Cellulitis and Me

I have been brought low by bacteria again. This time it's a little pathogen genus called staphylococcus. It erupted from a little cut in my ear. I woke up suddenly at 2:30 AM to striking pain on my right ear and neck. Because of where the infection set in, it is called cellulitis. Don't google images of cellulitis.



Foolishly, I went into school that morning (it's always easier to go in than call a sub). I was then sent home at noon as I was green, had the chills, was nauseous, and the right side of my head was bright red. I saw a doctor who prescribed some strong antibiotics (Cephalexin 500 mg) to take 4 times daily. I stayed home for the next two days.



When I went for my return visit to a doctor 48 hours later, she noted that things had not improved, so I was abruptly sent to emergency.



The infection had spread to a greater portion of my face and my ear became more chimplike and stiff, stiff, stiff. In the night I would completely drench my sheets and clothes with sweat. During the day, I was weak. I couldn't chew because of the pain in my jaw and I could only open my mouth about 1.5 cm.



At the hospital, I was given an IV (my first ever!) of the same antibiotic and referred to a clinic at the hospital which deals specifically in infectious diseases. I visited the clinic the next morning and was given a second IV, assessed and told that my improvement was imminent if I continued with the oral pills I was originally given.

Anger; Control; Pride; Humility; Peace.

Anger is an area of my life where I have always struggled and sensed the Holy Spirit continually with Her finger twisting in my side. As a child I would become enraged at my unfair sisters. As a teacher I have directed my anger at disrespectful students. As a commuter I have fumed at ungracious drivers. As a father I have unleashed my wrath towards my slothful children. As a husband I have been cross with my indifferent wife. As a professional I have expressed my outrage when my coworkers are unprofessional. Etc. . .

I have had many occasions to reflect on this emotion and I have come to several conclusions:

When I was in Guatemala I led the distribution of efficient wood cooking stoves that were donated by some Canadians. These stoves reduced the amount of wood you would need and remove the smoke from homes where people were cooking over open fires. The first distribution was to about 30 families and these families were selected by another member of our team, a Guatemalan. I ensured that the recipients attended the training, I helped with the installation, I collected the money the families contributed to the stoves, and finally I sent thank you notes and photos to the donors. Through out this process I was struck by the fact that half of the recipients were close friends of the person selecting the families and that many of these families were not going to be using the stoves as their primary stove, but rather as an outdoor bbq - in other words, they were families with enough means to have gas stoves in their homes. I was incensed that we were dishonouring the donors and preventing people who really needed a stove from getting one. Unfortunately, once my dismay was expressed, I was told that I was being insubordinate. I wonder if I would have been labelled that if I had been able to contain my anger.

I remember becoming quite enraged at a couple grade 8 boys during my first year teaching. It was one of the last days of class and I was showing a fun movie during a multi-media options class. These boys weren't interested in the movie so they were talking to each other quite loudly making it difficult for their classmates to even hear the film. I asked the nicely several times to stop talking and finally yelled at them and kicked them out of the class... prompting a meeting with their parents where I was the one apologizing.

My children are wonderful, patient, kindhearted and sometimes absentminded kids. When they are sent to bed, they know what to do: brush their teeth, go to the bathroom, get their PJs on and then they are tucked in with a prayer. My daughter has a really hard time focusing on getting her PJs on sometimes. She will go to her room and just sit on her bed for five minutes. This can cast a cloud of ire over me and I have a very hard time asking her pick up the pace, especially when she denies that she isn't going at a fair pace. 

I get angry when I don't have control over a situation or over people. The problem is that in many instances, I don't really have the right to have control over those people. One of my favourite sermons is one by my current pastor on the very subject of anger. He related a story from the previous week where he became very impatient with his wife while he was writing his sermon on anger. Of course he was immediately convicted by the arrogance the he was demonstrating towards his wife - what right did he have to cast judgement on the actions of his wife? This stuck with me.

When I consider how Christ has dealt with our ineptitudes through humility, patience and sacrifice, I am convicted at how slow I am to be humble, patient and inconvenienced by others ineptitudes.

Oh, and my principal's name is Mr. Anger. An ever present reminder of possibility.

