Team Diabetes Race Report. On Nov 8 '09 I failed to finish the Athens Classic Marathon. The day began very early at 4am. Our team headed to the Olympic Stadium at 5am to get on the buses to transfer us to the start line. Unfortunately it was 15C and pouring buckets. Everyone was soaked by the time we got onto the buses. A chilly 45 minutes later we were standing in garbage bags shivering at the start line. A two hour wait later we were off. I think the wet and cold really contributed to the end result. I knew within the first few kilometers that I was going to have trouble. The aches and pains I usually feel after 20km were beginning really early. I think my legs had cramped up. The woman that I was running left me behind and I was on my own fairly early. The pack kept thinning out until I couldn't see anyone else competing in front or behind me. I also learnt early on that the race closed at a six-hour-pace not at six hours. This meant that there were no course markers, water, powerade, bananas, gels, medics, etc. for most of the race. I had counted on the electrolyte replacements so this lead to me feeling really sick later on. At one point I was hit from behind by a bicyclist. Around that time I was feeling uncomfortable with my situation. I stopped, sat down and waited for the next people to come by. Luckily they spoke english. I power-walked with a father-daughter team until the race officials aggressively suggested we get into their van. After a drive to the finish line I walked back to the hotel quite emotionally upset.

Longest Run Yet. Yesterday I set out on a four hour journey to complete my second highest training long run yet - 29km (18miles). I woke up to cold pouring rain and so I procrastinated until 4pm until it stopped (luckily for me it didn't rain the whole time I was out!). I started out strong. I felt better than I did during my two runs earlier this week. I met Dave 1:30 in to swap for more water/gatorade and a granola bar and some tylenol. I then completed another suburban loop. I didn't feel as strong and I started to double my walking breaks. A mile or two past the half-marathon point (21.1km or 13miles) I starting calling around during my walk breaks to hear someone other than my own thoughts for a change. I was starting to feel it and I needed a little "go Taylor go" encouragement. Luckily I got a hold of my dad which also had the extra benefit of arranging to the use of his hot tub later that evening. I met up with Dave once more for some more liquid/granola and head out to finish the last three miles. I basically grunted the whole way through the last 3 miles - I had no shame. I once had a conversation with my marathon-running uncle about the sport and his best advice was to "just keep going." At the time I thought "well obviously - that helps" but during those last three I repeated my new mantra many times. As much as I was grunting, cold, and exhausted I think I could have pushed out another 13km out of sheer determination and stubbornness in order to complete a marathon. I was very happy and proud to complete the 29km run. I had a big bowl of pasta to celebrate.

I have one more monsterous training run left before the big 42.2km race. The most I will ever run before I reach Athens is 32km or 20miles. You are, in theory, supposed to have the rest in you somewhere.

Ottawa Army Run 2009. On Sunday I took part in the Army Run in Ottawa. It started off with a bang - literally - they shot off a cannon to start the race. It was a beautiful course that started downtown and ran along the Ottawa canal all the way to the experimental farm, around Dow's Lake and then onto Queen Elizabeth Drive back downtown. Dave followed me the whole way cheering me on every 5kms or so. It meant a lot to have someone on the course with me since I was running alone.

I started out pretty strong setting a new personal best for the 10km with a time of 73'49". The second half of the run slowed down as I was having a lot of pain in my lower back. My new orthotics have been great for my feet, no pain there, but they are a killer on my lower back. I think I need to make an appointment to check them out. I came across the finish line at 2:47:22 coming in 317/334 in my age/gender group (yay not last!).

After the race Jen, Melanie, Jim and I went to Le Nordik to soak in the nordic baths. Jen asked about massage cancellations and luckily there was an opening so I had a 60min swedish massage to aid in recovery. Thanks Jen! I love massages! We stayed at the spa for almost 4 hours - I love that place - especially the hot tubs.

Check out happy Taylor in the hot tub with the sunglass burn:

Milestones abound. You know it's kind of great being a 'newish' runner or at least a sucky one. Improvements happen all the time! When I was a kid I always got the "Most Improved Player" award just because I sucked so much to start off with. Since I've recently become more comfortable running a slowish pace for longer periods I've recently started to challange myself other ways: running faster, or longer. Today I beat my record and ran continuously for 40 minutes straight plus I beat my 5k personal best record which was previously 36'05"!

