The thing about treadmills is they are a nice convenience to have, but... I still hate them with a passion. First of all who wants to run on a treadmill and the stale air at a health club when you could be outside taking in scenery and getting fresh air. The biggest problem I have with treadmills though are that no matter how good of shape you are in, or seem to be in, treadmills always make you feel like you are out of shape and sluggish. Case in point: A couple Saturdays ago I ran a 20k race where I pr'd by running the 12.4 mile course in 1 hour, minutes and some change. That race averaged out to a 6:34 mile. For me, that was pretty incredible. And the best part was that I felt pretty comfortable throughout the race and could've kept going at that pace for several more miles if I had wanted to. This past Friday morning I head outside to get in my long run for the week... a 16 mile run around the lake. It was one of the best long runs I've ever done averaging 7:25 per mile. This brings me to todays run. I wanted to get in 11 miles so I could get in 50 miles for the week. Unfortunatley though, it was a really crappy day to run outside... windy and rainy. Because of that I headed to the Princeton Club/East to get in the run on a treadmill. I am not unaccustomed, mind you, of running longer distance on a treadmill. Only this past February I did a 20 mile training run for the Napa Valley Marathon on the treadmill because the winter was so harsh here and I was just coming back from some achilles soreness. That was actually the second time I've had to do a 20 miler on the treadmill too. I did one getting ready for Boston in 2005. Anyways, I thought today would be a piece of cake as easy as some of my long runs outside have been lately. Boy I was mistaken. From the moment I got on, things did not go well, at least for the first half anyway. I don't know what it is, but when you set the treadmill for 8 minute pace, it does not seem like 8 minute pace... it feels like 6 minute pace... or faster. That's not a fun feeling. Running on a treadmill also makes you feel wildly erratic... like you're out of running out of control and being chased by a stampede of wild rhinos in heat. You are just all over the place. You really do have to concentrate on what you're doing and where your footfall are going, otherwise you may just fly right off the thing... which has already happened to me a couple times. Needless to say, I did get through the run and the last few miles were considerably easier but it still was not a fun run to go through. I should have just sucked it up and ran outside in the wind and rain. It would have been a lot more comfortable that is for sure.
Today's workout: 11.1 miles > 1:28:30 > 7:58 pace
Miles this week: 50.5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment