Heidi-Jane James has never let diabetes slow her down – in fact it motivates her to push harder and farther.
She’s lived with Type 1 diabetes since the age of 14, when a viral infection caused her body to inadvertently destroy the good cells in her pancreas.
There was nothing that could have been done to avoid contracting the form of the disease – which is not caused by lifestyle factors like Type 2 diabetes.
Heidi-Jane now has to make sure she carefully manages her blood sugars in order to avoid potentially life-threatening health problems in the future.
But despite all this she still lives the lifestyle of a dedicated triathlete and is always pushing her body to the limit.
She recently finished fourth overall at the Ironmaori event in Napier – a 2km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run – and is now training hard for Ironman New Zealand in March.
"I would’ve really liked to have won but I’m stoked that I’m able to be this fit at this stage of my ironman training. Usually I wouldn’t be this fast so soon and my Ironmaori time was only five minutes off my personal best,” she says.
For Heidi-Jane, competing in triathlon requires an extra level of planning that most people don’t have to think about.
That means plotting and sticking to a strict race day regime.
"I have to assess how much insulin I need my body to have over the whole race. I don’t test my blood glucose during the race except during ironman when I do it at every transition.
"I try and teach my body to look for signs of low sugar. I have about 50 grams of carbs every hour and I have to stick to that. On the swim I usually have a gel around halfway - I just float on my back and have that. Then on the bike, every 45 minutes or so I make sure I eat something.
"The consequences are pretty severe if I get it wrong. For anybody out there racing if you don’t do things right it can be a problem but I guess not everyone dies if things go wrong.
"It sits in the back of your head that things could happen. I know I’m really carefully and I’ve had diabetes for 18 years but I still always think about it.”
In 2011 she will line up for her third Ironman New Zealand and has lofty ambitions to make it into the NZ age group squad.
Her upcoming Ironman race on home soil has an even deeper meaning as she will be competing to raise money and awareness for the charity Diabetes Youth New Zealand.
She says her biggest challenge is trying to change people’s perceptions of diabetes and realise the difference between Type 1 and Type 2.
"There are a whole lot of kids out there that have this disease and it’s awful.”
Heidi-Jane’s life is made easier by being on an insulin pump, which helps regulate her blood sugars without the need for regular injections.
But the equipment is extremely expensive with the pump alone costing between $4000 and $7000 and the monthly cost for materials stretching to around $300 a month.
"It’s an enormous expense. It would be really hard to maintain the lifestyle and be as healthy as I am without it.
"I can afford my pump but I know there are people out there that aren’t so lucky. Everyone should have the opportunity to go on one but life’s not like that I guess.”
Following Ironman New Zealand, there’s no let-up for Heidi-James as she eyes Ironman Wisconsin in September and the Las Vegas world champs in November.
