solar squirrel

The DREADmill

So I’m getting over a cold which I am sure would have turned into pneumonia or worse if I would have done the 50k.  I am so so so happy that I listened to my body and rested.  Nevertheless - there is still this small matter of TRAINING FOR BOSTON that I seem to have been avoiding lately.  Yesterday I decided to try the treadmill again since I don’t think I’m quite ready to run outside.  (I don’t want to risk getting too cold and subjecting myself to getting sick again).

I went to the Severance Bally’s since I was already in the area (had a meeting at Case for school).  That place is really nice!  I’ve only been there a few times, but it’s really clean and the locker room is HUGE and has high ceilings and tons of lockers and bathrooms and even seperate changing stalls.  They have TVs hanging from the ceiling and it’s really open and big.  The other nice thing is that they have like 20 treadmills…maybe more, so you never have to worry about not getting on one even during the super busy times.

This time I brought my MP3 player in hopes that it would make running more enjoyable - it actually did help a lot!  (But still wasn’t the best running experience).  I did a 1 mile warmup at 1.5 incline and a speed of 9:03 min miles.  That felt really easy so for mile 2 I increased the speed to 8:12 pace.  That felt pretty good but soon into the 3rd mile I was already getting side stitches!  ARgh!  So I changed the speed to 8:19 and did miles 4 and 5 and then decided I had enough and did the last mile at 9:03 again.  So I did a little over 6 miles.  The music definitely helps A LOT.  Still, I have a hard time knowing how to move my arms because I’m scared they’ll hit something and I also can’t seem to get into a good rhythm.  At least I did it - I was thinking that I was just not capable of running on the treadmill after my last try.  I couldn’t run for more than 4 or 5 min without having to stop and walk.  Must have just been a bad day.

I’m definitely not planning on making a routine out of this - but it’s good to know it’s an option when I’m getting over being sick or when there is freezing rain, 10 ft. of snow, etc.

I’ll be in Solon Sunday morning - hopefully I’ll be able to run with someone!