I Heart Treadmills

I can't decide whether the title of this post is a tongue in cheek, ironic start to yet another rant about treadmills based on my total lack of creativity or whether I'm really starting to get used to the things.

Several treadmill runs in the past several weeks have been bearable. After my first treadmill run in months gave me the typical feeling of wanting to quit every half mile (I only managed to hang on for three miles), the last three have actually been OK. Today I made it over six miles of stationary running with very little giveuppedness.

This new determination to put significant mileage in without actually going anywhere is due to several factors. First of all, to get a discount on our YMCA membership through our insurance my wife and I have to go at least 12 times a month each. Sure, I could go run around in the dark, cold Minnesota evenings, or, I could drive to the YMCA and watch Virginia Tech play Kansas State.

Which brings me to another factor I fear--there's been slim to no carryover from the winter toughness I built up last year. It's only been down in the 20s but I'm still not feeling it. Am I loosing my edge? I did manage to get out a couple times in the cool evening darkness the past couple weeks but it hasn't exactly been nirvana.

The major factor in my lack of hatred for the treadmill, I believe, is that there's been decent things to watch on the built-in TV set. I caught a couple decent football games last Saturday, a decent college basketball game this past Wednesday, and "A Knight's Tale" this morning. When I'm actually somewhat into what's on the screen I don't get the nearly irresistible urge to give up that normally comes with the treadmill.

Tomorrow I'm planning on getting outside--of course there's snow in the forecast. Still, as much as the treadmill and I are making peace I can't see myself getting 12 miles in while watching football all afternoon.

Getting in Shape

For the past couple months I've been slacking in my running almost as much as I've been slacking on blogging. Now, I'm getting back into shape so I can start a marathon training program at the end of November. I lucked out and got into Boston before it closed, so I'm hoping to be in good enough shape to be able to shoot for a sub-3 hour marathon. To do that I'd better have at least a decent enough base to stay healthy for a solid training cycle.

This week I managed to get in over 25 miles. It seems like a good total after not breaking 20 miles for awhile, but really it's only about half of what I want to run in a week once my marathon program gets in gear. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a longish run in--something over ten miles. It'd be great to get over 30 miles next week.

It's been perfect weather for running--cool, sunny, and not a lot of breeze. There's nothing better than getting outside in the fall before the cold and snowy stuff starts to blow in--which, I imagine, will be anytime. Today was cool enough for running pants, which had me thinking about the coming days of Yaktrax, layering, and carrying warm water so it doesn't freeze. Bring on the snow!