Nov 13, 2017
On today’s show we have Karen Bone and Morgan Hodge.
Growing up in Western Canada, Karen was part of a super active family. She was a dancer and outdoors enthusiast, but when type 1 diabetes entered into her life as a young adult, she had a new challenge to deal with. While Karen was super strict with her health and making sure she was militant in keeping her health in check, she hid her type 1 diagnosis from the world. It wasn’t until a trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa that Karen truly accepted her reality and felt comfortable being public with that diagnosis.
We talk quite a bit about Karen’s hike up Mt Kilimanjaro with a team of other type 1s, and that segment we discuss preparation, the challenges associated with a week long hike up and down the tallest mountain in Africa, and the challenges she faced with insulin dosing and fluctuating blood sugars in the changing conditions Kilimanjaro is known for.
We then move on to discuss Karen's climb up the Tour de Mont Blanc, which is in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. It was during that trek that she faced significant mental challenges including how to deal with dramatic temperature swings and difficult climbing conditions including narrow ice ridges, and her fear of being swept down the mountain by a river formed of melting snowpack.
Our conversation then shifts to Karen’s husband, Morgan, who is a kinesiologist and coach. Because of Karen’s day to day with type 1, Morgan has taken a keen interest in how different modes of training require varied preparation. Morgan, being a self-proclaimed 'geek' when it comes to stuff like this, shares what he has learned about Karen and type 1 when it comes to steady state training, high intensity interval training, and resistance training.
This is a unique look at how one type 1 athlete and her scientist husband have started to make sense of what can be a pretty fuzzy area for many of us with type 1.
We do get a bit deep in science at times, but if you’re an athlete or if you’re training for something, I think this offers us a great look into different types of training and a number of the variables we should all be considering to optimize our training.
This is a conversation of taking on challenge and expanding the boundaries of our comfort zone. It’s also a discussion on the importance of monitoring our bodies and recognizing patterns during training so we can take on those challenges.