1.31.2009

Good Luck Surf City Runners!

The Green Girl wants to wish all the Surf City USA runners good luck tomorrow!

LA Badger, I hope you have fully recovered from your cold. Good luck on a great race.

L.A. Runner, good luck pacing a 03:40. I believe in you.

Tricotine, I'll be thinking about you at the Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic as I'm running. Best of luck to you if you do decide to run it and if you don't, I hope you find satisfaction in volunteering for the race and letting your body rest.

I will tape up my ankle in the morning and pop some ibuprofen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

1.30.2009

The Green Girl Went To The Doctor

The Green Girl finally gave in and went to get her ankle checked out by a doctor today. Truth be told, a big part of me just wanted to wait until after the Surf City USA Half Marathon in case it was bad news.

As soon as my doctor heard me in the waiting room, he yelled, 'What did you do to yourself now and when is your next race?' So he knows me well.

Luckily, he doesn't think it's a stress fracture. I'm an unemployed Green Girl right now and I was really hoping I wouldn't have to pay out of pocket for an x-ray. Like my self-diagnosis, he said I sprained the medial (inner) ankle ligaments.

He recommended I tape up my ankle and try going for a really short run. If the tape doesn't bother me, he wants me to tape before the race on Sunday. He said taping will give me much more support than an ankle wrap.

Until my ankle is fully healed, the doctor said he wants me to tape every single time I go kickboxing since I kickbox barefoot. I did my very first taping job tonight before I headed to the dojo. He wants me to ice after every workout even if I don't feel any discomfort. In addition, he wants me to start doing isometric exercises on a weekly basis for both my ankles to strengthen them.

1.28.2009

The Green Girl Turns To Homeopathy

To help speed up the recovery of her sprained ankle, the Green Girl is using Peaceful Mountain Tendon Rescue.

The Tendon Rescue gel contains comfrey, arnica, rosemary, aloe, potassium sorbate, originox, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. According to the website, the herbs in Tendon Rescue have traditionally been used to repair damaged tendons, ligaments and soft tissues. The directions recommend using the product three times daily.

The gel has a brownish tint but doesn't stain my skin when I rub it in. It smells like a multivitamin tablet.

I want my ankle to be as strong as possible for the Surf City USA Half Marathon this Sunday.

1.27.2009

The Green Girl's Very First Run Run Run-ning Shirt

The Green Girl got a new moisture wicking shirt to wear for the Surf City USA Half Marathon on Sunday.

When I workout, I usually just wear cheap, white cotton t-shirts. I wear those same shirts when I do 5k's. When I trained for my very first marathon with Team In Training, I wore the Team In Training singlet every time I ran. Our group did a half marathon as one of our training runs so I wore my singlet for that, too. For the marathon, we got the signature purple Team In Training shirts.

When I did the Nike+ Human Race, I got a shirt that was way too tight for me.

After I completed the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon with Team In Training, I joined the Beach Runners. I wore a plain white t-shirt to my first Beach Runners session but when I signed up, they gave me a Beach Runners shirt so I went to the bathroom to change into that shirt. From that point on, I always wore my Beach Runners shirt. When I did the Long Beach Half Marathon back in October, I wore my Beach Runners shirt. I did get a technical shirt from the Long Beach Half Marathon but the material is transparent and I don't feel comfortable wearing it without a shirt underneath.

My running group just changed its name to the Sole Runners and we haven't received new shirts yet.

I didn't realize I didn't really have a technical shirt to wear until this week. All this time I assumed I had "running" shirts because I was wearing the shirt associated with the group I was running with.

After hitting a number of stores today, I finally managed to find a shirt at Target. I couldn't believe my luck when they only had two sizes left and one of them was an XXL and it was big enough for me!

1.13.2009

The Green Girl's Fitness Assessment

On SparkPeople, there was an article about do-it-yourself fitness assessments. I decided this would be a great way for me to measure progress for myself.

This do-it-yourself fitness assessment consists of three tests:
I started off with The Push-up Test. I only do fist pushups now because of a bad right wrist. I did full pushups because I didn't realize the women's sexist chart was only for modified pushups. Unfortunately, my hands hurt too much for me to do an entire minute but I did manage to do 40 full pushups in 40 seconds. I spent the last 20 seconds rubbing my fists.

For The Crunch Test, I was able to do 76 crunches in a minute.
For me, the The 3-Minute Step Test was the hardest assessment because I'm not sure if I calculated my results correctly. I had to use Mr. Green Garmin to monitor my heart rate, my 'regular everyday' watch for the timer, and then a metronome for the cadence.

I'm also not sure how accurate Mr. Green Garmin's heart rate monitor is. According to him, my initial heart rate was 57. After three minutes of stepping on my 12" sofa minus the cushion, my heart rate was 112. After exactly one minute, it was 100 and then after another minute, it was 77.

I'm going to repeat these tests from time to time so I can compare my results.

1.12.2009

The Green Girl Runs For Angelman Syndrome



The Green Girl is going to be running the San Francisco Half Marathon in July to raise money for Angelman Syndrome.

I just finished setting up my fundraising page.

I will begin my training after the Surf City USA Half Marathon. I am going to have to do a lot of hill and speed training to prepare myself for the streets of San Francisco.

1.09.2009

The Running Gods Smiled Down Upon The Green Girl

The Running Gods smiled down upon the Green Girl today.

I BodyGlided up my feet and slipped the ankle wrap around my right foot. Then, I put on my patellar strap on the right knee. All this awkward walking to minimize ankle pain has caused my knee to start hurting again. I mean, who doesn't love overcompensation injuries?

I was running really late this morning after getting caught up in heavy traffic so the group had already taken off by the time I got there.

