Dreadmill "Running"

I have a great dislike of the treadmill. I'm sure there are some runners that like getting on the treadmill. I am not one of those people.

Tonight I had 3 choices I guess but one was really not viable. Option 1 would have been to go outside and run, but it is dark, it is still wet, it is cold, there was ice on the road earlier today and I do not want to risk finding that random patch of ice in the dark so Option 1 was out. Option 2 was skip the run completely - I still have several hours of work left to do as I had to stay home with the kids today (schools closed for the "ice") but still have to finish the Quality review I'm working on. Skipping the run was very tempting. Option 3 was the Dreadmill. It was sitting there in the corner taunting me, laughing at me, sneering at me. Yes, that is how I felt looking at the machine, but I found my shoes (and I do mean found them, the cleaning lady was here today and she moved them and I wasn't sure where they were), laced them up and started the treadmill.

Now I have done many runs on the treadmill lately, but most of those were at the YMCA. The YMCA had great treadmills with individual TV's and automatic intervals. Somehow that makes things a little easier. But running on the treadmill is painful. I never feel like I can really find my stride on the treadmill and tonight running on the treadmill at home it was just awful. The location of the treadmill in our bedroom is awkward. It faces a plain blue wall. Watching the TV requires looking up and to the right and if I do that I tend to veer to the right and risk stepping off the side of the treadmill. I can't read and run (I can read on the elliptical or the bike but not the treadmill) as my eye position isn't steady enough.

So here I am, I have my running shoes on. I should have pulled out the sparkle skirt, I think I could have used it today but I had on a normal grey running skirt and I put on my Garmin to see how the accelerometer works, put on a podcast and started to run. I could tell in the first minute that I was just not going to be able to run on the treadmill. Again I had 2 options. Option 1 Quit, Option 2 - drop the speed back and walk the miles. I choose option 2.

So the Garmin vs the Treadmill. I have often wondered if the treadmill under predicted my distance/speed based on perceived effort on the treadmill vs run outside. Well if the Garmin is to be believed that is true. According to the Garmin I did 3.22 miles in 43:41 (13:33 min/mile). According to the treadmill I did 3.01 miles (14:30 min/mil) in the same time. Its funny to see the cadence drop off. I can tell when I tried to read my watch or wipe the sweat off my face as the cadence drops off to zero a couple of times. Either way that wasn't a bad pace for a "walk" on the treadmill.

So I survived my Dreadmill run for the day - I didn't quit even though I wanted to and I got my 3 miles in. I'm hoping to get outside to run Wednesday or Thursday. I know that the temps in Houston are nothing compared to the rest of the US this winter, but I am looking forward to the spring.

Runner's they Make the Insane sound like Fun

Runners have a way of making things that are completely insane sound like a lot of fun.  For the past 2 weeks I have been following friends running Dopey at Walt Disney World, the Houston Marathon and Half marathon here at home and The Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland and I couldn't help but wish I was running with them.

For months now I have thought that anyone who would consider running Dopey (4 races in 4 consecutive days - 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon for a total of 6 medals) must have been really Dopey.  But after watching race reports and seeing pictures I found myself longing to run Dopey and do all 4 races myself, but not next year.  I think that is a 2 year goal for me.  I'm already registered for the Rock n' Roll full marathon December 7th of this year so running Dopey a month later really would be insane.  So my goal now is to run my full this December and then train for Dopey in 2016.  Wow I really am crazy - not only do I want to do it, I'm planning for a race that is 2 years away.

My current training is going well.  I ran 11.75 miles Saturday at a 12:25 pace.  Not too bad for a long training run.  I even finished up with a little parking garage hill training.  I need to find ways to incorporate hills into my training.  Running in Katy, TX doesn't give a lot of hill opportunities.

I have the Houston Rhythm and Blues Half marathon 3 weeks from today so yesterday was my last long run before the race.  I'll stick to 4-6 mile long runs the next 2 weekends.

I went to the Houston Marathon Expo Friday to check it out.  Marathon Expo's are contagious.  I fortunately was able to pick up an extra pair of my running shoes at 20% discount so I can keep a pair at my desk and stop carrying my shoes back and forth all the time.  Even more exciting than new running shoes was my new sparkle skirt which arrived on Thursday evening.  Sparkle Skirts are so comfortable and yet so much fun to wear at the same time.

Congratulations to everyone who ran at WDW last week and Houston or Disneyland this week.  I'm proud of you all.