Running and Beer

19 01 2012

1. I have run three times this week. All three of those runs were on the treadmill. That is so unlike me. Last month I wrote that I was learning to not hate the treadmill. I feel like I have gotten a step further. Monday’s run was hard because my legs were still mad at me from Saturday, not because I was on the treadmill. Tuesday was speed and that I like doing on the treadmill. Today there were negative windchills so I opted for the treadmill once again. Not so bad. I ran 4 miles and just decided I was done. I suppose I could have done more, but I didn’t want to and who’s to say I would have felt that outside. So treadmill, I don’t hate you anymore.

2. On Saturday I am running the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon Relay. I am on team Avoid the Lap (check out our profile on Fit Milwaukee). I really have no idea what to expect. I will be running a lot of laps around a track. I don’t remember the last time I did that. Oh well, we will have fun. And once again, I will be running inside.

3. Maureen is coming to visit this weekend. She’s coming to run the Indoor Half Marathon, but really she is coming so we can play and drink beer. On Friday I am taking her to Lakefront Brewery for a tour and on Saturday we will probably hit up a few of America’s Best Beer Bars because they are down the street from where I live.





Learning to not hate the Treadmill

20 12 2011

I have written many tirades against this evil machine. Turns out it is not completely evil. I mostly use it when the weather is unbearable: 90+ degrees and humid, sub zero temps, ridiculous winds, etc. I view it as a last resort.

I really haven’t tried to like this machine. I have run on it while cursing it. I have lost fights with it (cut workouts short) many times. I have chosen to not run.

Sometime earlier this year I did one of my speed workouts on the treadmill due to 50mph winds and rain. Turns out a controlled climate makes speed workouts much easier. (And yes, I had heard lots of people say this before. I just ignored them and assumed they were treadmill loving individuals). I realize there is a reason to use these machines.

I was wrong. I admit it. The treadmill is not out to kill me. It is not completely evil.

Speed workouts are a great way to make it so you are not concentrating solely on the fact that you have X number of miles left. It gives you something else to think about. Not only that, but it gives allows me to control my workout. I am forced to go faster than I would outside. I can keep my pace much more steady. And I’m actually getting my speed workouts done at paces that I am supposed to be hitting. I can be speedy. Yay!

I still don’t like the treadmill, but I no longer hate it.