with Type 1 running marathons
or races or triathlons or whatever."
And there was also people just like me,
who are running their first one, who are
just, like- Yeah … getting out there and
doing it, and that, I think, collectively
really just, raised my spirits and was
like, "Okay, I'm gonna keep doing the
training. I'm gonna keep doing everything
I can to get to that finish line."
And all I wanted from that race, really, I
had no PR or time or anything in my head.
I was like, "I just want to finish. I
want to get across that finish line. I
don't care if I'm crawling across it, I
just wanna get to the end standing and
smiling," and I was very lucky that I did.
Yeah, that's amazing.
you touched on something that is
really one of the core things that I
hope people take out of this episode
is, not doing it alone, right?
You mentioned how valuable it was to
have people, experienced runners that
you could turn to and ask questions
of, but also people just like you in
that they were running their first
marathon, and I, imagine that, provided,
a sense of comfort knowing that you
were in this great team of people
that c- you could turn to for help.
Yeah, it definitely did.
And, I think that's, a lot more common
today, and I think it's really amazing
kind of what social media has done is,
you can find groups almost anywhere, I
think- to my knowledge, to, exercise with.
Or, like you can go and take a
group fitness class, or you can
find a walking club or a running
club if that's what you prefer.
But, there are different options, and you
can find other people to do those things
with, and I think that's so motivating.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Was there a, moment where during your
training you felt like, "Oh, yeah,
totally, I can do this," or was it m-
a more kind of gradual process that
you're building trust in yourself
as you went through the training?
I was following a training, a
running plan through an app called
Run With Hal, who's from Hal Higdon.
He's, a very famous
runner who has this app.
And it was really easy to follow, but
basically I started just, getting my body
back into running in April of that year.
But my real marathon training didn't
start till probably, June, July.
So when I first started
running in April, it was hard.
and- Wow … and they were short runs.
They were between one and three miles,
but because I was so just, not used to
it and not really, confident in what
I was doing at the time, it was hard.
And I remember being like, man, this is a
mountain that I feel like- I'm climbing.
But by the time I got to the actual
marathon running training in, June,
July, I felt so much more ready for
it, and I think it was probably when
I ran, the first time I ran for the
most part, jogged, ran, barely walked
a 10-mile run, I was like, "I can't
believe I just did that," Yeah.
I was so elated because I'm telling
you my whole life, younger me
would have never believed that I
could run 10 miles, and I did it.
And that was like, from there it's like
you just wanna, see yourself do the thing,
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I kinda chuckle as you mentioned the
short runs and running a, a mile or three
miles because, for a lot of us, running
a mile is a huge accomplishment, right?
And- It is … it's a big deal
And it, it still, it will always be
a huge accomplishment if that's what
is a, a goal or a challenge for you.
That's awesome, walking or running.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Do you feel, looking back on it,
that training for something, this
big, did it change how you think
about yourself or what you're capable
with, especially with diabetes?
Yes.
100%. I learned so much, that I
never knew before, but I did really,
learn so much about myself and
what I'm capable of if I just- put
in the work and the, consistency.
Really, that's all it is.
And it's you- I saw it
and I felt it happen.
Like I was saying, those first few months
I was like, "Man, this is gonna be rough.
I can't believe this is, really
what I'm gonna do in November."
And then it gets, little by
little, it gets easier and easier.
And the more you go on, the more you
trust yourself, and the more that you
feel that confidence, and you feel that,
joy out of, "I just hit another mile and
I didn't have to stop," or, "I just- Yeah
walked another mile," and,
I kept moving my body.
It was huge, and it just taught me just
to, trust myself and to, to be proud of,
the process, and it was so rewarding.
Absolutely.
Yeah, I love to hear that.
Do you think that this experience
has changed how you approach other
hard things in life, not necessarily,
just athletic achievements?
Yes.
I do think that it's, made me approach
things differently because I feel like
once you accomplish something, again,
that you've just been, like, working
so hard for, it's maybe something that
not everybody in their life gets to do
or wants to do, it really just feels
like such a moment of pride for me.
And I look at other challenges now,
"I did a marathon. This can't be…"
It might not be as bad as that was and
how awful I felt that day by the end
of the race, and the weeks after, the,
my legs and, my toes and everything.
But, I feel like it just has genuinely
given me the perspective of, no
matter what it is, you can at the very
least try to do what you want to do.
