When Mandy Marquardt wheels into the spotlight, her story unfolds with more twists and turns than a high-velocity velodrome. Mandy is a Professional Track Sprint Cyclist living and racing with type 1 diabetes for the USA Cycling National Team and Team Novo Nordisk, the world's first all-diabetes professional cycling team.

In this episode, the 27-time US National Champion, 5-time American Record Holder, 2-time Pan American Games Medalist, and Olympic hopeful shares an empowering narrative of conquering type 1 diabetes and sprinting beyond her limits. With each chapter, we journey through Mandy's aspirations, her emotional battles after a life-altering diagnosis, and the unyielding support of her family that rekindled her passion for cycling and competition.

Mandy takes us down the road less traveled, revealing the intricacies of her bilingual upbringing and the cultural shift from Germany to the United States. The resilience she crafted from her personal challenges, including challenges related to managing type 1 diabetes, exemplifies the profound strength found within. This episode isn't just about athletic achievements; it's a deep dive into the day-to-day life of an elite athlete, exploring rigorous training routines, nutrition strategies, and the mental toughness required to compete at the pinnacle of sport.

Our conversation extends into the realm of technological advancements in diabetes care and their revolutionary impact on athletes like Mandy. She illuminates the balance of professional sports with personal well-being, providing a beacon of hope and guidance to anyone facing their own hurdles. Prepare to be inspired by tales of perseverance, adaptability, and the collective drive that propels this extraordinary athlete toward the 2024 Paris Olympics. Mandy Marquardt's journey is a masterclass in pushing boundaries and racing not just for victory but for the triumph of the human spirit.

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Mandy: 0:00

I was supposed to go to this VO2 max testing because I was supposed to then potentially try to make the world's team for German team for junior track worlds Like that would have been amazing. But no, instead I was in the hospital for two weeks having a doctor tell me that I would never be able to compete at a high level in my sport and, yeah, that was a really difficult time. Like it brought my dad and I closer, because I know there's some times in my career that my dad was really hard on me being German and you know we laugh about this now but he would just be like do it or don't do it technically like, but in a way it brought us closer because he was then more patient with me. But I'm also in a sense, not patient at times just because I'm like I want to do this, I want to do that and I want to make that happen. So we just took it one step at a time. I was like, hey, I just want to get back on the bike, see where it takes me. And then I was like you know what I'm feeling? Okay, even though learning how to manage my diabetes was so hard and I didn't understand that eating just chocolate or sweets would just spike my blood sugar.

Mandy: 0:54

And then it was just a lot of just learning, even though I didn't want to be like, oh look, I'm type one, I have to do all this, you know, like at a restaurant, like take insulin out and take insulin or check my blood sugar, prick my finger a ton of times and get all these marks on my finger, and like I just didn't want to be different, but it's what I had to kind of do.

Mandy: 1:15

I just was like it's what I have to do, I don't have a choice. And I was like okay, I want to at least do nationals. And then I competed at German nationals less than a year later in that same event and won bronze, and that to me was like a shift of like wow, I can actually do this, like with diabetes, because I was standing in the same exact spot. And to me that's always like. One event that means so much to me is the 500 meter time trial at the sprint event, and that's the race that I have the American record in now and it's like one of my favorite events just because it holds so much.

Klara: 1:45

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Grand Slam Journey podcast, where we discuss various topics related to Grand Slam Journey of our lives sports lessons we have learned from our athletic endeavors and how we apply them in the next chapter of our lives. My today's guest is Mandy . Mandy is a professional truck sprint cyclist living and racing with type one diabetes for the USA Cycling National Team and Team Novo Nordisk, the world's first all diabetes professional cycling team. Her mission and passion is to be a role model for all to pursue their dreams and to inspire, educate and empower everyone affected by diabetes. Mandy is 27 time US national champion, five time American record holder, two time Pan American Games medalist and Olympic hopeful. I'm cheering for her to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Klara: 2:50

I love so many things about the conversation, including Mandy's humbleness and the courage with which she tells her story. I hope you enjoyed the lesson. If you do, please share it with someone who you believe may enjoy it as well. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode, and consider leaving a review on YouTube, spotify, apple podcasts or wherever you listen to this episode. This is your host, Klara Jagosova. Thank you for tuning in, and now I bring you Mandy Marquardt.

Klara: 3:24

Mandy, thank you so much for accepting my invitation and be a guest on the Grand Slam Journey podcast to talk about your Grand Slam Journey of cycling Welcome, thank you for having me.

Klara: 3:36

I have been reading about your life and what brought you to the sport and your background and obviously even managing health conditions such as diabetes, which you have been diagnosed with early on in life and, being a former athlete, I believe managing being an athlete is a journey on its own, not even with type one diabetes, which I've listened to many podcasts and you talk about even the focus you have to pay attention to obviously sleep, recovery, nutrition and all of that above and obviously, thriving in life, including your school and academics and Penn State and traveling now and working to be at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. So there's so many things we can touch on. And just for everyone who may not know you, quick intro your professional track, sprint cyclist, 27 times US national champion, six time American record holder. I love the Olympic hopeful. I'm cheering for you. I'm curious actually how that is going and next steps for you on the journey.

Mandy: 4:45

Anything else you want to add for intro for anyone who may not know, you, I think you summed it up pretty well and it's kind of ironic because this is the Grand Slam podcast and I actually started playing tennis first when I was really young. I'm excited to dive into that. But yeah, you covered it and I'm looking forward to this conversation.

Klara: 5:05

Fantastic, I did hear that. I heard. Your idols actually when you were grown up were Steffi Graff and Jennifer Capriati, and you played some tennis. I'm curious about all that.

Mandy: 5:16

You listened, like that was.

Klara: 5:18

Maybe I mentioned that once or twice in a podcast, but yeah you found that I like to do some background so we can hopefully dive deeper and this podcast isn't a repeat of all the other things that you do. I know you were born in Mankheim, Germany. Fun fact, my sister studied at Mankheim University for a year, so she was there on an exchange program and when you were six years old you moved to Florida and played various different sports. But I'm always curious how to move that cultural background. Having dad from Germany, mom from US moving at a young age between Europe and US and kind of back and forth you in multiple times. How has that shaped you, including, obviously, your selection of sports?

Mandy: 6:01

That is a really great question and I don't think I've ever been approached with that angle from your accent. I just want to ask where are you from? I'm from Czech Republic.

Klara: 6:09

So yeah, right next to Germany.

Mandy: 6:11

I might be racing there in Bruno later this year We'll see, it just depends on the race schedule. But yeah, so you know, kind of from traveling, being in Europe and being in America, yeah so just that opportunity experience at such a young age gave me kind of this perspective of just people and food and just family, and so I don't really have a big family growing up in Germany. I had my grandparents and my parents, but yeah, just that aspect of being able to have conversations in the house in German English was really unique. Having dinner at home was just every night, was a cultural thing for us, and being able to just travel from one country to another in Europe was really neat and exciting.

Mandy: 6:55

So when I went to Florida when I was six years old I wasn't as easy to get to place, but there was these opportunities in sports. A lot of people were really active. That's kind of why the reason my parents, my mom's, from Florida, so to also be closer to her family, we moved to Florida and it's just great weather and it was just normal to be out and be active. Rather than, you know, in Germany they have seasons, so I got into swimming and tennis and it kind of went from there. My direction was just to kind of get me out and be active, was really like their thing. It was just to get me out to be social and, yeah, kind of get integrated into the American culture.

Klara: 7:35

What did you enjoy about tennis? Because I did hear you on some podcast that you actually really liked it and potentially wanted to play it competitively. How do you? Got injured, so I'm even curious how we find our sports passion and obviously kind of from that on, what led you to cycling.

Mandy: 7:53

I wanted to be a professional tennis player. I think my AOL email was like Mandy Tennis Pro. I think my dad made it. But I was playing for five years competitively and I was playing at the Rick Macy Tennis Academy. So I was tall, so I was playing against a lot of girls that were a bit older than me and I think at that point, at a young age recovery or back then, that wasn't really talked about as much, maybe 15, 20 years ago, recovery and nutrition wasn't as big as it is now, so I think I was just overdoing it.

Mandy: 8:23

It's not because of my parents pushing me, it's. I was always just wanting to train and be better, and when I wasn't playing tennis, I was swimming or I was running. I was just doing something else to aid my tennis. And that was an exciting adventure to get to play and to travel. But I had a stress fracture in my foot and that got me really upset. I was like how, why?

