This past Saturday morning was the only time I had available for a long run. Unfortunately, when I woke up that morning, the temperature was a balmy negative two degrees Fahrenheit. Here was the day's prognosis:
Allrighty then. Thou shalt not do thy long run in thy conditions.
I had a decision to make: Should I delay the final long run until next weekend? Or should I grind it out on the treadmill?
I really wanted to get the run out of the way so it wouldn't be hanging over me for another week.
In general, I am not fond of the treadmill. I prefer to use it only during times of pure desperation. (Note that over the past few years, my threshold for what I consider "too cold to run outdoors" has been declining.)
Grind it out on the treadmill it was.
My previous treadmill distance record was 6.2 miles. As of this past Saturday, I have a new treadmill PDR: 10.3 miles! Way to tear it up, eh?
Why the odd distance of 10.3 miles? My goal is to run at least 750 miles during 2015. This averages out to 62.5 miles per month. Going into Saturday's run, I had logged 52.2 miles during the month of February. Since Sunday was March 1, I ran 10.3 in order to get to exactly 62.5 miles for February!
I ran 62.5 during the month of January, too. Perfectly on track.
Runfession time:
I actually felt good enough to do 11 or even 12 this past Saturday. But, I was feeling guilty for being that crazy treadmill commandeer-er.
There are two treadmills in my condo building's workout room, and both can be set for a maximum workout time of 60 minutes. My original plan was to do 60 minutes on one treadmill, then switch to the other one for a slight change of scenery.
Usually the workout room is pretty empty. At any given point, there are usually two people or less. But of course on this day, there was anywhere between three to six people, and the other treadmill was consistently occupied. So I ended up staying on the same treadmill for two hours. Terrible, I know!
I am waiting for the management office to issue a memo to the entire building now about considerate usage of the fitness machines, with my mugshot as the "Before" example.
At least I can say with absolute certainty that I have exactly ZERO intention of doing another double-digit treadmill run anytime soon.
Linking up with Marcia's Runfessions (a few days late):
UGH, long treadmill runs are the worst. The one time I kind of actually enjoyed it was when I watched World War Z as I ran. It felt like I was part of the action!!
ReplyDeleteWorld War Z would be a great way to take your mind off the endless pounding of the treadmill! I am all about distraction on the mill - I usually have my headphones on, the TV on with closed captioning, and am looking out the window at the scenery. =D
DeleteAww, congrats on the new treddie PDR! And on meeting your mileage goal two months in a row! Woot woot!
ReplyDeleteDoes your gym have rules about treadmill time? Was anyone hanging out, acting like they wanted to use it? If not, you are good! :)
Thank you, Kim! It's nice to get the year off on a good start with the mileage goal. I've been tempted to let things slide a little bit, thinking that I could make up for the lost miles later. But I think that just like in racing, it's best to run a negative split with year-long mileage goals. =D
DeleteWe don't have official rules about treadmill time in the workout facility. However, after my first 60-minute shift, one woman did ask me if I was done... and I said no, and kept on going. =( SO GUILTY!!!
Okay, you've officially beat my treadmill PDR...which I believe is 9 miles. You have my utmost respect :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on my threshold for tolerance for too cold to run outside. Basically, at this point if I have to think about what to wear I don't want to go out there. Kind of makes training for my half marathon the first weekend in April a little rough. My runfession is that my longest run so far has been just shy of 8 miles.
LOL, thanks Erin! Completely agree with you on not wanting to have to deal with what to wear for an outdoor run. It is so much easier to just throw on whatever clothes and jump onto the treadmill. Are you running the Illinois Half Marathon again this year!?!?!? And no worries on only doing 8 so far - you've been doing SO much other working out! Plus, you've got the entire month of March still to train!!!
DeleteI don't get this running thing.
ReplyDeleteEverybody knows that the best indoor workout you can get is to hike up the treadmill to the highest incline it will reach, grab on for dear life and speed walk for 60 minutes or longer. Day after day after day. Now THAT is a workout !!!
:)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
DeleteYou absolutely must wear a hot pink shirt, too!!! Oh, and don't forget not doing any kind of warm-up or cool-down, either!
=)
Congrats! You definitely got some mental toughness training in as well, which will serve you well in DC! The DC Rock'n'Roll Half is on my radar to do in a future year... I can't wait to hear about the race report!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lauren!!! I know that you grew up in the DC area so I can imagine that this race would be high on your radar! In the meantime - keep rocking your Ironman training. I can't wait to hear about your race report, too!!!
DeleteWay to rock a treadmill beast! (Beast = 10 miles in crazy runner's lingo). Double digits on a mill are no joke. Hooray for feeling great! You are hilarious the way you calculated what you need each month and how you're staying on track. I need to take a page from your book as I am totally seat of the pants. Thanks for linking up for Runfessions!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcia! WOO HOO and I love the "beast" addition to my runner's lingo. =) Although, I certainly can't compare to you and your 20-miler on the treadmill. Now THAT is no joke! BTW - I read your post about how to make treadmill running more palatable and it was really helpful!!! Keep the tips coming!
DeleteDouble digits on a treadmill, dang girl! Congrats, that's definitely worth a mini celebration! The longest I've ever done was when I was on vacation in Aruba and had to knock out 7 miles twice on the treadmill. Watching Grey's Anatomy helped immensely ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for your upcoming race! You're gonna love running in D.C, it'll be warm (hopefully) and beautiful and you will rock it!
-Irina
Thanks, Irina!!! Knocking out two 7-milers on the treadmill is no joke, either, and also worth mini celebration! Yes on watching good TV while on the treadmill. I am all about any kind of distractions on the mill to help ward off the mundaneness to any extent possible!
DeleteThank you for the well wishes for DC and for your wonderful confidence in me, as always. Likewise - I am SO excited for your upcoming circuit of NYC races across all the boroughs and neighborhoods. You are going to rock them all, too! =)
I salute you! That's an amazing distance to cover on a treadmill! And you felt like you could have kept going! You should have seen my face as I read that. You rock, Emily!
ReplyDeleteMy indoor record is 10 miles, but it was broken up between the treadmill and an indoor track. I've maybe maxed out at an hour on the treddy. Even that is too much for me to take.
Awww, thanks so much Amy!!! I love the strategy of mixing up the scenery for long runs, whether across indoor/outdoor or some variation amongst both. I've done many a long run where I did part of it outdoors, then moved onto the treadmill to finish up. Mentally, it really makes a difference!!!
DeleteThe longest I've ran on the treadmill was 16 miles. Not sure how I did it since now I can't stay on it longer than 5 miles.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, 16 miles!?!?!? That is NO JOKE! I think that treadmill running is just like anything else in running - you have to build up to it. To this day I still look back at running the Chicago Marathon and have no idea how I was ever able to work up to it, you know?
DeleteIt was last year when I was training for the Chicago Lakefront 50k. It was brutal last year too.
Delete