11.28.2008

The Green Girl Has A Green Garmin Forerunner 405!

I am one happy Green Girl! Whoo hoo!

My family got me a green Garmin Forerunner 405 with heart rate monitor (HRM). It arrived today from my favorite online store, ZombieRunner. Did I mention it's green?

I am absolutely giddy with excitement. I cannot wait to take it out for a run tomorrow morning.

11.21.2008

Sole Runners Winter Training Starts Tomorrow

My running group, the Sole Runners, will start the Winter Full/Half Marathon Training Program tomorrow morning. I'm really looking forward to this. My Saturday mornings seemed so empty without the group runs.

Since my knee pain started, I've been faithfully applying heat and cold and resting it as much as possible. I also went ahead and purchased a patellar strap yesterday after my coach recommended I give it a try. He also suggested I look into Active Release Techniques (ART). ART is a method of soft tissue massage that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves.

I am hopeful that I'll be able to complete an easy run tomorrow.

11.20.2008

The Green Girl Retrieves Her Master Lock Combination

I'm one of those Green Girls who likes to keep things for as long as possible. If it still mostly works, I'm going to hold onto it.

I got my Keroppi-green Master Lock back when I was in high school. I would feel great pride when people would comment that they had never seen a lock in that color.

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the 3 magic numbers I need to open my beloved lock. I tried numerous Master Lock hacks but I couldn't even get through the first step. I kept coming up with more than 12 numbers.

Upon visiting the Master Lock web site, I discovered they offer a method for obtaining lost combinations. I was impressed they actually have a history of all the serial numbers and corresponding combinations.

Per their instructions, I printed out the "Lost Combination Form", scanned the back of my combination lock, and got the paperwork notarized yesterday.

I can't wait to get my combination so I can start locking my stuff up at the gym.

11.18.2008

The Green Girl Has Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (Runner's Knee)

My doctor has diagnosed me with patellofemoral pain syndrome which is more commonly known as "runner's knee." Now that almost a week has passed, my wandering knee pain has settled right above my knee.

Patellofemoral pain can be caused by a number of factors including overuse and overload of the patellofemoral joint, biomechanical problems and muscular dysfunction. Quadriceps strengthening is the most commonly prescribed treatment but I believe my quadriceps are pretty strong from doing hundreds of squats each week. In my case, I believe overpronation and tight calves and hamstrings are the culprits. My doctor also said my piriformis muscles are insanely tight.

He said if I wanted, I could use a patella strap just below my knee to help ease the pain when I'm running. I did a little online research and it appears the Pro-Tech Athletics brand Knee Pro-Tec Patellar Tendon Strap is the most popular.

I'm hesitant to go out and buy a patellar strap because this doctor is not a sports medicine specialist (I cannot afford to see an orthopedic surgeon right now because I don't have any health insurance). When I was seeing an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in sports medicine before, he said he preferred for his patients to correct their knee problems without the help of a brace whenever possible. He felt relying on the brace could do more damage than good if the person became too dependent on the brace.

For now, I'm going to do as much stretching and strength training as possible. I found a set of rehabiliation exercises and I ran across this blog describing some physical therapy procedures for runner's knee.

While not directly related to my current patellofemoral pain syndrome, I ran across the cutest stretches for runners web page ever. Look at how happy Mr. Stickman is!

11.16.2008

The Green Girl and Her Knee

The pain in my right knee has settled to just above the kneecap. Per my doctor's instructions, I've been alternating between heat and cold.

The cold seems to make it hurt more while the heat actually gets rid of all the pain. My knee was killing me last night after I ended up standing on it for a couple of hours. I iced it when I got home and then used my heating pad with the cute camouflage cover Whimsie Dots custom made for me.

When I woke up this morning, I gingerly walked around the apartment and when I didn't feel any pain, I headed to my boot camp class a half hour early so I could get a good stretch in. After stretching, it didn't hurt but it did get really stiff.

I was able to make it through the entire class but I didn't push myself like I normally do. My goal was to finish the class without further aggravating my knee.

Tomorrow, I'm going to kickbox in the morning and then try out my very first spin class. Hopefully, I'll be able to do my interval run on Tuesday. At the very least, I hope I can get a good 3-5 mile run in.

