I was so excited to be with Ryan Reed at the Texas Motor Speedway, where he was getting ready to race in the XFinity NASCAR series in Fort Worth, Texas. He was kind enough to talk with me about the process of testing his blood sugar, what he eats before a race, how he monitors his blood sugar and what his protocol is.

For National Diabetes Awareness month, please consider donating to Ryan Reed’s DriveToStopDiabetes.

Ryan Reed preparing to race!

From Ryan’s website:

Reed began his first full NASCAR Xfinity Season at the start of 2014.  He finished 9^th in overall standings, with 1 top 5 finish and 14 top 15 finishes.  His season best took place at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished 4^th.  He will start his 2^nd Season in the NASCAR XFinity Series with the No 16 team in 2015

Reed’s racing career began at a young age, capturing the Kid’s Kart Track Championship at the age of four.  The Bakersfield, California native followed that up by becoming the Junior 1 Comer and HPV Karting Track Champion at age eight.

Read the rest of his bio at DriveToStopDiabetes

Alissa:   Can you tell me a little bit about your schedule, diet and what you typically eat before a race?

Ryan:     Like many athletes, you need to develop an eating plan – which is really about consistency and making things simple enough so that it becomes routine. I usually have a turkey sandwich with mustard on whole wheat bread as a pre-race meal. I might change it up here and there, but not too much. It makes my blood sugar more consistent.

Alissa:   Racing can cause a lot of anxiety. Does this stress impact your blood sugar?

Ryan:     Yes, from time to time.

Alissa:   What is your routine checking your blood sugar and how do you self manage?

Ryan:     I check my blood sugar frequently. Even though I’m on Dexcom, I always like to start right around 100. The lowest I want to be is 90. The highest I'd want to be is about 120. I usually end a race right around 200. That seems to be a comfortable zone for me where I feel good the entire race.  (Ryan’s blood sugar pre-race was 107 and post-race 154).

Alissa:   How are you able to monitor and control your blood sugar during a race?

Ryan:     I have Dexcom in the car so I can watch my blood sugar throughout the entire race.  I keep a drink that is high in carbohydrate and sugar nearby in order to prevent or treat low blood sugar. It is important to replenish carbohydrates throughout the race.

Dexcom and high carbohydrate drink in Ryan’s No 16 Ford Mustang

Alissa:   Do you change your insulin to carbohydrate ratio or your 24 hour basal?

Ryan:     I am on long-acting insulin.  Knowing that adrenalin and stress on a race day can be hard, I reduce my insulin across the board. The worst case scenario is having low blood sugar inside the race car. Reducing the insulin is a safeguard that errs on the on the side of caution. Reality is that the race burns so many calories; a person doesn’t need as much insulin.

Alissa:   While you're racing, because it's so hot in the car, what do your blood sugars tend to run? What do they usually run after the race?

Ryan:     Dehydration during a race can result in the loss of up to five pounds due to perfuse sweating. Couple that with adrenaline, my blood sugar does gradually climb.  Since it is cool today, I'll probably end around 160-170. However, it can reach between as high as 200-210 on a hot day.  It really depends on the weather. After the race, my blood sugar drops pretty quickly.

Alissa: How does Dexcom work to your advantage when you're racing? How do you treat your blood sugar using Dexcom as recourse?

Ryan:     Dexcom tracks your blood sugar is at all times, including inside and outside of the race car. It IS the device that allowed me to get back on the track with NASCAR! This is my safety net for informing my crew of my blood sugar levels. I have a target on my fire suit that permits my crew to administer insulin, if I am too high. I also have a drink blend in my car in case it is too low. I try to monitor it the best I can during the race, but I may not check for 40 or 50 laps.

Alissa:   When you started racing again, were you on Dexcom from the start?

Ryan:     Yes, I was on Dexcom the first time I sat back in a race car.

Alissa:   How would it impact you if you were not on Dexcom while racing?

Ryan:     I wouldn’t be allowed to race professionally at my current level.

Alissa:   We're both athletes, and I try to really advocate showing fitness, diabetes and living a healthy lifestyle as a positive, not a negative. What advice would you give to a non-athlete with diabetes?

Ryan:   For me, the biggest thing was being able to find a doctor who works closely with me on managing my diabetes, both inside and outside the race car. You're the one who has to manage your diabetes. You have to take responsibility for it, but your doctor still plays a huge role by managing diabetes around the rigorous schedule of training and how an athlete eats. It can be frustrating. There can be times where you feel like it's defeating almost, but if you keep pushing through and persevere, it's definitely worth it.

Alissa :  This is National Diabetes Awareness Month and you're doing some fabulous things with Lilly Diabetes and the American Diabetes Association on the No 16 Ford Mustang. Do you want to share a little bit about what your charitable organization Drive to Stop Diabetes has done for National Diabetes Awareness Month?

Ryan:     One of the cool things is we have a special paint scheme here in Texas. You'll see a bunch of stars all over our car. The stars represent the entire population of Texas. You'll see red stars mixed in amongst those, and those are the fourteen percent of Texans living with diabetes. We also have a My Diabetes Pit Crew Sweepstakes going on this weekend. People, who sign up and get selected as the Pit Crew Champions, are going to have their names featured on my pit crew's fire suits. Just a really cool way to give back to people in the diabetes community that are living with this disease day in and day out, just gives them a way to be a part of the race team. We hope that they enjoy it.

