The Green Girl's LA Marathon Training Playlist ♪

The Green Girl was forced to replace her SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player when it refused to power on.

I replaced it with a SanDisk Clip Sport 8GB MP3 Player in Lime.

Getting a new MP3 player inspired me to update my running playlist.

Song	Artist
3	Britney Spears
(It Feels So Good) Your Love Keeps me Alive	Sonique
5 O'Clock	T-Pain feat. Lily Allen & Wiz Khalifa
A Single Moment Of Sincerity	Asking Alexandria
Adagio for Strings	DJ Tiësto
Airplanes	Eminem feat. Hayley Williams
All I Do Is Win	DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross
All The Right Moves	OneRepublic
Anaconda	Nicki Minaj
Angel on My Shoulder (EDX's Belo Horizonte At Night Edit)	Kaskade
Animals	Martin Garrix
Bangarang	Skrillex feat. Sirah
Bend Ova	Lil Jon feat. Tyga
Body Head Anthem	Roy Jones Jr feat. Mr. Magic & Choppa
Bonfire	Childish Gambino
Boom Boom Pow	The Black Eyed Peas
Break The Ice	Britney Spears
Burn	Ellie Goulding
Cafe Del Mar '98 (Original Three 'N One Mix)	Energy 52
Can I Get A…	Jay-Z feat. Amil
Castaway (Daniel Hairston Remix)	Matt Davey
Castles In The Sky	Ian Van Dahl feat. Marsha
Chandelier	Sia
Cheers (Drink To That)	Rihanna
Creep (Live)	Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Cut	Plumb
Dont Start It	Body Head Bangerz feat. Juvenile
Drop The World	Lil Wayne feat. Eminem
Drops Of Jupiter	Train
Einstein Tech N9ne	Tech N9ne
Emergency	Mavado feat. Ace Hood
Eternity	DJ Virens
Exploration Of Space (Cosmic Gate's Back 2 The Future Remix)	Cosmic Gate
Feel It (DJ Gotstyle Extended Mix)	Three 6 Mafia feat. Tiesto, Flo-Rida & Sean Kingston
Fight Music	D-12
Forever	Chris Brown
Give It To Me	Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake
Glamorous	Fergie
Go Hard Or Go Home	Roy Jones Jr
Habits (Stay High)	Tove Lo
Halo	Beyonce
Heartbeat	Childish Gambino
Higher	Taio Cruz
Hold It Against Me	Britney Spears
Holy Grail	Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake
Hustlin'	Rick Ross
I Like It	Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
I Love the Way You Lie	Eminem feat. Rihanna
I Made It (Feat Birdman, Lil Wayne & Jay Sean)	Kevin Rudolf
I Wanna Go	Britney Spears
In And Out Of Love	Armin van Buuren feat. Sharon den Adel
Insomnia	Benny Benassi
Intense	Armin van Buuren feat. Miri Ben-Ari
It's A Fight	Three 6 Mafia
Jar Of Hearts	Christina Perri
Kevin Gates - Luca Brasi Intro (Official Audio)	Kevin Gates
Kisses & Thugs	Super Mash Bros
Knock Out	Deyon Davis
Let It Rock	Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne
Lighters	Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars
Lights (Bassnectar Remix)	Ellie Goulding
Like A G6	Far East Movement
Lost in the Echo	Linkin Park
Love Me Like You Do	Ellie Goulding
Love The Way You Lie	Eminem feat. Rihanna
Memories	David Guetta feat. Kid Cudi
Mercy	Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Kanye West, Pusha T
Mirror	Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars
Mr. Brightside	The Killers
Never Cry Again (Extended Mix)	Dash Berlin
Ni**as In Paris	Kanye West feat. Jay-Z
No Air	Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown
No Love	Eminem feat. Lil Wayne
Not Afraid	Eminem
Numb-Encore	Ameritz
Paparazzi	Lady Gaga
Paper Planes	M.I.A.
Phonosynthesis JFK - Whiplash (Bad Habit)	DJ Irene
Piece Of Me	Britney Spears
Pour It Up RL Grime Remix	Rihanna
Radioactive	Imagine Dragons
Rave Me	Paul Van Dyk & ATB
Rehab	Rihanna
Remember The Name	Fort Minor feat. Styles of Beyond
Rendevous	Paul Van Dyk
Requiem for a Dream [Leamas Dream Mix]	Leama
Resurrection	PPK
Run This Town	Jay-Z feat. Rihanna
Sail	AWOLNATION
Say It Right	Nelly Furtado
Scream	Timbaland feat. Nicole Scherzinger
She's Like a Star	K.R. feat. Taio Cruz
Shit Hits the Fan	Obie Trice feat. Dr. Dre
Sing For The Moment	Eminem
Stop That Booty (Here We Come)	Super Mash Bros
Summer Techno 2010	DJ Tiësto
Super Bass	Nicki Minaj
Sweat	Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta
Take Care	Drake feat. Rihanna
Taking Back My Love	Enrique Iglesias feat. Ciara
The Catalyst	Linkin Park
The City	Game feat. Kendrick Lamar
The End of the World	Skeeter Davis
The Way I Are	Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E)
'Till I Collapse	Eminem feat. Nate Dogg
Touch Me [Original Mix]	Croatia Squad
Tuesday	I Love Makonnen feat. Drake
Turn Down for What	DJ Snake & Lil Jon
We Found Love	Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris
What Goes Around Comes Around	Justin Timberlake
When I'm Gone	Eminem
When Love Takes Over	David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
When You Were Around (Ferry Corsten Fix)	Dash Berlin feat. Kate Walsh
White Walls	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. ScHoolboy Q, Hollis
Women Lie Men Lie	Yo Gotti featuring Lil Wayne
Work B***h	Britney Spears
Wrecking Ball	Miley Cyrus
You Dont Know	50 Cent feat. Cashis & Lloyd Banks
Young Forever	Jay-Z

