Gran Fondo Rosa with Diabetes 2024

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Welcome or Welcome Back to my adventures!
This time I will bring you in my bike ride around Arnhem for the Gran Fondo Rosa 2024 edition.

If you do not know me a little intro:


I’m Eleonora, born in 1995 in the beautiful city of Turin, Italy. With a background in molecular biotechnology and a master’s in oncology from Vrije University of Amsterdam, I’ve dedicated my life to understanding and improving human wellbeing. I work as a consultant engineer in Pharma Amsterdam and I channel my passion for sports as a Swim Director for the Amsterdam Triathlon and Cycling Club. Living with type 1 diabetes since 1999, when I was three, and you know what, I've embraced it as a unique strength that fuels my dedication to triathlons and my quest for optimal health! My journey has led me to become a certified nutritionist and life coach, always striving to inspire and support others in their diabetes management and overall health journey.


My Mission

Diabetes is a full-time challenge, but with the right mindset and lifestyle, it can be managed effectively. My mission is to provide genuine insights and practical guidance to those living with diabetes, enhancing understanding and promoting a healthy lifestyle. By sharing my personal experiences, strategies, and the tools I've developed, I aim to inspire others to take control of their health. Combining cognitive behavioral therapies with medical treatments, my goal is to shift the focus from just insulin and glucose levels to a comprehensive approach that includes nutrition, exercise, and mental wellbeing. Together, we can create a supportive community where everyone can thrive despite the challenges of diabetes.


Back at the Gran Fondo Race Day!


One on the most important things on a bike race is the weather! I was looking every day how the weather would looked like, unfortunately it was looking like cold and rainy.
Most of the people decided to drop but Not me, I was going to be there!
I knew that the rain was going to be challenging even beyond diabetes, carrying sugar, food and the phone with the rain is not the best! Oh well, as the Dutch people say, I am not made of Sugar!


Pre Race

I always make sure to do a series of things before a race; from the checklist of equipment's, wearing gears, bike tire pressure, bike breaks. Also I make sure I bring all the food, hydration composed of water and electrolyte and extra glucose monitors, extra sensors and extra insulin needed in case something might go wrong.


Checklist

1. Bike breaks check
2. Bike tires pressure check
3. Gluc Up Gels x5
4. Protein bars x2 and Bananas x2
5. Dexcom G7 extra sensor and manual glucose machine
6. Glucagon in the bike bag
7. Phone and phone holder on the bike
8. Extra dress layers and wind jacket is a must


After a decent night of sleep, sleep is so important for managing glucose, the morning of the race I woke up around 6:30 am, rented a car in Amsterdam, disassembled the bike, packed the bike and rode to the starting point, Arnhem.


Strategy:

My glucose was around 200mg/dl (10mml/L) in the morning at waking up time, so I decided to correct with 1 unit of insulin. Usually my correction factor is 1u for 50 mg/dl. On the other hand my unit of insulin needed for X grams of cho are 1u for 10g of cho.
Right, that is fixed!


Nutrition:

I started the race with a breakfast containing 20g cho and 10g protein, with the intention to integrate every hours or even 30 min if needed. 
Integration: The first integration I had happened at the 40km mark, I had fast 20g fast cho. 
After 40 min, I took a Gluc Up gel.


Glucose:

Morning glucose was around 200mg/dl, I started the race a bit too high around 300mg/dl (15mml/L), although at the moment of the start I did not have any active insulin anymore as the last injection was at 6:30am and I started the race at 10:00 am.

Surprisingly or not my glucose dropped from 300mg/dl to 150mg/dl, meanwhile I was integrating as described above. It kept going dropping till 100mg/dl (glucose measured by the Dexcom G7). The feeling was that the glucose was even lower around 60mg/dl, as maybe it was if I was to measure the blood glucose through the finger.

I had to completely stop for 15 min as my feeling of tiredness and tachycardia were too strong to let me keeping going. After 30 min the glucose was back on track although, my legs were hard and tired to start again.

People stopped their own race to ask me if i needed help, food or a car drive to the hospital or even at home. I was surprised about how many people stopped willing to give me their own food!

Closure

Emotional and tired I crossed the line, collected my medal and enjoyed the drinks and pasta afterwards!

What a day! Ah I forgot, I was quick enough to avoid the rain during the bike ride. As soon as I put the fork full of Bolognese sauce back to the wooden table, I felt a drop on my face, I looked up and I started breathing deeply the happiness under the rain.

Disclaimer:

Beyond every race, even every training that can be run, bike ride, swimming etc.. there is much more. Weeks, months, maybe a years of trainings. Training not only in the sport train the mind and the body to act and react with Diabetes, to feel while pushing, to hold the pain while being aware. Every training is fully planned around nutrition and glucose management, supported by a strong mindset.

My science based method lead me from 0 to 100%. From training in 2015 once or twice a week with poor results, increasing the training amount in 2018 to an Half Ironman Triathlon competition in 2023. Today I am proud of what I have achieved, and I am proud of the method I used to discover this path.

I am not a doctor and I am not pretending to be one. I am a Molecular Biotechnology scientist and an Oncology Master graduate one. I have spent years in hospital studying and observing cell behavior, metabolism, grow and death. This made me discover the beauty of my own body and empowered myself to be my own scientist. 

Everything I do is science based, as I inform myself with proved scientific articles, strongly supported by my scientific background. Tested carefully on myself, discussed with other and with specialist of the topic. Afterwards, validated with scientific results on performance, body weight and mental health.

What is my detailed therapy for diabetes, the units, and the measurements might be not yours, and you do not need to copy or try to replicate the numbers, although The Strategy for success might be similar!


To know more about my challenges and my day to day diabetes management on Instagram 

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