The Green Girl's Race Preparation List

My coaches, Steve Mackel and Gary Smith put together this 'Coach Steve & Gary's Race Day CheckList'.

The most important thing to remember is not to try anything new right before a race. This includes eating new foods; wearing new clothing, socks or shoes; taking new medications or vitamins; applying new creams or lotions; or doing anything else you've never done before. I believe this rule would be a lot easier to follow if the race expo was after the race. At the expo, they offer samples of all sorts of "super" bars, drinks, foods and other snacks.

No matter how many times seasoned marathoners warn other runners not to wear clothing or shoes they bought at the expo the day before, we all get tempted to sport new purchases on the big day. Do not, under any circumstances, make this mistake.

I highly recommend attaching the timing chip to your shoes and pinning the bib on your race shirt the night before. As easy as it may seem, this can sometimes be a little more complicated than expected.

I also make sure I have everything I need in one place before I go to bed. I don't want to be looking for things in the morning.

The Green Girl's Race Checklist:

Shoes
Timing Chip
Socks
Spare Socks
Hat
Race Shirt
Bib
Race Pants/Shorts
Watch
Sunscreen
Lip Balm
Hand Sanitizer
BodyGlide
Cash
Road ID
Hydration Belt
Hydration
Gels
Pretzels
Mobile Phone
Digital Camera
MP3 Player
Warm-up Clothes
Bus Pass

The Green Girl's "Night Before" Checklist:

Attach timing chip to shoes
Put socks near shoes
Pin bib to race shirt
Put out all clothing
Freeze hydration bottles
Prepare hydration belt

I like to take public transportation to races. This way I don't have to deal with traffic and I don't have to worry about parking my car.

Long Beach Marathon Expo

I stopped by the Long Beach Marathon Expo today to pick up my race packet. I registered early so I qualified for a technical shirt. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the shirts are this year. I also like how the race timing chip is a disposable sticker that was attached to the bib.

Tylenol was giving away individual packets of their painkillers and offering free 5 minute chair massages. It felt good to get some of the knots worked out of my shoulders.

I picked up a 06:00 marathon pace bracelet from the Clif Pace Team booth. I wanted a 06:30 but 06:00 was the slowest they had.

I stopped at the RaceReady booth. I had heard really good things about the RaceReady compression shorts so I was interested in checking them out. They had the Women's Long Distance (LD) Fitness Shorts in black and navy blue. The salesgirl suggested I take a pair to the women's restroom in the far corner of the Expo to try them on for size. The sizes ran small - I usually wear a women's medium but the large fit me perfectly. The stretch material was comfortable and I liked how it felt when I jogged in place in the bathroom stall.

I purchased a pair in the navy blue. My only concern is that the pouches in the back might interfere with my hydration belt. If that's the case, I'll avoid wearing them together.

I also picked up a bottle of Penguin Sports Wash. I had been reading reviews on this product online and the majority of users felt it worked well. It's laundry detergent formulated specifically for technical fabrics. It helps removed odors that are 'trapped' in the fabric. I'm interested to see how it works.

For some reason, I tend to accumulate stains on my running clothes. I have no idea how this happens because I swear I'm not rubbing my body against anything when I'm out on my runs but I often come home with streaks and splashes that refuse to come out in the wash. My current method is to first soak my running clothes in a plastic bucket with OxiClean and then with laundry detergent. Once I've gotten most of the stains out, I will put them in a cold wash in the machine. I am hoping this Sports Wash will eliminate the soaking rounds.

At the Sub4 USA booth, the owner, Tom Steiner, demonstrated the DryLyte moisture wicking ability by spraying a piece of fabric with a spray bottle. He had me touch the damp outside and then he showed me how the ribs in the fabric helped wick the water so the other side was dry.

I was impressed by how well the fabric absorbed and pulled the moisture away. I purchased 3 pairs of DryLyte moisture wicking wristbands.

My wrists get really sweaty and I find leather or rubber watches irritate my skin so I always wear fabric bands. I'm going to wear these wristbands to wipe sweat off my face when I'm running but I also want to try wearing them under a watch. If it's comfortable enough, I might be able to wear non-fabric watch bands in the future.

Run, 1/2 Pint, Run!

I made myself 'half marathon' cupcakes today. I love to make cupcakes. I just wish I was better at decorating. I'm not even good at frosting them evenly. Regardless, I'm a true believer that it is, after all, the thought that truly counts.

The Long Beach Half Marathon this Sunday is going to be my second half marathon. My very first half marathon was the Palos Verdes Half Marathon. I finished in
03:28:53 which averages to a 15:57 mile. I used a 5:1 run/walk but 'almost all walk at the end' ratio. It was a really hot day and I have a hard time dealing with heat.

The Long Beach Half Marathon has great sentimental value to me because I watched the marathoners and half marathoners at the starting line last year.