Mandy: 8:44

I didn't really understand, you know, at such a young age, like why am I having this injury? And I guess it just kind of made me sad and I was like, well, I'm not really enjoying it right now because I'm hurt. And I had a swinging background and I kind of started to get better and I was like, hey, dad, can I run with you in the morning? Because my dad was a runner and so I'd run with him before school and I'd see my teachers before school, which was really funny because I'd be like I'll see you soon in the class. But from there, yeah, we were running five Ks.

Mandy: 9:15

And then, with being in Florida, triathlons are just so big and well known because of the ocean, so I was like I want to do a triathlon. I don't know where I saw this. So my parents were like, well, you do need a bike, you need a safe place to learn how to ride. So my dad Googled the velodrome and it was literally 20 minutes from her home, which is incredible because there's only one velodrome in Florida and there's not many active velodromes now in America as many as they are in Europe. I went to the track and there are some bike rentals and it was in a park. So there was a former cyclist and coach and now director of the park who was so excited to have me there and show me the sport, because there was not a lot of young kids either.

Mandy: 9:56

I was like, okay, there's nobody really here, but I just love like riding my bike. And I noticed like, okay, this is actually really challenging and cool and I'm like riding on this bank track and it was just different and unique. And there was just I could go easy, I could sprint, I could do so many things and I was like this is kind of unique. And then I did triathlons for a few years and I did my first national and the junior discipline for cycling and so I was like actually this is pretty fun. I had success and I was like that's kind of cool and I just kind of stuck with it and I did triathlons here and out for a bit.

Mandy: 10:30

But really cycling was then my passion. So kind of grew from like this injury to just finding freedom on a bike where I just felt so relaxed and excited. But there was also not a lot of young kids that I was competing against other than nationally. But I was just like motivated because I was like I want to beat that older guy in the group ride and I want to beat this person that's like 10 years older than me.

Mandy: 10:53

I guess I was just always like motivated to just be better and just see how far I could go. I didn't even know, but I was just like this is challenging and I don't know where the direction of my life could go from it. But yeah, I met a lot of incredible people and that's, I think, what's helped to that community, was that community and cycling was there and it still is really prevalent.

Klara: 11:17

And I heard you talk about the support system and the community on several podcasts and would love to dive into it.

Klara: 11:23

But even following on the passion you beautifully described, I felt relaxed and excited.

Klara: 11:30

I guess, just to let you in, one of the reasons why I love my podcast and inviting guests on to sharing how they find their sport and the passion for it. I find that often it's really difficult to describe because it's this feeling and I think, when you're relaxed but excited, but kind of this feeling of freedom, I think, the things that we really enjoy, we just know the feeling and how it feels when we enjoy it, but it's really hard to kind of explain for somebody else why you love doing it. So is there anything else, mandy, you would want to add? Because it seems like you found something that you really enjoyed. Obviously you were great at it because within a short period of time you were able to build up to be really great in the nation and compete at the top level at nationals at the US. But anything else you would want to add to the feeling or maybe your own realization? Maybe you have different words to describe it as well, yeah, I would say like wearing a helmet and glasses.

Mandy: 12:32

Not that I'm like hiding, but I almost felt like this, like comfort with it. I guess when I was really young I felt like this just felt right. You know, when I was swimming it was like a helmet and goggles. I guess I've never really done like team sports other than like track and field and cross country. I guess that's. That's not really very team oriented, but I guess it more so comes in.

Mandy: 12:53

I've always just looked at sports as being individual, even though there's a big team aspect to it which I have a greater appreciation now. But back then it was just like it was like me against the clock or me against like so many people that I'm competing against, and like how can I improve? And like interathlons. When I was younger I used to like practice the transitions, because that's where you could save time, and like my mom and I would like set up a transition area at home and I'd practice. Or like rubber band my shoes so I could like hop on my bike and then just start riding and just like the details of it. I just thought it was cool. I guess having that like second language maybe I was never as a young person so good at communicating that just sports was like an outlet to do that. I didn't necessarily have to communicate to anyone, although I was getting information. I just didn't feel like I had to hold someone else back. And then their success where it was just like me and me growing.

Klara: 13:51

I laughed that you also brunette. The language I know you still speak German, and so growing up actually led us in to your childhood. Even your dad was obviously German, so did you speak German with him and English with your mom, or what language did you have in the family growing up so?

Mandy: 14:08

my first language is German and when I came to America at about six my English was not not good at all and I went into pre first, which is like not kindergarten and not first grade. So I was kind of in the middle there and I felt really embarrassed about not knowing English. And then I started to learn English and I got made fun of because I had an accent, because I sounded different. And now I wish I had an accent because I think it's really unique. But I got rid of it because I tried really hard. So, yeah, I guess I used that aspect of fit again and being accepted. So I wish I still had it. Like I love your accent and I think it's just so unique because it tells the story of, like, who you are and where you came from. But I guess when you're young it just shows you like you kind of get put in the certain position of you're not like us, so you have to conform, but in the household, I think.

Mandy: 15:01

For many years I did still speak German, but then because of going to school they were incorporating more English and then as I got older, it's just English. I was actually recently in Germany and I would switch between English and German with my dad when I had to really speak from the heart. Sometimes it was really hard for me to talk in German because I couldn't find the words. But if I just just kind of have conversation with like friends or somebody on the street.

Klara: 15:26

German's fine, and just to let you in, I wish I had no accent. So we always wish to have the other things. So I'm impressed that you were so good in paying attention to English that one cannot recognize that your first language was actually German. So I'm kind of right at the stage where my English is never perfect and never will be, and I'm forgetting my check too. So I'm like in the middle of nowhere now.

Klara: 15:53

But then go back to your cycling and your journey. So it seems like, unfortunately, or at that point, your parents got divorced as well and seem like your dad went back to Germany and so you were kind of put in this position where do I want to go, it seems like, or where do I want to live? And you actually wanted to follow the passion cycling in Europe which my parents got divorced, thank God. Actually. I think it was to their better relationship. We were grateful for it, all of us.

Klara: 16:23

I was old, but my sister was kind of at that age, sort of your age, and I think she was impacted by differently than, let's say, me. So I think it's really hard for a kid to understand that. Like when you're in, you know the teens. You're going through your own kind of teenage stuff and this is happening bless you, obviously trying to be competitive athlete, and then even your diabetes that I want to kind of dive into. So it seems like everything swirls into these few years that you've gone through so much change. So maybe tell us a little bit about it. Have you reflect on those years that seem like was so much that you had gone through? But you also talk about it how much stronger it made you.

Mandy: 17:07

Yeah, I will definitely say it's. It's impacted where I am today. Sometimes I look back at it I'm like what year and when did that happen? Because it's almost like this blur. Like 14 to 16, it was like what happens.

Mandy: 17:23

So my parents had split, my dad went back to Germany and I've always had a great relationship and I still do with both of them and it was, like you said, better that they, you know, went their separate ways, although at that time it was just really hard for me because, like my dad was like my training partner, like he was the one me that would go running with me in the morning or fix my bike or like help me with running shoes, and so my mom was like they're in a different role, like making dinner and just ensuring like I had the nutrition, everything that I needed, and they both, like had different roles.

Mandy: 17:55

So, like when my dad left, I kind of was like not motivated to do anything. I kind of stopped sports actually for a bit of time, maybe a half a year. It was kind of weird, but I remember that time like I just made more time for like friendships and I was like having fun, like skateboarding and stuff and just being a teenager, but I never wanted to, to make it difficult for my parents, even though I wanted to be like reckless, but then I wasn't because I was just like that's not me. But I always kind of looked at like, okay, sports was like something I was always passionate about, but I didn't know how to ignite that passion again because I didn't have, like my teammate there even though I was always a solo athlete.

Mandy: 18:36

But my mom got me back on my feet. Basically, she's like, hey look, there's this triathlon, the series that you did before, it's here. Let's make a plan, let's get a new bike, a triathlon bike, specifically a triathlon bike. And so we went shopping for one and she's like, all right, this is the date that this event's happening. So she just got me ready, like there was a plan in place and there was equipment there. Yeah, she just like helped me with the transitions and just she really was passionate about helping me get back on my feet. She was hurting, but she was also making sure that I wasn't hurting and so it was like a good distraction, if I think about it, like her helping me. And then I was like things started to happen again and I had like some fun and success again. I was like you know, it'd be really, really great.

Mandy: 19:21

I went to, I think, visit my dad the summer before it was like 2007 and I was like I really enjoyed the team aspect of one time. They had the team there and I just wanted to move there and I didn't really understand the capacity of what it takes, but I was just like I want to move there. We were seeing like a sports and family psychologist and I kind of cornered them and I was like, can we make this happen? And yes, it happened, even though there's like a lot of stress involved, because my dad was like, well, where are you gonna live, where are you gonna go to school? And I was like, right, I don't know, can you figure that out?

