Antonio Lledó López is a 31 -year -old Cartagena, diabetic and athlete.Being a diabetic does not imply an impediment to practicing your favorite sport, the mountain bike, which opened new horizons when they diagnosed a condition with only 20 years.Now wants to run the titan desert , the hardest MTB test in the world.
Touring more than 700 kilometers through the Morocco desert in six days with a mountain bike is already a challenge for most mortals.That is the Titan Desert, considered as the hardest MTB test in the world, and that every year gathers hundreds of bicycle lovers willing to make a great sacrifice in pursuit of finding the reward of being qualified as 'Finisher', it isSay, be able to finish the race safe and saved.
As we said, this event is already a challenge for anyone, the more if it is diabetic.That is the case of Antonio Lledó (Cartagena, 31 years old), who is arranged for April 27 to May 2 to complete this edition of the Titan Desert.He has already rushed the last hours before getting on top of the bicycle to become the first participant in the history of this test with diabetes.
- Why the Titan Desert?
As a mountain bike lover I think it is the maximum of what one can aspire.It is a challenge that will surely be in life, but with an added value in case of completing it, such as doing it being diabetic.It is an objective that I intend to do to demonstrate that diabetes should not be the limit, and therefore we must work so that the sport is one more treatment for any patient with diabetes.What better way to prove it than in such a test.Once the Titan Desert is finished and to continue with the message, I intend to perform new challenges that I hope help to the maximum possible number of people.
- What is your daily training plan to participate in this Titan Desert?
My training for a race like this begins more than a year ago, at which time I set out this challenge.From there I have had to work not only in a specific training plan, but also and more importantly, in the setting of guidelines for a person with diabetes.These guidelines vary greatly in the day to day, so I have been lucky enough to have the support of my endocrine Javier Gonzalez, of the Association of Diabetics of Cartagena, Sodicar, who is taking care to this day of getting a guidelineSpecial for the race.This perhaps has been the hardest, since it is a daily job and which is very important for anyone with diabetes.
"be diabetic or not, the titan desert already requires that you take many precautions"
- What medical controls and/or precautions should you take about it?
The Titan Desert is considered one of the most hard MTB races in the world, so precautions must be very important, whether diabetic or not.But in my case I have an added problem.The heat must be taken into account, since if insulin feathers are not protected in conditions, they can lose their assimilation.Another aspect is food, which must have a good load of CH to recharge lost glycogen and avoid hypos during the race.But the most important thing is the choice of the correct pattern, which can only be achieved with a previous study.It would be useless to face a career like this if one does not know how his illness acts.Along with this it is very important to work to avoid hypoglycemia, so I try to work each stage to always carry with me the necessary supplementation to avoid them.
- During the test, how are you going to control your disease?
The reason to perform the Titan is none other than to motivate and promote sports practice in people with diabetes.You must haveVery clear that the limit must be marked and that diabetes should not and cannot control us.Therefore, with my experience - not as an example, since I do not consider myself an example as a diabetic - I intend to make us understand the importance of sport, how it acts in us and its benefits.In order to do so, I intend to bring my disease to the limit and generate an experience and data as valuable as possible.From the moment that I will register my glycemia, food and insulin dose thanks to the support of SocialDiabetes.com, a company responsible for the app with which I will introduce all my levels and which makes it possible for me to be here.In turn, this information will be supervised by my endocrine, who can make changes and adjustments during the race.
- How was your family's response?
For my family this type of challenges is not new.Although none has reached the level of the Titan Desert, on other occasions I have already been in Morocco or Turkey by bike, I have crossed the peninsula, made marathons and always have the security that I transmit.A security that comes from years of experience, but above all not to face diabetes with fear, I would say that it should be who is afraid of me.
- When do you decide that diabetes is not going to stop you to get these challenges?When your life?
Diabetes touched me with 20 years, a moment of my life and like that of any young man who debuts where the last thing that goes through the head is the supposed limitations that this disease causes you.I say limitations because they are the ones that from the beginning make you see and with which you live until you realize that they do not exist.The sport served me not only to realize that I could live better, but it was also my means to isolate me from those moments where you have a hard time assuming your new condition.All that, the bicycle gave me.A medium and a sport that allows you to enjoy the environment knowing that the only engine is your legs and in my case with an added problem such as diabetes.I started with the Camino de Santiago (3 times by bike and 4 walk) and every time I felt better and knowing that the only limit was marked.That is why I decided that I should continue like this, setting objectives.Always with supposed control, but never being afraid of the disease.With all this I have been able to do everything I have raised, that at the moment it reaches the Titan Desert.
You can follow Antonio's challenge on his website (www.antoniolledo.com) or on his Twitter account (@alledolpez).
