Kids 4 Kids 5k CasITa-to-5k Graduation Day

The CasITa-to-5k has set an official graduation date of Sunday, April 17th, at the Children's Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) Kids 4 Kids 5k RUN/WALK.

The race benefits the Children's Cancer Research Fund (CCRF). The CCRF is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing national support for pediatric cancer clinical research and improving the medical environment for all children.

One of CCRF's initiatives was to donate children's hospital gowns with Disney and Warner Bros. characters to hospitals across the country. This small gesture was significant to me because I distinctly remember visiting a pediatric oncology ward and thinking that the Disney hospital gowns and masks were a cheery touch in an otherwise sterile environment.

The CasITa-to-5k will also donate money to sponsor a couple of families with children with cancer to attend the event.

The Kids 4 Kids 5k will feature an 'All Star' Carnival with athletes and celebrities at the Finish. The CasITa-to-5k will have the opportunity to meet Walkaround Elmo and maybe even get a graduation picture with the guy.

CasITa-to-5k Overcast Run on The Strand

The CasITa-to-5k went for a run on The Strand after work on Tuesday.

The CasITa-to-5k has strayed from the Cool Running Couch-to-5k Running Plan and instead, we've just been alternating between maintaining and increasing the walk intervals.

One of the outcomes of my RRCA Coach Certification has been a paradigm shift in how I will approach training going forward. I will be applying my newfound knowledge as I put together a first time half marathon training plan for one of the CasITa-to-5kers.

Using the walk/run intervals, we are able to comfortably and consistently run 3 miles so we will continue to increase the running time. I still have my hopes set on a Spring graduation.

The Spring 5k race will be twofold. It will be the official CasITa-to-5k graduation but it will also give me a baseline to build the half marathon training plan.

CasITa-to-5k At Dockweiler Beach

The CasITa-to-5k went running on the Marvin Braude Bikeway at Dockweiler Beach last night.

The Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department named the Marvin Braude Bikeway in honor of the former Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude in recognition of his efforts to develop the bike path and beach facilities.

The 22.3 mile path, commonly referred to as the South Bay or Santa Monica Bike Paths, spans from Pacific Palisades to Torrance.

With autumn, the days are shorter and the sun was already setting when we arrived at the beach. We marveled at the beautiful shades of red and orange cast across the evening sky from the illumination of the setting sun.

As we ran along the coast, aircrafts taking off from LAX flew overhead. We saw a huge British Airways 787 that dwarfed all the other planes.

My legs felt heavy and fatigued. I wondered if this was a result of all the exhausting one-legged squats from kickboxing that morning or if I was still tired from the weekend long run.

Either way, I was grateful each time Mr. Green Garmin beeped to indicate a walk interval.

As we ran, we observed the fiery sphere descending into the horizon and stared at the reflection on the ocean's surface.

CasITa-to-5k Run and Super Harvest Moon

The CasITa-to-5k ran on the Veterans Parkway wood chip path last night.

It was a beautiful Southern California evening for a run and the path was alive with walkers, pets on leashes, and runners.

We started off with our usual brisk walk to warm-up and then moved into the intervals of running and walking.

As we were running, we spotted a set of lost keys hanging from one of the The Mariposa Pathway Butterfly Totems.

After our run, we drove down to the beach to catch a glimpse of the harvest moon.

Yesterday marked the September equinox, also known as the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. An equinox occurs twice a year and is when the center of the Sun is in the same plane as the Earth's equator.

The full moon nearest the September equinox is referred to as the harvest moon.

This year, the harvest moon appeared on the same night as the autumnal equinox - a phenomenon that has not occured since 1991 and will not happen again until 2029.

As the summer sun set last night, its rays blended with the rising autumn moon to create a unique twilight.

From the beach, only the setting sun was visible so we headed over to Sand Dune Park for a higher vantage point.

At the base of the dunes, we looked up and caught a glimpse of the setting sun in the distance.

We climbed the seemingly endless flights of stairs to the top, stopping periodically to catch our breath and admire the beauty of the full moon.

From the top of the sand dunes, we observed the changing colors of the round moon and the night sky.

The Japanese believe there is a moon rabbit, also known as 月の兎 or Jade Rabbit, that pounds rice to make mochi. As we gazed into the twilight, I fixated on the dark shadows in the sphere and tried to envision a rabbit making rice cakes.

CasITa-to-5k On The Veterans Parkway

The CasITa-to-5k headed over to Veterans Parkway for our run tonight.

Veterans Parkway is also known as the Hermosa Valley Greenbelt. It is a former railroad corridor that has been converted to a 21 acre park with a wood chip rail trail.

A section of railroad track is still visible in the Fry's Electronics parking lot and is a remnant of the Santa Fe railroad line that was built back in 1888.