That's an encouraging outlook.
I think that really puts some,
wind in your sails even when
you're having the, hard days.
marathon training, it seems like just
a- a constant process of, experimenting.
how do you or did you personally, approach
that trial and error process without
feeling completely defeated by it?
And what did that process teach
you about, adaptability and
confidence and trusting yourself?
Yeah, that's a great question.
I am not going to lie.
I definitely felt defeated, because I
think many of us do, especially when
we take on challenges with diabetes.
it's oh, man, I thought
I did everything right.
I listened to the tips and the resources,
and I tried really hard to follow
what everyone was telling me to do.
But of course, as we all know, no
matter what somebody tells you about-
insulin or food or water, it's always
gonna be individual to each person.
And so I definitely would get a little
defeated at first, but then, as the
time went on, I think I really just
had to, I was, I had to adapt because
I was like, "I'm not gonna let all
of these little, bumps in the road
make this a bad process for me," or
just put a, cloud over, of
over what I was doing, Yeah.
Because it was such a big thing
that I was taking on, and I just
wanted to stay positive in it.
but it's just like diabetes, right?
every- day can be different, and
we could do the same exact things
every day, but if we were to get
down on ourselves every single day,
that's, such a terrible way to live.
And we all do.
I do.
I'm not saying I'm perfect.
I definitely get annoyed and mad
at diabetes a lot of the time.
But, the more that you can just
like, "Okay, this is what's
happening today," and almost laugh
about it, you get a lot further.
Yeah.
I, I love that, that I also see a lot of
parallels in you describing what people
say, like, how things are supposed to
work, and then you've got your real-life
experience, and I see a lot of parallels
there in our diabetes as well, right?
We go- we learn the, facts.
We learn the things.
Our doctor teaches us X, Y, Z, and
then we go and try it, and it doesn't
always work out that way, right?
And we, have to adapt.
Do you think that there's anything
that you've, taken through your
training when things don't go
the way that you hoped, that…
And how do you avoid, that spiraling
into that frustration or self-judgment?
And I will be also the first to
acknowledge that I do normally spend some
time there before I pull myself out of it.
But did you learn any tricks
or shortcuts that help you
circumvent that process faster?
I don't think I learned
any tips or tricks.
I think it's really just a mental, real-
just, similar to a marathon, right?
diabetes, we could use the analogy
that diabetes is a marathon, and-
Yeah … no matter what's happening
during your race, you have to keep going.
And that's just like diabetes, right?
we all want a day off.
We all wanna stop having to worry
about insulin or our blood sugar
or whatever, but you just have to.
You just have to keep going, and I
think it was just really a mental,
practice for me to be like, "Okay.
whatever.
I, don't know.
I guess we'll try again tomorrow,"
And, but also feel your feelings.
if you wanna get mad about
it- Yeah … get mad.
If you wanna get sad.
Just don't let it ruin a week,
Yeah, absolutely.
Do you, did you encounter any big
surprises or setbacks with your diabetes
when you were running and training?
I don't know if it will be a
big surprise for everyone, but I
first started running, and I would
just take my pump off entirely.
I would just take it off and leave it,
and sometimes I would maybe give myself,
my basal insulin before, or, half of
it or something like that, so that
I didn't just have no insulin on me.
But for a while I was just running
without my pump, and there was a few
reasons for that, because I was like,
I don't want the insulin right now."
Yeah.
And also because I didn't wanna
deal with it on my, waistband.
I, I wanted- to run little as possible,
and I still had to carry a bunch of
snacks, I couldn't, avoid everything.
But if I could at least remove one
thing, it was, just felt a little bit
more, freeing, while I was running.
But, eventually I got to a point where
I was like, "Maybe I should try running
with my pump on. Maybe this will help
me, with the, highs I was having mid
to the end of my runs, and maybe I'm,
like, getting a little bit too much
on the side of driving myself too high
and not being able to factor in the
other things that could happen," right?
how exercise just does it sometimes
itself, or how, adrenaline
will kick in and raise your
blood sugar, things like that.
So I guess it was a surprise to me
that if I put my pump back on and I
tried to let it do its thing and I
worked with the algorithm, that it
actually helped me in the long run.
But at first I was so sure that not
running with my pump was gonna be the
solution to my answers, and I was wrong.