LA Marathon Race Report

The Green Girl ran in the City of Angels at the LA Marathon along with Angel Runners, Jason and Timothy.

The Angel Runners are a group of runners who are raising money for the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST).

I was also running for Tumaini for the Future to raise money to provide educational opportunities for underserved school children in Moses Waweru's hometown of Nakuru, Kenya.

The LA Marathon 'Stadium to the Sea' course started at Dodger Stadium and ended at the Santa Monica Pier.



After volunteering at last year's race, I was prepared for the possibility of inclement weather. My strategy was to retain as much body heat as possible until the start of the race. I had on a couple of throwaway layers and my North Face Venture Raincoat.

Dodger Stadium

I parked in Santa Monica and boarded a 5:00 am shuttle to Dodger Stadium.

Runners huddled around the perimeter of the structure to keep warm.

When Jason and Timothy arrived, I learned porta-potties are called 'Porta-Johns' in Michigan. Crazy.

After, the Porta-John visit, we migrated towards the crowd assembled around the Starting corrals.

The Green Girl was also running for Tumaini for the Future

Once the race started, we easily merged and crossed the Starting Line.

The three of us had never run together and we had very different ability levels (I am of course the happy back of the pack Green Girl), but we managed to quickly fall into a comfortable, easy pace.

Sole Runners Coach Steve interviewing Angel Runners Jason and Timothy Video: LA Marathon 2012

A few miles in, Sole Runners Coach Steve ran by and interviewed Jason and Timothy about their LA Marathon training and fundraising for the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST).

At Mile 9, my friend, Janey, surprised us with three bottles of ice cold Dr. Peppers.

It was a beautiful day and the temperature was absolutely perfect. The course was clearly marked, well supported, and the quintessential Los Angeles experience.

Angel Runners Jason and Timothy

The conversation came easily as the miles flew by and more often than not, a remark evoked laughter.

My favorite sign said 'Your training lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage.' That made me giggle.

The Dr. Peppers started wearing off around Mile 17 and the World Famous Sole Runners Mile 18 Holistic Aide Station could not come soon enough.

The World Famous Sole Runners Mile 18 Holistic Aide Station

Much to my satisfaction and relief, Jason and Timothy agreed that the Mile 18 station was everything I'd hyped it up to be.

After chugging my second glorious Dr. Pepper of the day and stuffing my face with The Green Girl's Famous Salted Potatoes courtesy of my fellow Sole Runners, I headed back out with Jason and Timothy.

Around Mile 21, I admitted I was feeling jittery from consuming two Dr. Peppers in a single day and Timothy commented that my speech had sped up considerably.

The runner who sweated Mickey Mouse

Somewhere around Mile 23, I saw the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my entire running life.

A runner a few yards ahead of us had somehow managed to sweat in the shape of Mickey Mouse head on his back. I started laughing hysterically and struggled to piece together the words to share my discovery with Jason and Timothy. I never knew I was capable of running while doubled over in laughter.

I sprinted up to him to snap a picture and other runners around us started laughing, too.

Angel Runners Timothy, the Green Girl, and Jason at the Finish Line

When we reached the Finish, we each put our hands together to create angel wings with our fingers to show our support to the angels as we crossed the mats.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. Luciano de Crescenzo

The Green Girl 'Tagged' - 11 Random Things

The Green Girl was thoughtfully 'tagged' by Lauren from Lauren on the Run and Kate from See.Kate.Run for a random meme.