Mandy: 19:55

So I lived in like a boarding kind of home. It's part of the church, but there was no like religious affiliation, but it was just like they had housing available and so I was living there in the house, kind of had my own room, but like it was a shared kitchen. But then on the other side of the house there's some young kids that didn't have many families, so it's kind of neat to have dinner with them. And just my dad was like this is a good for you to kind of see this kind of life and see this kind of experience. And then I went to American High School in Munheim, which is no longer exists. Actually. I went to a German school for a little bit of time there's just so many details but I was not very well accepted there. The teacher didn't like that I was American. That's like a whole mother story. So my.

Mandy: 20:42

I just didn't have a good experience. I went to the American High School in Munheim and I was able to continue my education there, even though my dad had to pay out of pocket for that and was very expensive because we are not part of the military. So I got a really great education and I started racing there and racing for the state, because Germany has states. So I was racing for the state and then I was racing for a little bit with like their national team. I'd go on national team camps and then I went and did VO2 max testing after nationals one year and that's where my diagnosis happened and it was like total shock because I was like I don't, I don't know, I'm tired, I go to the bathroom, I'm thirsty, a lot like those are all symptoms and it was quite a difficult time for sure yeah, just to go back, or so you mentioned you lift with sort of a boarding type of setting you had.

Klara: 21:36

So it sounded like you technically lift on your own in this environment where there were other kids. But how old were you when you did that?

Mandy: 21:45

that's quite a bit I technically lived alone and I was 15, I would take the train to school. I would do my own food shop cooking, although they had some meals and I could sign up for them, but I wanted to cook at my health, like healthy meals.

Mandy: 21:59

So yeah, I was pretty independent at a pretty young age and my dad lived and owned the apartment building, but he was waiting for somebody to move on and so then from there he would renovate it, and then later it was my apartment, which is cool, yeah. So that's then where I lived after. I lived technically alone, but not alone.

Klara: 22:17

I had a similar situation. I guess I'm asking because it sounds very familiar. I left on my own, since I was 13, at sort of my own apartment and I just went between the tennis courts and the apartment. So there were obviously people around. But if you want to be great at any sport, really there's kind of these things that you have to do. And I never found it weird, because that's kind of what you got to do to be great and you sort of know your goal, basically grown up. When you tell it to somebody else, they're like what you did, like what everybody's kind of looking at you and you were talking about it. I just did because it made sense. It was like the thing that you needed to do to be great at whatever your passion was right.

Mandy: 22:56

It seemed like it was just very much the same for you yeah, exactly, I've never actually met someone else with like similar kind of experience and, it's true, I didn't even think twice about it. Even my parents, they just checked in with me and I knew where I had to be and and that was my responsibility yeah, how great.

Klara: 23:14

And I guess the responsible then accountability. If you have it that early on in your life, even reflected on my own journey, it will just kind of go with you and it's equally not more important as we grow through life and it's a value that stays with us and carries even to your next chapter, whatever you decide to do. Obviously after cycling, hopefully you have many years still ahead, but it's a great value and a skill that I think I underestimated earlier on, even in my kind of post-tentast career. Going back to what you mentioned, being diagnosed with diabetes and again you were 16, if I'm counting correctly and listen to your podcast correctly, which is again like really forming years and it's right on the spectrum really seems like with any sport.

Klara: 24:03

Really the 15, 16, 17 is where all kind of the big national teams are looking at you as you are graduating from the teen years and transitioning to kind of the women's sport right of 18 and over, and so the performance is so important to set yourself up then for kind of the next success when you kind of graduate to the women's side. I mean that must have been devastating, and I've kind of heard you again on the podcast, a doctor telling you you're never gonna be able to compete at a high level at your sport, how, where you process, and all of that that was happening between the 2007 and 2008 when this diagnosis was given to you. And obviously doctors that we kind of were taught to respect are telling you this news as a apodic talent and something that you want to see yourself thriving at for many years ahead yeah, man, it's, it's hard, like I just even like thinking about it on, like how did it even all work out sometimes.

Mandy: 25:06

But it's true, like I moved to Germany to further my career in cycling and yeah, this is not the news that I wanted I placed third at the German nationals in one event. Three months later I was supposed to go to this VO2 max testing because I was supposed to then potentially try to make the world's team for, you know, the German team for junior worlds, junior track worlds like that would have been amazing. I've never competed at a junior track world championships and if you look at, like most of the junior track cyclists, they have competed at junior worlds but some of them don't move on and some of them do. But it would have been a cool adventure. But no, instead I was in the hospital for two weeks having a doctor tell me that I would never be able to compete at a high level in my sport.

Mandy: 25:46

And yeah, that was a really difficult time because, like it brought my dad and I closer because I always had a great relationship with both of them. But I know there's some times in my career that my dad was really hard on me. You know, being German, and you know we laugh about this now, but he would just be like do it or don't do it, technically like don't waste my time, in a sense. And I was just like I don't know, dad, I'm tired, I don't know what it is Like. It was the nationals before I moved there too, that like I, just something was wrong.

Mandy: 26:17

Obviously my blood sugar probably was so high because I was so nervous. My cortisol level spiked and it made my stress hormone, so it made my blood sugar go high. So it all had this domino effect. But when that all happened and then I was in the hospital, I could see my dad like this, like fear in his face, kind of like of concern, and like almost like he felt really bad because he knew I'd never like make excuses.

Mandy: 26:41

But in a way it brought us closer, because he was then more patient with me.

Mandy: 26:44

But I'm also in a sense, not patient at times because, just because I'm like I have this like site set and like I want to do this and I want to do that and I want to make that happen, so we just took it one step at a time I was like, hey, I just want to get back on the bike, see where it takes me. And then I was like you know what I'm feeling? Okay, even though learning how to manage my diabetes was so hard and I didn't understand that eating just chocolate or sweets would just spike my blood sugar. And then it was just a lot of just learning, even though I didn't want to be like, oh look, I'm type one, I have to do all this, you know, like at a restaurant, like take insulin out and take insulin or check my blood sugar, prick my finger a ton of times and get all these marks on my finger, and like I just didn't want to be different. But it's what I had to kind of do.

Mandy: 27:30

I just was like it's what I have to do, I don't have a choice. And I was like, okay, I want to at least do nationals. And then I competed at German nationals less than a year later in that same event and won bronze. And to me it was like a shift of like wow, I can, I can actually do this, like with diabetes, because I was standing in the same exact spot and to me that's always like. One event that means so much to me is the 500 meter time trial. It's a sprint event and I was an endurance rider back then which is kind of weird.

Mandy: 27:57

I'm like, why was I never looked at as a sprinter, even though, like, I placed in the sprint events? But I don't know, maybe I didn't have my legs weren't as big then I don't know, but it's like I didn't have the physique, maybe, or something. And that's the race that I have the American record in now and it's like one of my favorite events, just because it's just holds so much. But yeah, of course, at that age it's like junior worlds and then I, you know, making the national team and then potentially like, what does it look like for the Olympics? And it's a very complicated process, but at that point I was just like I'll just see what it's like to get back on my bike and see if this is like meant for me.

Klara: 28:34

Thank you for taking us even to that experience because, reflecting myself and I don't have diabetes I left playing with nutrition and I subscribed to my CGM. I had like the 90 day monitoring and I swear I think everyone should have it Like it tells you so much more about yourself, even as you're mentioning, like stress or sickness, like I have Apple watch and obviously monitor it, but CGM tells you so much more. Oh, I'm like not feeling well, a little bit cold, like my A1C is elevated, I can see it, and so this is even so much more important for, obviously, someone who has diabetes and I love this technology development and the trend that has been advanced in technology to allow us to achieve more goals and be healthy, whatever it may be for your life. But, like 15 years ago, these things weren't really that accessible as you're mentioning, even like nutrition.

Klara: 29:30

When I think about nutrition 15, 20 years ago and it would really matter for me competing like I wish I had all of this knowledge that's now kind of available and there's so much more science and podcasts and education around that you couldn't find Right At that point. You literally had to go and find more of like the local experts, and even that was difficult enough. So, like you said, there was a lot of trial and error for you. But if you have to reflect and kind of compare, when I hear you on podcasts you get such a fancy routine that I would even love to kind of you let us into it versus. You know where you were starting. How would you describe that gap and perhaps even the technological progression that now allows you to be so much more aware of your body and what it needs?

Mandy: 30:17

Yeah, it's. I think I would have been like way back like then if I had all this technology and and those resources and all the doctors and like team Novinotus back then, like right away, I'd be like this is easy, like no problem, but yeah to be able to like look back and when I was diagnosed and not know anybody with type 1 diabetes.