Yeah.
it's, I can also see why that would
be an easy thing to think, because a
lot of times when we're exercising,
especially doing these long duration
activities, it's common to think
that we need to really, and we do
need to really reduce our insulin.
but there's a balance point, right?
Because when you're doing a, an athletic
event like this, it's hard to shift our
mindset out of diabetes because blood
sugar's only one part of, keeping your
human machine going for such a long time.
Exactly.
it sounds like there's this process
that I keep hearing in our conversation
that the confidence doesn't necessarily
come from everything going perfectly,
but it comes from, learning how to
adapt when things don't go perfectly.
would you say that's fair, and what's your
experience been with that, and has that
carried through beyond your marathoning?
Yeah, I think that, there's
a lot to be said there.
I think, the, quicker you can adapt
and, move forward when you have the
challenges and the bumps, the better.
Like I said, I just think it keeps your,
mental health a little bit, more peaceful
rather than, letting it drag you down.
And with marathon training or any sort of
exercise in general, I think it's really
the key is the consistency and finding
the patterns and the trends as soon as you
can and then, tweaking them along the way.
And with the long runs that I had
eventually down the line, I think by
the time I got to those, I was in a
much better place of knowing, what
my blood sugar was gonna do or how
much insulin I should maybe, have on
board or not on board, or which snack
to eat when and things like that.
there's so many details, obviously,
like living with diabetes, and I
think those two things can exactly
drive parallels to each other.
If you can adapt and move forward, the
better that you'll be, and the more
peaceful it will be, too, as a process.
Yeah, which I think that's an
important part of living well with
diabetes, is being at peace with
what's happening in your head, so
I'm glad that you mentioned that.
Yeah.
All right.
this is a great time
to take a quick break.
When we come back, I wanna make this
a little bit more practical, like what
people can actually take away from this
conversation and apply in their own lives,
whether they're running the marathon of
diabetes or some big athletic challenge.
So we'll be back in a second
One of our favorite things here is
sharing stories from people who've
participated in the program, and I have
one here from Ami who's been living with
type 1 diabetes for more than 55 years.
It's always been hard to stay on track
with my monitoring, understanding
how my insulin works best to support
my blood sugars, getting enough
support from my healthcare team, and
affording all the medical supplies,
doctor visits, and lab tests.
In June 2025, I found Blue Circle
Health through a friend's pharmacist.
After my first Zoom call with Blue Circle
Health, I knew I had made the best call
ever to support my diabetes management.
They gave me education, knowledge,
and positive feedback to help
me improve management that I had
struggled with for so many years.
At 57 years old, I learned
I had severe osteoporosis.
For that, I do weight training
most days of the week.
I play pickleball outside two
hours a day, weather permitting.
I teach pickleball to adults in
a community education program.
I wanted to have better
control of high and low blood
sugars when I was working out.
Blue Circle Health team tweaked the amount
of insulin I needed to be time in range
during my workouts with my carb ratios.
That really changed things.
The details of Blue Circle Health
team provided has been incredible.
The kindness, support, evaluations,
and delightful staff of Eleni,
Sherry, Kathryn, and Xanadu at Blue
Circle Health have really changed
my diabetes care for the better.
I did the work, but Blue
Circle Health guided me.
In the past six months, my hemoglobin A1C
dropped 2.5 points, and I lost 18 pounds.
I am so thankful I connected with Blue
Circle Health, and I hope others with type
1 diabetes will reach out to them, too.
what a great message.
Thank you so much for sharing, Amy.
You don't have to run a
marathon with the T1D community.
There are many different
communities to try all sorts
of different hard things with.
But if you are interested in running,
it might be useful and helpful to help
you find people who understand and
can support you, as Erika mentioned.
One option might start with joining
a Facebook group like Type 1 Run or
one of their local community groups.
There are also marathon teams
through organizations like
Breakthrough T1D, AmErikan Diabetes
Association, CWD, and Beyond Type 1.
And while I can't speak from personal
experience about joining these groups,
I've had friends say it's been an
incredible opportunity to do hard
things alongside others with diabetes.
Again, you don't have
to figure it out alone.
If running a marathon is the challenge
you're looking for, find a community
that works for you and go for it
Welcome back.
So we've been talking a lot about
confidence and experimentation
and learning how to do hard
things with type 1 diabetes.
I'd love to spend the rest
of our time making this as
practical as possible for people.