Marathon III: Victoria, BC

Following my second marathon on June 1, I barely ran at all. I wasn't trying to avoid running, it's just that there was no time or urgency. I had moved; I was wrapping up a very difficult year of teaching; I was enjoying my summer holidays. I was content not running. However by mid-August, I was ready to jump back into the habit of running. I signed up for the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon and bought my plane ticket. I had 8 weeks to train, but was already mostly conditioned, so I dove into the last 8 weeks of a 14 week regime.



My friend Marc is poised to run the marathon too. It is his first, so he is nervous. I am stoked. My running pace has improved so much in the last 8 weeks over my spring running that it is a real possibility that I will achieve my sub-4 hour goal.

Waking up early Marc and I force feed ourselves energy bars, bananas, water, and a bagel. Nipple band-aids are applied. We walk down to the legislature building from our hostel with another runner who is running her third marathon too. We drop our bag with sweater/extra gear at the bag check and get into our pace groups. I'm with the 4-hr gang, but bow to retie my shoes at the last minute and fall behind a little as the start gun sounds.



The mass start isn't nearly as bad as in Calgary and I catch my group and then the 3:45 pace sign and I pass him and maintain a lead on the this group until km 25. Our first 10 kms take us through the upper city on Johnson St and then downhill through loops in Beacon Hill Park. As I leave the park, I hear a man cheer from his balcony, "Go Hulk Hogan!" I chuckle. Then realize he is talking about me because of my yellow bandana. Then I laugh.

I run past the first gel table and exclaim when I realize I've missed it. A fellow runner gives me one of his. He had grabbed 2.

Victoria is a small city, so the groups cheering are small and spread out through the course. It is still encouraging to see the familiar signs of encouragement. The route takes us along the coast and back again with little intervals into residential streets and the beautiful Oak Bay. I spot the marathon winner who finishes 90 minutes before I do as he runs by going in the opposite direction. He's flying. The turn around point is at 23 km and I keep my eyes peeled for Marc who is a couple kms behind me. We high five.



I am carrying my phone with Runkeeper on. While training, the app makes announcements every 5 minutes like:

"Time: 55 minutes. Distance: 10.34 km. Average Pace: 5 minutes 19 seconds per km."

This is really handy during training to help with keeping pace, but I do not want to annoy my fellow runners and I am interested in running on instinct, so I have the sound turned off. I can enjoy the resulting data after the race though. My paces end up looking like this:

0-10 km: 5:15 min/km
10-21.1 km: 5:23 min/km
21.1-30 km: 5:31 min/km
30-42.2 km: 5:51 min/km

The last 17 km take us runners back along the shore road intermittently. The cheering throngs are thinner now and running is more laboured. Cheering at this stage of the game is far less gratifying as the runners are not very responsive. I am surprised at a number of conversations that are happening in the 30s. I run alone ping ponging between about 40 runners. At one point I have 3 women running directly behind me. I quip "this reminds me a lot of high school." "Because the girls were chasing you?" "Yes."



I take my fourth energy gel at km 37. I pick up water and gatorade at each table and dump out half on the ground so I don't dump it all over myself. I gulp it all down - unlike the sipping I do in training. I note at km 39 that I never have to do this again. I have a feeling that I will get my sub-4 hour time, but I can't be too sure. I feel like I'm slowing down. I'm not completely discouraged, but I can't really feel the joy. I run past a walking firefighter in full gear who is doing the marathon in the name of someone.



By km 40, I am a different person. I feel the joy now. In fact, I'm sort of emotional the last 2.2 kms I strip my head of the bandana, headband and sunglasses. There are a couple little climbs and descents, but they are irrelevant. I'm floating. The crowds are starting to fill up now. There is energy everywhere, like static between the runners. We've made it. I can hear the announcer ahead. There are placards on the ground stating 800m left, 600 m left. They seem to accelerate.





Then the final corner and I can see the finish line and the timer ahead. I'm floored that the clock is reading 3:53. I'm way faster than my expected time. I sprint the final 300 m and I discover that I have so much strength. I let my head fall backwards and allow my legs to do everything.



The line is behind me. I respond that I'm fine after a medic asks when I stumble a bit when I slow to a walk. I bow and accept the medallion. A light fabric jacket is given to the runners so they don't freeze once our bodies cool. I enjoy orange slices and juice. I lay on the legislature lawn near the finish line. I check my chip time on my phone: 1:52:22. I cheer in runners until Marc crosses the line and we limp back to our hostel for showers and then food.