New Milestone. Yesterday I had a good run. I did my 5 minute walk warm-up and then started into an easy jog on the account of my leg injury. And this something surprising happened...I didn't feel like stopping. So I jogged 35 minutes straight! And I could have gone longer but my scheduled run was up. I felt good, I was able to ignore pretty much everything and think about something other than running and the moment (don't worry I still kept an eye out for cars and bears and such...). Hopefully I have more runs like this one in the future. More good news, my thigh doesn't have pain which is great since my long run is scheduled today.

My Fastest Runs

Before Today's Run:

After Today's Run:Check it out! I left today with the mission to run fast instead of my usual mantra, "just survive." As you can see I destroyed my 1 mile and 5km personal best times. I have a goal of completing a sub-30min 5km run at some point and have decided that after the marathon training is over that is what I will concentrate on. This is just a step to completing that goal.

Ewww. So after being pathetically weak and nauseous after my 19.4km run Sunday I decided that I could not longer delay the inevitable. I would need a supplement other than just water. I need gels. Ewww. I think of gels kind of like hair gel that happens to have a hint of strawberry or chocolate. Okay so the taste is usually not great but it's the texture that gets me. Yuck. So I went to my friendly Running Room and got some answers on what the salesman though was the least offensive. On a positive note I picked up some "Sport beans" which are jelly beans instead of gel!!! Lots of people don't like them because they think it's not good to walk during a run because that would make them less of a runner. I can imagine trying to pop in a bag of jelly beans while running could prove to be difficult. But for me (I walk through every water station) walking and eating jelly beans sounds like a nice break and a hell of a lot better than gel. Alas the beans are a bit bulky so I bought a selection of gel to try out. I'll give you my first review this weekend. Here's to low expectations....

New Orthotics! My new orthotic inserts came in yesterday. It will take a while to get used to them. The schedule is to wear them one hour the first day and then add an hour a day until I can wear them all the time without pain.

Last week I went to the foot doctor to see about orthotics. The running stores always tell me that one foot pronates more than the other (sometimes they ask me if I've broken my ankle before!). I believe that this imbalance explains why my sore ankle changes sides with different shoes (different levels of support).

So it turns out the running store people are not full of it and all they said was true. Apparently I have excessive overpronation. This means that my foot rolls inward too much, the foot and ankle have problems stabilizing the body, and shock isn't absorbed as efficiently.

So I have ordered some orthotics and they should be in in a couple of weeks. I'm excited to try them out but a little worried that its going to hurt and take a while to adjust.

Thanks Google! Here are some things I found on Running and Nausea:

Nausea during or after a run can happen for a few different reasons. If you ate less than an hour before your run, that's too close to your workout. It's OK to eat a light snack about 90 minutes before your run. If you eat something that takes longer to digest, like fatty or fried foods, you should give yourself at least two hours. So this accounts for Run #2. But dinner was so good!! Maybe too good so I may have eaten a little too much here...

You might also feel nauseous during or after a run because you're dehydrated. Nausea is an early symptom of dehydration . To avoid dehydration, the general rule of thumb is that you should take in 6 to 8 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes during your runs. During longer workouts (90 mins +), some of your fluid intake should include a sports drink to replace lost sodium and other minerals. And don't forget to rehydrate with water or a sports drink after your run. I Run with a fuel belt which is more or less a glorified fanny-pack with water bottles attached. I have two 8oz water bottles on mine which I downed during today's ~2 hour run. So technically I should have had 36-48 ounces of fluid and I only had 16. That seems like an awful lot of water....what do you drink during your runs?

Another possible cause of nausea during or after running is that you simply ran too hard and overexerted yourself. One way to avoid this problem is to make sure you are warmed-up before starting an intense run and to run at a pace that you're ready for. So this might be it, but I don't think so. While training for the half-marathon last year I did many 10km+ runs and felt fine. I am a lot more prepared and in better shape than during last year's training. Plus I have had other runs under similar conditions this year and felt fine.

Conclusion: I will try to hydrate better before and during next week's long run.

