The Green Girl's Saturday Morning Queen Mary Run

Sole Runners heading out for a Saturday morning run

Last Saturday, the Green Girl joined the Sole Runners at Marina Vista Park for another long run.

My right hamstring was still sore from last week's run so I opted to do this run sans metronome.

The morning warmed quickly and I found myself drinking more sports drink and water than usual.

Sole Runners at the The Queen Mary

For the first time, I ran all the way to Queen Mary and I finally got to partake in the Sole Runners tradition of 'touching the Queen'.

On the way back, I stopped at a convenience store to get something cold and sweet to drink. I also slowed down and walked quite a bit with another Sole Runner, Felicia.

I managed to do 14.17 miles in 3:12.

The Green Girl with Jill from Run With Jill at Yogurtland

In the evening, I met up with Jill from Run With Jill and her son, Brandon.

They were in town to hike Mount Whitney.

After having Pinkberry with Jill in Denver last month, I was looking forward to introducing her to my favorite self-serve frozen yogurt place, Yogurtland.

Keroppi loves Plain Tart (just like the Green Girl!)

Jill and I had a great time catching up and talking about everything and anything.

I'm disappointed I won't be able to make it to Meg from Meg Runs!'s upcoming blogger get together but I have a coworker's wedding to attend up in Camarillo this weekend.

Sole Runners Run and Sanrio 50th Anniversary

Long Beach Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath by Betty

The Green Girl joined the Sole Runners for a drizzling Saturday morning run this morning.

Coach Steve started us off with the usual updates.

We did body looseners before we split up - some Sole Runners stayed behind for a ChiRunning lesson with Coach Steve.

Sole Runners are ready for Storm Watch 2010

I wasn't sure how heavy the rainfall was going to be so I wore my North Face Venture rain jacket just in case.

As it turned out, the rain subsided long enough for us to get our run in.

It was a surprisingly beautiful morning. The sky was almost completely obscured by the heavy cloud cover. The effect was eerily stunning.

After my run, I headed up to Barker Hangar for Sanrio's 50th Anniversary celebration, Small Gift Los Angeles.

Map of Small Gift Los Angeles

I entered the hangar through a rainbow adorned with Sanrio characters.

I was thrilled to see a giant inflatable Keroppi head hanging from the ceiling.

I walked past Kaitlyn's Sugar Land concession stand to the Craft Area where Hello Kitty sand art was being created.

I went by the Mobile Food Court to the Arcade where I spotted a Japanese Crane Machine filled with assorted Hello Kitty dolls.

I almost squealed out loud when I saw the Keroppi chair on the Ferris Wheel.

There was a Sanrio penny smushing machine but unfortunately, there weren't any Keroppi coins.

I stopped by the Ticket Booth to purchase tickets to play the Carnival Games.

With my tickets, I played games and got a picture of myself superimposed on a map of Keroppi's home, Donut Pond.

I was surprised to see Beard Papa had partnered with Hello Kitty but I was even more amazed to see a Yogurtland offering Keroppi-branded Plain Tart frozen yogurt.

The Art Gallery was filled with unusual images of the various Sanrio characters.


One of my favorites was a painting entitled 'Mount Rushmore Conquest', by Norma Christmas.

Paul Frank also contributed to the gallery with his ode to my favorite frog, 'Squaroppi'.

In the center of the celebration was the Miniature Golf Course.

Around the perimeter of the golf course, they had display cases featuring Sanrio character collections.

I briefly considered visiting the Small Gift Pop-up Shop but quickly lost interest when I realized the line wrapped around the hangar.

The highlight of my visit to Small Gift Los Angeles was finally meeting Keroppi.

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.