Marathon: The Second

Ever since having finished my first marathon in May 2012, I have been longing to replicate the experience. It was one of the most exhilarating times of my life. So, in early February I casually mentioned to Heather, one of my housemates, that I should run the Calgary marathon on June 1st. She said if I would run the marathon, she would run the half. I said sure. Then she registered.















Training again was the true struggle. I was forever faced with time challenges as my work and home responsibilities made it difficult to carve out hours to run. In the end I ran 450 kms in training over the 16 weeks prior to the marathon, with a couple 32 km runs in there and a host of intervals and hills (oh, Home Road!!).

I was so busy leading up to the marathon that I hadn't really had much time to fret. The day before, I went for a 15 minute run early in the morning with Heather to get the muscles ready, then collected all my gear together for the early departure to the race the next day:

running shirt, running shorts, light socks, hydration belt with 4 bottles, bandana, headband, bib, running shoes, cash for after, lip balm, face sunscreen, sunglasses, train tickets for transport to and from the race, fruit gummy snacks, ibuprofen, nipple bandages, GPS tracker, energy gel, bag for bag check with morning sweater / deodorant / after flip flops / Nalgene with frozen protein shake for after

I ended up making a last minute call and leaving the hydration belt and bottles behind in favour of a lighter fun and relying completely on the water/gatorade tables every couple kms.





The gate I was supposed to begin the race with was inaccessible when I arrived and so the run began at a much slower pace than I had hoped. I weaved between people trying to get ahead of the masses for the first 4 or 5 kms through Inglewood, Bridgeland, and East Village. The runners eventually thinned out and I haphazardly ran into my old friend Tom from university. He was running his 7th marathon - his first was the same as my first. We hadn't seen each other since college, back in 1996 maybe. We loped along together for a couple kms and then I left him behind as we approached Mount Royal University.



We wound back into downtown and over the 14th street bridge into Kensington where I ran into my beer tasting buddy Gordon. He was there taking pictures for another friend, so he snapped a pics of me too. I ran west and then turned around 3 kms later and ran along Memorial Dr all the way to Centre St when I crossed back into the south for the final 4 kms (which were brutal!). Jesse, a coworker, came down to the river to cheer me on and for the final 7 kms he rode his bike parallel to the track to encourage me. He snapped a few great shots too.





As I mentioned, the last kms were gruelling. I accidentally dropped my last cup of water 3 kms from the end and I was so thirsty! Also, at about km 32, I put a powergel in my pocket and it burst there. Tangerine flavour goop ran all the way down my leg and stuck between my sock and the top of my foot. It was very uncomfortable - and I needed that energy. The only injury I suffered was my sock tearing at my skin where the gel was.







The end was glorious. I was disappointed that my time wasn't better, but I did beat my 2012 time by 4 minutes. Amber, the kids and my friend Stephanie (who ran the 21.1 km) were at the finish line to cheer me in. I got my massive belt buckle and water and bit of snacks before grabbing my checked bag with the protein shake. It was still cold. The kids had their medals from their 1.2 km run which capped off a total of 42.2 kms that they ran in the months previous, so they ran marathons too.



My family went home before I did as there were things they needed to tend to and I still had my massage. My massage was great, mostly due to the fact that I wasn't moving and I was laying flat. I then took transit home and walked the 1 km home.

Thoughts on Community Development

It's been 1 year since I boarded a plane to visit two African countries and a community development organization in each one. Since that time, I've really let the ideas and realities of what is happening in these successful enterprises percolate. Here are the thoughts that have persisted.

SOUTH AFRICA
My first stop was Bhekulwandle, Malagazi*, South Africa. I blogged about Seed of Hope when I returned from Africa and the things they are focusing on and the leadership they have in Carl Waldron - a very good friend of mine. What remains with me is slow going. I think of the hospice like service they have in providing supportive care for those dying of AIDS and those coping with HIV. Much of their clientele in this field is not in a position to respond and begin doing in the place of those that do in the present - not exactly a sustainable program - necessary and life giving, but not self-sustaining.