Mandy: 30:35

Because now, like, when people are diagnosed, like some doctors are like hey, have you heard of team Novinotus? Or like they'll find us, like through. Like social media, like Instagram, was not a thing back when I was diagnosed, so it wasn't as easy to connect with people then. But, yeah, it was like pricking my finger and insulin and just like having to carry all these devices all the time. And now it's like I have my phone and I can see right now what my blood sugar is, or just like I recently got my Apple watch and I can see my blood sugar right on my screen. So I'm like that's nice Because, like if I'm out and about a dinner or like traveling, and I'm like, oh, I kind of feel a little weird, like what is it? And I look at it and it's pretty accurate most of the time. I still check it to calibrate it occasionally, but, yeah, like if I had that when I was diagnosed, I'd be like this is easy.

Mandy: 31:22

But it's made me more grateful now to have these resources, because when I was diagnosed, there was there was there was a nutritionist that was working with older people. There's no like type one athletic specific nutritionist I had to figure a lot about by myself and maybe that's why it took me so much longer to maybe progress in the sport, because I didn't have those resources. Like I came across team Novinotus in 2010. And I was like, oh my God, there's other athletes with diabetes too. And I'm like what do you do? Like how do you do it? Like right, because it's like maybe I can do it even better. Like in a way, like what can I do to be?

Klara: 31:56

better.

Mandy: 31:56

And I was just like learning from them because I didn't have that the first two years. And then the teams just like open that door of like being able to talk about it. I remember going to like team camp one year, the first year having to be in a room, like because they split us all up, and it was just kind of like media training, because we're not like doctors to say, okay, this is what you need to do with your blood sugars and this is what you need to say. But it's more of like how do you tell your story, like, how can you shape that? And I remember just like being in the room and then like walking out and crying and calling me mom.

Mandy: 32:27

I'm like I don't know if I can do this, like the first time I actually really had to talk about my diagnosis and then it was just learning that there are other people that you could help through that, like young kids, just like sharing your story. I'm back on my bike, I'm doing what I love, like. It does take a lot of trial and error, it does take a lot of days where I'm like powering through it, but it's worth it. And, yeah, I mean having this technology now, I don't know. Can I say it's easy, it's a lot easier so reflecting on dad and even just your lifestyle, nutrition.

Klara: 32:57

I've heard you on some other podcasts that sort of made sense. I wouldn't think about it, naturally, but it makes sense, like these long flights and, obviously, lack of sleep. Everybody knows, and so many people talking about in general, how sleep is important, managing your levels, but because of type one diabetes, it actually impacts your A1C so much more. And so I just think about you and kind of again I feel like I know you a bit through listening to your podcast. You're so detail oriented and trying to figure out. Obviously, if you want to be great, then in sport you have to do it. What is the attention to detail? How can I improve just this 1% of the time? Right, because when you're this great, we're trying to get this. Splits of seconds especially in your case because you're a sprinter like improving. I think just one 10th for a second is a big win, probably on a daily basis and so many things you've got to do. So what is your routine, mandy, and what did you find works best for you? So I actually came from.

Mandy: 33:54

I want to say it from an endurance background. I made the transition to track sprint cycling in 2013, when I did collegiate cycling too, and I tried my first sprint tournament, and then it was there that I had to relearn my whole diabetes regimen, because, being a sprinter, things happen so quickly and I only technically have like one shot, so it was like my blood sugar had to be perfect at that moment. And then, as I learned, in a sprint tournament you have a qualification and then you have sprint rounds where you're racing against people and that's like I can race nine times within a day, and so that's a lot of stress in itself, and also nutrition. I would write things down like what I was eating, what time, how much insulin I took, because you would think my blood sugar would be like low the whole time, but no, it was also high because I was stressed and it was hot and I was racing outside or I just traveled. So it was just like many years of learning how to be a sprinter with diabetes, and it wasn't until like 2014 that I started to race internationally and I then I was like this is there fast like this, how am I going to go from here to like here, like I'm literally racing my idol from Australia and Amir, she was literally right next to me. I was like I can't believe. Like I'm here racing. Everybody starts somewhere, right. So that was for me. It's like okay, this is the beginning. There's just so much I still personally have to learn.

Mandy: 35:15

And back then we also didn't have the resources like we do now in the program of sprint cycling, like it was really solo like me and another athlete, and we were just kind of tagging along with the endurance athletes to most like world cups. So it was very difficult back then. Now we have bikes, we have a hub program here, we have a daily training environment, we have arrow testing. We have all these resources now in the last two years that have come, because also with the Olympics coming in 2020, just looking at that, like I sometimes reflect back and like could I have been more successful, younger if I had all these resources and all the right doctors and understanding diabetes? I kind of look at it and people think like I've been in the sport for such a long time but at the same time, I kind of haven't had it that easy. Like yeah, rio 2016 was never going to happen Because it's like a two year Olympic qualification. I literally just started sprinting in 2013.

Mandy: 36:11

And I missed 2020, I was an alternate for Tokyo, but I was part of that qualification because we qualify as a nation. So we had we could qualify two spots, but we only qualified one, and so it was between me and another athlete. We missed the other spot by like one country, so not much, and so it was really hard to kind of look at all of this. But I've been at the bottom before and I've had to, like pick myself up and learn and just pulling it all together, like so it's been every year. I've been just trying to be like a better athlete and a better athlete with type one diabetes to ultimately reach my goal. And now I have three more races coming up that are part of that Olympic qualification and I'm going to Hong Kong.

Mandy: 36:49

I've been there three or four times and then trying to improve every time when I travel to just make my diabetes that much better, like keep my blood sugar as stable as I can with hydration, electrolytes, eating a good meal. It's not just like what you do the day of and when you travel. It's like what you do days prior to competing or travel I've years of experience is just being prepared, but not every day is the same. It's like trying to ride up a hill with your bike and trying to keep like 200 watts. It's it's, it's not doable, like there's always going to be fluctuations and that's kind of how my blood sugar is. But I'm doing everything I can with good sleep I had.

Mandy: 37:25

One time was the worst experience in Hong Kong was during COVID. We went there. They kept us in the airport for 24 hours and only give us pasta and sandwiches and my blood sugar was so high for like two, three days I was like this is impossible, like I am exhausted, like I haven't really slept. I slept in a cot where they've kept COVID patients. Now we're in the middle of the airport and just trying to get out because of this COVID window, testing that the team had missed Something was miscommunicated and so they wouldn't let us leave the airport and it was like the hardest thing and I was like I'm supposed to race in like two, three days and that fatigue just followed me, like I was like I'm here, I'm just going to do the best that I can.

Mandy: 38:09

But there's been a lot that has been out of my control. So I tried to control what I can. But yeah, it's always a challenge, even though you want it to go perfect. It's never going to be, but as long as you're just prepared for that like, it just makes it a little bit easier.

Klara: 38:30

I can imagine and I've heard you on podcasts also talk about how much you just focus on the process and try to take all emotions out of it, which is that alone is so hard, even just you know, reflecting on me, traveling get traveled also for tennis tournaments around the world. I mean that thing alone is tiring for anyone. And not even think about food and nutrition and how it impacts your A1C levels, plus even the food poisoning. I always had sensitive stomach, so that alone, okay, what can I eat? And usually it's like the rice and pasta is like the two things you think that won't make you sick, especially in Canada if he countries Funny enough just to tell you, maybe listener's story.

Klara: 39:13

When we played in Egypt, the coach used to say the one who don't poop their pants typically wins, because everybody would get a diarrhea at some point from just like digestive issues. So we've always just tried to see, even in these countries where we're not used to the food, what do we eat, and so you just have another level. I'm just impressed. Any other stories or things you want to.

Mandy: 39:36

We went to Indonesia earlier this year. That was literally like we just traveled around the world. We went from Indonesia to race there, which was terrible food and just terrible conditions, because like the food was always cold and like they're in maggots sometimes in the food and the way they clean the dishes was cool. You looked out back and they were cleaning them out of a bucket and you're just like wow, you're here, you're trying to collect Olympic qualifying points and these are the conditions. Like it's like oh my God, and I found this good ramen place around the corner.

Mandy: 40:08

That's kind of saved me a bit, but most of the team got like diarrhea on some you're throwing up, but thankfully I only had some diarrhea, but very little, because I was also eating ramen from this place that I found quality ramen. It was just very hot and I'm like I just want hot food. And then from there we were going to race in Egypt next, but there was like some time in between. So we went to my Erica and we're like also happy to be there because my Erica had good food and they put us in a good hotel and then we went to Egypt. It actually wasn't so bad.

Mandy: 40:41

I loved all the like Baba Ghanoush, even though it was kind of like oh my God, I have to be careful because it's cold, but it was hot and I'm like that is good enough for me and then flew back to Pennsylvania and back to LA so literally like went around the world within like a month.