Thank you, Lauren and Kate!

Rules

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

I'm going to go ahead and break these rules by choosing to ignore the last three.

11 Random Things About The Green Girl

1. I'm running the Rocky Road Marathon in a couple of weeks to try and qualify for the Pikes Peak Marathon by running a sub-5:30.
2. I'm running the LA Marathon next month to raise money for Tumani for the Future.
3. I don't own a television, couch, desk, chairs, or a table. I only have a bed and a punching bag. (Jill from Run With Jill will attest to this.)
4. I'm scared of all animals. I don't want them to touch me.
5. I've visited 36 states and 14 countries.
6. I'm obsessed with forest camouflage.
7. I'm obsessed with duct tape.
8. I'm obsessed with forest camouflage duct tape.
9. Pretty much my entire life is documented in photographs.
10. My biggest guilty pleasure is chocolate covered gummy bears. I'm not a big fan of chocolate and I don't like gummy bears but combine the two and I'm all over it.
11. My dream is to participate in a race with my niece, Jade.

Questions from Lauren from Lauren on the Run

1. Short shorts or long shorts? Long shorts
2. How do you recover from a tough long run? Hot shower and a nap
3. Favorite brand running shoe? New Balance (it's the only brand that fits my small, wide foot)
4. Longest distance ever run? 26.2 miles
5. What would you do if a rattlesnake coiled up to strike a couple feet from you? Start screaming and sprint in the opposite direction
6. For women – do you wear make-up? For men – do you remove hair from anywhere other than your face? For special occasions
7. Do/did your parents, guardians, siblings, children run? Nope, only me
8. How many days is your longest running streak? No idea. I try to alternate running days.
9. Would you rather run in extreme heat or extreme cold? Extreme cold
10. If you had to watch the same movie ten times in a row, what would it be? Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
11. Vanilla or Chocolate ice cream? Swirl

Questions from Kate from See.Kate.Run

1. Where were you born? Portland, OR
2. What is your favorite way to relax? A long run
3. What is something you did as a child that you got in trouble for? I tried to make applesauce in the microwave and the apples caught on fire
4. What was the BEST race you ever ran and why was it the best? Long Beach Marathon 2011 because in one race I crossed two items off my Running Bucket List - outrunning Mr. Green Garmin's battery life and running a sub-6 hour marathon.
5. Which do you prefer - ocean or mountains? Mountains
6. What is the furthest you have ever traveled from home? Not sure. I tried to look at a map but I can't tell which country is furthest from me.
7. What is your favorite restaurant? Los Compadres
8. Would you rather be able to teleport or be able to turn invisible? Teleport

9. What is your favorite body part? My core
10. What is your favorite song to workout to? Summer 2010 by DJ Tiësto
11. Would you rather run trails or the road? Trails

Sole Runners LA Marathon Mile 18 Support

Sole Runners Mile 18 aide station

The Green Girl cheered on her fellow Sole Runners and friends at Mile 18 of the LA Marathon this weekend.

We set up the Sole Runners tents across from Century City Mall.

After tracking the weather forecast all week, I was one prepared Green Girl.

The Ready-For-Rain Green Girl

I layered my North Face Venture Raincoat with a disposable poncho. I also tied grocery bags around my ankles to cover my shoes.

The goal was to stay as warm and dry as possible while waiting for Jay from Tri2Thrive so I could run him in to the finish of his first marathon.

Our holistic aide station consisted of water, orange and watermelon slices, pretzels, Trader Joe's Super Red Drink Powder mixed with coconut water, and, of course, The Green Girl's Famous Salted Potatoes.

Mare Dibaba, Buzunesh Deba, and Amy Hastings running by the Sole Runners Mile 18 aide station

As we were setting up the tables, the first elite women, Mare Dibaba, Buzunesh Deba, and Amy Hastings, ran by.

The Sole Runners explained the 17:03 head start the women get to the non-runner volunteers who were surprised to see females in the lead.

Shortly after, we saw the first elite man, Markos Geneti.

Markos Geneti running by the Sole Runners Mile 18 aide station

I am fairly certain I'm in the majority when I say watching the elites run by is one of the highlights of being a race volunteer as opposed to a participant.

I spotted Glenn from The Running Fat Guy passing by our tent so he stopped to chat.

Glenn from The Running Fat Guy and the Green Girl

As the race progressed, it was clear hypothermia was a concern. All the Sole Runners did the best we could to make the runners who stopped by our tent as comfortable as possible - Sole Runner or not, we welcomed them.