We parked and walked timorously under the ominous Sepulveda Blvd. overpass to the beginning of the trail.

Once the path was in view, its quiet beauty calmed our nerves and we eased into our brisk warm-up walk.

This was my first time running on shredded bark so I wasn't sure what to expect but it was similar to running on a sandy trail.

We followed the path as it ran through a strip of lush greenery.

We spotted several butterfly sculptures that were part of the 'The Mariposa Pathway Butterfly Totems' public artwork. The totems were created to honor the trail's Monarch butterflies.

The green way even featured posts with prominent 1/4 mile markers.

The dark marine layer that had blanketed the city all day lifted and the bright blue sky shined through the haze.

Signs indicated leashed dogs were allowed on the path but bikes were forbidden.

As we headed south, large homes and businesses bordered the path on either side.

At this point, the chip path essentially became a traffic island.

When we reached Downtown Manhattan Beach, we were unsure how to navigate the intersections.

The first time we crossed, we obeyed all the street signals and followed the blue paths.

On the way back, we sprinted behind another runner across several lanes of traffic and narrowly dodged the vehicles speeding by.

The view back into the Fry's parking lot from the trail was not nearly as inauspicious as our initial impression from the other side.

I'm looking forward to revisiting this trail in the future and running it in its entirety.

CasITa-to-5k Stair Workout

The CasITa-to-5k did some stair work at the local LA Metro station yesterday before our run.

Over 300 artists have been commissioned for Metro projects since the Metro Art Department was established in 1989.

A couple of years ago, I attended one of the LA Metro Art Tours. The two hour tours are led by volunteer docents and offered the first Thursday, Saturday and Sunday of every month. Included with the tour is a free rail day pass.

From the LA Metro Art Tour website, Metro’s Docent Council is a group of volunteers committed to increasing awareness of the broad range of art in the Metro Rail system through public tours that provide insights into the artworks, the artists who created them, the processes it took to make them, and the communities they enhance. While docent programs are commonly found at museums around the world, Metro is the first transit agency to benefit from such a program.

I found the Metro Art Tour fascinating. I had no idea so much history was embedded in each station. At the Hollywood/Vine Station, actual movie reels line the walls.

The Douglas/Rosecrans Station was designed by Renée Petropoulos from Escudero-Fribourg Architects.

Petropoulos said, People who use this station are daily commuters who work in this area. I wanted the various aspects of this station to reveal themselves over time, for the station to be experienced as a giant art piece in which the understanding of the whole is reached through daily encounters with each of its elements. I chose to focus on the idea of location—places that identify you in terms of where you are in the city, in the country, in the world—including psychological location. I wanted to pose some questions about monuments or markers as identifiers, including seeing the station as a possible landmark.

We went up and down the sets of stairs. Reading the quotes on the steps helped take our minds off the burning sensation in our legs.

When we felt like we couldn't climb another step, we headed to the parking lot to start our intervals. We skipped the brisk walk warm-up since we did the stairs and repeated the Week One schedule with 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking.

CasITa-to-5k On The Strand

The CasITa-to-5k ran on The Strand after work yesterday.

The past few days have been unbearably hot so I was thrilled to see it had cooled down by the time we hit the beach.

At the request of one of the CasITa-to-5k members, we repeated Week One of the Couch-to-5k program.

We alternated between running for a minute and walking for 90 seconds. Our run intervals were at a brisk 11:30 minute mile pace.

It was a beautiful evening for a run on the beach. Beachgoers were scattered on the sand. Gentle waves foamed as they brushed the shore.

After we completed our intervals, we did some hill work. The beach path itself is fairly flat but the small streets that dead end at The Strand create hilly offshoots.

I almost made it all the way up without stopping but I got really winded about ten feet short of the top and had to stop and walk to catch my breath.

As we were heading back to the metered parking lot, we spotted a Serta Sheep peeking out at us from a window. Within the same unit, there was a large Jack head from Jack In The Box displayed in an upstairs window. On the front patio stood huge replicas of Sulley and Mike from Monsters, Inc.

I'm proud of our little CasITa-to-5k group and I'm looking forward to progressing through the program with them.

CasITa-to-5k At Sand Dune Park

The CasITa-to-5k visited Sand Dune Park for their warm-up yesterday.

The three-acre Sand Dune Park consists of a children's playground and a giant sand dune. The sand dune is approximately 270 feet long and 115 feet wide at the top, with an average slope of 27.7 degrees.

After being closed by the city earlier this year, the sand dune re-opened this week.

It was estimated that about 9,000 people visited the sand dune on a monthly basis before its closure due to noise complaints from the neighbors and erosion from wear. Residents also complained about the amount of trash visitors were leaving behind in the sand.

With the re-opening of the sand dune, reservations must now be made online ahead of time. There is a $1.00 fee for adults 13 and older per hour and there is a one hour limit per person. Annual passes may be purchased for $60. Children 12 and younger have free all-day access.

