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Edition #1 released 14 February 2026

Welcome to the very first edition of ‘The Move’.

This month I’ve been thinking a lot about the small improvements we make over time. So on Wednesday when I was walking through South Eveleigh to meet a former colleague this caught my eye.

Look closely. It’s a beautiful streetscape, and in the shade the a caption on the back of the teeshirt reads:

‘1% better every day’

That got me thinking: 2026 is my 40th year living with T1D and I have definitely made improvements along the way. It’s what ‘Fitter for having it’ is all about. Using the problem solving skills we use every day, to get better at managing T1D, so it becomes smaller in our lives.

Maybe my growth hasn’t been 1% every day and there are occasionally set backs and backwards steps. But with experience you soon catch up.

The signal from the tee shirt was timely. It motivated me to act. I reached for my phone and some support from AI. I wanted to know how much I would have improved my diabetes management if I’d got 1% better at managing it each day, since I was diagnosed.

1x vigintillion

The answer was 1 vigintillion. It’s a real number and it is massive. 1% growth each day for 40 years (1% x 365 x 40). Huge. In the US a vigintillion is 1 with 63 zeros.

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times better

It is incomprehensible. Even if I’d improved just 1% each week, AI told me I’d still be around 1.3 billion times better at managing diabetes now, than on Day 1.

So What?

Why does it matter that I’m getting better? What am I going to do about it?

Well, two things actually.

To celebrate 2026 as my 40th year with T1D I decided then and there to do two things:

  1. Another long run

  2. Share the improvements I’ve discovered that have made T1D smaller in my life over the years with other people living with diabetes.

These little improvements are the moves that have made me Fitter for having it and I’ll be sharing them in future newsletters.

Event announcement

So, that also means that this month I’ve locked in another race - one with no finish line.

It’s the Sydney Backyard Ultra and the format is different. For a start there is no finish line. Instead, you run one 6.71km Yard (1x lap of the course) every hour, on the hour.

If you are not at the start line at the start of the hour for the next lap your race is over. The winner becomes the last runner standing, as people start to fall behind the time limit, or withdraw.

How far do you think I’ll get?

The race milestones are:

  • 1 Yard - 6.7 km

  • 3 Yards - 20 km

  • 7 Yards - a marathon

  • 12 yards - 80 km

  • 15 yards - 100 km

  • 24 yards - 160 km

  • Two days and two nights - 320 km

  • Winner - Last runner standing

Find out by following me - the race is in St Ives, Sydney and starts at 8am on 18 April 2026.

In the next edition:

The next issue will include feedback on my race training tips as I prepare for Sydney Back Yard Ultra 2026. Plus a recap on what I learn and contribute at PSAD 2026.

The PSAD conference in Geelong will explore the psychological and social aspects of diabetes.

I won an award to take my 40 years of lived experience along with my 30 years of strategic consulting expertise to listen and contribute actively. I particularly want to explore the positive aspects, as much as the negatives.

You can follow my progress in The Move, or connect to me on Linked In.