Mandy: 40:55

But yeah, I had to pack all my diabetes supplies, keep my insulin cold. There's this thing I use as a free okay, it's like these beads that you put in water and then they kind of absorb the water and stay cool. So I put my insulin in that instead of like asking for a refrigerator every time, even though that's a great perk because then I can go food shopping and get like yogurt and stuff and have like food in my room. But I asked the nutritionists like our team nutritionists if they can always ask for vegetables without any sauce, because I noticed like the sodium kind of mess with me too, because other than the type one diabetes are also have hypothyroidism and psoriasis, so it could flare up and obviously, like my immune system is working harder than and I don't want it to because I'm trying to be ready to keep. So yeah, I definitely try to keep it very basic.

Klara: 41:45

Yeah.

Klara: 41:46

I can imagine just managing all of that. Managing food alone for an athlete again is a challenge, and I always say if I knew how to eat better, I could have been a better athlete. This component just add so much for complexity and just the need to focus and pay attention. But I do want to go back. You mentioned earlier and something that stood out to me that I find impressive. I actually don't think you have been at the sport for a long time. I actually think otherwise because I was puzzled how you were competing for the longest time in endurance cycling and that it seems like it wasn't until college when you actually switched to a sprint athlete.

Klara: 42:24

And so talk about that transition cost. To me that seems like a completely different sport, almost other than like the only thing seems like you have a bike, but it seems like the strategy and everything else that goes into it is like very different. So it seems like you're learning a completely different aspect of the sport. How was that? And, to be great, there's some things around, even biology and kind of the aspect of it being aerodynamic and how we will obviously train for the sport. So any of the differences between the two that you want to bring up or describe Mandy as your transition to. I find a completely different side of the cycling.

Mandy: 43:02

Yeah, it's so different. Like track sprint cycling, like you tell people I'm a cyclist. I've had some people be like you don't really look like a cyclist. I'm like, what does that mean? You know, I don't look like a Tour de France rider. I'm not super skinny, I have muscle mass and so, yeah, like I don't ride like many, many miles, I don't ride many, many hours. Like the longest road ride I go on occasionally is like two hours.

Mandy: 43:28

I'm training mostly like six days a week. I'm in the gym three to four days a week. I'm on the bike like four to five days a week on the track, three to four double sessions a week. Like recovery is a big aspect to it. So I had to learn to like really we always have this joke like to be able to bury yourself and like to do 500 meters. Like there's an endurance rider that can do 500 meters but in like 10 minutes they'll be ready to go again.

Mandy: 43:54

Sprinter, they do 500 meters. We typically take 20 to 30 minutes when we do four of them in a session because we are hitting like maximal, like threshold. We're trying to produce as much lactic acid and so we're able to produce more lactic acid than like your typical endurance rider and so I had to also kind of learn to do that. But it kind of came a bit more natural to me because, just like my body type, fit more as a sprinter and I just like the sprint races and some of the endurance events that we had. We had some shorter races, like scratch races are just like 30 laps, with whoever crosses line first wins, Whereas like points races it's like, say, 50 laps and every 10 laps there's a sprint that killed me. I was like I can't keep sprinting like every time and so I just think physiologically I was just going against it for a long time until a coach identified my sprint potential and was like, hey, you want to give us a shot.

Mandy: 44:43

So we did some testing on a wall bike and I was able to see my power and so, like power to weight ratio, that was pretty good.

Mandy: 44:50

And then we did like a 30 second power test, which is brutal, but it's like 30 seconds all out and then my average was pretty good and so it just took time to learn like sprint training and sprint cycling. I spent more time in the gym. I then had to learn the tactics. It was just like one on one on the track or like the Kieran is like six riders. It was very more like tactical where, like endurance is like you just kind of go for hours or you go on the track for like 20, 30 minutes and they're different races. But the sprint is very tactical and I like the aspect of it because it's a little bit of a mind game too with, like your opponent, like on the bike, but there's a lot of skills that you have to develop. So the velgium is 250 meters and it's on wood and it's about 45 degree banking, so it's being able to ride the track with looking back if you're leading, and like there's a lot of a track awareness you have to have on bike handling and like pedal technique too. As you fatigue, can you keep like staying our dynamic, can you keep like a smooth pedal stroke, like to continue to put down power? And so tracks for cycling became more naturally to me. But definitely I'm kind of bummed that it was like later in my career in a bit, that I was identified as a sprinter. I did 23 in me, my team did that in 2010. And I actually identified that I'm pure sprinter, like that CC power and I was like if I would have known like my genetics, like if I thought that I was more sprinter oriented, maybe my parents would have got me into more of like a power base sport at a younger age. Right, but it kind of just confirmed like, yes, like my physiology is definitely more sprint and it's just taken years, with the diabetes and the sprint tactics and the sprint training and the strength over the years to build that like, yeah, I've been in the sport for a long time but at the same time I look at it, I'm like I haven't had the same window of opportunities as some of these newer athletes coming into our program in the last year or two.

Mandy: 46:52

With all this resources and help I think the coach every day. Aaron, I'm just like, I'm so happy like to be here, so like have these resources at the towards more the end of my career now, even though I wish it was more at the beginning, but at least it's happening that I'm given still this opportunity and he rides me. He's like you're a strong asset and part of this team and even like my husband too, he also races and we're both like the older riders on the team but like we're both the riders on the team in the team event that do like the most amount of laps. It's we have a team sprint, so like we're considered position three and we're both the riders that technically do three laps. So we're like the engines on the on the back of a team sprint.

Mandy: 47:38

But I guess he also came from an endurance background. Maybe that helped us. It made me kind of like more of a longer dragged out sprinter. I'm working on the explosive element to it. You think sprinter being explosive, but there's different types of sprinters on the track. Like you have the explosive ones that quick accelerations. You have the ones that like want the drag races which I like, maybe from the endurance background. But yeah, it's.

Klara: 48:05

It's interesting there's different kinds for nurse, different body types to, if you look so one thing that even Comes to my mind and you probably don't think about it, but I guess this will also unveil my you know, not inclination to cycling. But when I'm seeing you or somebody on the sprint track, like I get terrified because you go in like what forty, forty, five miles an hour and I I always think like accidents happen, like did you have to think about it and overcame it? Obviously you can go pretty fast in road cycling to especially kind of down the hill. You can get some good speed, but this is all out and obviously it's a kind of condense track. So you have other Cycles, as you mentioned, probably need to cut angles and kind of figure out which part of the track is most aerodynamic and so how you want to take the curve. How did you think about that aspect? And when you worried even about falling or kind of what happens if you fall, because to me that sounds really painful at that speed to fall.

Mandy: 49:08

My worst crash ever was actually on my road bike and I was not even going. I was in a group ride in Germany.

Mandy: 49:15

It was like literally like the second day I moved there right, the second day I moved there and I was on this group ride and Closer to the right because there's another group coming, my front wheel went into the hole and I hit like the bottom of my chin and my two front teeth just like 15, like when I just moved there. So for like weeks though, I had to like walk around like I looked like it was like a snake to. I was just, and then one was like was turning like gray. If it was the root died. But like I don't know, the dental care was not so great in Germany, so like I had to wait until I moved back to America. It was until two years that I finally had teeth like fix, but not the root, the root fix. So for a long time I had this like grayish tooth, front tooth like this is awesome. And now I have Can you tell they're great.

Mandy: 50:21

But that was my worst right, because like that was something that really impacted me for a long time, other than that, like I haven't had any collarbone, knock on wood, I haven't broken any collarbones yet.

Mandy: 50:39

I've maybe had one concussion back in 2011, but at that level of racing there's a lot of risk and intensity involved and even in the daily training environment, safety is always the priority. But I would say sometimes I'm a more conservative rider. I don't maybe shoot the whole like if I see it, or I don't make it, which maybe have prevented me sometimes from making it to the finals or something. But there's riders who are like that's their last race, kind of like ride, and I'm definitely more of like a conservative in the sense sprinter, but that's why I like the match sprints, because that to me and cycling is like the purest form of like tactics, power and like just a combination of everything. Where the Kieran is a event that is originated in Japan, it's for betting six riders Behind the motor brings you up to speed, motor pulls off three laps ago. It's like a literally drag race. It's like.

Mandy: 51:34

It's just like things are shuffling and moving and that, to me, is like that's more race, though that's like luck. It's all about positioning to, but with a sprint, my favorite event, which is you rarely get hurt Ever because it's it's only you and another person on the track, but it can happen. You like bump wheels or you come up and they come down, but I'm Fractured my humorous in the Kieran in 2018. I was sprinting and my elbow like got bumped up and so my bars then turned really quickly and I just fell on my arm and I fractured my humorous. But I raised the seven through twelve final and I didn't even know that my arm was like fractured.

