surviving trauma Archives

Trauma and the Fawn Response

June 4, 2021June 4, 2021 by Mari Ruddy

I’ve known for a while that I survived a traumatic childhood. I grew up with a father who had type 1 diabetes and who nearly died at least once a year from low blood sugar. The paramedics came to our house at minimum once a year to rescue my convulsing, unconscious father. By itself that … Read more

11 Years of Thriving Despite Cancer!

October 20, 2015 by Mari Ruddy

Eleven years ago today, my life changed completely. This was the day, October 20th, 2004, that I found out I had breast cancer. It was a sucker punch to the gut. I doubled over in terror. Complete fear permeated my body. I remember wondering if I would ever breathe deeply again. Now here I am, … Read more

Medical Disclaimer

I’m Mari and I’m an amateur endurance athlete who has had type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years. I’ve survived breast cancer twice and am navigating a third breast cancer recurrance. I am not a medical professional nor am I giving medical advice.

I’ve worked closely with athletic coaches, diabetes experts, cancer experts, and many sports nutrition experts. Plus I have hundreds of friends who are athletes first and people who live with diabetes, cancer or other major health challenges, second.

Along the way, I’ve picked up a few hot tips that I share for inspiration in figuring out the athletic and wellness puzzle. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota with my two bikes, my many pairs of running shoes, my swim goggles, my love of cooking healthy food every week and my very athletic rescue dog Sam!