Le Scandinave Spa: Blue Mountain. One of my favourite places on Earth has donated passes to their scandinavian baths to the Team Diabetes auction! The Scandinavian Baths are renowned for their ability to cleanse the skin and provide a sense of well-being. You can try the Finnish Sauna, Norwegian Steam Bath, Thermal & Nordic Waterfalls, as well as Hot Baths & Cold Plunges. Coming up for bid September 1st 2009.

I am in the midst of preparing an online charity auction for Team Diabetes that will run for the month of September. Momentum for item donation picked up today as I recieved three more items. The nicest conversation I had was with Russ at Rusty Cellars which is a make your own wine establishment. Russ has generously donated one of his Showcase Collection.

Keep your eyes open for more info on the auction. Hopefully there will be some great deals!

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?

100 Kilometers Total. Check it out! I have reached a total training distance of 100km! It's kind of insane when you think that some people run further this distance in a single race (ultra-marathons).

I'm happy to report that today's run was back to normal. Which is great considering that my legs are a little tight from yesterday's horribleness. I did a 15min run section at my regular pace, a walk break followed by another 12min run section and a walk break.

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...

Curling. Okay so I haven't even began running yet. But now I have an excuse - I'm injured!
On Saturday night I went with Dave and Robyn to her work curling tournament. I curled once in grade 12 with my gym class but that's about it. On my very first practice throw I was just about to let the rock go and I hear 'rrriiiippp.' Yes I ripped my jeans. Oh dear! On the very second throw I fall to the right and smash my knee into the ice. Ouch! I had a half inch egg on my knee for the rest of the evening. The picture just doesn't give it justice at all as I took it on monday night when most of the swelling went down.
The remainer of the night went without much incident - I continuously ripped the hole in my jeans wider and wider lol and I was probably one of the least graceful curlers as I would just flop over after a throw to avoid ice-knee contact. All and all it was a lot of fun! And sadly enough it is Tuesday and my muscles are still sore - apparently they previously knew nothing about sweeping.

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.

Moving. Done and done! Oh thank goodness it's over! The morning after convocation reality was back and the task of moving all my personal possessions from Ottawa to Sudbury (about a 6 hour drive) began. A gigantic thank you goes out to all friends who came out to help in the afternoon heat. Thank you to my mum and dad for carrying boxes when they really shouldn't have (and loading up their respective vechiles to the max). Thank you to Charles, his father George, Danny, Aaron and finally Jason and his brother. Couldn't have do it without you. We managed to fill the 17' U-haul truck, a suv and a toyota corolla - just barely. Thanks to my cousin Kierstan who helped make the u-haul experience less painful than last time - not to mention the "dubblestyne discount." The newer truck with a/c was lovely! The $104 gas fill-up in Mattawa (about 2/3 the way there) sucked though.
It's been almost two weeks since everything got dropped off for me to take care of. Unpacking may just be as horrible as packing but it's almost near its completition. Next goal is to find a roommate (who isn't crazy) to fill the second bedroom.

On June 14th I walked across the stage at Carleton University and received my Bachelor of Engineering! Sure it's a lot of fuss but I think I deserve some moment for fame for the last five sometimes good sometimes brutal years. My mum, dad, Fiona and Charles came out and cheered me on for my triumphant walk (which apparently was a bit on the fast side). Mostly I was thinking something on the lines of "smile....walk....don't trip....shake hands....smile....don't trip....walk more..." After the ceremony I got a great congrats from one of my profs. Then the picture taking began. Too bad my friends and I couldn't be more organized and set a time to take a group photo. Instead I would move about 10ft, see someone, chat it up a bit and then the picture. To wrap up the day - my gang was joined by Charles' parents and my cousin Kiersten at the Greek Souvlaki House for a literal mound of food.

Crazy week.

Today I accomplished mission impossible - I found a dress for graduation. Charles picked up his graduation gown today and its open in the front in the middle about 2-3 inches so it does actually matter what I wear.

Tuesday morning Charles will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science!! Which means I'll basically get a sneak-peak at how my grad is going to go.

Wednesday my parents are coming up from Sudbury. I'm meeting up with a friend before they get into town. It's also my last full day to finish packing and cleaning the apartment. Most of everything is finished. It's just the millions of little things left.

Thursday is my graduation!! I'll receive my Bachelor's of Engineering! Very nice expensive piece of paper. It will also be nice to see all of my school friends together before everyone goes their separate ways.

Friday is moving day. Assuming U-Haul comes through with the truck they promised I hope that everything goes smoothly.

Saturday is moving day part two. Unloading the truck in Sudbury. We figured loading the truck, driving 6 hours and unloading in one day would be too much.

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.

Woah. Got ready for a run today and turned around and went back into the comfort of my air conditioned apartment. Check out the stats:

Ottawa ON
Temperature: 30C
Feels Like: 38C
Wind: 19km/h
Wind gusts: 33km/h
Relative Humidity: 55%

I'll jog in the rain, in the cold, even in the wind. Feels like 38C with a Severe Thunderstorm watch later on today. Screw that.

Money in the Mail. Today I recieved a cheque for $63.07 for recycling ink and laser cartridges with Funding Factory. I will continue to with this type of program through a Canadian Company called Think Recycle.