11.14.2008

Prefontaine

After watching "Without Limits," I wanted to watch the "other" Steve Prefontaine movie so I rented Prefontaine.

Today seemed like the perfect day to watch the movie since I am staying off my knee until next Tuesday.

As an obsessive-compulsive Green Girl, I had a hard time with the discrepancies between the two movies.

In "Without Limits," Prefontaine had no father, only a mother. In "Prefontaine," he had both parents. His romantic life was completely different in the two movies.

"Prefontaine" went into a lot more detail when it came to the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Between the two, I preferred "Without Limits." I felt like the character portrayal was much closer to how Prefontaine has been described.

11.12.2008

Green Girl Down



The Green Girl's first tempo run didn't go so well.

When I got to the track, the cross country team was practicing. I watched their bodies glide across the track as I stretched.

I assessed the situation and decided I should be okay as long as I stuck to the outer lane. My plan was to do a 15 minute easy warm-up followed by 15 minutes of hard running with a 15 minute cool down. I started jogging. My body felt tired again, just like it did last week. I backed off and slowed down even more. I had jogged about 3/4ths of the track when a sharp pain suddenly shot through my right leg. It was below the knee on the inner part of the leg. I immediately stopped jogging and walked slowly. I didn't feel any more pain but I didn't want to push it.

As soon as I got home, I iced it. My knee was a little sore on and off the rest of the day.

When I woke up this morning, it hurt too much for me to go to kickboxing. I attended my very first aqua aerobics class instead. I also swam a couple of laps in the pool afterwards. It was the first time I swam a full lap in about 20 years.

I don't have a job right now so I don't have any health insurance. I went to see my doctor today and he twisted and contorted my knee and he didn't feel I did any serious damage to it. He did transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and ultrasound. After that, I was able to walk out of the office pain free.

Hours later, my knee is hurting again. I'll continue to ice it. My plan is to take the rest of the week off from running. Hopefully, I'll be able to run again next week.

11.09.2008

Wind Sprints Are Difficult

Every Sunday, I attend a boot camp class at the local Bally Total Fitness.

This class kicks my butt. The warm-up consists of running up and down sets of stairs. I'm completely out of breath and exhausted before the class even starts.

One of the activities the instructor has us do is wind sprints. We run as fast as we can back and forth between makeshift cones and we have to touch the ground at each end.

I was so tired today but I pushed myself so hard that I felt like I was going to throw up. I could hardly complete my last set. My exercise-induced asthma also flared up and I had a hard time catching my breath.

I'm looking forward to starting my speed training next week. Hopefully the interval and tempo runs will help me improve on my wind sprints.

11.05.2008

The Green Girl Has New Shoes!

I went up to San Jose for Halloween weekend so I could take my niece Trick-or-Treating.

On Sunday, I went with my family to Santana Row for the weekly Farmers' Market. I spotted the New Balance store and went in to see if I could get a pair of replacement shoe laces for my 857's.

For some unknown reason, the 857's shipped with really short laces. The sales person knew exactly what I was talking about when I explained my need for longer laces and was kind enough to dig up a spare pair. The fact I didn't have to pay for a new pair of shoe laces made my day.

I was ready to leave with my free laces when the sales person asked me if I was interested in any shoes. I asked him if by any chance the 859's were on sale. Turns out they were 30% off and they had them in my size - 6.5 D width.

My very first pair of running shoes were the 857's. I was so disappointed when they were discontinued but I gave the 858's a try and they felt the same so I was happy. So far, I really like the 859's. The only difference I can feel is the increased support around the ankle. I appreciate the fact that it's more snug because my ankles would slip in both the 857's and the 858's. I used a special lacing technique to keep my feet from slipping in the back.

I know many runners spend their entire lives searching for the perfect shoe so I'm thankful I've found something that works for me. My feet are hard to fit because they are really wide but small. When it comes to running, I need a lot of support for overpronation and plantar fasciitis. I need a shoe that is stable and stiff. A shoe with a lot of cushion actually hurts my feet. Thanks to the New Balance line of stability shoes along with Green Superfeet insoles, I'm able to be a happy running Green Girl.
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