So for someone listening who feels maybe
intimidated by trying something new
with type 1 diabetes, whether that's
a big athletic event like a marathon
or something just in their life that's
not athletic related at all, what's,
one small place that they could start?
First thing I will say is try to
get in the mindset of what is the
worst that can happen if you take
on this goal or you take this step.
And remember, you don't need to climb
the whole staircase, you just need to
take the first step, and that's it.
And you can decide after that first
step if it's something you wanna
keep going with, or if it's something
you don't wanna keep going with.
But I think 99% of the time, once you do
the first step, you're going to realize,
okay, I have, you, you have a feeling, you
have an understanding of what it is that
you're trying to take on, and you can take
those next steps as slowly as you want to.
They don't need to be quick, and you
can really go from there, and I think
that's something that a lot of people
maybe get lost in their heads is, that
you can do the hard things with diabetes.
You just think about it, one step at a
time, and there are so many people out
there that can help you if you'd like
their help, and there are communities
out there to share those goals or even
just talk about the goals or challenges
and see what you might learn and absorb
from those people, and then you can,
and go and take that challenge on.
Yeah.
I love that idea of one
step at a time, right?
It's just, you don't have to figure
out the whole puzzle, just ne-
the next piece or the first piece.
That makes a big difference.
It's just like when, you talk to
a doctor or a nurse or someone on
your care team about your diabetes
management, and, you're trying to
figure out so many things at once.
was it the food?
Was it the insulin?
Was it the exercise?
Was it the water intake?
Was it the time of day?
Sometimes you just gotta dial it
back and you gotta say, "Okay, what
can we maybe realistically talk
about today that we could either
slightly change or implement?" And
you just do one thing at a time.
If you try to change too much
at once, it can be scary and
overwhelming, and understandably Yeah.
But just one step at a time
will always get you there.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's powerful.
It sounds like a, combination of just
almost gritty determination along
with a, somewhat curious mindset.
I actually…
This is funny, 'cause I just saw this
quote yesterday on Instagram, and it
said, "Life meets you at your level of
audacity." So if you're willing to be,
to have a high level of audacity and ask
for what you want, go for what you want,
say it out loud, manifest it, however
you wanna interpret that, that life will
meet you there and give you those things.
And I truly believe that because I don't
think I would've been able to sign up for
the marathon, finish the marathon, run
two half-marathons after that, without
being a little, having that audacity.
Yeah.
I think it's, taking brave steps is
a big part of life, and sometimes a
brave step with diabetes is having the
audacity to eat breakfast in the morning
and see what happens with that, right?
It's all-
Exactly
…
it's all relative.
What would you say you've learned about
preparation versus control, right?
And that's a tricky word in diabetes.
But you mentioned earlier about planning
for, or at least thinking about, like,
all right, what's the worst thing that
can happen today, and that's a scary
thing to think about, but we have to.
We also do that automatically
with a lot of our diabetes, right?
We have these- Yeah … all these
backup plans that we've gotten so
good at compartmentalizing them.
But would you say there were any, was
anything that you learned about that
whole preparation versus control aspect?
Yeah.
I think, it's funny, I actually think
that living with diabetes impacted my
marathon training because I was so used
to being so prepared for everything.
Yeah.
And obviously, I couldn't, run all those
runs, or, do the exercise or whatever
without knowing where my blood sugar
was and making sure I had, my insulin
and my low snacks and everything.
And I feel like that's what gave
me that hand there, was, like, life
with diabetes had me so prepared.
It is definitely a fine line between
being prepared and being in control,
and I know that word is very buzzworthy
in the community, and, I think the
marathon training can also easily
dip into the control side of things.
But I don't believe that's real life,
so I think for me, I, im- it's probably
just, my hippie mentality that I'm
just more "Ah," go with the flow
versus, being really rigid about it.
Because I remember there was plenty
of times where just like with living
with diabetes, there was factors
that I couldn't control, the weather,
or, the- humidity, which of course
impacted my blood sugars differently.
There's so many factors just
like living with Type 1 that
you really can't control it all.
You can control some of it, but you can't
control it all, and that's something you
just have to accept and keep going with.
Yeah.
You mentioned going with the flow,
and I think that there's, that's
actually a strong trait that helps
a lot in life with Type 1 diabetes.
there's so many things that, that we can
influence, and there's so many things
influencing our diabetes for that-
Hour, day, week, whatever, and sometimes
we have to just go with the flow.