Alissa:   Thank you so much for this opportunity - I'm excited to be here, especially during National Diabetes Awareness Month. I'm looking forward to seeing you race and do great.

Ryan:     Awesome.

Alissa:   Thanks so much.

Congratulations to Ryan for finishing the race in 15^th place.Ryan is currently 10th in the NASCAR XFINITY series championship standings after one win and 17 top-15 finishes.  His next race is at Phoenix International Raceway(PIR)

This is the second and final part of Alissa's interview with NASCAR racer Ryan Reed.  Please consider donating to Ryan's charity DriveToStopDiabetes

From Ryan’s website:

Ryan Reed began his first full NASCAR Xfinity Season at the start of 2014. He finished 9th in overall standings, with 1 top 5 finish and 14 top 15 finishes. His season best took place at Daytona Intentional Speedway, where he finished 4th. He will start his 2nd Season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with the No 16 team in 2015.

Reed's racing career began at a young age, capturing the Kid's Kart Track Championship at the age of four. The Bakersfield, California native followed that up by becoming the Junior 1 Comer and HPV Karting Track Champion at age eight.

You can read the rest of Ryan’s bio on his site DriveToStopDiabetes

Alissa:       What team of people do you work with who medically care and support you in your diabetes while you're racing?

Ryan:        I’m mostly managing it myself with the help of my doctor. At the racetrack, one of my pit crew is trained to give me an insulin injection at a pit stop if necessary.  NASCAR has a medical team at every race.

Alissa:       I have looked at some of your videos and I saw that you have some kind of bulls-eye that gives you insulin?

Ryan:        That's a patch on my suit that’s a little bit thinner than the rest of the material. It’s to indicate where to give me the insulin injection if I need it.

Alissa:       What do you do if you're racing and have low blood sugar? What do you do to prevent low blood sugar while you're racing?

Ryan:        I have a drink inside of my car that's timed glucose. It's like a sports drink base that we add dextrose to for more glucose.

Alissa:       What is that? Does your CGM tell you when your blood sugar's high or low? How do you get the drink into your body?

Ryan:        I have a tube that runs to the front of my helmet—it's a camelback system. I have a bite-valve that's right on the side of my helmet so I can actually drink while I'm racing.  I also have my CGM that I'm looking at throughout the race, so I know if my blood sugar is high or low.

Alissa:       Does the stress of racing affect your blood sugar?

Ryan:        Yes. More than the stress, the dehydration is probably the biggest factor. Adrenaline plays a factor as well.

Alissa:       That's interesting. So what do you do for dehydration?

Ryan:        I do the best I can leading into the race to stay as hydrated as possible because there's no way around it. On a hot day I will lose up to 4 or 5 pounds in a race. On the days that I feel I didn't do as good a job as I needed to in order to stay hydrated, I pay the price.

Alissa:       I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about your organization. It's “Drive to Stop Diabetes,” right?

Ryan:        Yes. My personal foundation is “Ryan's Mission” and then “Drive to Stop Diabetes” is an American Diabetes Association organization, which I also play a huge part in. “Drive to Stop Diabetes” came out in 2013 and was centered around our racing platform. For me the biggest part is working with younger kids and spreading the message that you can do whatever you want despite having diabetes—don’t let someone tell you that you can’t chase your dream.

                The American Diabetes Association does a lot of work to spread general information at the racetrack—whether its risk tests or awareness information. Lilly Diabetes got involved at the end of 2013, beginning of 2014, and became a title sponsor. They have played a huge part in helping it grow, reach more people and funding.

Alissa:       You mentioned “Ryan's Mission.” How did you come up with that idea and what exactly is it?

Ryan:        “Ryan's Mission” was my first way of getting involved. It was just a website we put up and it was a place to go to tell my story. There is a woman who works for “Ryan's Mission” who does a lot of the day-to-day work with ADA, Lilly Diabetes and “Drive to Stop Diabetes,” but we are more behind the scene. We don't have a lot of events or fundraisers, but we'll have charities donate to “Ryan’s Mission” and a lot of the funds go back to ADA or to help fund an auction or a fundraiser.

Alissa:       Have you raised a lot of money through your organization?

Ryan:        We do a little bit here and there to help stay afloat, but most of our efforts go into the Drive program. It’s hard managing two different programs and my focus is on the Drive program because they've done a lot for me to help me to continue to chase my dream.

Alissa:       What kind of advice do you give people who want to become athletes and compete? Do they need a team of people or is it doable to manage independently? I have interviewed my doctor, Dr. Blevins, and I did an interview with him on this topic and he actually said it is doable. So I'm curious to hear what you think and what your advice would be to people.

Ryan:        I feel it's different for everyone. Meeting and talking to people like you, everyone has a different situation. Each sport, or each person, has their own challenges—not only with their own diabetes, but with whatever their passion is. A lot of it I can listen to and understand, but there is also a lot of it I don't understand and so it’s hard for me to give too in-depth of advice. For me it’s just going through it and dealing with it. With others I just try and tell them, "Don't give up."

                I still struggle with my diabetes.  I have a great doctor and I understand it, but I still have my bad days—just like everyone else. I try and give a positive message of "Don't give up. Don't let the frustrations beat you. Just continue to overcome and give 100%." That's all you can do and, at the end of the day, it’s worth it being able to go out there and do whatever it is that you love to do.

Alissa:       That's so interesting, and that's why I wanted to interview you. Those are all my questions, so I really want to thank you so much!

Ryan:        No problem.