When someone who goes by Iron Andy talks, people are likely to listen.
The message he communicates is simple: “Have a positive attitude.”
Iron Andy is Andy Holder of Skippack, an ironman thriathlete with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes, who believes “everyone should have an opportunity to live a healthy and active life” … and “so much stems from having a positive attitude.
“There are so many things in life we can’t really control, things that happen to us on a daily basis, small things, big things,” Holder said. “Oftentimes people get caught up in worrying about things they can’t change or control, making excuses, blaming other people.
“I tell them, ‘The only thing you can control is your attitude. Constantly train yourself to have a positive attitude, even about little things. Then when something big is thrown your way, you’re prepared for it. It causes a chain reaction of seeing the positive in what others might see as negative. Before you know it you’re opening yourself up, doing extraordinary things, inspiring people. (A positive attitude) feeds the engine.’
“How else would I have turned being diagnosed with Type 1 into an opportunity?”
Nearly seven years ago, Holder, a husband and father of two boys, was told after having a life insurance exam that he had prediabetes for Type 2. At the time he was 36 and working in the investment business. And he didn’t at all fit the profile for Type 2.
“It made absolutely no sense to me, because I was extremely fit. I worked out all the time. I was a drug-free body builder. Diabetes was the last thing I thought I would have had,” Holder said.
He was retested a few months later. At that point his blood sugar was “through the roof, far surpassing the norm.” The test indicated that Holder, who was about to turn 37, had Type 1 diabetes.
“Which was even more confusing, because I thought that was for just children,” he said.
Formerly called juvenile diabetes, Type 1 results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.
Although doctors couldn’t give Holder a definitive answer, he was told his diabetes could have been caused by a virus, one he possibly contracted as a kid that laid dormant for many years until something, like stress, triggered it.
He was in “shock, denial,” but quickly came to terms, telling himself, “I already eat well and have a healthy lifestyle, so if have to take some medication, then so be it.”
And with acceptance came a positive attitude.
“Very quickly — a testament to my makeup — I decided I didn’t want (diabetes) to take over my life, I didn’t want it to define me, I didn’t want my sons growing up seeing me as someone who let something like this change or limit our lives,” Holder said.
“I told my wife, ‘I’m not happy about it, but I can’t change it. The only thing I can do is move forward and turn it into a positive.’
“The very first thing that came to mind was doing the ironman triathlon, and doing it in a way that I’d draw lots of attention and quite possibly inspire others.”
Just thinking about what an ironman triathlon actually is — a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a full marathon of 26.2 miles, raced in that order and without a break — would scare most people away. But Holder said he didn’t really think. He just did.
Admittedly, he was the “farthest thing from a triathlete. I didn’t own a bike. I really didn’t know how to swim. The question that comes to mind is: Why?
“Most people are programmed to choose the path of least resistance, so they’re amazed why I’d do something so difficult,” Holder continued. “To me, it was as easy as this — an ironman was the hardest thing I could choose to do, and if I picked something easy, I wouldn’t inspire and motivate people.”
As it turns out, Holder’s diagnosis was a blessing in disguise, not only for the 70-plus kids he’s sent to overnight diabetes camps nationwide in this summer alone, but also for himself.
“In my old career, I knew … I should’ve been doing something bigger, having more of an impact,” Holder said. “But you get stuck in a job and before you know it it’s 15 years later. I knew I was not in the right place.
“Thankfully …, having a positive attitude, I was able to see an opportunity in diabetes — where maybe most people would not have — for me to finally do that something extra and leave a better footprint on the world.”
So he shared with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation his plan to use his own journey to an ironman competition as a platform to raise money and awareness for diabetes. They loved it and asked Holder to help support the Philadelphia chapter’s fundraising efforts by sharing his story with corporate sponsors and asking them to rally around diabetes efforts.
The first company he met with was AmerisourceBergen, a pharmaceutical wholesaler located in Chesterbrook, and the parent company of Good Neighbor Pharmacy, a national retailers’ cooperative network of independently owned and operated pharmacies, which is headquartered in Valley Forge.
“These pharmacies do a lot of work with diabetes and have designated diabetes training in their stores. They thought my story was a great vehicle to create this national marketing campaign that would not only inspire people with diabetes, but also educate people on how helpful a pharmacy could be for someone with diabetes. They created a campaign around my story called ‘Managing Diabetes: Living without Limits.’”
This set into motion a chain of events. Holder quit his job and became the national spokesman for Good Neighbor Pharmacy. What was designed as a two-year campaign has now lasted for five years. He travels around the country as a motivational speaker, addressing audiences at schools, hospitals, health fairs and Fortune 500 companies.
He founded The Iron Andy Foundation with a “mission to help children, young adults and families dealing with diabetes have a proactive approach and attitude towards managing and fighting this chronic disease.”
The foundation’s flagship program, the Iron Andy Challenge, provides scholarships to children and young adults who want to attend diabetes camps and leadership conferences and who demonstrate a commitment to the foundation’s core principles: physical activity, fundraising, education and public awareness and service.
And of course, he trains. Hard.
“Learning how to swim at 36 is no small task,” Holder said with a laugh. “There’s a difference between a couple laps at the Y and swimming 2.4 miles, in open water, with a bunch of people around you. There’s also a steep learning curve for biking and running a marathon. It’s a lot of training and hard work. There were days I felt like throwing in the towel.
“On top of how hard it is on its own, doing an ironman with Type 1 diabetes is hard to the 10th power.” It means managing his blood sugar and giving himself insulin while in motion.
Holder doesn’t have a continuous glucose monitor and pump — he tried it a couple of years ago but it wasn’t for him — rather he tests the “old-fashioned way,” pricking his finger 50, 60, 70 times during a race, and he delivers insulin manually.
But Holder’s biggest challenge on race day, he said, comes before the race even starts.
“When you’re exercising, doing anything physical, and your body doesn’t know how to regulate blood sugar, the fear is when you (manually) give yourself too much insulin the exercise will bring your blood sugar to dangerous lows.
“The swim takes anywhere from an hour and 10 to an hour and 30 minutes. I can’t check when I’m swimming and would otherwise never exercise that long without checking. So I get up early, have a big pre-race meal and give myself a small percentage of insulin, because I don’t want to be back down to normal before swimming; I want to be high.
“What I do before a race sets the tone for the rest of the day.”
It’s a science figuring out how to manipulate his blood sugar levels so that they’re high enough to last through the swim, Holder said, adding that even race day jitters and water temperature can affect his blood sugar.
While biking he’s taking in carbohydrate calories every 15 minutes and testing his blood sugar, leaning on the handlebars and moving 20 miles per hour. He keeps up the balancing act while he’s running as well, never stopping.
Holder races in triathlons at a variety of distances. He’s completed an impressive seven full ironmans. He ran in the Philadelphia Triathlon last month and is currently training for the Cleveland Triathlon - Olympic distance in August. After that he has three half-ironmans, one in Georgia, one in the Poconos and another in Texas, and then the Philadelphia Marathon in November.
Even with a name like Iron Andy, Holder said he’s not promoting the ironman triathlon, and he’s careful not to come across that way, especially when speaking to kids.
“What I’m trying to do is show them what’s possible. As hard as this disease is, there’s nothing they can’t do. It would be a crime to me if any child were to let diabetes limit (him) in any way. If anything, it should be a catalyst for (kids) to do more.”