A fence has been erected around the perimeter of the dune and reservations are enforced by a city attendant.

Since the CasITa-to-5k didn't make reservations ahead of time, we climbed the flights of stairs to get a view from the top.

As winded as I got going up the stairs, I couldn't begin to imagine what it's like to climb that sand dune.

The climbers all went barefoot or wore only socks. One woman had on a pair of aqua socks.

After our sand dune adventure, we headed out to the ocean to run on The Strand.

We are still on Week 1 so we started off with a brisk five-minute walk and then alternated between 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of about 40 minutes. It was a really relaxing run and I enjoyed myself immensely.

Cool Running 'CasITa-to-5k' Running Plan

A couple of coworkers approached the Green Girl and mentioned they were interested in getting into running.

Since I had so much success with the Cool Running Couch-to-5k Running Plan, I mentioned the program to them. They seemed receptive and asked when we could start. I let them know Tuesdays would work for me - I could do the program with them and then head down to my Sole Runners track workout. They could do the other two days on their own.

When I followed the Couch-to-5k program, I pieced together the weekly training plans into a printable format that I could carry with me in my pocket for each session.

To help create some excitement and motivate my coworkers, I shamelessly stole the Cool Running Couch-to-5k trademark and made a CasITa-to-5k logo.

The CasITa-to-5k training program debuted last Tuesday.

I used Mr. Green Garmin's interval workout training mode to alert us when to switch from running to walking.

In the interest of convenience, we simply ran through our parking lot to adjoining parking lots.

While not especially scenic, we were grateful for the shade cast by the buildings and trees since last week was unusually warm.

Yesterday was our second session. We stuck to our familiar parking lot path.

I'm really excited about our little CasITa-to-5k training program.

The Green Girl Goes For A Night Run

This evening, I went out for a night run. It's been awhile since I ran in the dark.

I've been feeling a little bit under the weather so I figured a good run would help. For some reason, when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold, a good workout often makes me feel better.

When I did the Cool Running Couch-To-5k Running Plan, I did almost all my running at night. I was working full-time and attending graduate school at night. I would often run after my evening classes.

Since I live in the city, most of my running routes are well lit but as an added security precaution, I had gotten a pair of reflective armbands with flashing lights.

I started running in the spring so I never experienced cooler weather running until last winter. As an early Christmas present, my cousin, Ann, got me an ASICS Storm Shelter Microstretch Jacket. I love this jacket. It keeps me warm when I'm cold and the fabric side panels allow the jacket to breathe so I don't get overly sweaty (I sweat a lot!). It also ties easily around my waist when I warm up.

A couple of months ago, I ran across a reflective vest on clearance at Kmart for $6.00. I'm one Green Girl who can't resist a great bargain.

This week, I was at Tuesday Morning when I ran across a pair of children's stretch gloves for $2.99. I had been thinking about getting a pair of inexpensive gloves for my Saturday morning runs after Coach Gary Smith suggested wearing gloves to help retain body heat. The gloves worked out perfectly. On my run tonight, I was able to navigate Mr. Green Garmin's bezel without taking them off. I like how the palm side is rubberized, too.

R.I.P. My Beloved iRiver iFP-390T

Good bye, beloved iRiver iFP-390T. I'm going to miss you.

I still remember the day I got you. I was so excited. I splurged and went with your generous 256 mb instead of the 128 model.

So what if I couldn't put more than 55 songs on you? That was enough to keep me entertained. I'm a simple girl.

When I decided to try to start running, 55 songs was more than enough to hold my Cool Running Couch-To-5k running mix. Remember the first time you ran out of songs and I was still running? I was so excited. As my mileage increased, it became natural for me to just put you on repeat so we could start all over again from the beginning.

We flew together to Asia three summers in a row. You were there for me on the airplane, on those long stretches on the train and even a few boat rides.

And you were there for me as I trained for my very first marathon.

I guess it's fitting that you were there to help me every step of the way for the Long Beach Half Marathon this weekend.

I'm going to miss you, iRiver iFP-390T!

Cool Running Couch-to-5k Printable Schedule

When I decided I wanted to be able to participate and complete a 5k race, I searched online for training advice. The Cool Running Couch-to-5k Running Plan seemed to be the most popular. And I loved that it was specifically geared for non-athletes like me.

I wanted to print out the weekly schedule so I could reference it as I did each run but I couldn't figure out a way to do that without reproducing the table and parsing it up myself.

By registering with the Cool Running website, I was able to get a personalized sheet for that day but I couldn't seem to print it all out ahead of time. I finally ended up logging in once a day for a week to get the entire schedule by changing my account settings so I got all nine weeks. Then, I pasted them together.

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9

If this is helpful to anyone, please help yourself.