Biography

My name is Gary Blakie, I' am 24 years old and I am proud to be an Insulin Dependant Diabetic. I was diagnosed in March 1997 at the age of 12 whilst on Holiday in America. At the time I was just an average school kid, understandably becoming diabetic was a huge shock and had me thinking I was somehow disadvantaged, but it actually had the opposite effect gifting me with the determination to fight back using exercise to demonstrate overcoming my condition.

I have competed regularly in Triathlon for the last 7 years from Sprint Distance Triathlons, Olympic or Standard Distance events particularly the UK Nationals and the World Age-Group Triathlon Championships in Hawaii for Great Britain up to 12 hour long Ironman events and many others including my 5x5 marathon challenge for Diabetes UK.

(World Age-Group Triathlon Championships, Honolulu, Hawaii, 9th October 2005)

Overcoming the frustrations of diabetes in order to compete at a high level has become an important part of my life. My experiences have allowed me to understand how different levels and types of exercise affect the day to day running of my condition. Management regimes developed via trial and error, testing different insulin’s and foods in order to get the best performance out of myself.

I found understanding how diabetes affects me individually has had a big impact on my lifestyle and has helped me pursue my goal. I attribute much of my success to a very supportive family, including my Uncle Colin who is also my coach and my Auntie Sue who setup Ryton Tri Club and Tri-It fitness Gym but especially my mother an ex-midwife who was the first to suspect diabetes as the cause of what was my illness at the time and my overly competitive father who I regularly train and race with.

I graduated from my final year at Northumbria University studying Business Management on 23rd July 2005. I found my involvement in exercise aided the close control of my diabetes allowing me to enjoy all aspects of student life just like everyone else.

I now work as a motivational speaker whilst continuing to train as an amateur triathlete, I have spoken over 100 times through out the UK on my personal experiences and advice on not only living with diabetes and sport but also the effect this has on others including family and friends, this includes the various regimes I follow for different sports and also a step by step guide to my 5x5 Marathon Challenge,

In fact, I believe becoming diabetic has improved and inspired me to do more with my life and I look forward to competing further in the future.....

For you very own personal training regime visit www.TRI-IT-WITHACOACH.co.uk, this coaching website is run by my coach Colin Gardener and is a key factor behind getting fit and my success as an athlete