Fail.
But I grabbed a rubber band from the supply room & soldiered on. After work I went to the gym to run 6 miles on the treadmill (GAAAAAAHHH) & then go to an evening yoga class, only to find that I had forgotten to pack running socks, and more importantly, running SHOES.
Fail.
Fortunately I was at least *wearing* socks that I could feasibly run in, and an old pair of running shoes that had been relegated to walking-around shoes since I'd decided at some point I wasn't crazy about them for running. I wouldn't run a marathon in them or anything but they were functional for a few easy miles.
Post yoga, I went back to the locker room to change out of my sweaty tank & sports bra & into a nice, clean, dry T-shirt for the 45 minute commute home. Or not.
Fail.
I may or may not need to start sleeping more.
 |
| Yep. Pretty much what it's like. |
I figured I'd warm up at a relatively slow pace, then gradually speed it up. But running at the slow pace actually seemed reasonably hard, so I didn't speed it up. The construction of the treadmill also makes it really difficult to have a natural arm swing & I think because of that my shoulders felt tense & uncomfortable the whole time. And my Achilles tendons were back to feeling like steel cables.
God, I counted down the tenths of miles. Treadmill, let me count the ways in which you completely and totally suck. My lower legs felt epically trashed after what was my slowest run of 2013 thus far.
But then I realized yoga was starting in 10 minutes, & I'd left my mat in the car, so I kind of sprinted out into the parking lot & back.
And felt GREAT. Whaaaaaa??
So now I think part of my problem is that while running at a slower warm-up pace on the treadmill seems easier, it's actually not easier in terms of impact. What is probably easier is running at a faster, more efficient pace, so the next time I'm on the 'mill I'm going to give that a shot & see if it helps.
Any other dreadmill tips? I will take anything I can get at this point. :P
My dreadmill tip? STAY AWAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteHope you find your magical groove :)
I have treadmill ADD (or is it ADHD?), so I like to change it every so often - either every minute or every quarter mile. Sometimes, there's a goal (progression repeats) and sometimes it's random. It makes the time go by a lot faster!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the slow = awkward/harder. I was running pretty fast (for me) and was feeling ok. Then, as I was cooling down, my legs felt so weird. So I think your theory about going faster might be right. Good luck!
Your day just described my whole week! I finally took sleeping pills on Wednesday & Thursday in the hopes that I would feel more refreshed in the morning. Lack of mojo and a crappy work week has me totally drained today. With nothing on my weekend agenda I hope that I get some rest.
ReplyDeleteThat TM picture is hilarious! I think that I like my TM so much because we have weather that makes it almost impossible to run outside in the winter. Yes, it is boring, but you do what you gotta do. The longest TM run I have had was 22 miles. Yes, it was awful, but I survived. I usually listen to music or watch hulu. My TM is also positioned in the right spot where I can "spy" on 3 sets of neighbors. :-)
Oh my god.....I can't even comprehend being on a treadmill for 22 miles!! But yes, you definitely do what you gotta do.
DeleteI cannot figure out why the treadmill is so hard to run fast on. I've had no problem running about 8 minute miles outside, but on the treadmill anything faster than 8:30 makes me feel like I'm going to die.
ReplyDeletelol are we living parallel lives? I did that exact same thing last week - I ran 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym, realized that I forgot my yoga mat, ran to my car and then back to the gym, lol!
ReplyDeleteAnd yea, dreadmill running blows - some tricks I like to do are:
-lowering the speed by .1 mph and increasing the incline by 1% eveyr minute up to 10% grade - then dong the same thing in reverse - takes 20 minutes and is interesting to see how it goes
-another workout that I like is to run at half marathon race pace or something similar - then run 2 min at 1% grade, 2 min at 0%, then 2 min at 2%, 2 min at 0%, 2 min at 3%, 2 min at 0% and so on. Do it for maybe 40 minutes or so, so you get up to 10% at end. A tough workout and I like it.
Hah, that's funny. I'm beginning to think that changing things up is probably the key. I haven't played with the grade much - that could be interesting.
DeleteOh, and I keep a paper checklist sheet on my mirror at home, so depending on whatever activity I'm doing (running, working out, concerts, Stanford game, etc) I have a checklist to go through for every type of event. I've cut down my forgotten items by almost 100% doing this =)
ReplyDelete