But, let's discuss something that does have the possibility of self-sustainability: Equipping Young Leaders. Seed of Hope has several programs targeting kids of all ages with support in areas of health, spiritual growth, educational tutoring, sports programs, and community building. Let's imagine that 50% of these kids who are equipped remain in the community long term. Then, let's imagine that half of those actually use the skills and support they have received for the betterment of their community. This is probably optimistic, but it is simply to underscore two points:

• The harvest of this investment is largely expected to emerge 10-20 years from now (of course there are immediate results, but they will likely pale in comparison with future results). So, all of the resources spent today are done with a view for a couple decades down the road. 
• The other point is the relational aspect of the initiative. With the long view in mind, less is made of current results than is made of strengthening relationships between the staff and the young people coming by Seed of Hope. I think this is a clear indicator of success.

MALAWI


Kamanzi, Malawi was my second stop. My church has been in partnership with the communities in Kamanzi, a rural collection of 5 dominant villages. World Renew has been applying principals of community development on our behalf for the past 4 years and just over a year ago, Peter Timmerman took the helm. I was really struck by Peter's dissatisfaction. From the perspective of me and my fellow church member, some real progress had been made through seed loans, ecosan latrines and goat/pig husbandry. But Peter could see the relatively low economic and probably low espousing of real change by the greater community of some of the principals. His questions: Will what we are doing have a lasting and real impact on food security in these communities? Do the dollars (or kwacha in this case) and sweat equity in these projects really pay off?

His dissatisfaction helped me see the value of the big picture view, the years of experience and training he brought to the organization. In many ways, I'm stuck in the camp of "if I can take a picture of a result, be it great or small, we have succeeded!" [I shudder as I write this, but I'm being honest.] The admission that we can do better is probably the most humble thing we can do and ultimately better for working with a community who already has a hard time dreaming of a bright, less hungry future.

Shortly after we left, Peter blogged about the second thing that has stuck with me: This is a slow, slow process. And that is a good thing. Africans understand this. Sadly, westerners have a difficult time learning the value of slowing down. Ultimately, the slower, the better long term and the more buy in from the community.

*Just realized that this community is in a different province than neighbouring Amanzimtoti and Durban which are in KwaZulu-Natal. You can see the difference on either side of the road running between the two communities.

Zaakistan 2013

January

Sick Day. Snow Day. Gaming weekend in Canmore. Concerts: Living with Lions, Whitehorse. Semester 1 ends: Math 10C, Math 20-2, Multi-Media

February

Dragonfly Cohousing Social Media Blitz. Man Scouts Beer Tasting. Demitor Visit in Edmonton. Peter turned 80 in High River. Semester 2 begins: Calculus, Math 30-2, Multi-Media. 

March

Mother-in-law visit. Turned 37. Fundraising Beer Tasting. Visit to South Africa: Waldrons, Seed of Hope, Game Reserve.

April

Visit to Malawi: World Renew, Kamanzi, Lake Malawi, Participatory Rural Apraisal. Morning stroll in Amsterdam. Daughter turned 6. Sister-in-law visit. Weekend in Radium with friends. Budget cuts at work.

May

Son learns to ride a bicycle. Dragonfly Cohousing Groundbreaking. Minhas Brewery Tour. Book Sale. Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Mumford and Sons. Graduation. 

June

Calgary is flooded/Exams cancelled. Dragonfly Cohousing grinds to a halt due to construction bids coming in way over budget. Ultimate Frisbee (go Vicious Circles). Allan Family Reunion in Canmore. Bladder Infection.

July

Despicable Me 2 with kids. Son turns 8. Camping and hiking in Banff with friends (sickness). Anniversary Ride to Rocky Mtn House with sister. Montreal: Sister/Brother-in-law, Shakespeare in the Park, Biodôme/Botanical Gardens/Insectarium/Planetarium, Microbrew visits, Alouettes, BBQ.

August

VIA Rail NB: Papa/Step-Mother, Memere, Fern/Gail, Beach, Pugwash Campmeeting, Canoeing, 13th Anniversary, Dieppe Kite Festival, Plovers, Building a Geodesic Dome, Visit to Sackville, Mémere turns 87. Camping at Little Bow with Friends. Visit to Vulcan. Meadery tour.

September

Semester 1 begins: Math 10C, Math 30-1, Math 30-2. Camping in Rocky Mtn House with family and friends. Tennis with friends. Dragonfly Cohousing hires a new project manager. FallCon 26. Peter's Memorial Service. Kids begin homeschool. Beer Tasting.