So I think that, that actually, it
helps build a lot of resilience to know
that there's gonna be days like that.
Yeah, and it makes it a much more peaceful
way of life, because again, I am all for
feeling my feels and being mad and wanting
to throw my pump out the window, but the
more that you can be at peace with the
ups and the downs, the better and, just
more happy, I think, your life will be.
Yeah.
Did you have any days where, things
just didn't go well at all, to the
point where you're like, "All right,
I just, I can't do my training today,"
or, "This is just a day with my diabetes
where I'm stuck at 250 and nothing I
can do will get it down, and I'm safe.
I'm not, spilling ketones
and stuff like that, but
something's just not right here."
H- how do you… How did you cope
with those days where you, had to
give up, at least for that day?
Those days were really frustrating,
I'm not gonna lie, because, as we've
always said, people with diabetes
can do anything that they wanna do.
But, those days were very frustrating
'cause it felt like on those days,
the diabetes was just stopping me.
It was just holding up its hand and
saying, "Nuh-uh- Yeah … sister, not
today." And I remember feeling really
defeated But I think what I would do
is just be like, "Okay, tomorrow I'm
gonna just kinda push my training back
a day, and we're just gonna keep going
with the schedule as best as we can."
I wanted to be really mindful of,
like I told you, I would take my pump
off from, for a lot of my training.
And then I would end up high, and it
did get to some days where I was afraid
of ketones and, potentially putting
myself in some sort of danger after
the run or even hours after the run.
And so I think I started to become
a lot more cognizant of that as
I was, the months were going by.
So especially if I was having
highs earlier that day, then I'm,
probably wasn't gonna run that day.
And same thing with lows.
If I kept going low all day, I was
probably like, "I'm not gonna chance it.
It just feels like my body needs to-
sit this one out,"
Yeah.
Sounds like you learned a lot of
valuable lessons, and you incorporated
those, learnings and lessons.
A perfect example of adapting
and kinda going with the flow.
A lot of patience is what I learned.
It's you can't, you just
can't, you can't do it today.
Okay, Yeah.
But I want to, but I can't,
Yeah.
And, also that there's no real benefit
that comes from beating yourself
up too much about those, days.
Definitely not.
I, it, I knew that it, I knew that
if I was gonna make it to the end
of the process, that I had to accept
the bad with the good and keep going.
Yeah.
But it still s- it still stung.
It hurt.
It was defeating, but at the
end of the day, I did again.
I got to finish what I wanted to finish.
Yeah, that's amazing.
that brings, I think, it, us to a
great point to, to start wrapping up.
So if someone listening today
has been maybe holding themselves
back from something big because of
diabetes, athletic or not, what's
one thing that you would want
them to remember and think about?
Living with diabetes is already
an incredible challenge that you
take on every single day, and it's
invisible, and people can't see this
massive challenge that you take on.
Anything else is nowhere near
as challenging as diabetes is.
So you can absolutely do it.
Just remember, you just
have to take one step.
That's a great, just one step.
That's a great takeaway.
we really focused in today on a lot
of the emotional aspects of doing
hard things with Type 1 diabetes.
But a while back, Erika, you were a
guest on the amazing Ginger Vieira and
Tara Miles show called The Diabetes Nerd
Podcast, where you shared a lot of the
more, nitty-gritty details about training
for the marathon and fueling and dealing
with leg cramps and, so much more.
Folks, if you wanna hear more
about that side of things, I highly
recommend checking that episode out.
I'll be sure to link it in the show notes.
Erika, thank you so much
for talking with me today.
I, really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me, Scott.
Thanks for listening today.
One thing I really loved in this
episode is that confidence with
type 1 diabetes usually isn't
something that we start with.
It's something that we build through
experience, experiments, tough lessons,
taking our knocks, and learning how to
adapt when things don't go perfectly.
If you take one thing from this
episode, I hope it's this, you do
not need perfect blood sugars or
perfect confidence before you're
allowed to try something meaningful.
And maybe the goal isn't
eliminating uncertainty completely.
Maybe it's just learning how to
trust yourself enough to keep going
and take that first step anyways.
If this conversation was helpful,
consider sharing it with someone
who might need to hear it, and
we'll see you in the next episode.
Until then, keep living well with T1D.