My ankle was still feeling a little bit tender so I did a brisk walk for the first 10 minutes to warm up my body. Then, I moved into a slow jog. My arch throbbed each time the ball of my foot hit the ground. I figured I'd give it a few minutes to stretch it out since I'd been babying it all week. It stopped hurting after about 3-5 minutes so I increased my speed. It felt so good to run again.

At this point, I caught up with another runner, Ruby, who had also arrived late. I feel in stride with her and we started chatting.

The warmer weather was a pleasant surprise today. The skies were clear and the ocean view was spectacular.

There are so many reasons why I love being part of a running group. Meeting new people is definitely one of them. We swapped race stories and shared what had made us start running in the first place.

I was scheduled to do a 3 hour run today but I decided to cut it short because I didn't want to take any chances. I ended up doing 6.51 miles in just under 2 hours.

I've missed the majority of my Surf City USA Half Marathon training schedule. I'm not nearly as prepared as I'd hoped to be but I'm okay with this. I know I've got a good cardiovascular base from cross-training and I'm not aiming for a personal record at this point.

The Green Girl Prays To The Running Gods



Oh, Running Gods, I was a very good Green Girl today.

I did not go kickboxing even though I really wanted to.

Please let my ankle be okay tomorrow morning for my long run.

1.04.2009

The Green Girl Sprained Her Right Ankle

Bleh. I twisted my right ankle pretty badly in my boot camp class this morning.

I was doing those sideways suicides where you squat and move as quickly as you can back and forth. As I was trying to speed along, I tripped and twisted my right foot. Pain shot from my ankle up to my lower back but I kept on going.

According to my self-diagnosis, I am suffering from an eversion injury because my foot twisted outwards as I tried to "glide" across the gym. I believe I sprained the inner ligament which is called the deltoid. The good news is that it doesn't appear to be swollen and I am able to limp around so it's most likely the mildest kind of sprain, a Grade I. I've been icing it and wrapping it when I walk. I hope it heals up quickly.

1.03.2009

The Green Girl Has A Stability Ball Now

After mentioning I don't own a stability ball, I discovered Kmart has Weider stability balls on sale right now for $6.00. And we all know how much the Green Girl loves a bargain.

The ball comes in 3 sizes: 55 cm, 65 cm, and 75 cm. Since the Green Girl is only 4' 10.5", I purchased the 55 cm ball.

I'm really glad I was able to get such a good deal on the stability ball because I must admit I had no idea how I was going to improvise the exercises that required the ball. I was thinking I could probably prop myself up with my couch for some of them but I wasn't sure.

1.02.2009

SparkPeople New YOU Bootcamp

Thank you, Tricotine, for letting me know about the SparkPeople New YOU Bootcamp Challenge.

It's a 4-week fitness program that involves less then 10 minutes of daily exercise. I love that SparkPeople will provide daily workout videos for this challenge.

The only equipment that is required for this challenge is pair of dumbbells and a stability ball. We'll pretend the Green Girl owns these things.

The Green Girl Home Gym consists of:
For those of you who have invested in home equipment, what do you own? I also have kickboxing gloves, helmet, mouth guard and shin pads.

I'm really looking forward to this. I love learning new exercises and I think this is going to be a lot of run. And it doesn't hurt that the grand prize for this challenge is $500.

The Green Girl's First Run of 2009

The Green Girl did her very first run of the year on yesterday.

I've been averaging a 15-16 minute mile on my Saturday morning runs. Since this was an 'Active Recovery' week and we would only be running for an hour, I was determined to pick up the pace.

I set Mr. Green Garmin's 'Virtual Partner' to a 12:30 mile. The Virtual Partner appears as a little runner that 'runs' with you.

For the first time since Mr. Green Garmin came into my life, I beat my Virtual Partner! When I saw my little digital body ahead of my Virtual Partner, I got so excited that I had to slow down and take a picture. Ha.

The group I run with trains using the Chirunning technique. Part of Chirunning is maintaining a steady cadence. To achieve this, a number of us carry a Seiko DM-50 Clip-Style Metronomes with us on our runs. I typically set my metronome to 82 but sometimes I will increase the speed to 85.

I found the continuous beeping to be an annoyance at first but I've grown accustomed to it and it really helps me maintain the cadence throughout my run. When I'm feeling tired, it's soothing to just zone out and just keep my feet moving to that beat.

I really pushed myself. I was getting pretty tired after 25 minutes and thought about taking a walk break but for some reason, I kept going. It was exhausting but it was a lot easier for me to push myself than it used to be. I think all the short, fast runs really are helping.

According to Mr. Green Garmin, I did a total of 4.84 miles in 59:01:24. The thing I am most proud of is the fact that I even managed to do negative splits. I did not think I'd be able to pull that off because I had pushed myself so hard going out. I averaged a 12:11 minute mile going out and a 12:09 coming back!

After the run, Coach Steve Mackel modified our usual post-run yoga to a standing-only session because the grass was too damp for us to use our mats.

1.01.2009

The Green Girl's 2008 Running Meme

1. How many miles/km did you run this year? 405.6 miles in 87:01:08

2. What were your highest/lowest weekly mileage results? 26.9 miles / 0 miles

3. What was your best mileage month? April - 91.3 miles

4. What was your longest run? 26.2 miles

5. How many races did you enter in 2008? What were your best and worst race performances? I did 6 races this year. I am proud of all my results.
6. Do you have a favorite/memorable run from this year? The San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my very first marathon.

7. What was the craziest weather or other type of adverse conditions you endured on a run in 2008? I live in Southern California so I've never really run in crazy conditions. Once, when I was out of town, I ran in 36° weather. That was cold for me.

8. What were your goals for 2008? To complete a marathon.

9. What are your goals for 2009? To become a faster and stronger runner.

10. Do you have a favorite running-related quote you would like to share? The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running. Unknown
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