October

Corn Maze with Dragonfly. Re-Design Workshops. Mom's Birthday. Reflektor is Released. Family Visit to Red Deer. Beer Tasting. Cystoscopy. Nenshi Re-Elected. Teachers Conference.

November

Glenbow Museum. Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Banff Mtn Film Fest. Wife turns 35. First Batch of Beer. K-12 Unsolved Conference in Banff. Visit Demitors in Westlock. Old Fashioned Family Portrait. Grey Cup Party.

 December

Son gets his Yellow Belt in karate. Re-Design Workshop. Hobbit 2 Premiere showing. Snow Day and a half. Power Out Day. Beer Tasting. Second Batch of Beer. Friend goes missing in Belize. Christmas in Calgary. Nutcracker. New Years Eve Fondue with Family in Red Deer.

Reflections: Seed of Hope in South Africa

My first week in Africa was spent with the wonderful Waldon family who have been in the Amanzimtoti / Bhekulwandle area of South Africa for the last six years. I knew them in Saint Albert when I was working my first job out of university at their church. Amber and I have been supporting their work which is running The Seed of Hope.

I was able to spend 4 days at the centre where I think I got a good sense of what the community is like, what the needs are, and how Seed of Hope is seeking to bring new life to the area. I should add that school was on holidays, so things probably weren't running exactly the same as they usually are.



First, the staff. Carl shared lots of stories with me about the staff who I saw working in their various areas. Most of those with hands on work were either from Bhekulwandle or nearby. They grew up in poverty and didn't have the same opportunities for education and employment (unemployment in the area is around 80%). I listened to them sing and share during staff devotions. They are both grateful for the opportunity to work and to serve God and their people. They are passionate about their work and they are not above having disputes among themselves - though they are willing to resolve matters too.

Those in positions of leadership or in volunteer positions come from the wealthier areas or from other countries. Equally passionate and seeking restoration in this very depressed area, these folks drive vehicles, generate funding, plan events, connect with the media, and help manage the centre.



In speaking to Carl Waldron, the CEO, I learned that Seed of Hope has had numerous short term mission teams visit. Some of those visiting have told him that they have seen far worse poverty and that the efforts here would probably be better used elsewhere in the world. While it's true that there are more destitute regions in the world (South Sudan or Haiti come to mind immediately), what is truly unique is the level of brokenness in the community. In Bhekulwandle there are certainly deficits in nutrition, work, educational opportunities, access to healthcare, etc. but not to the some of levels I saw in Guatemala or Malawi. What is different is the staggering level of violence against women and girls and the incredibly high incidence of HIV (this South African province alone has 13% of the world's HIV infected). On top of all this, while South Africa has emerged as a leader on the continent economically, this is one of the very forgotten regions so there is little by way of local government support.

While I was there I heard stories that still haunt me today. I won't share them online, but I have no qualms expressing that this part of the world is one of the darkest, most needing of our and God's love.



So, what are they doing to reach out to the people in Bhekulwandle? Three different spheres of influence, all of which are applied with a deeply personal touch which builds relationships:

• skills training for adults (sewing and gardening mainly)
• teaching life skills to children (after school programs, tutoring, counseling, leadership)
• HIV/AIDS outreach (testing, counseling, support groups, home visits)

This is all done with a very healthy view of sustainable development: take it slow, empower the population, and build on the strengths of people you work with.

Overall, I was very impressed with Seed of Hope. I encourage you to support the organization, you can give to Hope Shares or RESCU International.

Marathon Training: Day 93/118

On training day #76 I ran 25 km, my furthest distance yet. I was limping afterwards, but since I've been sore before, I didn't think much of it. The following morning I couldn't put any weight on my left leg and my left knee was tremendously sore. I came downstairs on my butt and parked my butt on the couch. The fear of not being able to run the marathon came upon me and I started to accept the fact that I had injured myself. However, after a morning on the couch with my left knee elevated and covered in a bag of frozen peas, I was able to hobble around a little.

I babied my knee for 4 days and didn't run for 8 days making sure that my ligaments, joints, and tendons had time to be restored. Then I went for a 12 km run (pictured above) and felt great! No soreness whatsoever. After chatting with some other runners, I have decided to ease my training to just 3 runs a week which would give my body lots of recuperation time. I'm learning to listen to my body.


