The Green Girl Is Struggling To Find A Balance

The Green Girl is struggling to find a balance between increasing her mileage in preparation for the San Francisco Half Marathon and staying healthy and injury-free.

Since I switched over to the 1012's, I haven't felt any posterior tibial tendonitis pain. My plantar fasciitis has improved as well.

I've been very conservative on my mileage up to this point. I finally feel the confidence to get some longer runs in but I also need to keep a close eye on my acidity levels. I'm finding The Ultimate Workout Log really helpful because it enables me to track exactly how I'm feeling each day. In addition to energy and pH levels, I'm tracking things like stress levels and swollen lymph nodes.

June has become an exceptionally busy month so I need to be careful not to push myself too hard.

The Green Girl's Downtown Long Beach Run

After a grueling kickboxing class last night that included sets of alternating squats and push-ups, the Green Girl decided to hit Downtown Long Beach for a short run.

When compared to the surrounding area, Long Beach has a fairly extensive public transportation system. I find the Long Beach Transit very convenient for navigating the city. Connections to the LA Metro can be made at the Downtown transit station.

I also love that the City of Long Beach has launched Car-Free Fridays this summer to encourage community members to ride a bicycle or use another form of alternative transportation.

It was relatively quiet Downtown so I pretty much had the sidewalks to myself.

I ran past the AMC Pine Square 16 theatres. Businesses have come and gone but a few remain and the AMC is one of them.

I went by one of Long Beach's historical landmarks, the Farmers & Merchants Bank (F&M) tower.

In 1907, the Farmers & Merchants Bank was established by C.J. Walker and his wife. The bank remained in the Walker family for three generations.

The expansion of the bank with the construction of the Farmers and Merchants office tower took place in 1923.

Architecturally, the building is an example of Italian Renaissance Revival classicism with detailed terra cotta cladding.

The first floor features the teller station counters with the original metal wickets. The bank entrance features red Italian marble entrance with brass-plated double doors. Inside, the floor is made of pink marble and there are marble benches for customers.

After pausing to admire the F&M building, I continued south on Pine St.

On my way back, I went by Gold's Gym.

I was a little bit discouraged when I measured my acidity last night and it was 5.0 pH. I allowed myself to sleep in this morning and I'll take it easy today since I'll be running tomorrow.

26 Weeks To 26.2 Miles

The Green Girl's Athens Marathon training starts this weekend. There will be exactly 26 weeks until the marathon.

I would misrepresent myself if I didn't admit I am feeling some apprehension. I am fearful the posterior tibial tendonitis will worsen. I am going to continue to tape my foot religiously. And I must be diligent about doing the exercises from the physical therapist on a daily basis.

Secondarily, I am concerned about my high acidity. I've made a habit of drinking green tea with raw honey on a daily basis. I make a conscious effort to avoid refined sugars and increase my consumption of nutritionally dense foods. I've even been staying away from spicy foods.

For me, high acidity manifests itself in my body in the form of severe chronic sinus infections.

This evening, on my way home from work, I stopped by my local health food store to get some pH level test strips. I got a package of TriMedica AlkaMAX pH Papers for $14.99. The roll contains 16' and is supposed to be good for 192 1" indicators.

Based on my research, twice a week is a sufficient number of times to test your pH levels. My plan is to track my results on Saturdays after my long runs and Wednesdays.



Urine is supposed to give a more accurate reading then saliva but for my initial test, I decided to do both.

I started off with testing my urine. The pH strip turned a really pretty green - indicating a reading between 6.0 and 6.5. Unfortunately for the Green Girl, green ≠ good in the pH measurement world. The strip with my saliva turned 5.0 yellow.

In addition to putting in the hours to train for this marathon, I am going to need to be highly vigilant about taking care of my Green Girl body so I can be as healthy and strong as possible.