Catherine Murphy
April 11, 2010
My name is Catherine Murphy and I am 42 years old.I live in Chicago,but am originally from Ireland. I have had type 1 diabetes for 3 years. My introduction to triathlon happened a few years ago when I went to a triathlon to support some friends.
I knew nothing about triathlon, but was instantly hooked. The atmosphere as everyone was getting into their waves to get ready to start was electric. As I watched every one jump into the lake 
I thought to my self "I am going to do this next year". But there was one small problem, I did not know how to swim and I had never been to a gym. I had not run since I was maybe 12 years old. Gym culture in Ireland was not very strong back then. I joined a swim class and the gym at work. Then after countless trips to the pool/gym and the following year I completed 2 sprint distances triathlons.
The next year I was diagnosed, I had no idea until that point what diabetes was and what a life with diabetes entailed, it has been an education. I will say that I now exercise more and have a much healthier diet than ever before.
I heard about Team Wild at my local DESA meeting last year and decided to join. Already the support is impressive. Here is a community of people that you can email a question to and receive advice, encouragement and support all in one email. My personal goal is to become a more confident swimmer, and that's the area I will probably work on more. When I get more confident with that I will be happy to tackle longer distances.
Lee Langill
April 10, 2010
My name is Lee Langill. I am 44 years old, and have had type 1 diabetes for the last 32 years. I live in Chicago and am a stay-at-home mom to a wonderful 6 year old boy named Aaron. I also have a daughter Mallory who died 2 years ago at age 7 from Cystic Fibrosis. My husband and I have been married for almost 20 years (June 3rd is our 20th anniversary).
Right after my daughter was born, I was swimming laps in the pool one day, and said to myself, “I’d like to do a triathlon within the next 10 years.” My husband and I were swimming a mile 3 mornings a week, so I knew I had that part covered. I just had to learn how to run – I figured anyone could ride a bike.
Over the next 7+ years, I slowly worked my way toward that goal, but without much success. I spent a lot of time living in hospitals when my daughter was an inpatient, and even more time taking care of her at home. Whenever I did get a chance to exercise, however, it was a great source of stress relief.
After Mallory died, I knew I needed some kind of outlet, and I heard about a Lazy Man Triathlon at a local YMCA. This is where you do an Ironman Triathlon in terms of length, but you have 6 weeks to complete it. I finished in 5 weeks and felt a little sense of victory. We moved the next year, and started going to a new YMCA. I told the fitness director there about the Lazy Man Triathlon, and she thought it was a great idea. When she announced she wanted to organize one, I signed up again.
When I learned that Team WILD had a training/coaching component for women who wanted to do a sprint distance triathlon, I was really excited. As I talked the idea over with my husband and my friends, I realized that it had been 10 years since I had first voiced my desire to complete a triathlon. What perfect timing, I thought, and I signed up.
I am so excited about all the support and encouragement I am able to get from Team WILD. Just knowing there are other women who have some of the same goals I do, and are trying to accomplish them is encouraging. They are an amazing source of information and support!
I had to call on their knowledge just the other day, when I needed a new swimsuit. I had gone swimming with my husband and son last week, and had felt pretty good about the workout I was able to do, considering I hadn’t been in the pool for about a year. That good feeling quickly vanished though when the man that was swimming a couple of laps away told my husband that I needed to buy a new swimsuit.
I was immediately suspicious, and wondered why this man was looking at me so closely from 2 lanes away. When I got into the locker room later, however, my suspicion turned into embarrassment, and horror. He was right! My suit was indeed very, very thin in places. I threw my suit in the garbage, came home and asked Team WILD where I could find long suits. They answered within the hour; I placed my order, and received my new suit today. Now I’m ready to hit the pool again (although I won’t be going swimming on a Friday afternoon at 2pm again any time soon)!
Christie Caldarella
April 7, 2010
My name is Christie Caldarella. I am 61 years old and have two daughters with Type 1 diabetes. My oldest daughter Anna, is a triathlete and has been encouraging me to get into better shape. Sooooo I am in training! My first race will be the Danskin Woman's Triathlon in Austin, Texas in June. I am also hoping to be in good enough shape to do The Rattlesnake Sprint Triathlon in Denver this summer. Back to my training. 
I have always been a walker but I have now started to jog. Swimming is the real challenge for someone who does not like to put their face in the water. I started taking a swimming class and my coach says that I should be ready by June. My swim class is Monday and Wednesday evenings and Tuesday and Thursday at 6 am. The class is filled with a bunch of young people and I feel like a drowning rat. I have been told that my sidewalk cruiser with its big seat and straw basket won’t cut it and just bought my new bike. It is a Scott SUB40. It feels really good and I love it. I am so sore and sleepy. It isn’t easy trying to keep up with my 33 year old daughter.
Anna Caldarella
April 2, 2010
My name is Anna Caldarella. I am 33 years old and I am a Type 1 diabetic. I went to Austin to watch my friend in the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 race last October and while he was checking out the first transition area I saw a group of women getting ready to swim. I noticed that one of the ladies had an OmniPod taped to her arm. I wear a OmniPod and I got really excited to see a diabetic women competing in the race. When I got a chance to read a race booklet I figured out what TeamWILD was all about. I cheered for you girls, and I found it very inspiring to see other diabetic athletes! I have always been the type of person to keep this disease to myself. The fact that I joined the team is a really big deal and has helped me to get away from the denial that I have been living in. So I am very excited to start my second race season and I feel that this is just what I needed to become a stronger more educated and PROUD diabetic athlete.
I wanted to take this opportunity to give you some information on a core strength and conditioning program that I really believe in called CrossFit! CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of ten fitness domains. They are Cardiovascular and Respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy. I have been doing CrossFit for almost 3 years and I have to say that it has made a huge difference in the way I have decided to live my life. I went from not being able to do a pushup or pull-up to not being able to keep count of them! The CrossFit prescription is “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement.” CrossFit is, quite simply, a sport-the “sport of fitness.”
Example of a WOD (workout of the day)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Chest-to-bar pull-up
Box jump, 30 inch box
GHD sit-up
You can see what CrossFit is all about by watching this video.
Catherine Murphy 
I thought to my self "I am going to do this next year". But there was one small problem, I did not know how to swim and I had never been to a gym. I had not run since I was maybe 12 years old. Gym culture in Ireland was not very strong back then. I joined a swim class and the gym at work. Then after countless trips to the pool/gym and the following year I completed 2 sprint distances triathlons.