View Larger Map

After a couple great runs last week, I decided to run the Calgary Bow River Valley Trail with my visiting sister, a fellow running trainee. She ran 16 km. I ran 24 km (see map above). We parked at Edworthy Park in the west and ran east. I ran 12 km to Deerfoot Trail and turned around. It was terribly frosty at the start so I ran with leggings and a light jacket. I was amazed at how little I sweat because of the coolness of the air, but I was even more amazed at how I felt like I could have gone on when I had reached Edworthy Park again. Because I didn't sweat, I barely touched all the electrolyte drink I carried. The sights along the path, notably the Bow River, Calgary Zoo, and Downtown, made the run far less weary than a treadmill, so I'm quite certain I'll complete my last three long runs down there. My next long run, the longest prior to the marathon, will be 32 kms. I'm thinking the 3 hours+ run might take me to Fish Creek Park (one of the largest city parks in the world - and one I have yet to visit).

I stopped by The Running Room last week and picked up a Fuel Belt with four pouches the I can use to carry my salt/lemon/honey concoction. I also purchased two energy gels to try. The last time I tried these was on my bike trip and they were horrible. The two I got, Honey Stingers, were great though - all natural stuff and basically it's honey. Who doesn't like sucking on honey, especially while running!! Each little packet gives you 120 calories. Since I'm burning 800-900 calories every 10 kms, I'll need a about 3 of these on race day.

Yesterday, I did some cross-training. It was my last day of spring break and I felt I should make the most of it.


View Larger Map

Today, I decided to do some hill training after school. My mom left her car at our place, so I drove it down to Bowness, then ran home. Amber drove me back after supper so I could pick it up. I climbed 175 m over a 9.4 km run making it about a 2% grade total, but half the run was flat, so the pitch was closer to 4% when I was running uphill. Since I didn't feel stressed at all during this 60 minute run, I figure I had better find a better hill. Cochrane has a nice one, about 5% for 4 kms ... maybe do that up and down and up and down next week.

I've decided that I will not listen to music on my ipod during the marathon. I want the raw experience. Plus, there are bands and cheering groups along the course and it's safer to have all my senses fully aware of my surroundings. I'll continue to train with it, but I ran without today and it was just fine.

If you asked me 3 weeks ago how I felt about the marathon, I would have bitterly replied that it was the worst goal on my list. Ask me today and I am much more positive. I feel great. I've lost 15 unneeded lbs. I enjoy the less frequent, but high quality runs and I greatly anticipate the day of the marathon.

Finally, a little bit of the agony. I popped this lovely blister about 3 weeks ago. (sorry for the picture DB)

1. sterilize needle
2. sterilize blister
3. lance blister and thoroughly drain onto tissue paper
4. apply polysporin to popped blister
5. wrap a band-aid around toe for 2 days

Marathon Training: Day 61/118

Ah! My knees!!

It was a little surreal running by myself for 2 hours (exactly) on treadmill today, alone in a gym. When I reached 21 km at 1:57:13 I just raised my arms for about 3 seconds and then ran the last half km. I did let out a feeble "woo!" too. No celebration, just a 6 minute cool down and then 12 minutes of stretches as I chugged water. I was sipping my electrolyte concoction every 10 minutes during the run, and boy, did that make me thirsty.

I got home after 6 pm and just wanted to sleep. I lay down for 30 minutes then came down to visit with my family. Amber fed me some delicious pasta with chicken and a salad. I took an Advil and iced my knees (they are feeling somewhat better now).

I forgot to mention my weight loss in my last post too. So far, I've burned 11 lbs or so. Easily understood since on today's run alone I burned 1800 calories.

Marathon Training: Day 60/118

Oof. It's been a while since I last updated my blog on my marathon training. Guess why? I've been so tired from running.

Tomorrow I will run 21.5 km and I will try and do it in 2 hours. This is just over a half marathon and 3 km more than I ran last Friday (18.5 km in 1:42)and 5 km more than I ran the Friday before that. How will I feel after the run? Hopefully like I felt last Friday: a little exhilerated and very tired. Hopefully not like 2 Fridays ago after running the 16.5 km (1:31): very nauseated and very tired (after this run I chaperoned a high school banquet and wanted to eat a plate covered in 4 pastas and 4 sauces so badly, but I couldn't because I was so sick). I have found a solution though (I think) - it's below.