Mandy: 52:13

So yeah, it has been so bad, but it can be pretty brutal and it does happen thinking they have.

Klara: 52:19

You even overcome it because you shared your first time and I think everyone can reflect on their own. I still have my first bike accident when I was biking just going from the store, and I think that's why I don't like the bike, because I fell like the bag got tangled in the wheel and you fall. The groceries are scattered. I think it wasn't even bad, but it was just associated with it. So I don't think I ever got over it, maybe when I was 1011 years old. And so here you're, racing and seconds and splits of a second count and you have to be the mindset, probably like any other sport. If you think about getting injured, it doesn't help you. But how do you overcome? Because that's just how our brains work. Have you found anything that works for you? Or how do you work through your mindset to kind of reset from the accident like that or kind of scare of an accident like that for the next race or the upcoming competition?

Mandy: 53:12

For me, it's just racing them more. The hard part was in like 2020 and 2021. There weren't a lot of races, and so the Kieran. I wasn't racing it as much, and so when I, when I am racing it a lot. I get more confidence with each one. So that's why I'm excited about these next three races, because, even though it's like we have Hong Kong, pan American Championships here in LA and then, like, literally the following week, we have Canada, it's like a month of like three important races, but it's like to me that is the best, like just put them all together.

Mandy: 53:44

When there's not kind of spaced out too much, it's hard, like mentally. I like when it's all like just let's just make it happen within a month and that pressure of like having to commit and make it happen when there's just time in between races. Sometimes you can have more time to think and it's always the best. But yeah, also because I've seen my husband have some really serious crashes.

Mandy: 54:05

He broke his collarbone and his scapula, so shoulder and like both had serious confessions, were literally crash in the Kieran like right before my race, and I was just like seeing him, just like not wake up for like 40 seconds is really hard and then him like finally getting up. But then he got up because he didn't want to be like lifted, transported, because he knew I was racing and just to know that I'm going to go to the hospital after, like I remember being in the Kieran and I like the motor pulled off and then I just took off like I just went and I just I want.

Mandy: 54:42

Now I remember just being like I won off of adrenaline and off of just like kind of like I need to get out of here and go to the hospital. Yeah, I guess I race you know, physically that's a good race for me, but like mentally sometimes I have a little bit of like trauma with it.

Mandy: 54:59

but I think just through, like more racing is always just helped me, like you think, like I'm going to talk about you doing this like, sorry, I think there's a delay, somehow go ahead no, I was just saying like you think like all your list professional athlete and there's no fear, but like there is realistic fear occasionally cuz Like yeah, you crash and your season could be over, olympic qualifications over. So like my risk to reward is sometimes in it. I'm trying to qualify the Olympic spot for the United States in the sprint and then when you make it, you qualify the sprint spot, you get selected and then At the Olympics you race sprint and the Kieran, so technically it's like the Pan American games and set a national record. Our big team focus is more 2028, but there could be a slight chance that we could qualify for 2024. But individually qualification is looking a lot better points wise, but we're still targeting the next three races individually and as a team.

Klara: 56:08

Just to go back when you mentioned your husband, jamie, who's also a track screen cyclist, as we talked about the support systems and how the two of you coordinate how to share tips, do you kind of train together or advise each other with mindset or even kind of overall, because I was one of the things you know interview guests from different sports on my podcast and you've shared in many other podcasts as well how important that is to athletes growth having the right people around you, having the right Environment often even what you mentioning now that the USA cycling team is really investing in this spring cycling and getting you environment set up in LA, so I would love to even hear how your obviously campus going and prep. But what do you want to share about your support system and even any tips with your husband that you do share to kind of grow together in the sport.

Mandy: 57:06

That's great and it's something that you know I definitely want to chat about because it's yeah, it's happening now and I wouldn't Be able to be in California. I don't live here, we don't live here, but we stay with a woman on. Her name is Mary Lou. I met her through a sports massage therapist Because I was looking for housing maybe five years ago and I was like is there someone that you know that I can rent a room from? Crazy how like things happened. I remember the year before at nationals I was like wouldn't be awesome just to be out here, to come out here to like stay with someone, and then it all just like happened. I just Set it to the universe and to Jamie and it like happened and we stay with Mary Lou and she's amazing. She's 83 and she's so upbeat and like huge support system for us because she allows us to stay here.

Mandy: 57:54

I shipped out my old car like three years ago. A lot of the athletes live here. We're all the older, older athletes, so we don't really have the capacity to like move here. We have animals in a home back home. But because Jamie had retired and came back after the program, kind of pick back up again and was one nationals and was like Given an opportunity to basically be part of it and so we're like we can't like let this opportunity pass. So we have this amazing home here in California, 20 minutes away from the track. I have my old car here, like the help and resources and support we've been able to make this happen on. He works for the union so he he isn't making a lot of income right now. So like a lot of Financial conversations we have like thankfully have like sponsorships and we're able to kind of make that happen together. But it's definitely difficult. The men's program is not, is not targeting the Olympics because of qualification points they're not there.

Mandy: 58:48

But as far as like to have the world championships in Denmark and October, which I want to go to because Nova Nordic is there. But yeah, his career is kind of like always being re-evaluated because of like finances and it's it's definitely hard on both of us, but we're here together and a lot of our conversations after training, you know, is always like how is that today? How'd you feel? Or sometimes the car ride home is quiet, but there's definitely a lot of patients involved in this and I wouldn't want to do this on my own and to be able to do together so special, even though, like financially it's really hard, but Like being hard, it would be hard to be away months at a time from each other.

Mandy: 59:32

I think the longest time away was two months before when I was traveling, when he was working and not math, and so to be able to do this together and have someone to lean on, having support system, means a lot. I mean my mom staying at our house in Pennsylvania and watching our animals. It's really hard, you miss a lot of holidays and yeah, but to be able to be here and to do together and to know like we have somewhere here that we can stay, we have my car, we're making it work and we're doing it together.

Klara: 1:00:02

This is something we can look back on one day yeah, and it's great that you actually have that same understanding and baseline of the sport and sort of know what it takes to put in the effort to it. Because even from my tennis background back in the day when I played just came natural to date tennis players because you got a new the effort that goes in. But when you both travel you never see each other so it's always a long distance relationship. So I was wondering kind of how much the two of you how it helps or not. So it seems like you're actually able to train together and especially in tennis, like the men said, women's tournaments aren't at the same places. So if you both travel, like you literally just have a phone conversation.

Klara: 1:00:45

So it seems like at least in cycling you have some sort of common racist where you both actually are at the same spot, competing at the same time, instead of traveling separately. Is that correct?

Mandy: 1:00:58

Yeah, like we went to Indonesia and Egypt and we got to go to the pyramids with a couple of our teammates and just be able to experience that together and to compete there together and just like see each other. We went to the pan American games and competing and being in the finals and meddling, yeah, it was just so neat to like look up and see him there, so it was just really cool.

Klara: 1:01:19

I was curious right about kind of that and what you mentioned, how hard it is Obviously to make it and be financially secure. Everybody who has done any sport knows that no athlete is choosing their sport for the money. There's very few people who actually make money out of the sport and tennis, if you actually make it, is one of the better sports where you can actually be financially well off and somewhat retired. If you perhaps in the top 15 the world for a very long time but really anywhere beyond that, it's really hard to retire, to retire in a way that you don't have to find another kind of career job after. And so cycling specifically, even just reflecting on some of my conversation with my former tennis coach who was part of the Olympic committee and that determines where the Olympics will be, and he shared his observation which is you probably understand, but many people may not like the people who are going to Olympics. Ukofh1. Most sports still, he says, are still amateurs in a way that you cannot sustain yourself typically fully on just the sport. So there's so many sports where the athlete has to do obviously all the work, putting you know four or five, six hours a day, but still makes some sort of other job in order to support the passion which is the sports and athletics and to be great at what they do, which is so hard.

Klara: 1:02:48

So it seems like you and Jamie are figuring it out, obviously, but how are you thinking about just the sponsorship and how are you taking advantage of it? I think there's been a little bit more, fortunately, now opening up, which I think, with this social media that gives you opportunity to speak your voice, really show all the effort and hard work that you've been putting into the sport. That's fully transferable to really any other venture. But how are you thinking about it, mandy, or even thinking about preparing for what next chapter may bring? I wonder if the US cycling team has any sort of guidance or programs that can help you then transition to potentially the next chapters, whatever you or Jamie or really any other athlete may choose to do after that.