14.5km Long Run. Today I finished another 'longest training run to date' with a scenic tour of the south end of Sudbury. Check out the loop-de-loops. The run felt pretty good. My lungs were doing good for the most part. My legs started to feel heavy towards the end. And I got nauseous once again but this time it only happened once the run was over. I really have to get this nauseous thing under control. The first time I thought it was because I was just really really hungry. The second time I thought it was because I had a huge dinner the hour before and it wasn't agreeing with me. This time though I was hungry (I finished at 5pm) so maybe I should look into some gels or schedule my long runs so that they don't end at dinnertime. Suggestions?

Worst-Run-Ever. Last night I set out on my longest training run this year - 13km. It occurred to me that my long runs were about to be true long runs from here on out. I will be running minimum 10km weekend runs from now until the marathon. This made me a little sad because basically long runs really screw up your weekend, which is one of the reasons I was doing my long run on Tuesday since I was out of town Fri-Sun. Mentally I wasn't in the best of places. I was running this run because I had to. I've been slacking lately and I found a new resolve lately to keep at the running/dieting so this meant I really did need to run no matter how much I just wasn't in the mood. All of this thinking may have contributed to the worst-run-of-my-life. I have no idea why but I just couldn't run for more than 5mins at a time even from the beginning. I have been running 10-15min run stretches lately with walking breaks in between. In fact last Friday I increased my pace while maintaining my normal run/walk ratio. So it was odd when I had to scale back the speed 0.2mph and struggled to make 5min stretches. I have never watched the clock on the treadmill so much in my life! I would say that I walked half, perhaps more than half of this training run. Towards the end I began to feel nauseous. I stopped and ate an apple because I thought it would boost my sugar or something. Basically I thought eating would help. I didn't. I finished up my 13km and lay on the floor for a bit. I had to take a break showering because I felt too nauseous. I also had to take a break after toweling and changing. I felt worse than I did after the Rio Half Marathon! But I finished it - it is done. I am in 'recovery week' so it will be 2 weeks before my 14.5km run. Hopefully that one will go better.

I ran 20 minutes straight - and look I have proof!! Look at the big plateau after my 5min warm-up walk. Yes, that my friend is me running at 4.7mph for 20mins solid. I rock. Now if you would only ignore the last half of the run, where the 20mins of running obviously made me tired and I couldnt keep a consistant pace to save myself, it would be all good. Please give me that luxury and focus on that beautiful plateau!So Nike+, after its terrible beginnings (trying to set it up and get the sensor to recognise the Ipod was a challange) I have really grown attached to the sensor in my shoe and my trainer letting me know periodically how much time I have left. To top it all off after I finished my run Friday, the nice man who counts down the time/distance left to my goal sums up the run stat's as usual and then who should I hear - Tiger Woods.

"Hi, this is Tiger Woods. Congratulations, you have just run your fastest mile"

I have heard about the infamous celebrity quotes but until Friday I haven't recieved any of my own. Okay so it's a little cheesy - but let's face it I'll take whatever support and motivation I can get!

Training program begins. I plan to follow "Marathon and Half Marathon: The complete 26-week training program (The beginner's guide)" to train for the Athen's Classic Marathon. I used this program for the half marathon in Rio and found it quite effective. The program consists of three weekly runs; two timed weekday runs and one long distance run on the weekend. Each week is classified as moderate, building or recovery. I enjoy the fact that after the building week you can look forward to an easier week following. I think that for me this is the best course of action compared to steady moderate weeks. The long runs begin with 5km the first week and "gradually" increases with a 10km run on week 6, a 21km run on week 15 and then the peak mileage of 32km on week 23. I interpret the peak mileage being dramatically under the overall distance is that you should have the last 10km in shear determination left over.

Until now I have been in "pre-training" trying to get re-accustomed to exercise. In theory I was hoping to do three runs a week during pre-training but as the record shows that didn't always happen. I am writing today to ask that you hold me accountable to my training program, no excuses.

Sudbury Rocks Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes. On Sunday May 3, 2009 I ran the 5k race at the Sudbury Rocks Marathon! I posted a chip time of 42:04 and came in 45/64 of women in my age range (20-29). 332/520 overall. Yay for being not last! And not completely terrible considering I had only 4 training runs before the race. Procrastination in my name! What was extra special is that I started the race with my friend Ching. She, however, is not into the endurance running and therefore took off like the wind finishing under 30minutes! (Which by the way is my 5km time goal - so jealous). I was doing okay for much of the run. The last kilometer I had a side stitch on my left side and ran with my fingers pressed into my side. "I can't walk now, the finish is just around the corner...sort of." Ching and Dave were waiting for me at the finish! I have another metal to add to my collection! Go figure that I would start having a collection of running metals and bibs.

Hi Body, meet exercise. You've met right? Oh exercise and I have met. We have an on again and off again relationship. And as of today (it's official) we are on the 'on again' cycle. There's nothing like a looming marathon to get your ass moving. LOL ah it's going to be terrible.

I bought a treadmill two weeks ago. I put it together about a week and a half ago. I went to use it and Dave noticed that the floor vibrated with my foot strikes. He was in a completely different room and I was only doing fast walking speed on the treadmill. I have tried to get a hold of our downstairs neighbour repeatedly to see if this is going to be an issue. It's a good thing and a bad thing I suppose. Good thing, our neighbour is never home - bad thing, I have stalled beginning my exercise program. So today I slipped a note under the door of our neighbour and used the treadmill.

The plan for the next few weeks is to reintroduce my body to exercise. 5minutes walking, 5 minutes running. I starting the run section at 5.0mph and I felt great! I was thinking "this is great maybe I haven't completely lost my endurance!" Unfortunately on my second running section I started at 5mph and then got tired and then changed it to 4.8...4.7...4.6...4.5mph and suffered for the last minute. lol nope endurance completely gone. I did the third and final running section at 4.5mph. So today I did a total of 2miles. Hopefully my body and exercise don't have a falling out too soon. Only time will tell...

I'm Back! Since I created my website at http://www.taylorshantz.com to advertise all my fundraising propaganda I haven't been posting to this blog. But I feel that this has been to my disadvantage as I didn't get to connect with other Team Diabetes members as well as other runners quite as effectively. On the reaction to a comment today on my last entry on July 09, 2007 I thought I might update my progress and start to blog again. I hope this will bring new connections with others and be a dedicated place to describe my challanges along the way, oh and there will be challanges.

Big Update. Since my last entry I successfully trained and ran the Rio de Janeiro Half Marathon on June 29 2008. It was quite an experience. I found out a few new helpful tips about running that day. First, training on flat treadmills doesn't help in the slightest when you are faced with hills. Second, training at room temperature is great; running a race in the high 20s is not so great. Finally, there were not enough water stations, be prepared and bring water with you. LOL if you haven't guessed I got heat stroke and dehydrated and hurled 30 minutes after crossing the finish line. I didn't do everything wrong. I had my Ipod with me. Before I left for Brazil I got friends and family to record me voice messages which I intermixed with my music. This was a great idea and I will definatlely do this again for Athens and expand the number of people.

Jog #10. Yesterday I held out on the road with a renewed sense of motivation. The last few weeks have been certainly interesting and for various reasons running hasn't hit the top of the priority list. A bad day to have this renewed motivation due to the weather - but what the hell. Before I came to sudbury I went on the google pedometer and mapped out a bunch of routes from my house to see the kms. I selected a familar area and set out. It's weird not to be jogging along the canal. I never realized how flat that path is hah.

Tonight I'm going to go check out the local Judo club to see if they'll jive with my personal philosophies regarding the art. I started martial arts in jiu jitsu but judo seems close enough. There is a brazilian jiu jitsu place in the city but they're a bit far from home.

Jog #7. Yesterday I changed it up and went for a jog around the block at my boyfriend Charles' parents' house. It was one of those days where I didn't feel much motivated to go out and was plagued by side stiches for the last half for the distance. I hope tomorrow will be better.

Jog #6. It was great weather for a jog today. Other people must of felt the same because the canal trail was packed today. Including the two large groups I must have seen about 40 joggers. Plus the people walking, roller-blading and biking it was quite an event.

I felt stronger today; my lungs and legs didn't give up on me as fast as the previous times. After the madness of graduation and moving is over I will begin to increase the distance and time of my jogs. Until then I think I will stick to short jogs, walking and stairs.