After speaking with my sister Salomé on the phone about that bad run, she gave me some rather vital info. Since I'm running on a treadmill, I should be running with an elevation level of 2.0 since it's so much easier than running on the road (which I can't do because of all the ice and snow). She also advised me to do "toe taps," 80 of them each day to strengthen my shins (which have been aching quite a bit).

So the reason I got sick during the 16.5 km, I presume, is the loss of electrolytes. To resolve the issue, I looked up some recipes so I don't have to drink Gatorade. A squeeze of lemon, a pinch of potassium chloride (weird salt), a pinch of kosher salt (sodium chloride), a teaspoon of honey and lots of water. If I sip this every 10 minutes, it keeps the nausea at bay and really keeps me alert. I still follow long runs with some blended berries mixed with whey powder and water to energize.

Sadly, I missed my first 2 days of training. Not because I couldn't do it, but because I willfully chose not to. I missed a 5.5 km run and 60 minutes of cross-training/weight training. I've made up 1 of those kms already, but then a couple days ago I quit a 12 km "quality" run 1 km early at 11 km. This quality run I did on Tuesday was a Yasso 800: "six 800 m 'sprints' with 400m recovery jogs." My sprints were between 13.2-5 km/hr and I was just ill afterwards. So ill that I don't recall drinking my electrolyte drink - maybe I should have...

I've begun to compile a list of supplies I will need for the marathon on May 6:

• vaseline for my lips - they get right dry
• electrolyte drinks in small containers strapped to me
• energy drinks in small containers strapped to me
• 2 ibuprofen tablets (one for before the race, one for 2 hours in)
• a sweat/headband so my eyes don't sting from the sweat
• running shoes, socks, shorts, shirt
• iPod and earbuds (still not sure on this one)

Marathon Training: Day 27/118

I've run 105 kms now after almost 4 weeks (tomorrow is a scheduled rest day) and yesterday I ran 1/4 marathon and recovered just fine - no soreness at all.

Salomé has me training 6 days a week:

• Mon - crosstraining with increasing time each week
• Tues - increasingly long runs doing speed intervals or hill training
• Wed - short run
• Thurs - medium runs at a harder pace
• Fri - longest run of the week
• Sat - short run

My comfortable running speed is 10.6 km/hr which is a perfect pace for finishing the marathon in four hours. I've been doing all of my runs after school or during the last block if I have a prep. The gym is almost always empty except for a senior student trying to beef up so he can become a firefighter.

My routine is change, sip a bit of water, run my run on the treadmill while listening to The National's High Violet or Mumford and Son's Sigh No More. When I reach my distance, I hit cool down and get to a walk where I can drink water without spilling it all over myself. Then I add water to my energy drink (whey protein powder and a thawed cube of blended berries) and slurp it up while stretching my calves, quads, glutes, hams, adductors and abductors.

I ran outside today since I had no plans to go to the school and it was an atypical February afternoon: 13°C. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to keep a good pace without the treadmill so I timed my run and averaged under 6 min/km which is on track. I mapped my distance with Google Maps.

This last week was the first week running with actual running clothes. I picked up some Nike shorts and shirt - light weight, breathable, and they show off my hairy shoulders. My sweat pants and golfing shorts weren't cutting it before.



This is the dime-sized blister I popped a couple days ago, applied some Polysporine and a bandaid and it was as good as new. You can see the other blister-turned-callous above it too.

As far as pain, I haven't had much except for the first 3-4 minutes of running where I can really feel it in my shins.  I had a bit of numbness in my hands, but having spoken to my doctor friend who coaches at my school, he said it was nothing to worry about - blood simply goes where it's needed and my hand's don't really need it when I'm running. He also coached me to run without really swinging my arms since it uses energy unnecessarily - a tough habit to break, plus I look a little gimped. He's a kidney specialist so he urged me to look up an electrolyte recipe online to make my own sugar/salt drink to restore my body chemistry after long runs. I sweat like a dog.

Sleep is precious. I am recognizing that I need much more of it now that I am so much more physically active. And I'm so hungry all the time.