The Green Girl's Phiten Sample Pack Winner

The Green Girl is pleased to announce the winner of the Phiten Sample Pack giveaway.

There were a total of 20 entries submitted via blog reply or email. The winner number 14 was selected randomly based on the result from random.org.

A big congratulations to the winner, CallMePretty! You have won a sample pack that includes:

• 6 Phiten Titanium Discs
• 6 Phiten Titanium Tape Strips (3 large, 3 small)
• 1 Phiten Titanium Rubber Bracelet
• 1 Small Phiten Titanium Massage Lotion

Please send your mailing address to giveaway@therunninggreengirl.com.

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in this giveaway.

CasITa-to-5k At Sand Dune Park

The CasITa-to-5k visited Sand Dune Park for their warm-up yesterday.

The three-acre Sand Dune Park consists of a children's playground and a giant sand dune. The sand dune is approximately 270 feet long and 115 feet wide at the top, with an average slope of 27.7 degrees.

After being closed by the city earlier this year, the sand dune re-opened this week.

It was estimated that about 9,000 people visited the sand dune on a monthly basis before its closure due to noise complaints from the neighbors and erosion from wear. Residents also complained about the amount of trash visitors were leaving behind in the sand.

With the re-opening of the sand dune, reservations must now be made online ahead of time. There is a $1.00 fee for adults 13 and older per hour and there is a one hour limit per person. Annual passes may be purchased for $60. Children 12 and younger have free all-day access.

A fence has been erected around the perimeter of the dune and reservations are enforced by a city attendant.

Since the CasITa-to-5k didn't make reservations ahead of time, we climbed the flights of stairs to get a view from the top.

As winded as I got going up the stairs, I couldn't begin to imagine what it's like to climb that sand dune.

The climbers all went barefoot or wore only socks. One woman had on a pair of aqua socks.

After our sand dune adventure, we headed out to the ocean to run on The Strand.

We are still on Week 1 so we started off with a brisk five-minute walk and then alternated between 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of about 40 minutes. It was a really relaxing run and I enjoyed myself immensely.

The Green Girl's Bolsa Chica State Beach Run

The Green Girl went for a run at Bolsa Chica State Beach last night.

Bolsa Chica State Beach is known for its year-round surfing, bonfire pits, RV camping, and bare-handed grunion fishing.

The cement fire pits are on a first-come, first-served basis and beach goers will stake their claim early in the day.

Unfortunately for me, the wind was blowing all of the smoke from the bonfires in my direction last night and I ended up having to cut my run short. I had no idea the fumes from the bonfires would make me so nauseous.

It was so bad that breathing through my mouth didn't offer any relief. I had to stop multiple times in stretches without fires to get some fresh air. Folded over, I'd concentrate on not puking all over the bike path.

At each break, once I'd managed to settle my stomach, I stood up and took some time to admire the beautiful sunset before I continued running.

Even today, my stomach feels uneasy. I guess I just inhaled too much smoke as I was running.

Sole Runners Post San Francisco Marathon Social

The Green Girl attended the Sole Runners post San Francisco Marathon social at McKenna's On The Bay last night.

Coach Steve invited Dr. Michael Day from the Advanced Wellness Center to be our guest speaker.

Coach Steve started off the evening by describing and demonstrating the three planes of motion in which we move:

• Sagittal - forward or backward
• Frontal - side to side
• Transverse - rotational

He explained when we run, we are moving in the sagittal plane because we are moving forward.

Dr. Day emphasized the importance of range of motion in the planes in terms of preventing and treating muscular imbalances. Range of motion refers to the normal range of movement of a joint from full flexion to full extension.

According to Dr. Day's 'The Balanced Runner is a Thriving Runner':

A runner must be balanced front to back, side to side, and rotationally (no excess rotation on one side of a joint). Any deviation changes the nerve firing pattern and causes a faulty nervous system to fire improper messages for running.

Everything Dr. Day talked about coincided with what Dr. Gonzales had mentioned during my visit last month.

Dr. Day showed us some functional exercises we could use in our warm-up routine.

A couple of the exercises were of particular interest to me since Dr. Gonzales had mentioned I had issues with my left gluteus medeus.
One of them was the 'plank primer'. For this exercise, you start off in plank position. Then you lift one of your legs and rotate your toes outwards until your foot is parallel to the floor. You hold this for three seconds and then repeat on the other side.

The other exercise was 'balance and swing'. For this one, you stand with one leg at 90° and then you swing that leg back and forth in a running motion while alternating arm swings before repeating on the other side.

Each time Dr. Day reiterated the importance of the core and the glutes, I was reminded how crucial it is for me to learn how to start using my glutes when I run.

Dr. Day ended his talk with a question and answer session. Between the Sole Runners, we may well have covered the spectrum of common runner injuries.

Following Dr. Day, Coach Steve went around and congratulated the San Francisco Half and full Marathon finishers.

The sun set created a fiery glow over the marina as we chatted about running and caught up with one another.

The Green Girl's Seattle Waterfront Run

The Green Girl went went up to Seattle this weekend for her maternal great aunt's 88th birthday celebration.

In Japanese culture, the 88th birthday is known as 'beiju'. Beiju is a special celebration because when combined, the Japanese characters for 88 米寿 resemble the character for rice 米.

I flew in Thursday after work. The sun was setting over Mount Rainier as the plane began to make its descent into the city.

Early Friday morning, I went for a run with my second cousin, Stan, on the Seattle Waterfront.

The morning was cool and crisp. The thick fog prevented Mr. Green Garmin from getting any signal.

We headed down to Pike Place Market where the vendors were setting up for the day. I marveled at the whiteness of the fresh ice at the fish markets.

We ran along the Port of Seattle and gazed out at the ocean haze.

We headed west to the Olympic Sculpture Park at the Seattle Art Museum. The Olympic Sculpture Park is nine-acre industrial site that was converted into an outdoor open space for art. The park admission is free to the public.

I stopped to pose for a picture in front of a fountain. Stan later explained that the fountain, an art piece titled Father and Son by Louise Bourgeois, stirred significant controversy due to the nudity of the forms. Each figure's view of the other is obscured by the water to represent the estrangement between the father and son.

There were numerous cobwebs along the length of the railing along the waterfront. Each spider web was dotted with beads of dew.

Visibility was limited by the fog but the beauty of the Puget Sound still managed to envelope me.

Stan had to head into work so we parted ways downtown and I proceeded back to the hotel to wake up my sister.

A couple of blocks from my destination, I passed a mural quietly begging for affordable housing.

After breakfast, I could hardly wait for the REI Seattle Store to open. REI is my favorite store and I was anxious to see what their flagship store looked like.

At the entrance of the REI property, we saw trails to test out equipment.

We couldn't believe it when we saw an impressive looking waterfall. REI had managed to create a little oasis in the middle of a metropolitan area.

When we entered the store, the expanse took my breath away. I was in REI heaven.

I could have spent the entire day in that store but I limited myself to an hour.

I didn't have enough time to explore any of the local trails but I will definitely make a point to do some trail running next time I am in the area.