If you’d told me a few years ago I’d run that distance in one day, I would’ve laughed. Heck, even a marathon once felt like a stretch. But this past month, I completed my first 50-mile ultramarathon—and I did it with Type-1 Diabetes.

Managing my T1D… it’s become subconscious at this point when piecing it together with all of my other routines. T1D is no different than taking care of oneself. Why? Because I must in order to stay alive and to drive optimal performance.

Delaney Holtey, a student athlete on the University of Iowa women's soccer team. Delaney, a Type-1 Diabetic of 14 years, is deeply passionate about health and wellness. As she nears graduation and prepares for chiropractic school, her experiences highlight the power of work ethic, mindset, and leadership.

T1Determined is aimed to conceptualize, design and execute storytelling mediums of podcasts, blog posts, and documentary films that look into the sports physiology of Type-1 Diabetics. Over the past five years of being a T1D, I’ve seen many others accomplish wild and astonishing feats. I’ve seen other T1Ds simply compete at their desired level. Whether it was recreational or professional, there is a whole world out there of T1Ds embodying an active lifestyle.

Ice particles rained out of the clear skies directly into my mask. Head down, I dodged them like a ninja. The wind was so intense.