Mandy: 1:03:37

Yeah, I do want to say the team USA and USA cycling do push out a lot of resources, say like team USA tuition grants that I've received for school. That's been really helpful. So I don't receive a salary through USA cycling or any kind of compensation in that way. There is a lot of great support that we do get with resources and bikes and our World Cup travels and stuff. They do provide like great educational opportunities, workshops too, which I think are really helpful. Like I said, the tuition grant from the team USA tuition grant was really helpful for the last two semesters. It definitely covered the classes I took and I'm very appreciative of that. I don't have to ask my parents for any help there. So it was nice to be able to have had that.

Mandy: 1:04:21

And as far as like sponsorship goes, the way I see them is like a is a partnership, so not only am I promoting them, but like they're also telling my story and that we grow together and make it a difference together in the community. So I have a partnership with St Luke's University Health Network and they're a really great hospital locally in Pennsylvania where I live, and we've done a lot of pediatric events, diabetes events. I threw all the pitch for a local iron pigs game, just like more community involvement was really big for me and to be out in the community, and so that was just a really great fit. I've had a partnership with them for the last few years and they're definitely one of my biggest sponsors and I have them on my race kit so I promote my kind of like a race car, I promote my sponsors on my cycling kit and I have newsletters and a media report. So I have a PR manager that I got a few years back just because I just thought it would be an important element to managing my time and having somebody to help me kind of keep track of everything and make sure I'm fulfilling those like sponsor obligations and just kind of keeping them in the loop. So I have monthly newsletter now that goes out. It's just like fun facts and stuff and things that I'm up to, just to kind of give like sponsors and fans like a more personal insight to everything and I kind of talk about like where we're at right now, like with Mary Lou and what that looks like. So it's kind of different because I don't really tell people that on social media. So it is going to be a cool little blurb on my newsletter.

Mandy: 1:05:48

And then I represent Novin' Ordis and Team Novin' Ordis and so thankfully, I've been able to advocate for myself there a few years back for salary. So, yeah, like a lot, but it's enough for me to get by and like to buy groceries and to pay bills and to at least save a little bit for emergencies. I do have an agent Haven't really secured anything big yet in a sense but he helped me with my website and my logo because I want to continue to get back with any kind of capacity I can with diabetes. I'm not able to attend the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala in Florida that I was invited to, but I'm contributing to a video. I recently connected with this young, this mom who her daughter was recently diagnosed and so that's why she got involved and saw that I was from Florida. So I'm creating a video that they're going to have at their gala.

Mandy: 1:06:38

Unfortunately I can't attend, but like little things like that I just think are so unique and have created like opportunities for me to reach more people with the sport and with diabetes I hope, to some capacity one day to continue to be able to do that. I don't know, I'm not sure what. I'm not putting any limitations, but we'll see. We'll see.

Klara: 1:07:02

I don't think you should put a limitation.

Klara: 1:07:04

Yeah, I can understand and as I've been studying your videos, I have to say they were very moving. The ones you have on your website specifically. I love them and you're just so natural and your passion stands out. I always find that, even in conversations and podcasts or in videos, when people are really truly passionate about something, it comes out, and I can definitely sense it from everything I've read and seen and I look forward to staying in touch and following your journey.

Klara: 1:07:34

But if I may have maybe one or two more questions, I'm curious if you could let us in even your training camp now. I guess two things I know you're training now in LA and preparing for these three big races that are super important for you to qualify for the Paris Olympics. So what does your training look like? Kind of average day? And even I would love to know if you can take us through your competition day Because again, as you mentioned even from some other podcast, like in your discipline, there's no room for error. So I was wondering what your routine looks like and how you're preparing before you kind of stand on this line and then you have to go as fast as you can in the shortest period of time you can.

Mandy: 1:08:20

Yeah. So it's crazy because most of my events are less than 30 to 45 seconds but I'm literally training like I'm not riding the whole time, but literally like 40, 50 hours a week is just all around recovery, driving, the training, training, gym training, massage therapy, everything to just help me continue to progress. So on Mondays it's usually like a single track session. I'll kind of give you the week like just in a way. In a sense, tuesday, thursday, is gym in the morning at eight o'clock and we're there about 10 and then the track is around one o'clock. We start warm up a little bit before and then we're there about until four o'clock and every session is a different type of workout, whether it's standing, starts over, geared efforts, accelerations of smaller gears.

Mandy: 1:09:12

It's all based off of RPM and in that too we're always getting told to be more aerodynamic. Like our coach yells out arrow, I'm like in the middle of the effort. You're just like trying to get more aerodynamic because it does save. You're trying to save a tenth and you can get a tenth off of being more aerodynamic. Or just like your head and body position. There's a lot there. It's not a comfortable position because, like we're actually configuring some aerotesting on Thursday we're changing a little bit my seat or trying a different helmet, so I'll be cool. I'm excited to see where else I can save some time.

Mandy: 1:09:43

But Wednesday is usually recovery day and then Friday is usually a single session but we're at the track usually from like 10 to three. We're gone all day and then Saturday is this gym with a road ride and we ride along the beach here. That's a lot of long days. At home in Pennsylvania we have a velodrome but it's an outdoor track, so it's not Olympic sized standard. But at home I can go home for two, three hours and relax, but here, like we have to, pack our food.

Mandy: 1:10:09

Like we could literally get home around five, make dinner, meal prep for the next day, like just make more, and we usually sit down with Mary Lou and have dinner and then we go to bed by like eight or nine and it's like all over again. We wake up at six. So we're like meal prepping all the time. We go to Costco and buy and bulk and like you think, like you look at our cart and you think we're like feeding a family. It's a lot. That's our lunch and dinner. We barely go out to dinner. If we do, it's like maybe on Saturday we have a date night or something, but most of the time we're just recovering.

Mandy: 1:10:37

And as far as like racing goes, it's kind of great because the mechanics take care of our bikes and training I mean like at the races. So in training like we do our own gear changes because it's a fixed gear bike, but when we go to the races we have mechanics that change our gears and then we don't have to cook. So that's kind of nice to. I'm like, oh my God, I don't have to worry about cooking. But they're really long days Like. They're at least like three, four days straight of racing and it's a lot of like early mornings, so like late at night depends on how far you get to the finals but exhausting days. I remember my loop was telling me I was in the red and the orange.

Mandy: 1:11:15

I was like trying not to look at it when I was racing, because I was only sleeping like five hours a night because, like, you get back at like 10 or 11. And I got to wake up at like 6am because racing starts at 9 or 10. And you got to eat breakfast and be at the competition venue two hours before. So it's a lot of like. Just Half of my bag is usually food because, you know, I never know the circumstances. Like you had said, you've, you've competed, you've played in South America. It is not always great. So you just got to be overly prepared and I do pack snacks with me and Just make sure I have a protein shake always on hand and that I'm like focused on recovery in between the sprint tournaments to.

Mandy: 1:12:02

I actually had a circumstance when my blood sugar was going really high and chili and I texted my endocrinologist Like hey, my blood sugar is going so high in between these races I'm getting these spikes and it's really exhausting, like what can I do? And I was getting ready for the finals, like sitting in the mechanic room because it didn't make sense to drive an hour all the way back to the village and chili. So I was just in the mechanic room on a blow-up mattress that they bought for us and and just trying to cool down and rest for my next competition and Texting my endocrinologist all the way in Pennsylvania and he was giving me some good tips and I made a couple changes Then and tweaked a few things and it worked out. But yeah, it's always like, okay, how can I make this bit better?

Klara: 1:12:46

And I was literally like At one of my major I was wondering, given if you can share what's your go-to food like doing these stems, because it seems like you're quite Methodical. You have everything thought through, so I'm guessing the food that you eat probably doesn't very much, because you kind of know what do you react to. So do you have a go-to food that you eat? Our favorite food, I.

Mandy: 1:13:10

Like, like Mexican food, but not spicy. I just think the combination of like beans, rice and like the protein works really well for my blood sugar.

Mandy: 1:13:20

Then between races, just keeping it light because I'm racing multiple times in a day a protein shake and then I also add a Bit of carbohydrates to my protein shake, but more protein than carbs. Just sometimes. It's just hard to eat just because of, like, my psoriasis and anti-inflammatory stuff. Sometimes I like try not to eat too much bread, but sourdough is usually what I go for. I always say like I listen this, this podcast to you and I follow glucose goddess and she's shared some really great tips. It's like in the order of what you eat. Your food makes a big impact on your blood glucose too, so it's always vegetables first, protein and starches last.

Klara: 1:13:56

That's really hard because it's like you want to go right for, like, the potatoes of the french fries, but you got to start with like a salad or vegetables first, and it has made such a big difference in my blood glucose, like my blood sugars because just to share, even from my experience Actually when I was on the CGM on my 90-day trial, that I did what it pretty much told me, because it kind of takes you through like a different Foods and diets and exactly it's not just what you eat, but how much of what you eat and when you eat it and how fast or how slow you eat it.