The Long Beach 5k last year was my very first race. I had completed Week 9 Day 3 of the Cool Running Couch-To-5k the Tuesday before the race. I remember being terrified I would be so slow that the finish line would already be gone by the time I got there.

The 5k started at 08:30 and the marathon and half marathon started at 07:30. I arrived early to watch them start. As I watched them stretch, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be able to run that far.

You can imagine my excitement that this year I'll be one of those half marathoners. And one day, I'll be one of those full marathoners. I'm not quite ready for another marathon just yet. 26.2 miles is a long way - especially for a very slow Green Girl.

The Green Girl Hacks Her Nathan Speed 4 Hydration Belt

I love my Nathan Speed 4 hydration belt. It got me through my Team In Training training and through my very first marathon.

It's comfortable and it doesn't bounce at all. I loved that I was able to add a pocket for my camera and another pocket for my BodyGlide and spare socks. It never chafed and it always stayed in place.

The only problem I had with it was that the bottles would pop out when they were empty. I think this was due to the fact that I always freeze my Gatorades and water and the bottles expanded and stretched the plastic compartments.

One day when I was out running, I saw a runner wearing a Fuel Belt and noticed it had little elastic bottle cord locks on the two front bottles. I realized that's exactly what I needed on my belt.

I went to my local fabric store and looked at their elastic section but it was extremely limited. They sold white and black elastic by the yard in different widths but there were no other colors. I asked the salesperson if they by chance had colored elastic in another area but she told me she hasn't seen colored elastic in years. I really wanted a grey elastic so it would blend in with the belt better.

I contemplated dying the white elastic and wondered if it's possible to color elastic. Then it dawned on me that hair elastics always come in different colors. I stopped at Rite Aid on my way home from lunch today and purchased a pack of Goody StayPut Thin No Slide Color Headbands. There were 4 headbands in the package, one black, one blue and two grey. it worked out perfectly. I love the Goody StayPut hair elastics - I use them every time I work out to keep my hair out of my face. They work really well and never slip off my little pigtails.

I cut the two grey headbands in half and then stuck them through the existing elastic loops on either side of the plastic bottle holders. Then I folded them up and sewed them.

I wanted this solution to be something I could easily undo if I decided I didn't like it. At first I thought about sewing the elastic to the belt itself and having it come up over the neck of the bottle but I wasn't sure how my rudimentary sewing would work on a belt that stretches. The last thing I wanted to do was create a chafing situation.

The funny thing is that by looping the elastic through the sides, I actually created enough bulk that the bottles are securely tucked into the plastic holders. At this point, I don't really need to wrap the elastic around the bottle. I figure with time, though, the elastic loops will stretch and it will loosen up.

The Green Girl Loves Green Superfeet

When my left arch started aching after my very first 5 mile run, I knew I needed additional arch support. My New Balance stability shoes had served me well for the shorter distances but my feet needed more support for the longer distances.

My arches almost completely collapse when I put weight on my feet. I also tend to overpronate when I run. The arches in your feet are designed to collapse and provide shock absorption. This is considered normal pronation. If your arches collapse so much that your feet roll inward, this is overpronation. For me, both my feet overpronate but my left foot rolls in more than the right. If your feet roll outward, this is supination.

I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis years before I decided to take up running. This is an inflammation of the plantar fascia, a thin layer of tough tissue supporting the arch of the foot. Because of my plantar fasciitis, activities like ice skating or roller blading are very painful for me. I also prefer to run on hard, even ground - running on soft surfaces like grass or sand are much more painful for me. When I was first diagnosed with plantar fasciitis by my podiatrist, she recommended I get custom orthotics. The orthotics were not covered by my insurance so I had to pay for them out of pocket. Unfortunately, they were uncomfortable and I never wore them. The edges cut into my heels and the orthotic only extended to the middle of my foot. With each step I took, I could feel the edge against the soles of my feet.

The day after my painful 5 mile run, I went to Road Runner Sports to get some advice on insoles. If you have a Road Runner Sports near you, I highly recommend visiting their store. They have this tool they call the Shoe Dog which they use to evaluate your gait, pronation, and stride. After analyzing me with the Shoe Dog system, the salesperson suggested I try a pair of Green Superfeet insoles.

At first, I thought they were too stiff but my feet responded really well to them. Because I had such a demanding training schedule, I had limited time to break them in. I wore them out to dinner, to work the next day and I ran a few miles when I got off work. I was concerned I needed more time for my feet to get accustomed to them but that wasn't the case.

The Green Superfeet insoles gave me the extra support I needed to increase my mileage. I'm able to manage my plantar fasciitis by wearing my New Balance stability shoes, the Green Superfeet insoles, and icing my feet after my long runs. I also massage the bottoms of my feet on a daily basis with a golf ball and stretch my calves every chance I get.

Shortly after I got my Green Superfeet insoles, I went to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and he mentioned he always tells his patients to try a pair of the Green Superfeet before investing in expensive orthotics. I wish my podiatrist had suggested the Green Superfeet from the start.