College & Sports

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1

Hey y’all!
My name is Hannah, and I play on the club team at Mississippi State University. Just wondering if there were any other sports players (any sport at all) at any university/college, too! If so, what sport?

2

Hey Hannah,

I’m running XC at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

3

I played both basketball and golf while attending Wisconsin Lutheran College. Never really slowed me down other than a finger prick and Gatorade during practices and games. Golf was actually typically harder to maintain the blood sugars just because it is a continuous 5 hours of walking with a heavy bag. Again, nothing having my meter, Gatorade, and a couple of granola bars couldn’t handle.

4

Hey guys, I’m new to the JDRF websites, but kudos to you guys and your sports achievements with diabetes. I played football at Rice University ('99-'03… I’m OLD!:slight_smile: ) and then 5 years in the NFL. I’m currently a coach and have had T1 since i was 10. I had some difficulties for sure, but learned a lot along the way.
You guys may have some great ideas or things you have learned but there were some big ones i picked up along the way:

  1. know not just where my BG is at but what direction it is going CGM’s make this much easier, but if you are 150 that’s good, but not if you were 200 20 minutes ago. If youre going into competition like that i would have taken a little sugar and for sure a complex carbohydrate.
  2. I started using powdered Gatorade in College and it made a world of difference. You can make it really strong so that you don’t have to drink 3 or 4 Gatorades in a practice if your having a “low” day. Sometimes you can get an upset stomach if it is too strong and your maybe dehydrated, but i always hated having a sloshing stomach from too much Gatorade. Powdered Gatorade also wont freeze in cold climates if you ever skiing or playing in really cold weather. I have also used dried fruits when skiing as they can mold to your body in your jacket and will not freeze.
  3. I had “trigger points” that i would use when going into practice/competitions. If i was below 130 i would have some sort of complex carbohydrate with some protein to help me make it through the entire practice. Something that would kick in an hour or 2 into it. If i was below 130 i would sip on gatorade and water alternating during any breaks. If i was above 150 i would just drink water. And if i ever got below 90 i’d hit the gatorade pretty hard.
  4. Letting high blood sugars ride it out. I’ve never asked a doctor on this one, but going into competitions were tough for me. typically you get off your normal workout schedule to let your body rest and you have some adrenaline which does some weird stuff to your sugar, but one thing i really started doing as a professional was when i got within 1 hour of the competition, i would let a high blood sugar ride it out. I could never perform (or feel as good while performing) with a high blood sugar, but the crash out effect would absolutely shut me down for the day. If i was in the 300 and tried until gametime to get it in range, it was typically uncontrollable throughout the competition and with the crazy drop, even if my blood sugar was good i felt horrible and was already exhausted before i even did anything. I just decided to ride out my HIGHS when i was within an hour of gametime/practice and just chalk it up as a tough day. Obviously i tried to hydrate as much as i could and just try to wait till halftime when i had to pee :slight_smile:

I know this is long but sometimes the simple changes for me made a world of difference. You guys keep it up and look forward to seeing your great athletic achievements.