I am an emotional runner. Hell, I’m an emotional woman. I ran the creek today and I had 5 miles to think, reflect, ponder…you name it. I was thinking about the past two years, and all we have been through. I had a bad diabetes day yesterday, so I was thinking about that too. (I blacked out while putting my sensor in…the pain is sometimes too much to handle). There are times that I start to feel sorry for myself…thankfully, those moments are fleeting.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes I thought that my entire life would change. It has.

I was training for my first marathon when the diagnosis came. I would have ran it without diabetes, but diabetes pushed me to keep running even after the race was over, to train harder, to run faster. I don’t think I’d be preparing to run in the Chicago marathon if I didn’t have type 1. It’s more than running to check a goal off of a list, now it’s about running to stay alive, to stay healthy, to be here for my kids.

I may pass out over a needle, but I can pull from the deepest, darkest corners of my soul and find the strength to push through 26.2 miles. Diabetes taught me how to do that. I’m definitely flying…