Tuesday morning.....my sister sent me a text that she had a migraine and wasn't meeting me at the gym.
I had, for the second night in a row, gotten very broken sleep thanks to our lab.....so it was really easy to jump back into bed for another hour of sleep. :-)
When I woke up, and hour (and a half) later.....I felt guilty for not doing something even after she canceled. That's not like me.
So...I packed my gym bag for two workout sessions.
I'd run 3 miles right after work, then hit a spin class.
Those 3 miles felt great. The first mile was a little awkward...for some reason I just couldn't find my "stride." I felt as though an onlooker would assume I'd never run before. But, after I got going, it was wonderful!!!
The gym was packed, of course, with "resolutioners"......but, unlike the morning before, it was mostly women on the cardio equipment that night.
At one point, a skinnie minnie chicky poo got on the mill next to me. She walked, then stopped walking, then started walking, then fiddled with her shoes, then walked, then messed with her iPod, then stopped walking........and so on.....for about 10 minutes.
Finally, she started stretching.
Well, at least I assume she was stretching and loosening up.
She was flinging her arms all over.....nearly hitting me in the process. Windmills, shoulder rolls, neck rolls.....more arm flailing......I was worn out just seeing the movement out of the corner of my eyes. I can't imagine what would have happened had I turned my head to look directly at her.
(besides losing an eye)
Eventually she started running. Then she stopped...then she messed with her shoe....then she walked...then she ran a little.
And I'm not talking intervals......10 seconds here....30 seconds there......if there was a pattern, she wasn't there long enough for me to figure it out.
Silver lining, she made the last 20 minutes of my run go by pretty quickly. :-)
No matter what I do, the effort I put out on a treadmill accomplishes much less than the same effort outside. (I'm speaking about pace and distance.) I was trucking along at a good clip......but my running pace was only a 10 min mile. When I ran my 7 miles this weekend, my running pace (not trucking, just smooth and steady) was anywhere from 8:14-9:02.
More miles, faster pace??? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Do I change my running "style" that much between running inside and running outside? I was still sweating, getting my heart rate up, etc........so I'm not too worried about it. It's just intriguing. :-)
(Detroit Runner - I can hear you from here! "So put your Garmin on and run outside already!")
(giggle)
After the run, I went down and changed into my cycling shoes and shorts....and headed up to the spin studio.
After 5 minutes of spinning, I was done.
5 MINUTES!!!!
After 30 minutes, I waved the white flag.
My legs were burning, my brain was in distress, and my heart just wasn't into it.
I guess we all have those days.
I left the room, in front of all the other spinners....head hanging in shame.
30 minutes of spin is better than no minutes.....so I guess that's a little consolation. :-)
11 comments:
The treadmill is always harder for me. I'm not sure what it is. I do run with it on a 2% incline, but I think the difficulty has more to do with a lack of airflow than anything. I notice the disparity between inside and outside running more in the winter than I do in the summer.
@ Brain - it's nice to know I'm not alone.
I didn't run on the treadmill once this spring or summer...so I didn't see the difference (or lack there of)....but it makes me curious. (for scientific reasons, of course) :-)
I certainly run slower on the treadmill than "real" running outside. I run at 1% incline, so that's not significant enough to notice, but I think the difference is that I "hop" more when I run on the treadmill rather than "stride", if that makes any sense. So, I think I'm expending more energy by pushing my body upward on the treadmill rather than by moving forward outside.
I cannot wait for spring and outdoor running!! I know it's possible to run outside in the winter (my husband does 99% of his winter running outside and he runs much more than I do), but I just can't handle the cold, dark and ice.
When we ran the resolution run on Jan 1st, I felt like I was slipping backwards with every step in the snow. Plain and simple, I'm a wimp.
@ Faith Ann - you're not a wimp, you just don't like the cold. :-) I HATE the heat, so summer is really brutal on me.
I'd never thought about upward movement vs forward movement...but it makes sense.
Yes, get out there! Or get out there at least once a week so your legs stay comfortable with hard pavement for races. LOL. Although I suppose the skinny minnie chicky poo would have distracted me on the treadmill too. Watching her flailing all over the place, I probably would have been cracking up and people would have thought I was weird. Great post!
That is too funny about that other girl =) I totally think I could make it easier on a treadmill at a gym than in my neighbors garage looking at a wall 18" in front of me, but hey, its free! =)
Add me into the category of those who find the treadmill alot harder to run on. It is more difficult to find my stride. I had a horrible run on mine the other day and tonight I just couldn't face it. :(
Your "companion" sounds very interesting - hahaha.
@ Detroit - At a minimum of once a week for sure. I make sure that my longer run on the weekend is outside, no matter what.
@ All - Chickie poo was a definitely a nice break in the monotony, if nothing else. :-) :-) :-)
I'm with you sister: running outside is so much easier than on the treadmill. So what do we have to do? Yes, run outside :)
Oh boy I laughed out loud about Minnie! AT least she made your workout go faster.
And you're right: 30 minutes is always better than nothing.
Your description of the girl at the gym had me cracking up! I'm also slower on the treadmill. I used to be slower outside, but not so anymore. Praying for a big melt right now so I can go outside.
@ Lori - gear up and get out there in that snow!! :-)
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