Klara: 1:14:27

There's actually a lot of variances that I have learned through my 90 days and what I have learned for me. When I eat my protein first, that's when, even if I eat something sweet later or carbs later, it kind of keeps my a1c sort of leveled as much as possible. So I wonder if you, mentioning eating veggie first, which is veggie still typically has some carbs in it. So I'm wondering if it just reacts differently because your type one diabetes or maybe it's like everybody's biology, like this is the thing why I love CGMs. I think everybody should have them because everyone's biology is just slightly different and so you got to learn about your own body and what food you react to best or which one is Is the ones that kind of least elevate your Google's levels and sort of the spikes based on your nutrition and diet program you create.

Mandy: 1:15:20

Yeah, I think I agree. I'll think a lot of people could gain a lot of value off the CGM. I know typically they're like medical device, but now they're definitely used just to help people, like with other conditions, and so I think it's very helpful to from a Training aspect and just like learning how food and your routine affects you.

Mandy: 1:15:42

I will say, though, like the vegetables Aspect is more from the fiber, like vegetables do have carbs, but it's more the fiber and how they digest, so it digests more slowly and so that's kind of more the sense, because the vegetables have fiber and help everything else digest slower.

Klara: 1:15:58

Maybe last question, but no least, I want to touch base a little bit more on your mindset because, again, as you mentioned, like the sprint is a spring to, you have to be 100% focused. There's no room for error. How are you bearing for the race, or do you have specific mind routines that you go through before or after the Race to be focused or even relax and then prep for the next race?

Mandy: 1:16:27

I've like I'm a little more on the quieter side sometimes, just because I'm trying to recover in between the efforts and Just think about how I can make the next effort better if I have two efforts left. I think of it like this is the gold medal final, because it's best at three usually. So I like try to take on my last two efforts like it's the gold medal final, because if that person wins one and I win one, then we go to three and that's not fun because then you have to. There's only like sometimes 10, 15 minutes between the decider and that's really difficult. So I try to have this mindset and training I bring that intensity and it like with like racing or like when we do a team on team training and Team sprint training and there's always a technical aspect to what we do too I'm always kind of thinking and also communicating with my teammates on ways to make this more efficient. It's all about drop-off speed.

Mandy: 1:17:18

It's all about also like there's so much detail but like the first rider in a team sprint brings you up to speed right, so that person just goes all out the second rider is definitely a more like technical position, because they have to get on, but they shouldn't get on right away so quickly because they want to form a gap so then they can. When the rider first rider pulls off after a lap, they're creating that slipstream, so they cross the line close to like where that rider pulls off and Then it's like you more than two like being another rider come through and then it's like that affects me because if she's on it and then and then gets off of it.

Mandy: 1:17:58

So in training I'm kind of communicating that with my teammates too. I'm feeling this like so a lot of it. We've created more of like race-state scenarios to any training environment. So to bring that intensity and also this competitive element. Our coach says we don't want compativness but we want competitiveness and so like that's a great element to like training is. I'm definitely feeling good pressure for my teammates to like Want to have a great time that day or, you know, like be competitive in that training environment.

Mandy: 1:18:29

So yeah, like years early on I was studying like tactical positions and like if you're up track To gain a height advantage, there's like places on the track that you want to be in certain parts of the race and I feel like I've nailed that pretty well. But now it's just sometimes the who am I racing and how does that change? Like, how does those technical elements change? Depends on the racing, not every rider. I'm racing like tennis player. That person might have a stronger backhand than a forehand. So it's like every person I race against, how's the strength and weakness and Knowing that, like I try to play to my strength or race to my strength, but that's taking years to develop and years of experience too. And so, yeah, now it's just bringing more intensity in that daily training environment to help Lower the nerves when I get to race day Mm-hmm, yeah and anything specific that helps you with that.

Klara: 1:19:25

Mendy, do you have any mind practices or meditation or specific music you listen to?

Mandy: 1:19:30

Um, yeah, I do listen to Music as I warm up and it's varied over the years. It used to be like a little bit of a speed rap and that used to be like techno pop music and now it's country music. What is happening? It's more of like a relaxed warm-up, I guess. But, um, yeah, as far as like routine, I love yin yoga. It's restorative yoga. At home I do that with my mom, every Wednesday.

Mandy: 1:20:04

But here I don't really get to do that. But yeah, just to kind of disconnect and move my body in a different way, like Pilates or yin yoga, has been really beneficial. And when, if I take time off, I'm taking time off and I'm not thinking about my bike and I'm okay.

Klara: 1:20:20

I love it.

Mandy: 1:20:21

I'm off. I think that's the hard part some athletes have is to be able to disconnect.

Klara: 1:20:25

Mm-hmm. So I think it's something at least struggle with and we continue to struggle, even in life. I think it work professions whatever you know drop, you end up going after. I think it's super important to know when to focus and when to disconnect and step away. So I think that skill that you're working on practicing is Excellent and it will continue serve you well through anything else you decide to choose after. Well many. Thank you so much for your time. I have Tons of questions I could still be asking you, but for the sake of time and you get you ready for your next day and training and obviously the competition you have upcoming, we should probably stop there, but I so appreciate you sharing your own journey and accepting the invitation. Anything else you want to share for the listeners as you kind of race through this Olympics, we wish you good luck. Anything you want to inspire them in 2024 that you think people should be doing more of our less so just continue to do what you enjoy and it's okay to say no sometimes.

Mandy: 1:21:31

Right, I've. Sometimes I've disconnected myself from social media, even though I enjoy it. I do. But I find myself just mindlessly scrolling sometimes and I've actually deleted, like Instagram or some of the social media apps and like a few days later go by and I'll redownload it and just kind of check in and say what's new. But it's okay to like disconnect sometimes and don't feel pressure to to kind of have to be involved.

Mandy: 1:21:56

And I Think that's what's kind of helped me is that I've deleted Instagram occasionally, here or there. I do it when I get close to racing too. I don't like to see it because you know, like a lot of my competitors are like friends but I just don't really want to See what they're up to and I don't want it to like affect my mindset or my like anything so to be able to disconnect and be okay with it and Is is is definitely hard to do because you don't want to feel like you're having FOMO but um, but it's okay to do sometimes and just be more present. That's what I've been doing more in the last like year and a half.

Mandy: 1:22:39

So love it and subscribe to my newsletter because I share some tips and Training and life insights and stuff. Um, yeah, yes, keep everybody in the loop.

Klara: 1:22:50

I actually did subscribe, so I look forward to the next newsletters, as you shared, and I hope many people will as well. I'll add the link to the episode notes. But anyone else? How can people find you or follow you? Obviously we kind of heard about your Instagram and I'm sure you have a busy schedule, so not for everybody to buy you, but is there a best way for fans to reach out or follow your journey? Yeah, to.

Mandy: 1:23:14

Just, you know, connect with me on Instagram and Facebook. I know I said I sometimes disconnect from those, so if I don't get to your message Within a couple days, you'll hear from me though. But yeah, just to stay up to date with my newsletters probably the best I I probably will Feel you in and a little bit more detail. I'm open to messages and hearing you know people's stories too, and their diabetes journey. It's always great to connect with others and I'm glad that we connected because of LinkedIn.

Mandy: 1:23:44

I've been using that a bit more because of school and it's really helpful and I actually enjoy scrolling through it.

Klara: 1:23:50

Excellent. Well, thank you so much again, mending, for even being open to this conversation. It's been a pleasure and I'm keeping all of my finger crossed and good luck and Just be yourself, and I know you will degrade with all the hard work You're putting in and your routine that you've been perfecting.

Mandy: 1:24:07

Thank you so much. This was a great conversation and it's awesome to have that conversation with a former athlete. I still think you're still an athlete, because once an athlete, always an athlete.

Klara: 1:24:16

I'm trying to keep the athlete title myself. I've tried to give it up back in the past, but I think of myself now more as a Business athlete because I think what you learn through your sport whatever sport we choose for ourselves those skills are always transferable and will kind of help you grow in your next chapter. So one of the reasons why I started this podcast to meet more people like you and get inspired from their own journey. I love that. If you enjoyed this episode, I want to ask you to please do two things that would help me greatly. One, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, spotify or any other podcasting platform that you use to listen to this episode. Two, please share this podcast with a friend who you believe might enjoy it as well. It is a great way to remind someone you care about them by sharing a conversation they might be interested in. Thank you for listening.

Grand Slam Journey

70. Mandy Marquardt︱27x US National Champ on Crushing Records & Creating History with Type 1 Diabetes

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