One Sole Runner came through and a couple of other Sole Runners quickly sat her down, gave her some food and drink, and then proceeded to peel off her wet socks and shoes. As she got a breather and some respite from the rain, they coated her feet in BodyGlide and then put on a fresh pair of dry socks and shoes before they sent her on her way.

Coach Steve and Sole Runners warming up a cold runner

We joked that we were like a Sole Runners pit stop.

Another Sole Runner, Mike, made a run to the store to pick up a couple boxes of trash bags and we pre-cut head and arm holes for countless shivering runners.

When Jay arrived, he looked strong and appeared to be in good spirits.

I ripped off my grocery bag shoe protectors and we set off to the Finish Line so he could become a marathoner.

The Green Girl's Famous Salted Potatoes Recipe

The Green Girl's Famous Salted Potatoes

The Green Girl just finished making ten pounds of her Famous Salted Potatoes for the LA Marathon tomorrow.

I became famous for my salted potatoes after I made them the Sole Runners Mile 18 aide station last year.

The irony of the Green Girl being well known for cooking anything may be lost on those who don't know me but suffice to say, I cannot cook. I actually had to Google 'how to cook potatoes'.

Ingredients for the Green Girl's Famous Salted Potatoes

After last year's tremendous success, I decided to double the recipe this year. I bought two 5 pound bags of potatoes and iodized salt. (I figured a little extra iodine could do us all a little good.)

Since it worked out well the first time, I boiled the potatoes two nights in advance so they would be cooled and ready to be peeled the night before the race.

It's Gotta Be Wada! Potatoes

I was pleased to see the grower of the potatoes, Wada Farms, is a family-owned and operated business in Southeastern Idaho that is dedicated to providing fresh products sustainably.

Much to my surprise, a number of people have actually asked me for the recipe for my Famous Salted Potatoes so here it is:

Sole Runners LA Marathon Mile 18 Support

The Green Girl cheered on her fellow Sole Runners and friends at Mile 18 of the LA Marathon this weekend.

Coach Gary and I headed up to Century City early Sunday morning to meet up with the rest of the Sole Runners support crew. We set up our tent and table just past the giant inflatable Mile 18 marker directly across the street from the Century City Mall.

Coach Gary mixed up a concoction of coconut juice and Trader Joe's Super Red Drink Powder. We had the usual bananas, oranges, and watermelon but we also had salted potatoes.

I had never heard of salted potatoes but Coach Gary suggested I cook up a batch of potatoes and drown them in salt for the runners. I was really nervous as I prepared the potatoes because I'm not exactly a seasoned chef so I was really relieved to hear compliments from the runners on the salted potatoes.

Coach Gary took the time to write out inspiration notes by hand to give to the runners as they came through. Before each one of our training runs, Coach Gary would share an motivational story with the group so I knew this was his way of giving that emotional support to the runners since we weren't with them at the beginning of the race.

One of the Sole Runners, LeAnn, received this quote from Gary:

I cannot have survival as my only goal. That would be too boring. My goal is to come back in my best running form. - Ludwilla Endguist

Before we knew it, the elite runners were already running by. I was surprised to see such a large group.

Once the elite went by, I knew it would be awhile before I saw anyone I knew. The first runner I recognized was Billy who was running with his friend Chic Runner. Angie actually saw me before I spotted her and we quickly hugged.

I enjoyed seeing the happy expressions on the Sole Runner's faces when they spotted our tent.

When I saw the 5:30 pace group go by, I knew my friend, Cherri, would be coming by soon. I put some some watermelon chunks and an orange slice in cups and waited. The minute I spotted her, I ran out to run with her. I was very impressed by how strong she was this far into the race. I ran with her for a bit and then I wished her the best of luck and turned around.

From that point on, I would look for Sole Runners going by and I'd run with them for a little while and then turn around and look for the next Sole Runner.

When I was running with Colby, we happened to go under a photography point so thanks to her, I have an offical LA Marathon shot of myself.

I know I might be a biased Green Girl but I think the Sole Runners running group is the greatest in the world. Once Coach Steve got to Mile 18, he waited until every single Sole Runner had gone by before he headed out to complete the marathon. I love the encouragement and support I get from my coaches and my fellow Sole Runners. It means a lot to me that there are always Sole Runners willing to wait for me at forks in the trail so I don't get lost because I'm so slow and so far behind the rest of the group.

I was really impressed with all my fellow Sole Runners and friends but I was especially proud of all the first time marathoners. You did it!