The Green Girl Is Going To Athens

The Green Girl is going to do the Athens Classic Marathon for the 2500th anniversary of the legend of Marathon this year. I've never been to Greece and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to finally visit the country.

I didn't end up doing the Surf City USA Half Marathon. I wasn't prepared and I didn't want to get sick because I've been battling one illness after another recently.

My highest priority right now is staying healthy and not pushing myself too much.

The Green Girl's Two Week Running Hiatus

The Green Girl is going to take a two week hiatus from running.

After doing way better than I could have ever expected in my half marathon last Sunday, I want to give my ankle an opportunity to heal. I think repeated sprains have weakened the ligaments and tendons. Just last week, I remembered I had injured this ankle back when I was in elementary school. I had torn the ligaments so badly I ended up on crunches wearing this giant boot for months. I can't believe I completely blocked that entire incident out of my mind until now.

My next race is the Los Alamitos Race on the Base 5k on February 21. Depending on how my ankle feels that week, I might go for some easy runs before the race.

I'll continue to kickbox but I'll tape my ankle. I'll do the elliptical instead of running. This will also give me an opportunity to focus more on strength training.

Surf City USA Half Marathon Race Report

Surf City USA Expo

The Green Girl went with Snowboarding Buddy to the Surf City USA Marathon Expo on Saturday. The highlight of the Expo was getting to meet Janey Jaye and Miss JC from SparkPeople. I even wore my homemade SparkPeople t-shirt for the occasion.

Janey Jaye and Miss JC are leaders of the California Dreamin' SparkTeam. This SparkTeam is for people who are participating in the California Dreamin' Racing Series.

The official race shirts were really nice. I really liked how you had the opportunity to try them on for size.

The Expo was much smaller than I had expected. I was also disappointed by the lack of free stuff. Both Snowboarding Buddy and I were hoping to get lots of cool stuff. The only swag I got was a Minute Rice pad of sticky notes.

After the Expo, I continued my pre-race baking tradition by making "Run, 1/2 pint" cupcakes.

Surf City USA Half Marathon

This was the first time I didn't take public transportation to a race and I didn't give myself enough time. I got stuck in the Beach Blvd. traffic and all the designated parking lots were full by the time I got there. I ended up parking in some residential neighborhood and walking back to Edison High School to catch the shuttle. There was a long line to get on the buses so I stretched my legs a little bit while I waited patiently.

According to Mr. Green Garmin, I crossed the Starting Line at 08:04:23. I felt a bit out of sorts because my morning had been so hectic and I missed the usual pre-race rituals but I took a deep breath and just started running.

My biggest concern was my sprained ankle. I had it taped up per my doctor's instructions and popped some ibuprofen before I left my apartment. I was so relieved it wasn't bothering me. I was also a little nervous because I wasn't really prepared for 13.1 miles. My longest training run had only been 6.51 miles.

In the first mile, a group of police officers passed me. They were chanting something like, 'This is what we do everyday!' It was definitely entertaining.

My Timex watch was programmed for 5:1 run/walk intervals. I kept reminding myself this is only one race but I will have my ankle forever. My goal was to cross the finish line in one piece.

The walking resulted in an unexpected benefit. I was able to recover during the breaks and then maintain a faster running speed. I had set Mr. Green Garmin's Virtual Training Partner to a 13:30 minute mile just for fun. I certainly had no intention of actually going that fast with walk breaks. I couldn't believe my eyes when everytime I looked at Mr. Green Garmin, he said I was ahead. I was also surprised when Mr. Green Garmin kept telling me my pace was under a 13 minute mile. I even went under a 12 minute mile a few times. I kept thinking about Kitzzy and I couldn't wait to call her after the race to tell her how much I liked the run/walk method.

Between Miles 3 and 4, I ran up the Seapoint View hill effortlessly. I overhead a few runners saying how much the incline was taking out of them and I silently thanked Coach Steve Mackel for all the awesome hill training.

I took three sips of Gatorade Lemonade every five minutes during my walk break. After Mile 10, I also ate three Rold Gold pretzels with each lemonade break.

It was around Mile 10 when I started feeling tired. Mr. Green Garmin told me I had slowed down to just over a 13 minute mile. The reality that I could beat 03:05:50 and finally break the three hour mark had set in and I was determined. I began telling myself I would get a 'new pair of legs' in less than five minutes. This stategy worked really well. I got a boost of energy that lasted the rest of the race.

According to Mr. Green Garmin, I crossed the Finish Line in 02:49:23. My Official Time was 02:49:16. I couldn't believe it, I had done it. I had broken the three hour mark.

I found the post-race confusing. I wanted to get food but a volunteer accidentally directed me to the beer tent so after waiting in a pretty big line, I ended up with a Bud Light bracelet but nothing to eat. Another volunteer directed me to another tent where they were handing out bags. I was craving orange slices (as usual) but unfortunately, inside my bag was a badly bruised apple, a slightly bruised banana, a Clif bar, and Fig Newtons.

Once I had something in my stomach, I started looking for Janey Jaye and Miss JC. I also got to meet some more SparkPeople, Denise and
Suzanne. We all exchanged stories about running and congratulated each other on our shiny, new PR's.

I was eager to get home and ice my ankle so I said my goodbyes and tried to locate the shuttle pick-up spot. I ended up passing the group of SparkPeople again but this time Angie Eats Peace was with them. I had to stop to meet her and congratulate her on her very first marathon.

As I was walking northbound on Magnolia St., I noticed pieces of glass scattered on the asphalt. Upon closer inspection, I realized someone had broken into one of the cars. A yellow purse was sitting on the seat beside the smashed window. I couldn't help but imagine how the car probably belonged to one of the thousands of runners and how the runner would return to the car with that feeling of accomplishment from crossing the finish line and then they would see this. I felt so bad.

I walked by a homeless guy pushing a shopping cart. It was piled high with stuff but he had draped a Steelers t-shirt across it. I had no idea the Steelers were going to be in the Super Bowl. I found out later when my boyfriend was watching the big game and I asked him who was playing. It made me smile to think the homeless guy was representing his team - even if it was on top of his shopping cart.

Surf City USA Half Marathon Results

The Green Girl's official time was 02:49:16!

I cannot believe I PR's and broke the three hour mark with a sprained ankle and walk breaks.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Green Girl Running Update

I want to congratulate Kitzzy on her very first half marathon. I am so proud of you, girl! Whoo hoo!

My right knee is doing really well. I've been carefully keeping my feet really straight when I'm running and wearing a patellar strap on the weekend when I do my longer runs. And by longer, I mean slightly over a 5k. I guess I've been overcompensating for my bad knee and my left calf has been getting extremely tight. I don't want to push through the pain so I walk when it hurts.

Today, I was able to do about 50 minutes without any discomfort. When my left calf started hurting, I immediately stopped and walked the rest of the way back.

I'm really behind on my training schedule and I haven't done any interval or tempo training. The Surf City USA Half Marathon is on February 1, 2009. I have less than 2 months left to train but I don't want to push myself too hard and cause more injuries.

One thing Mr. Green Garmin has taught me is that I start out really, really slow. When I begin a run, I'm averaging a 15-16 minute mile. As I warm up, I increase my speed. When I'm in the "zone" I am usually just under a 12 minute mile. When I get tired, I tend to do a 13 - 14 minute mile. Before all I could do was divide time by distance so I never realized how much my speed varied.

The Green Girl and Her Knee

The pain in my right knee has settled to just above the kneecap. Per my doctor's instructions, I've been alternating between heat and cold.

The cold seems to make it hurt more while the heat actually gets rid of all the pain. My knee was killing me last night after I ended up standing on it for a couple of hours. I iced it when I got home and then used my heating pad with the cute camouflage cover Whimsie Dots custom made for me.

When I woke up this morning, I gingerly walked around the apartment and when I didn't feel any pain, I headed to my boot camp class a half hour early so I could get a good stretch in. After stretching, it didn't hurt but it did get really stiff.

I was able to make it through the entire class but I didn't push myself like I normally do. My goal was to finish the class without further aggravating my knee.

Tomorrow, I'm going to kickbox in the morning and then try out my very first spin class. Hopefully, I'll be able to do my interval run on Tuesday. At the very least, I hope I can get a good 3-5 mile run in.

Wind Sprints Are Difficult

Every Sunday, I attend a boot camp class at the local Bally Total Fitness.

This class kicks my butt. The warm-up consists of running up and down sets of stairs. I'm completely out of breath and exhausted before the class even starts.

One of the activities the instructor has us do is wind sprints. We run as fast as we can back and forth between makeshift cones and we have to touch the ground at each end.

I was so tired today but I pushed myself so hard that I felt like I was going to throw up. I could hardly complete my last set. My exercise-induced asthma also flared up and I had a hard time catching my breath.

I'm looking forward to starting my speed training next week. Hopefully the interval and tempo runs will help me improve on my wind sprints.

Surf City USA Half Marathon

I just registered for the Surf City USA Half Marathon on February 1, 2009.

I'm already impressed with this race because they offered a size XXL in the women's technical long-sleeved shirts. The longboard medals are also pretty cool looking.

This half marathon is part of the "California Dreamin' Racing Series." The Long Beach Marathon/Half Marathon also qualifies for this series. The third race is the San Francisco Marathon/Half Marathon.

If you complete all three of the marathons/half marathons, you receive a California Dreamin' Racing Series medal in the shape of California and a California Dreamin' Racing Series Finisher's Jacket.

The Surf City Marathon starts at 06:50 but the Half Marathon is a "wave start." Your starting time depends on your projected finish time and begins at 07:45.

I completed the Long Beach Half Marathon in 03:05:50. I put 02:45:00 as my predicted time so I'll be in the last wave.

The Green Girl's Half Marathon Training Schedule

Wk	Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	11.10- 11.16	Kickbox	30 min tempo	Kickbox	3 mi	Rest	5 mi	Boot camp
2	11.17- 11.23	Kickbox	4 x 400 Intervals	Kickbox	3 mi	Rest	6 mi	2.5 mi Easy
3	11.24- 11.30	Kickbox	35 min tempo	Kickbox	3 mi	Rest	7 mi	Boot camp
4	12.01- 12.07	Kickbox	5 x 400 Intervals	Kickbox	4 mi race pace	Rest	7 mi	Boot camp
5	12.08- 12.14	Kickbox	35 min tempo	Kickbox	3 mi race pace	Rest	8 mi	Boot camp
6	12.15- 12.21	Kickbox	6 x 400 Intervals	Kickbox	4 mi race pace	2 miles Easy	Rest	10K race
7	12.22- 12.28	Kickbox	40 min tempo	Kickbox	4 mi race pace	Rest	9 mi	3 mi Easy
8	12.29- 01.04	Kickbox	6 x 400 Intervals	Kickbox	3 mi race pace	Rest	10 mi	Boot camp
9	01.05- 01.11	Kickbox	45 min tempo	Kickbox	4 mi race pace	Rest	11 mi	Rest
10	01.12- 01.18	Kickbox	7 x 400 Intervals	Kickbox	3 mi race pace	Rest	12 mi	Boot camp
11	01.19- 01.25	Kickbox	45 min tempo	Kickbox	3 mi race pace	Rest	5 mi	Boot camp
12	01.26- 02.01	Rest	4 mi	Kickbox	2 mi	Rest	20 minutes	Surf City USA Half Marathon

Tempo Run: Start off with 15-20 minutes of easy running and then 15 to 20 minutes of comfortably hard running. Finish with 5-10 minutes of cooling down.


Intervals: After warming-up, run 400 meters (one lap around most tracks) hard, then recover by jogging or walking 400 meters. Repeat this with the 400 meter recovery in between each run.